After October, the weather suddenly became cold.
Especially in the village, old houses like the Mu family's old house are filled with cold wind.
Wei Xi's cough came back again. It was an old problem of his. Usually, he would cough from before winter until the spring when everything warmed up completely.
For example, when Shen Cui and Mu Erpang met him, it was already spring, and he would still cough from time to time.
He was used to it and just said that he was afraid that his constant coughing would affect Mu Erpang's studies, so he wanted to read by himself in the room. If it still doesn't work, he will leave the academy early and come back when the weather gets warmer and he feels better.
Chen Cui didn't give in. She exchanged some system-generated medicines for cough for him and put them in his food to nourish his body.
A tonic contains five interstellar medicinal materials and costs 50 points. One serving will be effective, but the system means that it is best to take it continuously, for a month at a time, and then take one serving occasionally afterwards, and the root of the disease will be cured.
When it comes to matters concerning her health, Chen Cui would not be stingy, and she received ten taels of silver from the Wei family for living expenses every month just for this reason.
It's just that the Level 2 Academy gives her 60 points each time, and she is occasionally required to cook, which causes her to lose 20 points. All in all, it can barely cover the cost of buying medicine.
However, the expenses for pens, ink, paper and inkstones in the academy and for everyone's meals have to be turned into real expenses. Not to mention being able to save half every month like before, if I could save one or two taels of silver in a month, I would also have to thank Zhou, who was responsible for buying groceries and cooking, for her good housekeeping.
Late October was the time when the Wei family's servants had to go to the provincial capital again, but Zhou's letter home had not yet been written.
Because she had to write a letter to Mu Yunchuan, Zhou had devoted more time to learning to read and write, and now she has basically mastered hundreds of commonly used characters.
Chen Cui had seen a statistic in modern times that said mastering a thousand commonly used characters could cover about 90% of written materials. It was just a family letter, and she was not allowed to send any official documents, so why was she so entangled?
A few days later, Zhou finally finished writing a letter. She was too embarrassed to ask Lao Buyu for advice on something like a family letter, so she just showed it to Chen Cui first.
Chen Cui took a quick look and saw something like "I'm fine, my family is fine, there's enough money, the money has been sent back, keep it for yourself, and take care of yourself" written on it.
Although the content is a bit dry and has nothing to do with literary talent, why should family members show off their literary talent when writing letters? Just be able to convey the most sincere concern.
Especially Zhou wrote this letter carefully. He first prepared a draft and then practiced those words based on the draft. His handwriting was much neater than usual, and it already had a graceful look.
Chen Cui happened to have written two letters to the old headmaster, one with her left hand, signed "Mr. Zhang", and the other with her right hand, signed in the name of her own academy, which she asked a traveling merchant to send to Hongle Academy in the neighboring city.
Calculating the date, it would be New Year's Day by the time they were sent there, so both letters were to wish the old headmaster a happy new year. In terms of the level of care and handwriting, they were really not as good as Zhou's family letter.
She thought a lot and was very concerned about anything related to Mu Yunchuan, otherwise she would not have died so early.
Chen Cui praised, "It's really well written, there's nothing to be ashamed of. In terms of talent and calligraphy, who in our academy can compare to them except Master Lao? It's just our token of appreciation."
He had to ask the Wei family's servants to deliver the letter, otherwise it would cost a lot of money to do it himself. He didn't have time to worry about Zhou, so the letter was delivered to Mu Yunchuan a few days later.
A month later, the Wei family's servants delivered a reply. The previous letter was written by Zhou, but this reply letter is still a family letter.
This time, there was no need for Mu Erpang to read the letter. Zhou opened it herself and read it to everyone. Occasionally, if there were a few words she didn't recognize, she would ask Mu Erpang to help her recognize them.
As for Mu Yunchuan's letter, Chen Cui didn't even need to read it, she knew what it was about. It was nothing more than expressing filial piety to her stepmother, caring about her younger brother, and caring about Zhou.
Soon Zhou finished reading, and the content was almost the same as what Shen Cui had expected. She just mentioned that she didn't expect Zhou to be able to read and write letters, and encouraged her a few words.
This template letter made Shen Cui feel sleepy, but Zhou was very happy and read the few sentences about herself again and again.
Her husband is her first priority, and even though she can read and write now, this has not changed.
Although Shen Cui didn't want her to be like this, she never found a chance to remind her.
Winter has officially arrived. Mu Erpang can still wear the new coat that Zheng gave him last year. Chen Cui emptied her closet and only found the autumn green coat and skirt that she had been wearing when she came here last year.
The jacket dress had two patches on the cuffs, which was already the best, while the others, which were at the bottom of the box, were so shabby that they were unbearable to look at.
Especially since she had lost a lot of weight in the past year, from 60kg to just over 50kg. The jacket and skirt looked empty on her body, and it didn't matter whether it fit her or not, or whether it was ugly or not, it was so airy that it was scary.
Zhou was even more miserable. She had never been willing to buy good clothes for herself, and the clothes she wore everyday were half-new and half-old. The coat she found this year was also an old one, which was even shabbyer than Chen Cui's.
Perhaps the system couldn't stand it anymore, so it gave her a task to [purchase winter clothes for everyone in the academy], and the time limit was quite generous, requiring it to be completed within five days.
