For an embroiderer to do her work, she naturally needs a place. Lu Yunfeng has already chosen a location, in the open space between the Lu family's and A Jin's houses. That place is a wasteland ten meters wide, with a stream flowing through it, and it is full of sand and gravel.
After discussing the selection of embroiderers, Lu Yunfeng began to talk about building a temporary shed. "Everyone is here today, which is perfect. I need to hire people. It's 25 coins a day to go to Qingzhugou to cut bamboo and build the shed. They need to be strong."
The young men in their early twenties had been idle for the past few days, discussing whether they should go to the county town to carry heavy loads. Now that they heard there was work in the village, they were scrambling to take it on. "Dayun, Dayun, me, me, me! You know I'm a hard worker."
When Zhao Chunhua was selected as an embroiderer, Wang Qing was overjoyed. Now, hearing that there was work to do today, he was also very enthusiastic. "Dayun, I can do it too. Don't look down on me because I'm forty years old, I have plenty of strength."
Lu Yunfeng nodded, "Uncle Qing, please come too."
Wang Qing was selected, and Wang Xilai also shouted, "Dayun, it's me!"
Wang Xilai was a heavy drinker and lazy. He looked healthy, but he had long been drained by alcohol. Lu Yunfeng had seen them plowing and planting in the spring and knew the habits of many people in the village. So he naturally disagreed. "Uncle Xilai, the work I do is physically demanding. I have to keep working without resting. Besides, with so many people working together, I have to keep up with everyone else."
When Wang Xilai heard that he couldn't rest, he started to have second thoughts. He was tempted by the twenty-five coins, but he was a sly one and couldn't keep up with the others in terms of physical strength or power.
The village chief spoke up, "Xilai, we need this shed urgently, so you don't need to go." After saying that, he selected two more people, "You two should work hard today and give it your all. It's not easy for us country folk to find embroidery work in the city. Since the Lu family cares about us villagers, let's hurry up and set up the shed. Once their business gets going, there will be more work for the embroiderers, and we villagers will also make money."
There were thirty people in total. Ten people leveled the sandy land and changed the course of the stream, while the rest went to Qingzhugou to cut bamboo.
Some elderly people who had nothing to do were reluctant to leave, so they sat on the rocky hill by the roadside and started chatting. The Lu family's rise to prominence was a big deal. The village chief was directing people to work on the sandy ground. Qin Xiaozhou led the embroiderers into the courtyard and gave each of them scraps of cloth and needles and thread. "Today, you can practice first. You must embroider for four hours every day. You can go home for lunch and rest for one hour at noon to relax your eyes."
The men were efficient workers; in just one morning, they had cleared a long, narrow space of over 100 square meters from the sandy ground next to the Lu family's house, with piles of green bamboo at the entrance. Around noon, a batch of timber arrived, pulled by three oxcarts.
The timber was purchased from the Zhao family. After deciding to return to build a house, Lu Yunfeng went to the Zhao family first and asked his two uncles to inquire about the timber. Only three or four days later, the timber was delivered.
The brothers Zhao Yong and Zhao Zhong also delivered the wood with the buyer. "Cousin, my father, my second uncle, and I have all examined this wood carefully. It was cut down during last year's drought, so it's completely dry and has been coated with a layer of persimmon varnish. It's in excellent condition."
The men in the village helped unload the timber, Wang Lan served everyone water, Qin Xiaozhou cooked in the kitchen, and at noon the villagers who had come to work went home for lunch. The timber buyer was from Zhao Village, so he had a meal with the Zhao brothers at the Lu family's house.
On the table, there was boiled fish, stir-fried pork, and boiled fatty pork, along with stir-fried cabbage and cucumber salad. The group of people ate voraciously. They were in the timber business and also owned dozens of acres of timber, which they often delivered to others. But no other family had ever had such a lavish meal. Even the pig farmers in the village wouldn't dare to eat like this when they had their pigs slaughtered.
"Your Lu family is too kind. The meal is so lavish. Ah Yong, your aunt is very fortunate to have married into such a family."
In the afternoon, the men started building the shed. Since they were paid, they worked efficiently and no one slacked off.
In the evening, Qin Xiaozhou called for people to take baskets and pick all the peaches from the transplanted peach trees by the roadside.
The peach tree was newly transplanted, and its root system was probably damaged. The tree thought it was going to die, so it bore a lot of fruit this year. Qin Xiaozhou asked the village chief to gather the villagers to distribute the peaches.
The peaches were distributed according to the number of people, with each person receiving three peaches.
As the sun set, the three connected bamboo sheds were completed, with neat bamboo planks laid on the floor. The workers who had worked today received extra peaches and money, and said goodbye to each other as they headed home, their laughter carrying far.
Wang Xilai carried about a dozen peaches in his clothes as he walked home. He took one out and took a bite. The peaches were juicy. "I didn't expect the Lu family to actually share all the peaches. These peaches are so sweet."
The Lin family member spat at the doorway, and the eldest Lin family member cursed, "Show-off! He got rich by relying on a woman, and he bought off the villagers with just a few peaches."
Lin Lao Er picked up the peach that had been thrown on the ground, wiped it, and took a bite. "The Lu family is no good, but this peach is sweet, so don't waste it."
The next morning, before the sun had even reached the village, all seven embroiderers arrived. After carefully washing their hands, they sat down in the shed. Qin Xiaozhou took out a sheet of paper with clothing designs on it and said, “Make the clothes according to the designs. The style and waistline cannot be changed arbitrarily. The embroidery can be changed, however. Embroider whatever you are good at, but only embroider things with auspicious meanings. You can’t just embroider ugly or unlucky flowers and plants.”
Wang Yehong asked, "I love red leaves the most. May I embroider some red leaves on this?"
Qin Xiaozhou hissed, "Let's not embroider randomly. Rich young ladies all like orchids, plum blossoms, and koi. Let's embroider these to highlight the embroidery. We can also embroider pretty wildflowers from the mountains. These red leaves have a strong and vigorous feel. These clothes are mainly about softness and beauty, so let's not embroider them for now."
Li Zhen hesitated for a moment, then said, "Lofty clothes can be embroidered with lotus flowers, while delicate clothes can be embroidered with exquisite flowers and plants. I see pink lilacs and some unnamed blue wildflowers in the fields, which are also beautiful."
Li Zhen seemed timid and a widow, and usually kept quiet, but she was dedicated to embroidery and had her own ideas, so Qin Xiaozhou was relieved. He then instructed that the batch of clothes be sent to the county town in ten days.
The Lu family was to break ground on the eighth day of the fifth lunar month. Yifan gave them a day's notice to close the shop in advance, and they packed up and went home on the evening of the seventh day of the fifth lunar month. Zhao Fang, Lu Yu, and Lu Yan returned with Xiao Si, and even Jing He, Jing Yue, and the two old women came.
Two days ago, we agreed to bring Xiao Si back, but he kept crying and refused to come back that day, so we had to leave him at the shop. Now that Wang Lan saw him, she missed him terribly and hugged him, calling him her darling grandson. Then she saw that there were four more people in the house. "This house can't accommodate everyone. What will we do tonight? I'll go to the village chief's house and ask if we can stay here for the night."
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