Chapter 87: Set off on the road [VIP]
In mid-June, silkworm rooms and rabbit houses began to be shipped in large quantities.
There is abundant rain in spring, mulberry leaves grow fast, and the silkworms eat enough. There are so many cocoons that you can't pick them all up, one batch after another. The cleaned silkworm feces are piled up in the cassava field, and sometimes they are pulled back to the village by Huang Dongsheng.
The rabbits in the village rabbit house are bred one after another. Although the finished products have not been sold yet, there is no problem selling rabbit meat.
The business of Huangji Supply and Marketing Cooperative was becoming more and more prosperous, and because of this, the problem of paying the workers' wages was solved.
Wanhe Township.
As soon as Shen Qingshan and his daughter came out of the mountains, they could hear the sound of the hand-cranked reeling machines running in the machine room under the operation of the workers.
Maizi came out with the reeled raw silk to dry. When she looked up, she saw the father and daughter returning. After greeting them, she went back into the machine room to continue working.
The father and daughter unloaded the backpack in the yard and poured out all the flowers, plants and stones inside.
Before Chen Yao could pick out plants that could produce dyes, she heard a meow and the cat came to her legs with its tail raised.
"Meow."
"Be good, little Li Nu. Sister is busy with work, go play over there." Chen Yao scratched its chin, patted its little butt, and then ignored it, concentrating on her own things.
Li Nu was a tabby cat given to Tian Baolai by an old farmer when he went to the countryside to collect vegetables. Since he was brought to Wanhe Township and raised there, Li Nu has fully demonstrated his abilities and caught two big mice in the silkworm room that night.
It is so nice that everyone praises it when they see it.
With the arrival of the raccoon slave, Goudan and Maizi no longer had to look after the silkworm room. Maizi followed the masters to learn silk reeling, while Goudan followed his father and others to pick mulberry leaves to feed the silkworms.
"Ayao, Dad will go get some water to drink. You rest in the yard for a while. In the afternoon, Dad will take you into the mountains to find the remaining dye plants." The weather was hot, and most of the water they brought into the mountains went into his daughter's stomach. Shen Qingshan licked his lips thirstily.
The old people were boiling cocoons in the kitchen. When they heard the conversation outside, they handed the cold tea and bowls they had prepared long ago to Shen Qingshan, telling him not to come in and get hot.
Shen Qingshan didn't even go into the kitchen. He took the wine and drank two bowls himself before giving it to his daughter.
Watching his daughter sorting the flowers and herbs she had picked, then pounding them repeatedly with a pestle to make a paste, and then copying the test colors bit by bit into a booklet, he felt more and more that this job was really hard, and wanted to persuade his daughter to stop, saying that her father could support her now.
Although Yang Jizong listed for his daughter which plants can produce different colors, this kid had only seen it in a book. How could he know how tired the father and daughter were to find him to talk about these plants?
He had searched Wufeng Mountain at his doorstep for dozens of days but still couldn't find several species. So he brought his daughter to the hills near Wanhe Township to look for them.
"Ayao, drink some water first. Dad will help you." Shen Qingshan handed the tea over and shook his head as he looked at his daughter's hands that were dyed with various colors.
"Dad, actually we have enough dyed raw silk at home. I'm just worried whether the wealthy families in Jiangnan will appreciate what we make." After drinking the water, Chen Yao took out her small notebook from her bosom, which recorded many thoughts of the three sisters.
Wenying and Tian Baozhu each had one of these notebooks, and a carbon stick was inserted inside to make it easier for them to take notes.
The three of them were really scratching their heads every day thinking about what styles of silk fans and velvet flowers to make and how to match the colors.
Chen Yao flipped a few pages forward and saw the handwriting of "Plant Extraction Color" written by Yang Jizong to her.
The red series includes: amaranth, madder, sumac, and safflower petals; the blue series includes: indigo, woad, and indigo; the yellow series includes: locust flowers, rhubarb, and takuya; mugwort can be used to dye blue, etc.
