Chapter 103: Sanniang, Good on You!
Before the market closed, Jian Xingxia managed to ask around for information about wholesale shops.
She headed to a wholesale shop first and bought ten cases of mineral water, choosing the kind that retailed for 2 yuan a bottle. Since it was her first time buying wholesale and she didn’t have a physical business license, the owner would only drop the price to one yuan per bottle at lowest.
The owner said, “It’s not that I won’t give it to you cheaper, but ten cases don’t even count as wholesale at my place. Plenty of people buy several cases just for their own families to drink.”
If he hadn’t seen Jian Xingxia arrive on a tricycle, looking like she meant business, the owner wouldn’t have even bothered with her.
“Twenty-four yuan a case, that’s the absolute lowest. Otherwise, you buy fifty cases, and I can calculate it at seventy cents a bottle for you.”
Jian Xingxia: “…”
She couldn’t afford that quantity. Right now, she had to break every single cent into two.
Steeling herself, she spoke to the owner again, “Boss, how about you give me one case of each other item—Cola, Sprite, orange juice, sparkling water, black tea, green tea…”
The owner tapped rapidly on his calculator. “You’re buying so little and in such scattered varieties, I really can’t give you the wholesale price!”
In the end, he still gave Jian Xingxia the drinks at a twenty to thirty percent discount.
Including the mineral water, it came out to 420 yuan in total.
All the money in Jian Xingxia’s phone was spent, and she even had to fish out the last of her remaining cash.
Her balance stood at 395 yuan.
A historical all-time low.
On the way back, Jian Xingxia was lost in a gloomy, somber mood.
Auntie Lu and Fangfang sat together with the pile of beverages.
Auntie Lu looked at Fangfang, asking with her eyes: What’s wrong with Xiaxia?
Fangfang shook her head, indicating that she didn’t know either.
But looking at the pile of beverages, Fangfang had her own deductions: Sister Xiaxia bought so many drinks, she must be completely out of money.
Auntie Lu let out a sigh.
Ah, young people; they always wanted to toss everything into starting a business. But out of so many people who tried, how many actually made any money?
Lu’an Village was already remote enough, and the old house was even more remote than the village itself. Who would go all the way to the old house to stay at a guesthouse?
Never mind all that talk about beautiful mountain scenery; the one thing Jinmen Town had no shortage of was mountains.
Auntie Lu felt that if she were in Jian Xingxia’s shoes, she would be sighing right now too.
Fangfang, however, felt that Jian Xingxia could actually make it work. After all, this was the internet age; with livestreams, store reviews, influencer check-in spots… as long as a post was crafted well, people would be willing to visit even a place in the middle of nowhere.
Wasn’t there a story online a while back about an excellent tulip check-in spot next to a skyscraper in Shanghai? It ended up drawing thousands upon thousands of people to snap photos.
Later, it was exposed that there were only a few actual tulips, and it was entirely due to finding a good camera angle.
The mountains were so full of fun things—streams, peach trees, large lawns, reed gullies, chestnut forests… could they really not attract people?
Fangfang felt that the older generation nowadays simply didn’t understand the mindset of young people at all.
By the time they returned to Lu’an Village, it was already close to noon.
Auntie Lu told Jian Xingxia not to head back and insisted she stay at their house for lunch.
Jian Xingxia politely declined, shaking the bags hanging beneath her handlebars. “Fangfang bought me a ton of breakfast this morning. The oil cakes, shaomai, and potstickers aren’t even finished yet. I’ll just have this for lunch.”
Through their interactions over this past period, Auntie Lu also knew that Jian Xingxia wasn’t a child who could be easily swayed by persuasion, so she had no choice but to drop it.
Still, she stuffed some vegetables into Jian Xingxia’s cart. “The pumpkins were just harvested yesterday. Take some long beans and eggplants too.”
Only after accepting them did Jian Xingxia ride her vehicle alone toward the mountains.
The road was smooth to ride on now. For a three-kilometer distance, it took the tricycle barely over ten minutes to arrive.
The retractable gate responded sensitively. Recognizing Jian Xingxia’s face, it opened directly to let her pass.
Upon returning to the old house, Jian Xingxia immediately summoned Lin Sanniang.
As for the second recruitment notice, she would summon Old Man Xu a bit later; the wall from yesterday hadn’t been fully painted yet.