Of course, winter clothes can be bought directly in the system, but Chen Cui is still supplying Wei Xi with medicine, which means she is really poor.
Later, she took Zhou to buy some cloth and cotton, and the skillful Zhou was responsible for making a jacket for everyone in the academy.
Zhou was no longer polite to Shen Cui at this moment, saying that she only did it for others and not for her. She followed Chen Cui's instructions, got the cloth and cotton, and started working immediately.
And Shen Cui, who has upgraded her needlework to level 1, can also help her.
Time is tight and the task is heavy. If Zhou wants to make it custom-made, it will be very tiring. So Chen Cui took a shortcut -
The cotton-padded jacket is all in the same emerald bamboo color, regardless of gender, and the style is simple, with a lapel and a front opening. The cuffs are slightly narrower for writing, and the collar can be stood up and buttoned. In layman's terms, it is an ancient version of a military coat, easy to put on and take off, and can be worn by men, women, young and old, tall or short, fat or thin.
When Wei Shu came over later, he was so happy to see the military coat that he joked that seeing the people in the academy dressed like this sitting in a circle, it looked like a den of several bears. He also laughed at Wei Xi, saying that his family had clearly prepared several cloaks and coats for him, so why did he have to wear such a heavy coat?
Wei Xi ignored him. Later, when night fell, Wei Shu felt the cold wind coming in from the windows on the wall and his teeth were chattering with cold. He took out Wei Xi's cloak and put it on, but found that the wide sleeves were not convenient for grinding ink for writing.
"No, this village is too cold." Wei Shu put his hand on the charcoal basin, and only then did he feel that his hand was his own.
But it was also strange that in such a cold day, Wei Xi's cough was much better than in previous years. He didn't cough much all night. Wei Shu wanted to persuade him not to stay in the village in the winter, but he had to swallow it back into his stomach.
Later, Chen Cui saw that he was really going to freeze to death, so she got him another one - the system said that the academy was full of people, and although Wei Shu was the No. 3 substitute, she was afraid that the system would count him in the same judgment, so she made one for him as well.
After putting on the military coat, Wei Shu buttoned it from the neck to the calves. His body finally warmed up and he no longer laughed at it for being ugly and bulky.
When he left the next day, he asked Chen Cui if she wanted to sell the jacket as he wanted to wear it.
Although it is not as cold at Qingzhu Academy as in the village, I still feel cold when doing homework at night.
It was originally prepared for him, and Chen Cui did not charge him any extra money. She just told him to remember to bring it with him the next time he entered the village.
Originally thought that this incident was just a minor episode, but Shen Cui did not expect that Wei Shu actually had the ability to bring goods. Ten days later, he came to the village and asked Shen Cui if he could make a few more pieces. He said that his classmates in the academy initially thought that he looked ugly in such a jacket, but later found that it was indeed warm, so they asked him where it was made and they also wanted to buy it.
This is quite embarrassing. Although the headmaster knows that Wei Xi is studying with Lao Buyu, it is normal for Wei Shu to visit his brother during his break.
However, Wei Shu inadvertently became a non-staff member of Cuiwei Academy, and others did not even think about this.
He was too embarrassed to tell people directly where the military coat came from, so he said he would help everyone decide.
At this time, Shen Cui's frugality showed its benefits. The fabric she chose was affordable and durable. Even the less wealthy students felt that they could afford it and placed an order.
In the blink of an eye, ten people had placed orders. Seeing that the situation was getting strange, Wei Shu said that his shop was small and could not take so many orders, so he stopped there.
After hearing the whole story, Shen Cui didn't decide whether to answer the call or not. Instead, she called Zhou over and asked her opinion.
In winter, Zhou was still helping people wash clothes. It goes without saying how hard it was. The chilblains on her hands were red and swollen, which made people feel distressed just by looking at them.
The system’s output does include specific medicines that can be used for treatment, but within the system, the service recipients are also divided into different levels. To put it bluntly, all the training subjects can be used, the famous teacher Lao Buyu can be partially used, but the headmaster Chen Cui and the handyman Zhou are at the same level, and there are very few things that can be used.
That special medicine cannot be used.
Among the modern products that Shen Cui could buy, there were clam oil and frostbite cream. Before winter came, she bought some clam oil for Zhou.
It definitely has some effects, but no matter how good they are, they can't compare to her soaking in cold water for four or five hours a day.
When Zhou heard that she could take orders for making clothes, her eyes suddenly lit up, but she did not agree immediately. Instead, she looked at Chen Cui and said that she would listen to her. After all, it was true that she made the jacket, but the style was designed by Chen Cui.
Chen Cui waved her hand and let her decide. Zhou said, "If I want ten coats, since the styles are simple and the sizes are the same, and I am familiar with making them, I can make one coat in about a day and hand it over within half a month. Master Wei, do you think this is okay?"
Most people in Qingzhu Academy don't lack winter coats, they just follow the trend and are not in a hurry to wear them, so Wei Shu said, "Sister-in-law, take your time and finish it before the New Year."
Chen Cui watched from the side, thoughtfully. Learning to read and write and understanding the world is only a temporary thing. These are not enough to make Zhou change his mindset, not to mention that without an economic foundation, Zhou will still have to rely on Mu Yunchuan in the future.
It seems like a good opportunity right now?
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