"How much is this charcoal worth now?"
Jiang Yue arrived at a charcoal shop in the city. The clerk pointed to a small sign that said, "Today's price is 25 wen per jin."
She raised an eyebrow. She had glanced at it when she passed by earlier. The color of this charcoal wasn't very good, and it should have a strong smoky smell. Of course, the silver-thread charcoal was reserved for the nobles.
It was the off-season then, and ordinary charcoal was only 10 cents per pound. Today it has increased by one and a half times.
"Do you want it? If not, give it to the person behind you." The guy said calmly and not angry.
He knew that this charcoal was even more expensive than winter charcoal, but after the rainstorm, the firewood sellers had stopped coming, and the people in the city had no firewood to use, so they had to use charcoal. Their store's current inventory wouldn't last much longer, and the owner had taken half of it for his own use.
It was estimated that in two days, even 30 cents would not be enough to buy it, and he would have to pay for some backup himself.
"Two pounds." She handed over the basket, and the clerk poured the food in after weighing it.
As she walked out the door, the next person asked for 30 kilograms. The people in line behind her suddenly became nervous, worried that there would be no charcoal. If they couldn't start a fire, they would have nothing to eat even if they had rice.
The two of them went to the brick kiln where they had been staying before, which was very close to the city gate. They used to have a regular firewood delivery person, but now they couldn't deliver anymore.
Now that charcoal is expensive and firewood is scarce, business at the tile kiln has slowed down. The boss leaned against the door and sighed, having no choice but to dismiss his employees and wait for work to come back.
"boss."
The boss looked up and saw that it was his distinguished guests from before. He forced a smile and said, "Are you two here to place an order? It's a pity that the kiln can't be opened now, so there are only some old goods left."
"I'm going to see if you have any small stoves left."
Not only do they burn roof tiles, the tile kilns also burn some pottery pots and stoves. However, the craftsmanship is not as good as those made by the government. They are all rough handicrafts sold to ordinary people.
The boss stood up. "Oh? What kind of stove do you mean?"
The boss took the man to a room in the backyard, which was specially used to store this type of goods.
Jiang Yue looked at it and pointed at the small medicine furnace and said, "I want this one, just a little bigger and flatter, and the opening at the bottom for the charcoal to enter should be a little bigger."
The boss looked them up and down but couldn't see anything wrong with them. Nowadays, people think buying a medicine stove is bad luck; it's only used when you're sick.
He shook his head and said, "The medicine furnaces are all this big. I don't have any fire now, so I can't open the kiln to make it for you."
He saw the charcoal in the basket on his hand, and thought, "If you provide the charcoal yourself, I can make it for you."
Opening a small kiln and making a little money is better than making no money at all, right?
Jiang Yue didn't need the two pounds of charcoal, so she gave it to him.
Because the charcoal was provided by the customers, the boss only provided the clay and craftsmanship, and charged her 50 cents per piece.
Including the charcoal fee, it was 100 wen each, quite expensive. However, she wanted something bigger than the small medicine furnace, so the boss needed to do some research. So she didn't mind that.
After agreeing to pick it up in three days, the two went home.
I also added a set of tables and chairs for the main room and their master bedroom. The wood was ordinary, but the craftsmanship was good and it was very stable.
"Come up." After lunch, Jiang Yue took off her shoes and got on the kang. Seeing Jiang Nian hesitate, perhaps he was not used to the new bed.
Then again, they had never slept on a bed before, just straw and blankets spread out on wooden boards. Now the new bed was high, spacious, and clean, and Jiang Nian was a little uncomfortable with it.
She dragged him onto the kang and took off his outer clothes - which were the least dirty set of clothes they had.
I let him lie down, and then I lay down too. Finally, I had a pillow.
Looking at my arms, the clothes are a little short. I should be 1.6 meters tall now, right?
"Starting tomorrow, we don't have much to do. I'll measure your height and make two new sets of clothes for you, and two for myself. I'll use the new cloth I bought. You won't wear this linen that gets torn easily anymore..."
She muttered to herself for a long time, and Jiang Nian kept looking at her sideways without saying a word.
Jiang Yue taught him, "From now on, you have to answer when I speak. Now you have to say 'OK'."
You just need to talk more so that your tongue won't become stiff.
Jiang Nian opened his mouth and said, "Okay."
Then, he leaned over and kissed Jiang Yue, just touching their lips for a moment before separating, just like what Jiang Yue had done when he came back.
Since that day, he would sometimes stare at Jiang Yue's lips in a daze. However, this was the first time he took the initiative to kiss her.
Jiang Yue's ears felt a little hot, so she turned sideways, hugged his waist, and buried her head in his chest to sleep.
Jiang Nian rubbed his chin against the top of her head, then closed his eyes and rested.
The two of them didn't know how long they slept for their nap, but they were woken up by the sound of rain hitting the roof.
Jiang Yue looked out the window and saw the rain curtain merged into one. Under the heavy rain, the medium-sized tree in the yard, which was originally lush and green, lost all its leaves in an instant and became bare.
It rained heavily, but luckily we managed to get the mule into the newly built pen. The sheep became roommates with the mule. It was surrounded by the pen, so the rain couldn't get in much.
There was already a lot of water vapor in the air, and now it felt like the water vapor was about to overflow.
Jiang Yue took out the cloth from the space and asked Jiang Nian to choose what color he liked.
"Dark blue? Black?"
Seeing his hesitation, the wealthy Jiang lady, who had a lot of cloth, said generously, "It's okay, we can make a set of each color! You make one set and I make one set."
It just so happens that she doesn't like bright colors either.
She had never learned any proper craft, so she made the most ordinary double-breasted jacket and trousers according to the style of the two old clothes they were wearing.
The inner wear is made of two sets of long-sleeved and short-sleeved round-neck T-shirts in white and black, which can also be worn as pajamas.
She was in such a hurry that she forgot to buy any underwear. What a mistake!
She had no choice but to make a vest-style bra. Looking down, her small bun was about to become a big bun, so happy!
The first set was made first and two people tried it on.
Jiang Yue was very satisfied. Although it was not as skilled as the embroiderer's, it was still not bad, with neat stitches. As long as the movement was not too big, it would definitely not fall apart.
But the boy seemed a little uncomfortable, he frowned - pulling his crotch...
"Yueyue, no, no..."
"dislike?"
"Yeah." He nodded.
"No, you have to wear it. It's sanitary and safe, don't you know?"
Even if she had to adapt to local customs, she couldn't go more than three days without a bath or a change of clothes. But after the rain, her clothes wouldn't dry out and would get moldy and smelly. She was also considering making a few more sets of inner clothes, not to mention underwear!
The main reason is that Jiang Yue doesn't want to see that thing from time to time.
I'm still young! I can't think too much!
Seeing Jiang Nian's aggrieved expression, Jiang Yue made him five pairs of underwear in a row.
My waist and hands are tired, and I want to ask how people in ancient times survived without sewing machines?
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