Chapter 111: The Sixth Temporary Laborer
On the evening of the third day, Escort Guard Mu rushed over to Lin Sanniang’s house, carrying the pillowcases Eldest Aunt Lin had finished sewing.
“Your older sister said this work was urgent and had me bring it to you the moment it was finished. I told her waiting until tomorrow morning wouldn’t do.”
Lin Sanniang took them over. “Big Sister has always been this way. Just as well, I’ve finished sewing my share too. I was just about to deliver them to Hehua’s house to add the embroidery.”
Escort Guard Mu looked up at the sky. “Then I’ll wait for you. We’re heading the same way anyway.”
Lin Sanniang shook her head. “No need. Hehua’s house is just three streets away, not far. Brother-in-law, take this rice back with you.”
It was the remaining two and a half catties of stale rice she had prepared beforehand.
Escort Guard Mu felt a wave of joy. Although two and a half catties wasn’t a lot—and would only last a day if the whole family ate their fill—having rice to eat at all in these times was already a blessing.
Once Escort Guard Mu left with the rice, Lin Sanniang hurriedly gathered the pillowcases she and Eldest Aunt Lin had sewn. Taking Taoya along, she delivered them to Hehua and Yuxiang’s houses.
The sky had grown dark, and walking outside wasn’t safe. Taoya refused to let Lin Sanniang walk the night road alone; the mother and daughter could at least look out for each other.
Distributing the pillowcases to Hehua and Yuxiang, both women promised to finish the embroidery as quickly as possible.
Lin Sanniang inspected the pieces they had already embroidered and felt highly satisfied. Their embroidery skills were indeed far superior to hers.
Hehua was doing reasonably well. Her in-laws were kind-hearted, and upon learning she had landed some work, they accommodated her over the past few days. All other household chores were handled by her husband and her parents-in-law, and they didn’t let the children disturb her.
But it was a different story for Yuxiang.
Yuxiang’s in-laws were difficult to deal with. If they hadn’t seen Lin Sanniang bring rice over before, they might not have even let Lin Sanniang step foot inside the house.
Upon seeing Lin Sanniang, Yuxiang first showed her the completed work. Only after seeing Lin Sanniang approve did she let out a sigh of relief.
“The people at home are a handful. I worked on this secretly at night, terrified of delaying the job.”
Knowing that Yuxiang’s in-laws dumped a mountain of chores on her, leaving her with no free time day or night, Lin Sanniang couldn’t help but feel a bit worried. “You mustn’t ruin your health by staying up like this.”
Yuxiang sneered, “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. They acted up like that because they wanted me to hand over the rice, but I didn’t give it to them.”
No matter whose hands the rice was in, it wasn’t as secure as keeping it in her own. As long as she had work and could earn money, she didn’t fear anyone bullying her.
On the fifth day, while Lin Sanniang was still at home sewing clothes, Eldest Aunt Lin, Hehua, and Yuxiang arrived at her door.
Lin Sanniang was pleasantly surprised. “Big Sister, you can go out now?”
Ever since giving birth, Eldest Aunt Lin’s health had been poor, keeping her bedridden for over two months. She had fully recovered after taking the medicine, but this was still the first time she had stepped outside.
Eldest Aunt Lin said with absolute delight, “Now that my body is well, I don’t want to lie around at home anymore. The weather has warmed up too, so I want to walk around outside more.”
Hehua and Yuxiang delivered the beautifully embroidered throw pillowcases. After five consecutive days of rushing the work, they had finally managed to complete the order.
Lin Sanniang felt both happy and a bit ashamed—the young mistress of the manor hadn’t actually set such a strict deadline.
Lin Sanniang inspected the work and felt immensely satisfied.
Only then did Hehua and Yuxiang think to ask, “Sanniang, what is the meaning of this pattern you gave us? The four corners are sharp, and it doesn’t look like a flower or grass.”
Lin Sanniang shook her head. “I don’t know either. The young mistress said it’s a star.”
“A star?”
“Yes, a star in the sky.”
“How strange. The stars on our end don’t look like this.”
In the simple designs Jian Xingxia had sketched out, she had added stars because she had been born on a summer night filled with a sky full of stars.
After recounting the events of the past few days, Lin Sanniang pulled out a stack of handkerchiefs from the very bottom of her bundle.
Gathering her courage, she spoke to Jian Xingxia, “Miss, these are handkerchiefs and sweatbands made by my sisters back home. I thought since you are opening a guesthouse here, Miss, they might be of use.”
Before Jian Xingxia could speak, Lin Sanniang quickly added, “Miss, I know I cannot take away anything beyond my wages. These items are my personal token of gratitude and do not cost any money. I simply want to offer Yuxiang and the others a path to survive.”