If it weren't for the list he had given her, she didn't know how much time it would take her to try them one by one.
Looking at the handwriting above, Chen Yao couldn't help but smile. Although Yang Jizong had been a little too much towards her recently, he always did a great job in completing any task assigned to him.
She is still very satisfied with this.
"Ayao, did you hear what your father said?" Shen Qingshan poured the juice he had pounded onto the cloth and showed his daughter the color that appeared.
Chen Yao came back to his senses from his own thoughts and glanced at the color on the cloth: "Dad, I heard it. Come on, next one."
Shen Qingshan followed his daughter's instructions and rinsed it with water first, then crushed the next one. He couldn't help but secretly complain.
What did she hear? His daughter probably didn't hear a word of his retreat.
I'm afraid that kid Yang Jizong is all on his mind.
In the evening, the father and daughter returned to the village with the workers in the silkworm room, and met Huang Dongsheng who was waiting on the stone bridge.
"Sister, uncle, you are finally back. Let's go home and have dinner." Huang Dongsheng took the backpacks of the father and daughter and carried one in each hand.
He kept praising the good relationship between the siblings.
Nowadays, most of the Shen family’s dinner is prepared by Yang Jizong and his sister.
Although Yang Jizong taught several more students how to write articles, he also had more time because these students would take turns to study.
So he returned home earlier than everyone else.
As for Wenying, her embroidery had already been completed and was just waiting to be delivered to Manager Lu along with the raw silk at the end of June.
So apart from fanning herself, she just helped her brother in the kitchen.
At the dinner table.
Yang Jizong picked up some food for Chen Yao, and seeing her eating with relish, he couldn't help but ask her opinion in a low voice, whether it was salty or bland.
Chen Yao spat out the bone and gave Yang Jizong a thumbs-up without even looking up. "I love everything you cook."
This sentence coaxed Yang Jizong into picking up the rabbit meat for her, then the fish meat, and carefully removing the fish bones before putting them into her bowl.
The elders sitting nearby were already accustomed to such scenes.
After dinner, Huang Dongsheng handed over the copper wire his cousin had asked him to buy. "Sister, you don't know, these copper wires cost five taels of silver. My hands were shaking when I paid the silver. What on earth are these copper wires used for?"
"Making velvet flowers. These velvet flowers are made with silk as the skeleton and copper wire as the veins. They are made through dozens of processes such as dyeing, hooking, and beating. They symbolize prosperity and wealth. Without the copper wire, they are not possible."
After everyone sat by and listened to Chen Yao's words, they immediately agreed that the velvet flower had a good meaning.
Tian Baozhu even asked Chen Yao to repeat it again, and she had to write it down so that she could introduce it to the guests when she went to Jiangnan.
Chen Yao was very satisfied with the copper wire she took. She pulled Wenying and Baozhu into the room to get the tools, and told Huang Dongsheng to clean up the table and move it to the yard so they could make velvet flowers.
Before Huang Dongsheng could complain, Tian Baolai and Yang Jizong had already moved the table into the yard.
The elders were enjoying the cool breeze in the courtyard, chatting and eating ice-cold melons soaked in well water.
Yang Jizong, Tian Baolai and Huang Dongsheng were servants responsible for serving fruits and vegetables to the three little sisters.
There was no other way. The three of them wanted to eat but couldn't get their hands dirty, so they could only ask the three men to cut the melon into small pieces and feed them with bamboo sticks. As for this method, it was naturally Chen Yao's idea.
Huang Xing lit mugwort in various places in the yard to fume mosquitoes. A cool breeze blew by, and everyone sighed in unison: Such a day is really comfortable.
In the blink of an eye, it was the end of June.
Before daybreak, Tian Baolai and Yang Jizong moved the sorted silk, various packed rabbit fur goods, and silk fan velvet flowers placed in dressing boxes and other luggage into the covered wagon and arranged them neatly.
At the village entrance, departure is imminent.
