Xie Yushu looked at her hands and thought, "Chopsticks it is!"
"How long will it take to get these things?"
"Half a month."
"Alright, I'll come back to collect it in half a month. How much silver?"
"We're brothers, no need for money! You can come and collect it when the time comes!"
"That won't do! It's too much work and too much firewood, and besides, my sister-in-law and the children need to eat and wear clothes too!"
"this",
Li Daniu glanced back at his wife and children. Although they hadn't gone hungry over the years, they hadn't been well-off either. He was clumsy with words, couldn't speak well, and was stubborn. He wouldn't agree with customers, so business was indeed bad, and they barely made ends meet.
Making this batch of stuff will indeed require a lot of carbon, and meteorite iron is exceptionally hard, so we'll also need lard to lick the fire, he said.
"Then sister-in-law, just give me two taels of silver for the charcoal!"
Although Xie Yushu didn't know how much charcoal was needed to forge iron, she had heard that sometimes the charcoal fire wasn't hot enough and oil had to be added. Two taels of silver wasn't enough, not to mention there was still half a month's work to do!
Furthermore, besides these initial costs, a skilled craftsman's fee is also quite high!
Li Daniu said this simply because he wanted to take care of his former brother, but seeing that they were not well-off and were about to have three children, Xie Yushu could not take advantage of them, so she gave him twenty taels of silver.
Seeing this, Li Daniu glared and quickly declined.
"Sister-in-law, what are you doing? You don't need these things at all! Giving them to me like this is just embarrassing me!"
Besides, you just suffered a disaster, and it wasn't easy for you to go into the mountains and get some things to sell for money. You can't waste them like this!
He then returned the silver.
Seeing this, Xie Yushu had no choice but to back down.
"Then I'll leave you some capital. I'll bring back ten taels. Brother Li, you can't just take these ten taels. And don't tell me it's only two taels of silver as capital. Even if I'm ignorant, I know that two taels of silver is definitely not enough. If you don't take it, I won't make that thing!"
"At worst, your brother's leg will be beyond repair!"
"You! Even if two ounces isn't enough, three or four ounces would be enough. You don't need this much!"
“Brother Li, this job will take half a month to finish, and my sister-in-law and the child haven’t eaten or drunk anything! Even if Xiao Yi came, he wouldn’t let you do this! If I really gave you three or four taels, Xiao Yi wouldn’t let me! He might even divorce me when he gets back! Please don’t make things difficult for me!”
Since she couldn't reason with this simple-minded, uncultured man, Xie Yushu simply brought up Xiao Yi. Besides, given his skill, ten taels of silver really wasn't much!
Upon hearing this, Li Daniu truly believed that his brother was the absolute authority at home! Fearing that Xie Yushu would really be divorced, which would be a terrible mistake, he reluctantly accepted the money.
After finishing her formalities, Xie Yushu didn't dare to delay any longer, so she said goodbye to Li Daniu and his wife and headed back.
On the way, I bought some pastries and candied hawthorns for Xiao Haitang and Xiao Jinyu, as well as ten catties of eggs. I and Qu Xiaodie each chose two pieces of the most fashionable fine cotton cloth at the time, and then went directly to the dock.
It wasn't that she didn't want to buy other fabrics, it was just that in this godforsaken world, ordinary people could only wear cotton and linen, while merchants, wealthy people, landlords and the like could wear damask, gauze and silk, and only officials could wear damask, silk, satin, silk and ice silk, and even then, only the royal family could wear bright yellow and bright purple!
To be honest, she can't even use the tiger and wolf skins in her house according to the rules!
Because ordinary people could only wear dog skin, sheep skin, rabbit skin, etc., while officials could wear wolf skin, fox skin, tiger skin, bear skin, crane cloak, etc. Only officials of the third rank and above could use these.
The wicked feudal society divided people into different classes everywhere!
We still have a long way to go to achieve freedom of dress!
However, Xie Yushu wasn't worried about whether she could wear silk and satin at this time. As a countrywoman, it wouldn't be convenient for her to wear silk and satin. Fortunately, cotton fabrics also come in different grades. She and Qu Xiaodie chose the highest grade cotton fabrics, which had beautiful colors, delicate textures, and were light and thin. They were comfortable to wear and absorbent. Moreover, clothes made of fine cotton fabrics were no worse than silk and satin fabrics. It all depended on the design!
Anything produced by Xie Yushu must be a masterpiece!
As for Xie Yushu's thousand-year-old ginseng and snake gall, she planned to order them for delivery next time, keeping her wealth discreet. The hairpin was also finished; she could sell it and use the money to secretly add to the hairpin, quietly becoming a little rich woman!
When Xie Yushu and Qu Xiaodie arrived at the dock, everyone else had already boarded the ship. The two of them hurriedly ran onto the ship as well, and the group happily headed back.
They all had money when they came back. They paid for their own boats, but Xie Tianqi and Liu Xiaodong rented an extra small boat so that it would be easier for others and more convenient for them.
Before they arrived home, Xie Yushu instructed them that once they got home, they shouldn't mention the 100 taels of silver Han Zhongyu had given her for the consultation fee and medicine. She also gave Xie Baotian the 20 taels from the sale of medicinal herbs, which, together with the 20 taels of silver Xie Tianqi had received as a reward, should be used to encourage him to buy a few more acres of land.
Everyone readily agreed to conceal the 100 taels of silver, but Xie Baotian stubbornly refused to accept the 20 taels, stating bluntly...
"Xiao Yi's legs are bad, and his family doesn't own any land. You should keep this money and buy a few more acres of land so you can live a better life!"
Xie Yushu said
"Do you think I can settle down and live a peaceful life just because I bought land? No matter how much land I buy, as long as Xiao Yuanhang is still studying, all that land will be for him to cultivate. I'm too lazy to do that kind of hard work and let others benefit from it!"
Rural people have confidence because of two things: land and people. If you have more land and make a living, I can still go back and take advantage of your situation!
When Xie Tianqi and Tianming come to Tai'an Prefecture to work, only the eldest brother Xie Tianlin will be left at home. We can use these forty taels of silver to buy five acres of high-quality wasteland and clear it out. Then we can register it under the eldest brother's name, which will put his mind at ease.
It's not scarcity that's the problem, but inequality. We siblings have always had a good relationship; we shouldn't let his staying at home cause any discord.
The reasons for choosing Xie Tianming instead of Xie Tianlin were threefold: firstly, considering the brotherly relationship between Xie Baotian and Xie Baoshu; secondly, at this time, it was usually the eldest son who stayed at home to fulfill his filial duties; and thirdly, and most importantly, Xie Tianlin's personality was like Xie Baotian's—kind, honest, and even somewhat weak, making him unsuitable for venturing out into the world.
Seeing Xie Baotian's predicament, and knowing Xie Yushu genuinely wanted to give, Xie Baoshu joined in the persuasion.
"Brother, Yu Shu has thought things through very well. I think this arrangement is excellent. Just accept it. When our family is doing well, we will have more confidence to support Yu Shu and the others. Besides, Tianming and Tianqi have both found jobs, so we don't need to worry about them. Tianlin is an honest child, and we wouldn't feel at ease if he went out. If one of our children isn't around, our mother will have to worry about him. Tianlin is staying at home to fulfill his filial duties, so we need to provide for him as well!"
As for Yu Shu, tell the children at home that our family is able to live like this entirely thanks to Yu Shu's help, and that they should take good care of Yu Shu when they are able to do so in the future.
"Second Uncle, even if you don't say anything, we have to protect my sister!"
Xie Tianqi also said.
After some persuasion, Xie Baotian finally accepted the money.
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