The moment Lin Sanniang arrived and saw that it was right around noon at the manor, she hurriedly asked Jian Xingxia if she had eaten.
She knew Jian Xingxia was accustomed to eating three meals a day; even if it was simple, she liked to eat on time.
Ever since they had obtained grain, Lin Sanniang’s household had also restored a three-meal-a-day system, though lunch was eaten simply. It was only when night fell, the labor was finished, and the whole family gathered that they would enjoy a more bountiful meal.
Jian Xingxia shook her head. “There are other tasks today, and time is tight. Eating some simple dry rations will do.”
With that, Jian Xingxia brought out the oil cakes, multi-layered pancakes, shaomai, and potstickers that Fangfang had bought at the market, asking Lin Sanniang to reheat them so they could eat together.
Lin Sanniang had already seen plastic bags before, so she wasn’t surprised by them. But looking at the items inside the bag, she couldn’t help but gasp softly.
How much oil must have been used for this!
These could hardly be called pan-fried cakes; they were purely deep-fried cakes, pulled straight out of an oil vat.
Glistening with oil, even the plastic bag was coated in grease.
Lin Sanniang felt immense heartache over it, wishing she could scrape every bit of grease off the plastic bag—if she scraped it all together, it would be enough to stir-fry two or three dishes back in the Great Liang Dynasty.
But since this was the food for the young mistress of the house, Lin Sanniang didn’t act so stingily. Instead, she heated up a pan, added a touch more oil, and re-fried the oil cakes and potstickers.
She also added a bit of water to the steamer pot to re-steam the shaomai.
There were pickled vegetables in the refrigerator, and Lin Sanniang also tossed together a dish of mashed peppers and eggplant.
With lunch hastily taken care of, Jian Xingxia brought out the traditional coarse cloth she had bought at the morning market and asked Lin Sanniang if she knew how to make pillowcases.
“A throw pillow? Is it also a type of pillow? Tell me about it, Miss, what kind of style is it?”
Although Lin Sanniang wasn’t skilled at embroidery, her sewing and mending were decent, so she wasn’t intimidated by the request.
This was easy to explain. Jian Xingxia went upstairs and brought a throw pillow straight down from the second-floor tea room.
The door at the top of the stairs was usually kept shut. Without Jian Xingxia’s instructions, Lin Sanniang never overstepped her bounds to sneak up there.
The throw pillow Jian Xingxia brought down was a small one, measuring 40 by 40 centimeters and stuffed to a plump bulge.
Lin Sanniang understood as soon as she looked at it. “This is simple enough. It’s just sewing a cloth pouch and stuffing it with cotton.”
Jian Xingxia nodded. “Yes, I bought some pearl cotton, which we’ll stuff into the pillowcase later.”
Jian Xingxia asked Lin Sanniang to make a double-layered pillowcase. “Use the coarse cloth for the outer layer and make it look nice. For the inner layer, just use ordinary white cloth—even thin fabric will do. It’s mainly to hold the shape so it’s convenient to remove and wash the outer pillowcase.”
Lin Sanniang understood immediately upon hearing this.
The only thing she didn’t understand was what kind of cotton this “pearl cotton” was.
She knew what pearls were, and she certainly knew what cotton was, but pearl cotton… these two things had absolutely nothing to do with each other, so how did they get lumped together?
Jian Xingxia couldn’t really explain it either. “It’s just the cheapest kind of cotton we have here. In fact, it isn’t real cotton; it’s synthetic.”
Lin Sanniang nodded and didn’t pry further. As long as it functioned like cotton, she knew what to do.
Lin Sanniang held the throw pillow and examined it closely, asking about the requirements, “Miss, does this pillow require embroidery? There are tassels over here, should I attach tassels? And what is this long opening strip? It is wonderfully convenient.”
Jian Xingxia looked down and saw that Lin Sanniang was talking about the zipper on the back of the pillowcase.
This was something an ancient person had never seen before.
Jian Xingxia smiled and explained, “This is called a zipper. It uses small interlocking teeth on both sides to join together, pulling open or closed to seal it.”
Lin Sanniang praised it repeatedly in amazement.
Jian Xingxia had originally wanted to embroider flowers and words onto the throw pillows, but there wasn’t enough time.