No matter how reluctant and worried Huang Mei was, she could only hold back her tears at this moment, hold her daughter's hand and tell her to be careful on the road.
"Mom, don't worry. We will go there in a covered wagon. We will be protected from the wind, sun and rain. Dad and uncle will protect us, so nothing will happen." Tian Baozhu, dressed as a man, also held back her tears and said goodbye to her relatives.
Just as Tian Baozhu said goodbye to everyone and was about to board the mule cart, Huang Mei hugged her daughter and said in a low voice, "Mother has sewn a pocket inside your dress. There are five taels of silver in it. Keep it with you."
"Mother!" Tian Baozhu could no longer hold back her tears, which felt like a lump in her throat. "Mother, I've put something under your pillow. Please take a look when you get home. Brother, I'll write to you when I get to Jiangnan."
Tian Baolai put his arm around his mother's shoulders and waved goodbye to his sister and father.
Huang Dongsheng was also reluctant to see his father leave home. He caught up with the mule and clung to the edge of the covered wagon, telling his father sitting inside, "Dad, don't forget the gifts you promised to bring us, and the letter you promised to send to our supply and marketing cooperative. Be careful on the road."
Huang Songbai's eyes reddened as he slapped his son's hand away: "Stinky boy, Daddy remembers this: when I'm not home, you're the man of the house. Pay more attention to everything, understand?"
"Yeah, I know."
Tanaka was driving a mule cart across the stone bridge and secretly wiping away tears. When Huang Dongsheng saw this, he stopped chasing her. When he turned back, tears were still falling down his face.
Ever since the three of them left home to follow the tea merchants to Jiangnan, except for the unusual sadness when their family members saw them off, during the day, everyone was busy with their work as usual as if nothing had happened.
Huang Mei returned home and lifted up her pillow to find a velvet flower hairpin made for her by her daughter underneath, with a cluster of blooming wintersweets on top. That night, she couldn't help but cry secretly while holding the plum blossom hairpin.
When they were sitting in the yard in the evening to enjoy the cool air, everyone would always worry about where the three of them were and whether they had a smooth journey.
Tanaka was driving a mule cart and met Chang Wei at the foot shop. After the two sides greeted each other, Chang Wei arranged their mule cart in the middle of the team, which was good for their safety and would not fall behind.
They traveled during the day in hot weather. It was the first time that Tian Baozhu left home and traveled with so many men. Although she was protected by her father and uncle, she was still a little scared, so she stayed in the caravan and didn't dare to go out for some fresh air.
"Xiaobao, go sit in the front with your father and get some fresh air. Don't get too hot. Your uncle wants to sleep for a while, so you have to drive the cart for your father at night." After leaving Qingfeng Town, Huang Songbai took advantage of the time when the team stopped to feed the livestock and came to the rear to give instructions to Tian Baozhu.
There was indeed not much space left in the car after putting the goods. Thinking that his uncle needed to rest, Tian Baozhu stopped drawing the route map, touched the tiger bone knife at his waist, and finally went outside.
"Dad, I'll accompany you." Tian Baozhu sat in front next to her father, looking a little nervous, afraid that others would find out that she was a woman dressed as a man.
Tanaka felt a little distressed when he saw his daughter's red face from the heat. In order to let his daughter enjoy the evening breeze for a while, he handed her the reins and said, "Don't be afraid, Xiaobao. Daddy is here. Do you want to learn how to drive a mule cart from Daddy?"
Tian Baozhu looked at the mule that had drunk water and was resting on the spot, then her gaze fell on the other people traveling with her. She found that no one was paying any attention to her at all. Her uneasy heart gradually settled down in her stomach, and she nodded to her father.
At night, Chang Wei led the way. After leaving Qingfeng Town, they had to travel day and night to reach the next destination, so everyone's meals were dry food or salt-baked eggs.
Tian Baozhu sat beside her uncle holding a torch, eating dry food while looking up at the night sky. The slight fear in her heart was gradually illuminated by the stars under the protection of her uncle and father, leaving only anticipation for the unknown road ahead.
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