Chapter 74: Pulling Weeds to Plant Grass
Jian Xingxia smiled and said, “It’s fine, just wear them here at my place. They’re just made of cotton cloth, cotton thread, and starch paste. If you want to take them back, that’s fine too.”
Even for Dahei, whose wage was one yuan and fifty cents, he could carry a pair home after working four hours. But Dahei stubbornly refused; he simply couldn’t bear to ruin them.
Seeing this, Jian Xingxia went back into the house and brought out a few more pairs of shoes. She handed another pair of old cloth shoes in the same size to Dahei. “One pair is for you to wear while working, and the other pair you can keep if you want.”
But Dahei shook his head and wouldn’t accept them.
“One pair, enough. Don’t wear while working, ruins shoes.”
It was useless no matter how Jian Xingxia tried to persuade him. It seemed she would have to issue a strict command. But looking at how Dahei cradled the shoes, unable to part with them, Jian Xingxia couldn’t bring herself to speak harshly.
Oh well. The shoes had been given to him anyway; if he wanted to wear them, he could wear them, and if he wanted to save them, he could save them.
Cradling his shoes and shouldering his hoe, Dahei headed off to the fields.
Jian Xingxia turned to Lin Sanniang and brought out two pairs of shoes. “Sanniang, you try these too. These two sizes should roughly fit your feet.”
The Daliang Dynasty had no custom of foot-binding, so Lin Sanniang’s feet were roughly around a modern size 37 or 38. Jian Xingxia brought two pairs for her to try.
Lin Sanniang couldn’t help but clutch her chest. “I get a pair too?”
“Of course!” Jian Xingxia smiled. “Everyone who comes to work at my place is treated equally. Food is provided, and mmh, clothing will be provided in the future too.”
Since she couldn’t keep the ancient temporary workers completely segregated from the modern world forever, Jian Xingxia planned to gradually let them adapt to life on the estate.
Jian Xingxia told Lin Sanniang to sit down and try the shoes. “If it weren’t for the fact that it was awkward to have you try them in front of Dahei, I would have given them to you right from the start.”
Although Lin Sanniang had a clever mind and had even sewn her own New Chinese Style work clothes, Jian Xingxia could tell that she was still somewhat conservative. If Jian Xingxia had demanded it, Lin Sanniang would have complied even if it made her uncomfortable. But Jian Xingxia didn’t want to make things difficult for her, so she waited until Dahei left before letting Lin Sanniang try them on.
As it turned out, doing this felt like a pleasant surprise after a long wait, leaving Lin Sanniang deeply moved.
Lin Sanniang sat on the small wooden stool as bidden and tried the shoes. “Miss, this pair fits my feet perfectly.”
Jian Xingxia picked up the box to look. “Size 37, great. Then you take this pair.”
Lin Sanniang picked up the shoes and examined them closely, her curiosity piqued. “Miss, how are these shoe soles stitched so tightly? They look about the same thickness as my own shoes, but they feel much firmer to the touch.”
Jian Xingxia smiled. “Starch paste was used, along with… well, giant stones and iron blocks to press them tightly.”
These modern, improved patchwork soles utilized hydraulic presses to compress a dozen or even dozens of layers of fabric into a 0.5cm thick sole before a machine stitched the threads. It was rather difficult for handwork to achieve this level of tight compression.
Lin Sanniang sighed with deep emotion. “These shoes are truly wonderfully made.”
Jian Xingxia smiled and said, “I heard last time that your household has enough grain to eat and the medicine is secured. What else would you like in the future? Tell me so I can prepare in advance.”
There was no helping it; in modern society, physical stores were generally for the experience and immediate convenience. Whenever there was a chance, Jian Xingxia still preferred to buy things online because it was cheap.
Holding the shoes, Lin Sanniang asked cautiously, “Miss, when the wages are paid next time, may I ask for shoes?”
The children at home went through shoes incredibly fast. To stitch a single pair of shoes, Taoya and Xing had worked for two full days and two nights, yet the result was still loose and flimsy, with sparse and messy stitches. It was estimated that before long, they would fall apart. Lin Sanniang wanted to bring a pair of new shoes back for the children.
