Chapter 105: Lifesaving Wages
Lin Sanniang carried the fabric, needles, and thread to Hehua’s house.
Upon inquiring, she found that Hehua’s family was indeed on the brink of starvation, completely unable to put food on the table.
Hehua wept, “We ran out of rice the day before yesterday. Yesterday, I went to the market to sell handkerchiefs. Handkerchiefs that usually fetch ten copper coins could only be sold for three today. Even then, the shopkeeper said he couldn’t advance any money and would only take them on consignment.”
Hehua’s household spanned three or four generations, all of them mouths to feed.
“We’ve borrowed from everyone we can, but no one has any surplus grain…” Hehua felt utterly ashamed. “I know things are hard for you too, Sanniang, but I couldn’t think of any other way. I could only grow a thick skin and ask if you had any work I could do.”
Hehua had left ten handkerchiefs at the embroidery shop on consignment. When she went to check today, the shopkeeper said only one had sold and handed her three copper coins.
But with grain prices soaring these days, three copper coins couldn’t even buy a single handful of rice.
Hehua had no choice but to swallow her pride and bring the dried radish her mother-in-law had pickled over to Lin Sanniang’s house, hoping to find a bit of work.
Yet she knew very well in her heart that Sanniang had no family to lean on and was dragging three children along; if anything, Sanniang’s life was probably harder than hers.
As Hehua spoke, she began to regret it, her heart filled with guilt. “I’m sorry, Sanniang. Things are so difficult for you, and you might not even have work yourself, yet here I am making things hard for you…”
In these times, it was hard for the person begging for help, and just as hard for the person being begged.
“It’s no trouble at all,” Lin Sanniang said.
“Yes, everyone has it hard, I know… huh?” Hehua suddenly snapped her head up.
“It’s no trouble?”
“Mm.” Lin Sanniang felt immensely relieved that she had come early. She produced the pre-sorted fabric, needles, and thread she held in her hands. “I just received a job today. I can’t finish it alone, so I was actually hoping to get you and my older sister to help me out.”
Hehua was hit by a wave of shock and joy, but she quickly worried that Lin Sanniang was giving up her own work out of charity. After all, the stack of fabric didn’t look particularly large.
Forgoing any questions about wages, she immediately fretted over Lin Sanniang instead.
“Sanniang, if you give this work to me, what about you? Do you have any work left?”
Lin Sanniang patted the stack of coarse cloth and smiled. “I have other tasks to keep me busy. The job I took this time is quite substantial. This stack is yours. In a little while, I still need to make a trip to my sister’s house and Yuxiang’s house. You’re all getting the same; everyone gets this much.”
This entire stack of fabric was just one person’s share of the work!
Hehua was incredulous. “Sanniang, you actually managed to land so much work!”
Lin Sanniang smiled. “Just good luck. I encountered a kind-hearted mistress. She’s opening a shop on her end and needs some pillowcases made… well, something along those lines.”
Lin Sanniang explained the details to Hehua meticulously. “You and Sister Yuxiang have the best embroidery skills. When the time comes, just follow this pattern and embroider it onto the corners of the pillowcases.”
Hehua looked over the design and felt the work wasn’t difficult. Looking at the embroidery pattern, she estimated it would take at most five or six days to finish the sewing and embroidery.
This wasn’t considered a massive project, so she asked thoroughly on the cautious side, “May I ask how much the wages are?”
Lin Sanniang knew the current state of the Great Liang Dynasty all too well. She didn’t dare to be as extravagantly generous as Jian Xingxia, choosing a middle-ground compensation instead.
“The mistress mentioned that she might have more needlework for us in the future, so for this round, the needles and thread will stay with us once the job is done. We can use them for our daily needs as well.”
“Furthermore, if there are any fabric scraps left over, they belong to us.”
“For making these pillowcases, a small one earns one catty of rice, and a large one earns two. Three catties of rice for a large one. The embroidery and sewing will split the earnings evenly.”
Hehua did the math. She had the materials for one large and two small throw pillowcases in her hands. Since she could do the embroidery herself, she wouldn’t have to split it with anyone.
Calculated this way, she could actually earn three and a half catties of rice!
Hehua gasped softly. “Sanniang, rice is exorbitantly expensive now! A catty sells for over twenty or even thirty copper coins!”
Three and a half catties of rice, worked out carefully, was worth nearly a hundred copper coins.
Even if she calculated it based on the previous prices for embroidered handkerchiefs, she would have to embroider ten handkerchiefs just to earn that much money.