She herself was virtually useless at needlework, except for mending socks and the inner lining of bags—the two things most prone to tearing.
Therefore, matters involving needle and thread could only rely on Lin Sanniang.
Moreover, Lin Sanniang still needed to assist her with other tasks on a daily basis, and she also had to continue deepening Lin Sanniang’s modernization before the grand opening, teaching her how to manage the chores of a guesthouse.
Jian Xingxia calculated the number of pillows. “We need to make eight small ones and two large ones. If we embroider them, there won’t be enough time. Just stitching them together will do.”
Lin Sanniang felt it was a bit of a pity. “Miss, these fabrics are so thick and the patterns are so beautiful. If they could be embroidered with flowers, they would look even grander.”
But she also knew time was insufficient. “Regrettably, my embroidery skills are lacking. If Hehua and the others were here, they would certainly be able to embroider them beautifully.”
“Hehua?”
“In reply to Miss, they are the women who used to work alongside me as hired laborers. A few of them are far superior to me when it comes to needlework.”
As expected, there were more talents to be found!
However, Jian Xingxia’s recruitment quota was never quite enough. She still had to hire Old Man Xu to paint the walls and wanted to hire a basket weaver to handle the bamboo weaving.
She could only say with regret, “Yeah, it’s a pity I can’t hire them to come over…”
“Huh? Wait a minute,” halfway through her sentence, Jian Xingxia suddenly realized something. “I can’t hire them to come here, but you can take the fabric back with you!”
Hadn’t Lin Sanniang taken fabric back with her before?
Lin Sanniang thought of it too—she had even asked her older sister, Eldest Aunt Lin, to make clothes for Jian Xingxia! Why couldn’t she ask Eldest Aunt Lin to help make the pillowcases, and ask Hehua and the others to help with the embroidery!
The two exchanged a look, both seeing the spark of hope.
The more Jian Xingxia thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. “These fabrics only cost around twenty yuan in total. Even with the needles and thread, it’s just over forty yuan, well within your wage quota.”
“The flow of time is different between our two sides. A single day on my end means at least several days, or even over ten days, pass on your side…”
In that case, wouldn’t the timeline match up perfectly?
But the only problem was that this would consume Lin Sanniang’s wage quota.
Jian Xingxia scratched her head. “Once the quota is used up, it’s gone. I won’t be able to compensate you with extra money on the next round either… I can only compensate you with goods here at the manor.”
Yet, Jian Xingxia was already completely covering Lin Sanniang’s food and clothing at the manor anyway.
This put her in a difficult position.
Lin Sanniang, however, agreed without a second thought, “Miss, there is no need for compensation! As long as you allow me to take these things back and let my sister and Hehua’s group do the work, that will be more than enough!”
Lin Sanniang understood far better than Jian Xingxia what a “job opportunity” meant to the impoverished citizens, especially the poor women, of the Great Liang Dynasty.
Currently, half of the Great Liang Dynasty was gripped by famine. The common people were all just barely scraping by, and fewer people were hiring laborers.
Particularly for Hehua and the others, who originally relied on embroidery and tailoring; now that everyone could barely afford food, people avoided buying new clothes whenever possible. Their lives were incredibly difficult.
Now that Lin Sanniang had become a manager at the manor, not only had her sense of responsibility grown stronger, but her courage and horizons had expanded as well.
“Miss, I boldly beg of you to let me take these materials back and let them do the work.”
“Then what about your reward?”
Lin Sanniang smiled brightly. “Miss only needs to grant me permission to distribute these leftover materials and the assorted needles and threads to them as I see fit.”
Seeing that Jian Xingxia was still pondering, Lin Sanniang took the initiative to explain, “Miss, you do not need to worry about me. The grain I brought back previously is still plentiful, enough to sustain my family until this year’s summer grain is harvested.”
“I still have plenty of fabric, and I can continue to make clothes to sell for money.”
“But my sister and Hehua’s group do not have such an opportunity. They helped me greatly in the past, and now that I am free from worries about food and clothing, I want to help them survive as well.”
Jian Xingxia’s heart felt heavy; in a world she had never stepped foot in, there was still so much suffering.
Yet her heart also felt incredibly warm. She knew she hadn’t misjudged this person.
“Sanniang, good on you!”