Jian Xingxia agreed readily. “Sure. Do you know Taoya and the others’ shoe sizes? If they don’t fit, go back and find something to measure them with, bring it over, and I’ll buy them according to the sizes.”
Lin Sanniang was absolutely overjoyed. If she hadn’t known that Jian Xingxia disliked people kowtowing at the drop of a hat, she would have wanted to kowtow to her again. She truly didn’t know what other way there was to express her gratitude and reverence toward the young mistress.
Lin Sanniang couldn’t bear to wear her new shoes into the fields either. Following Jian Xingxia’s instructions, she joined Dahei in farming.
“Miss, what kind of seeds are these? Are they to be planted in this plot?” Lin Sanniang picked up a packet of seeds, confirming with Jian Xingxia.
“Yes, those are lavender seeds. Just scatter them first. Whether they sprout or not will depend on themselves.”
There was too much land, so Jian Xingxia’s current time could only be used to nurture the more important varieties, like the giant pumpkins and grafted tomatoes. The other fruits, vegetables, and landscape plants… she simply bought seeds and scattered them. Seedlings were expensive, but seeds were cheap. A single tomato seedling cost two yuan, and slightly better varieties were even more expensive. But for tomato seeds from a legitimate seed company, two yuan could buy dozens or even a hundred seeds. Jian Xingxia wasn’t picky; as long as the seeds came from a reputable company, she just picked the cheapest ones to buy. After all, she had collaborated with seed companies back at school and knew which ones were relatively reliable.
Jian Xingxia focused on tending to her seedling trays—for some of the more expensive and unique plants, she also bought seeds first to raise the seedlings herself before transplanting them later. This was the most cost-effective way.
But her words fell upon the ears of Lin Sanniang and Dahei, and even though both were one-hundred-percent supporters of Jian Xingxia, they still felt utterly baffled in their hearts.
“First pull the weeds…” “Then till the soil…” “Apply fertilizer to nourish the land…” “And then plant grass…”
Listen to that, did that sound logical?
The two of them felt deeply perplexed, but their hands and feet were very honest, obediently following Jian Xingxia’s requirements to scatter the seeds on the designated plots of land. Oh well, oh well. Although they didn’t know what kind of grass this “grass for smoking clothes” was, since the master ordered it to be planted, they would plant it.
Jian Xingxia, however, had it all planned out. The path leading out from the back door would be built into a two-meter-wide trail, with low shrubs planted on both sides to act as barriers. Outside the low shrubs would be all kinds of fruits and vegetables, making them easy to pick and admire. Further out, she would plant large swathes of landscape plants. For instance, with the lavender, she was only using a hundred square meters to test it out this time. Once she saw what the estate looked like after upgrading, she would continue to reclaim land and plant a much larger field of lavender. There were also pink muhly grass and bassia scoparia, both of which were hardy and beautiful landscape grasses perfectly suited for broadcast sowing.
The three of them squatted in the fields and kept busy all day.
Fortunately, the refrigerator still held the dishes Lin Sanniang had cooked yesterday. They steamed and reheated them at noon, and the three of them had a simple bite to eat. Lin Sanniang and Jian Xingxia were fine; after finishing their meal, their minds were entirely set on working.
Only Dahei had never eaten such delicious meat before. He felt that the wild chickens and wild boars he used to hunt, which he had placed by the fire or buried in the embers until they were dry and charred, were simply a massive waste. He had caused his former master to suffer so much hardship.
Jian Xingxia steamed a massive pot of rice—using a giant eight-to-ten-person electric rice cooker, the kind that could boil twenty ears of corn at once. She and Lin Sanniang each ate two large ocean-sized bowls of rice, and the rest was entirely consumed by Dahei. Dahei also had excellent teeth; having received Jian Xingxia’s permission, he poured all the remaining dishes into his bowl, mixed it with the rice, and ate it all, even chewing the chicken bones to pieces before swallowing them down.
Lin Sanniang watched from the side, clicking her tongue in amazement.
Heavens above! This Dahei was so capable of eating; probably only the young mistress could afford to keep him fed. Anyone else, no matter how strong Dahei was or how well he could work, fears they wouldn’t be able to afford him.
