After the Double Ninth Festival, Lin Dan's business became even better. Many people came to him to order clothes, and they were all ladies and young ladies from Lin'an Prefecture. But Du Ruyan only picked out a few orders from people of high status for Lin Dan to take, and turned down the rest. She seemed to know how to communicate with others naturally. The customers who were turned away by her were not annoyed at all, and they even praised Lin Dan's embroidery skills even more.
Lin Dan was too busy to take orders, so everyone had to settle for the next best thing and ask the Third and Fourth Aunts to make clothes. The most popular ones were the jackets and skirts with silk cotton linings, which cost more than twenty taels of silver each, but people still came in an endless stream to place orders. Winter is coming, who doesn’t want to wear something warm and light? Such a silk quilted skirt is almost a must-have in winter. In spring, you can remove the interlayer and continue to wear it, which is very cost-effective.
A month later, Lin Dan moved the money box to the bed, called Zhang Hui, the third aunt, the fourth aunt, and Cui Lan in, and said, "This is the money we earned last month. Everyone contributed, so let's divide it together."
"How much did you earn?" Zhang Hui climbed onto the kang and asked expectantly.
"Let me count it." Lin Dan opened the money box and poured all the money onto the kang. There was a crackling sound, and a lot of silver rolled out of it, sparkling in the candlelight. There were whole silver ingots, small pieces of silver, and silver rewards in the shape of melon seeds, beads, and peanuts. It was simply impossible to count them.
"Oh my God!" Even when the Lin family was not yet ruined, the third and fourth aunts had never seen so much money and were stunned.
Cuilan covered her mouth with an expression of disbelief.
Only Zhang Hui was the calmest, but he couldn't help licking his dry lips and said in a hoarse voice: "I estimate it's at least three or four hundred taels." Three or four hundred taels of silver were indeed nothing when the Lin family was at its peak. However, this amount of silver was only what his daughter earned in a month. In other words, in a year, his daughter could earn at least a thousand taels, which was a huge sum!
The Lin family has hope. Master, have you seen it from the bottom of your nine springs? Thinking of this, Zhang Hui's eyes were red and tears were flashing in her eyes, but she was embarrassed to let her daughter find out, so she turned her back and wiped the corners of her eyes. The two aunts sat beside her, one on each side, and patted her back gently. All the suffering is over, they have survived, and everything will be fine.
Lin Dan was born without the nerve called "sentimental". He just handed Zhang Hui a handkerchief, then took out a small notebook and read carefully: "Last month, the third aunt made five silk cotton jackets and skirts, and the fourth aunt made six. Cuilan helped cut fabrics, receive guests, and modify clothing sizes every day. Mother and I made a set of iron armor together, and contacted the blacksmith to customize 20 kilograms of iron sheets... The profit of a silk cotton jacket is ten taels of silver. I give each aunt a tenth of the commission, which is five and six taels of silver respectively; Cuilan does miscellaneous work, which does not require high technical content, but is very hard work, so I give her two taels of silver per month; although mother only made a set of iron armor, it was very time-consuming and labor-intensive, and there were risks, so I gave her ten taels of silver as a reward, and I will use the remaining money to rent a storefront, and then buy embroidery thread, embroidery cloth, dyes, etc., with a budget of within two hundred taels of silver. This is our income and expenditure last month."
Lin Dan closed the small notebook and asked, "Does anyone have any questions?"
"No problem." The two aunts shook their heads. They are used to obeying the eldest lady's orders and feel that if they follow the eldest lady, they will have countless good days in the future. Even when Lin Dafu was around, their monthly allowance was only five taels of silver, no more. But it was different following Lin Dan. As long as they worked hard, they would have no problem making money. If those concubines who stole the Lin family's property and fled at night knew that the Lin family could rise again, I wonder how they would regret it.
"No problem, no problem, thank you girl!" Cuilan almost jumped up with joy. Before the Lin family fell into decline, she was just a servant girl who earned two hundred copper coins a month. Later, when the Lin family fell into decline, she was afraid that her brother and sister-in-law would sell her to a shabby place, so she begged to stay. She never dreamed that one day she would be able to get two taels of silver as a monthly salary! The girl is so generous!
Lin Dan glanced at her and reminded her, "When you have nothing to do, learn embroidery from the two concubines. When your skills improve and you can make clothes on your own, you will get more money. Simple dresses have low profits and low wages, while luxurious dresses have high profits and high wages. If you want to make a lot of money, you have to practice your skills hard."
The three of them nodded as they listened, looking as if they were following the eldest lady's lead.
Lin Dan was very pleased with the enthusiasm and faith in their eyes. Noticing that Zhang Hui was a little unhappy, she pushed the remaining pile of silver to her feet and said, "Mother, these are all my earnings. I give them all to you. When I find a suitable shop, you can pay me the rent."
Zhang Hui, who had been frowning, immediately became happy and hugged her daughter in her arms, calling her her darling. Others laughed at her for not being able to give birth to a son and to support the Lin family. She was destined to be alone in her old age and without any descendants. But looking at it now, what does it matter? She, a daughter, is more promising than ten sons of other families!