She was worried Jian Xingxia would think she was overstepping her bounds.
Jian Xingxia blanked for a moment. In truth, upon hearing the first sentence, her mind had immediately begun wondering about the logistics. It wasn’t that consignment was impossible, and she was willing to accept these items, but she had no way to provide extra rewards for Lin Sanniang to take back.
But wouldn’t that mean she was gaining all the benefits for free?
Jian Xingxia scratched her head.
Seeing that Jian Xingxia didn’t blame her and even seemed to imply that the handkerchiefs and sweatbands could be used in the guesthouse, Lin Sanniang instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Miss, have you forgotten? You promoted me to be a manager, so my current wages are much higher than before!”
Lin Sanniang broke down the math for Jian Xingxia, “My previous wages were 6 to 10 yuan per half hour. I figured that this must be what the Mountain Goddess told you, Miss, to see if I put my heart into my duties…”
Lin Sanniang looked at Jian Xingxia with a wave of warmth. “But every single time, you had me take back the absolute maximum amount of goods, Miss.”
“Afterward, you promoted me to be a manager, raising my wages to 10 to 15 yuan, giving me quite a few extra items every day out of nowhere.”
“Miss,” Lin Sanniang’s expression was dead serious, “you must have felt that I was capable of doing more, which is why you promoted me and raised my wages.”
“What I am doing right now is simply doing more work.”
Lin Sanniang’s face shone with a gentle yet firm light, causing Jian Xingxia’s heart to swell with warmth as well.
“Yes, Sanniang. You’re amazing. You’ve done much better than I could have ever imagined!”
This moment marked a mutual validation between them, as well as a shared aspiration embraced by the sisters of Sanniang’s hometown.
Right amidst the touching moment, voices echoed from the backyard again.
“Baskets for sale—large, light, and sturdy baskets for sale! Excuse me—does anyone here want baskets?”
Unlike the panicked first utterances of past temporary laborers, this call was crisp, sharp, and businesslike.
Except…
The moment she heard this voice, Jian Xingxia’s heart broke—this clearly sounded like a child’s voice!
Stepping out to look, sure enough, it was a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old youth with a small topknot on his head, carrying a towering stack of baskets on his back. Hanging from his thin arms were numerous bamboo baskets strung together with rope.
The youth was already small and thin of stature, and buried beneath the crushing weight of these crates and baskets, he looked utterly pitiable.
Jian Xingxia and Lin Sanniang quickly walked over, calling out to Da Hei, “Da Hei, quick, help take the things down.”
With so many baskets, it had to be incredibly heavy. She had no idea how this youth had managed to carry them all.
Hearing the command, Da Hei charged right over.
Seeing the tower-like Da Hei approach, the youth instinctively took two steps back. However, he quickly masked his astonishment. Scanning the area, his gaze locked onto Jian Xingxia. He offered a practiced, obliging smile and said, “This older sister, thank you for your kindness. It’s easy to take these things down, but putting them back on is no simple feat. I know you mean well, and this little one extends his thanks.”
He had deduced that among the three people present, the one in charge had to be this youngest-looking mistress.
With that, afraid of making Jian Xingxia lose face, he offered an alternative solution: “There’s no need to take the things down. If you have the kindness to give me a bowl of water to drink, Miss, this little one will be infinitely grateful.”
He even nodded instead of bowing toward Da Hei, who had rushed up but now stood looking a bit lost without a task. “Thank you, Big Brother. This is my livelihood, so there is no need to trouble you to unload it for now…”
“It needs to be unloaded,” Jian Xingxia spoke up, smiling amidst the youth’s look of surprise and joy. “I’ll take all of these crates, winnowing baskets, and bamboo baskets. What price are you selling them for?”
The youth was incredulous. “Miss, you’re taking all of them?”
Jian Xingxia nodded. Lin Sanniang had already stepped forward in her capacity as the manager lady to handle the negotiations.
Supporting the bamboo crates on the youth’s back, she called out to Da Hei, “Brother Da Hei, quickly help unload them. Look at how heavily he’s pressed down; his arms are covered in calluses.”
This time the youth didn’t refuse, letting Da Hei and Lin Sanniang take off the items he carried and held.
He simply gave a deep bow toward Jian Xingxia. “Thank you, Miss. Depending on the size, these crates sell for twenty, twenty-five, or thirty copper coins each. The winnowing baskets are ten copper coins, and the bamboo baskets are split into large and small sizes at fifteen and twenty copper coins.”
