Chapter 766 The Unlucky Sister Who Was Married in Exchange (11)
Liu Shichu put the wood carvings on consignment in Gewu. The shopkeeper liked her style very much and asked her to carve more in the same style. Liu Shichu naturally did so and took several of the ones she had made before. The shopkeeper was so happy that he even said that he would introduce her works to the distinguished guests in Kiger who liked wood carvings.
After finding a good place to consign her works, Liu Shichu was no longer so anxious and slowed down her wood carving process. She had originally intended to go the route of producing rare items, as scarcity makes things valuable, and her wood carvings were to become rare and exquisite products.
More than eight months later, the shopkeeper told her with surprise that her wood carving of "Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage" was sold for more than one hundred taels of silver, which was a very good price. After all, although her works were exquisite and rare, she was not famous yet, so she only sold it at this price. The shopkeeper said that after she became famous, the price of her future works would increase several times. He told her not to be anxious and to be patient and continue to study the wood carving business. Only the better the works, the greater the reputation.
Liu Shichu naturally understood this truth, so she agreed with the shopkeeper's words. Moreover, she sold a wood carving for more than one hundred taels of silver, which was enough for her to use for a long time. The wood carving art business was similar to antiques and curios. You could close your business for three years and make a profit for three years after you open it.
With the ability to make a living, Liu Shichu lived a very leisurely life. She only needed to spend two hours a day on carving, and the rest of the time was free. Therefore, when outsiders saw her, they would inevitably think that she was doing nothing. If there were no men coming to her house, the neighbors would think that she was doing something shameful.
But those nosy people secretly observed her for a long time and did not see any man coming to her door. Every time she went out, she was just to buy some daily necessities. Therefore, even if outsiders wanted to frame her, they had no excuse. But her leisurely life made others jealous.
"Miss Liu, are you the only one left in your family? I wonder what your family did in the past? They must have left you a lot of property, right? In my opinion, girls should be thrifty. If you suffer a big blow and do nothing all day, you will just live off the family inheritance. Once you have spent all the family inheritance, you will be miserable in the future..." When the neighbor, Aunt Zhou, saw Liu Shichu playing with a strange piece of wood in the yard, she couldn't help but say something extra.
Liu Shichu looked up at her, remembering that Aunt Zhou was very gossipy. When she first moved in, she said that she was a young girl living alone and must not be a decent person... But later, she couldn't find any handle on Liu Shichu, so she stopped saying that.
But she was busy all day long, while Liu Shichu was leisurely and romantic. He was not seen for several hours every day. The rest of the time he was either tending to the flowers and plants in the yard or drinking tea and reading. Aunt Zhou was jealous and envious.
"Auntie, you don't need to worry about this. Although my family didn't leave me any property, I can make some wood carvings and sell them for money. It's no problem to support myself." Liu Shichu glanced at Auntie Zhou, who couldn't hide the sourness in her eyes, and said in a good temper, "I just don't know if you have earned enough money for your youngest son's betrothal gift? I heard your family quarreling about this yesterday. Alas, your family is so capable, it must be possible that you can't even find a wife for your youngest son, right?"
Although Liu Shichu's tone was gentle and polite, the meaning behind his words almost made Aunt Zhou so angry that she almost fainted. Wasn't Liu Shichu just mocking her for not having enough money to marry her youngest son?
"You...you should worry about your own business! What does it have to do with you whether my son gets married or not? What are you doing with wood carving? I think you are doing something shameful!" Aunt Zhou was so angry that she jumped up and cursed.
"Auntie, if you slander me and damage my reputation, then I will drag you to the government for justice. I am an orphan and I am barefoot and I am not afraid of those who wear shoes. I just don't know if you, who have a lot of children and grandchildren, are afraid..." Liu Shichu said, staring at Auntie Zhou with his pair of dark eyes, without blinking. When Auntie Zhou was looked at by those eyes, she felt a cool breeze running up her back, making her feel as if she was being stared at by an evil ghost. She shivered violently and dared not say anything to Liu Shichu.
Liu Shichu was not someone who was easy to mess with. When she first moved here, some thugs thought she was an orphan with no one to rely on and wanted to take advantage of her. As a result, these thugs were severely beaten up and lost more than they gained. They never dared to mess with this troublemaker again.
Aunt Zhou was a gossiper and made up a lot of rumors about Liu Shichu, so Liu Shichu found a time to put sacks on her two sons and beat them up, and warned them to go home and tell their mother to keep her mouth shut.
How could her two sons not know that they were implicated by their own mother and thus committed this crime? So after returning home with their faces bruised and swollen, they complained repeatedly that Aunt Zhou had offended others but let them, the sons, suffer and be beaten. Faced with her resentful sons and the complaints of the whole family, Aunt Zhou felt so aggrieved that she could only bow her head and behave herself, and she even lost the courage to quarrel with her daughter-in-law.
"That little bitch! I'm just waiting to see her end up on the streets after spending all the family fortune! Bah..." Aunt Zhou returned home cursing in a low voice, only to see her youngest son sitting in the main room with a stern face, while the old man was smoking a pipe and sighing from time to time.
"Old man, what's wrong?" Aunt Zhou asked her husband.
"My youngest son is still short of five taels of silver for the dowry he needs to get married. Where can I get it? Even if I sell my old bones, they are not worth this much money." Old man Zhou sighed.
Aunt Zhou looked at her youngest son and thought that it was no wonder that he was so dejected. But she felt sorry for her son and her husband, so she wanted to discuss it with her youngest son: "My son, why don't we just give up Miss Wang? Her family wants so much dowry, and we don't have the money. If you are obedient, we will let the matchmaker find you a gentle and obedient one who doesn't need so much dowry..."
"Mom! I just like Miss Wang, and I won't marry anyone else except her! If you can't help me marry her, I will be a bachelor for the rest of my life!" Zhou Xiaoer shouted at his parents with his big eyes glaring.
"Son! Are you trying to destroy my parents? Where can we find the money for the dowry? Don't we have any other options? Your elder brother doesn't make much money working at the dock, your sister-in-law is about to give birth, and I can't even make five cents a day washing clothes. You are trying to kill me..." Aunt Zhou said sadly. The family was in such a difficult situation, didn't she want to find a wife for her son? It was because they had no money!
(End of this chapter)
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