…………
When Du Ruyan heard that Lin Dan wanted to rent a store, she came the next day with a stack of deeds and said generously, "Just take any store you like, and I'll count it as my share of the investment. Although I, Du Ruyan, have no power or influence, I have more money than I can spend, so don't worry!"
Lin'an Prefecture was originally the Du family's hometown. When Du's mother and Queen Du got married, they were given many shops and fields in Lin'an Prefecture. Although both sisters were divorced in the end, their dowries were not embezzled. The emperor would not do such a despicable thing. Even if he disliked Empress Du, he gave her enough compensation, enough for her to live a prosperous life for the rest of her life. The emperor did not kill them all, but also arranged a way out for Empress Du, which showed that he still had some feelings for her. The Marquis of Anding did not dare to bully the brother and sister. Not only did they return Du's mother's dowry in its original form, they also gave them a lot of extra silver. This made Marquis Anding's illegitimate sons and daughters very angry, but there was nothing they could do.
Lin Dan knew Du Ruyan's situation, so he didn't bother to be polite with her. He took the deeds and looked through them one by one. He pointed to one of them and said, "Suzaku Street? If I remember correctly, Meng's Embroidery Shop is also on Suzaku Street, right?"
"Yes, my shop is right across from hers, with our doors facing each other."
"Then I want this shop." Lin Dan rubbed his hands unconsciously. He felt that opening a shop opposite Meng's Embroidery Shop was a very happy thing. He had a feeling that everything was finally fulfilled.
"Okay, I'll ask Uncle Sun to clean the store right away." Du Ruyan said with a smile.
"By the way, let's make a plaque and write the name of our shop. How about calling our shop Danyan Embroidery Shop?" Lin Dan said slowly.
"What did you say?" Du Ruyan was stunned.
"I said our embroidery shop should be called Danyan Embroidery Shop. Do you think this name is suitable?"
"It's suitable, of course it's suitable!" Du Ruyan came back to her senses and wanted to smile, but her eyes were red. She really didn't want anything from helping Lin Dan, she just liked her tenacity when facing difficulties. But Lin Dan held her hand tightly and pulled her out of the quagmire. Danyan Embroidery Shop, this is their name and also their business, how great!
"Dandan, we must make Danyan Embroidery Shop the best one in Lin'an Prefecture!" Du Ruyan vowed with great enthusiasm.
Lin Dan shook her head with a calm expression: "No, our goal is to make Danyan Embroidery Shop the best embroidery shop in the Great Zhou Kingdom." If she does it, she will either not do it or do it the best.
Du Ruyan was stunned for a moment, then laughed heartily. She really likes Lin Dan's personality. She seems to be indifferent to the world and very Buddhist, but when it comes to being serious, she will immediately become aggressive and forge ahead.
…………
Both of them are action-oriented people. It only took them half a month to decorate the store and hang up the sign.
Meng Si looked across with a frown on her face and murmured, "Danyan Embroidery Shop, who owns this?" As soon as she finished speaking, the door of the shop opposite opened. Lin Dan and Du Ruyan walked out one after another, holding two large flower baskets in their hands. Zhang Hui carried a string of firecrackers and lit them in the deserted alley next to them.
The crackling sound attracted many passers-by, but because the shop was decorated too exquisitely and luxuriously, each floor tile was specially made by craftsmen and looked as smooth as jade. Although there were not many fabrics on the shelves, they were all rare and precious varieties on the market, so ordinary people dared not patronize it.
Du Ruyan looked at the deserted store with a somewhat frustrated expression.
Lin Dan was not worried at all. She just put the needle and thread and embroidery frame in order.
Just at this moment, Du Rushong walked in wearing a tight suit and holding a sword. He did not take a day off today. He came here in a hurry after changing shifts with his colleagues. He handed a beautiful little box to Lin Dan and said softly, "Miss Lin, I wish you a prosperous opening."
"Thank you." Lin Dan opened the box and found a folding fan inside. The fan was embroidered with a picture of flowers and birds. The use of colors and changes in needlework were completely different from the embroidery of the Great Zhou Kingdom. It was an extremely gorgeous yet extremely simple style. The selection of embroidery threads was not limited to silk threads, but also included grass stems, silk ribbons, bird feathers, cashmere, etc.
"Using real grass stems to embroider a futon, what a wonderful idea!" Lin Dan immediately liked this gift and said with certainty: "Isn't this an embroidery from the Great Zhou Kingdom?"
"This is what I seized from the pirates' ship. The Japanese embroidery skills were inherited from the prosperous Tang Dynasty hundreds of years ago. Many of the Tang Dynasty needlework techniques have been lost in the Great Zhou Dynasty, but they have preserved them intact." Du Rushong lowered his eyes to look at her and asked expectantly, "Do you like this gift?"
"I like it very much!" Lin Dan nodded vigorously, his eyes wide open, "Can I cut it open? I want to learn the Japanese needlework."
Du Rushong's expression froze for a moment, then he shook his head and chuckled, his tone very helpless: "Go ahead and cut it, whatever you want." Lin Dan is worthy of being Lin Dan, always putting practicality first. No wonder she was able to reopen Lin’s Embroidery Shop in just over half a year.
No, it is no longer Lin’s Embroidery Shop, but Danyan Embroidery Shop. Thinking of this, Du Rushong smiled even more gently.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