The youth calculated the total rapidly, “Five large crates, eight medium ones, and six small ones come to four hundred and seventy copper coins. Ten winnowing baskets come to one hundred copper coins. Six large bamboo baskets and ten small ones come to two hundred and seventy copper coins. The grand total is eight hundred and forty copper coins.”
As the youth tallied the account, a pleasing, business-savvy smile appeared on his face. “If you take all of them, Miss, I’ll give you a discount. A flat eight hundred copper coins will do.”
The moment he finished speaking, he noticed that both Jian Xingxia and Lin Sanniang were looking at him with bright smiles.
Lin Sanniang commented, “What a clever young lad, calculating the account so quickly.”
Jian Xingxia looked at the youth with a smile. “Alright, I’ll take all of them. Can you tell me how you came to this place?”
She remembered the recruitment notice she had sent out specified a need for a skilled laborer. This youth looked only fourteen or fifteen, barely a year or two older than Taoya. To claim he was a skilled laborer was a bit ridiculous.
The youth looked at Jian Xingxia, then at the old house which had been completely renovated to a fresh, clean look, and the solar panels in the courtyard… all things he had never seen before.
He swallowed his spit, not daring to leave the question unanswered. “Replying to Miss, my grandfather was the one who told me to come.”
“Your grandfather?”
“My grandfather is the basket weaver in our village, highly skilled in bamboo weaving. He made these crates and winnowing baskets.”
Jian Xingxia nodded. “I can see that. They’re excellent.”
They were even better than the ones sold at the market.
Because the bamboo items at the market utilized various modern industrial techniques, the borders were wrapped with nylon edging strips or entirely dipped in plastic. They were highly durable, of course, but the bamboo items the youth brought were completely crafted out of bamboo down to the raw materials, with even the borders shaped and wrapped by bending bamboo.
Seeing that Jian Xingxia spoke amiably and held no ill intent, the youth brightened up a bit and began speaking of his background.
“I was picked up and raised by my grandfather and grandmother. Grandfather weaves bamboo and Grandmother weaves coarse cloth to raise me.”
“But over the last two years, Grandfather and Grandmother’s health has been poor. Last month, while Grandfather was up the mountain cutting bamboo, he accidentally slipped and fell, leaving him bedridden ever since.”
A trace of sorrow appeared on the youth’s naturally cheerful face.
“We hired a physician to look at him, who said he broke his leg. Fortunately, it isn’t too severe, but he must remain bedridden for half a year.”
The youth used to follow his grandfather through streets and alleys to sell baskets, but now he had to venture out entirely on his own.
However, the bamboo weaving business was poor. Sometimes he would walk for most of the day until the soles of his shoes wore through, only managing to sell one or two items, which couldn’t possibly cover his grandfather’s medicine costs.
Hearing up to this point, Jian Xingxia deduced, “So you prayed to… well, the Mountain Goddess, an immortal lady, a Taoist nun, or a white crane… some divine power, and then ended up here?”
“Huh?” The youth looked a bit surprised, frowning as he asked, “What divine power? I don’t quite understand your words, Miss.”
The youth explained, “My grandfather was the one who told me to come.”
“Huh?”
Now it was Jian Xingxia’s turn to be surprised.
“Your grandfather is a shaman… uh, an oracle? Or a fortune teller?”
The youth: “…”
Lin Sanniang tugged at Jian Xingxia’s sleeve, whispering, “Miss, this young lad’s grandfather is a basket weaver.”
Jian Xingxia: “…”
She had forgotten. But how could a basket weaver know about this place?
As if seeing through Jian Xingxia’s confusion, the youth explained, “My grandfather isn’t a shaman or an oracle. While offering incense to the ancestors, Grandfather heard their guidance, saying there was someone in the mountains who required crates and bamboo baskets…”
The youth scratched his head. “But Grandfather injured his leg and can’t walk, and Grandmother has to weave cloth and look after Grandfather, so I came instead. I didn’t expect I would truly end up here.”
Before Jian Xingxia could process the youth’s underlying implication, Lin Sanniang nodded gently. “So that’s how it is. Since you aren’t your grandparents’ biological grandson, by all rights, ancestral guidance should have had nothing to do with you.”
The youth said, “The lady speaks the absolute truth.”
Jian Xingxia: “Huh?”
There was even a catch like that?
But Lin Sanniang truly lived up to her role as a beautiful and kind manager lady. She told the youth solemnly, “But since you managed to come, it proves that your grandparents’ ancestors have accepted you as their own. Because your grandparents truly view you as their biological grandson.”
A slight shimmer of tears appeared in the youth’s cheerful eyes.
However, he quickly caught on. “If that’s the case, Miss, Lady, and this Big Black Brother, you aren’t my grandparents’ ancestors?”