Yet now, simply making two or three pillowcases and embroidering some simple patterns would net her three and a half catties of rice!
Unease stirred in Hehua’s heart. “Sanniang, is what you’re saying true?”
Lin Sanniang understood Hehua’s skepticism toward such a massive, unexpected blessing perfectly. She quickly said, “Don’t be too quick to celebrate just yet. That mistress is on a tight schedule. She’s only giving us five days for this work…”
Lin Sanniang continued, “You and Yuxiang can embroider, so you’ll do your own sets. But you also need to carve out a day and a half to help me and my older sister with our embroidery. The timeline is not going to be easy.”
Hehua calculated the time. If five or six days’ worth of work had to be squeezed into three and a half days, it would indeed be quite a challenge.
But—
With three and a half catties of rice on the line, what did a little hardship matter?
Hehua’s heart settled. “So that’s how it is. No wonder the mistress is giving so much rice. Don’t worry, Sanniang, I will definitely do the work with the utmost care.”
Lin Sanniang smiled. “Take another look at the sewing kit.”
Hehua opened the small cloth bundle without expecting anything. The moment it unfurled, she was instantly rooted to the spot in sheer astonishment. “Heavens! How can there be so many needles and thread!”
Leaving the thread aside, these thirty-odd needles alone were enough to last her for three years!
Hehua felt a wave of trepidation, thinking it seemed highly improbable. “Sanniang, the four of us are splitting these needles?”
“No.”
Hehua let out a sigh of relief. She had thought as much; so many needles were worth quite a bit of money, so how could they just be left in their hands?
Presumably, that mistress had a lot of work to distribute, so these needles were meant to be shared among everyone.
She looked toward Lin Sanniang, preparing to pick out the two or three needles she would need for her own use.
Who would have guessed that Lin Sanniang would press her hand down. “These needles are not being split among the four of us.”
Hehua smiled. “I know. I’ll just pick out two or three—one for sewing and two for embroidery will be enough…”
“No,” Lin Sanniang felt a mixture of bittersweet sorrow and joy in her heart. She finally understood why the young mistress of the manor would occasionally show that kind of happy yet helpless smile. Pressing Hehua’s hand, she said it all in one breath, “You don’t need to choose. All of these needles belong to you alone.”
“What?”
Lin Sanniang smiled. “It’s true. I divided it into four portions. Yours and Yuxiang’s are larger. Since my sister and I have average embroidery skills, ours are smaller.”
In reality, she had to go to work at the manor from time to time, so she didn’t have that much time to do needlework in the Great Liang Dynasty.
Meanwhile, Eldest Aunt Lin had only just recovered her health, was looking after her children, and suffered from old injuries on her hands; she would inevitably be slower than Hehua and Yuxiang.
Hehua finally processed the words. “Sanniang, you mean the mistress took so many needles—”
Her hand gently brushed over the long row of thirty-odd needles.
“—and left them all here for us to keep?”
“Exactly!” Lin Sanniang smiled, but she didn’t linger to chat further with Hehua. “Get to work quickly. I still need to head to Yuxiang’s house and my sister’s house. I’ll come find you again in three days.”
Saying that, she handed the one catty of rice she had brought along directly to Hehua. “This is the deposit, take it.”
Hehua hesitated for a long time before she dared to take it. As she held the heavy bag of rice—the household hadn’t seen this much rice in ages—her eyes instantly turned red.
“Thank you, Sanniang. Thank you so much…”
Lin Sanniang quickly took her leave from Hehua’s house, not daring to stay any longer.
If she stayed any longer, she was afraid she would start crying too.
She made subsequent stops at Yuxiang’s house and Eldest Aunt Lin’s house, distributing the throw pillowcase work and leaving behind a catty of rice at each stop. Leaving amidst their gazes of profound gratitude, she finally returned to her own home.
In truth, Jian Xingxia hadn’t set a strict deadline. She had only agreed with Lin Sanniang to invite her back to the manor every other day, leaving the time in between for Lin Sanniang to arrange herself.
Based on her past experiences, Lin Sanniang figured it would take anywhere from seven or eight days to about ten days.
She didn’t dare to dawdle either and wanted to finish it as quickly as possible, but there was no actual need to rush it within five days.
She had framed it that way purely because she wanted Hehua and Yuxiang to accept these wages—which were far above market rates—with a peaceful mind.
Because these were, in essence, lifesaving wages!
