Chapter 60: Making Money! One Thousand Coins!
Her mother had used the pale yellow fabric to make the shoe uppers for her. She and her sister had spent two days and two nights stitching the soles together before a single pair of shoes finally took shape.
Being a novice at needlework, her fingers had been pricked by the needle countless times.
Holding the shoes, Xing was initially smiling, but then she suddenly burst into tears.
“Mother, we go through shoes so fast. When you used to make them all by yourself, how much time and effort did it take you…”
As soon as Xing cried, Taoya and Brother Shu also threw themselves into Lin Sanniang’s embrace, wailing loudly.
Only by having a mother did they feel like children with a home.
Lin Sanniang felt a bittersweet ache in her heart, yet it was also thoroughly warming. Holding her children close, she comforted them with soft, gentle words.
It took quite a while before she managed to soothe them.
Aside from Brother Shu’s clothes and Xing’s shoes, Lin Sanniang had also made three small white bellybands, along with one light blue one and one pale yellow one.
Her skill lay in sewing and tailoring, not in embroidery, so she didn’t add any embroidered patterns, leaving them completely plain.
She figured that wealthy families had their own embroiderers and pattern designs, so she wouldn’t make a fool of herself by adding unnecessary details.
Cradling the bellybands in her basket, Lin Sanniang went to the Zhang Estate to find Manager Zhang.
She didn’t bring any rice or flour this time. First, the old rice she had exchanged at home was already enough to live on, and she didn’t want to keep drawing eyes. Second, she had claimed last time that this high-quality rice was a reward her brother-in-law received and that it was all they had; she couldn’t slap her own face by bringing more.
But asking for a favor required a proper attitude, so Lin Sanniang brought some dried peaches she had sun-dried herself.
Xing and Brother Shu had been flipping and drying that massive basket of peach flesh Taoya brought back over the past few days. By now, the peaches had shriveled into small, wrinkled pieces, looking just like dried radishes.
When they met, Lin Sanniang politely invited Manager Zhang to have a taste.
Manager Zhang didn’t lack such things at all. Working as a manager in the estate and overseeing the kitchen meant her mouth was never idle.
She couldn’t even be bothered to taste it. “I told you to bring good stuff to me, not just any piece of junk! Ptui! A complete waste of my time!”
She unleashed a whole torrent of abuse and was about to turn on her heel and leave.
Lin Sanniang hurriedly spoke up to stay her. “Manager Zhang, my household truly has nothing presentable to offer, yet coming empty-handed didn’t feel right either. Even if you just take these dried peaches to reward the young maidservants, it would be wonderful. I hope you will accept them.”
Seeing that Lin Sanniang still maintained the humble attitude of someone begging for a favor, Manager Zhang’s anger softened slightly.
“Out with it then. What exactly did you bring this time?”
“It’s what I mentioned last time—undergarments made from that excellent fabric.”
Lin Sanniang quickly uncovered her basket and took out the clean bellybands. “Feel this fabric. It’s top-tier fine cotton cloth, not the kind we have around here.”
Although Manager Zhang didn’t oversee the needlework department, walking around the estate meant she naturally knew what high quality felt like.
The moment she touched the fabric of the bellyband, she found it incredibly soft, light yet thick—remarkably extraordinary.
Manager Zhang felt in her heart that this venture had a good chance of succeeding, but she kept a harsh, aggressive demeanor toward Lin Sanniang.
“I’ll only take them inside for you. Whether they think well of them or not is up to the masters.”
As long as there was a chance to send them inside, it was a win. Reading between the lines, Lin Sanniang hurriedly expressed her gratitude.
Manager Zhang entered the inner courtyard, leaving Lin Sanniang to wait by the side gate.
Two young gate-keeping maidservants were also waiting there. Lin Sanniang fished out two small packets of dried peaches from her basket.
“Young ladies, if you don’t mind, please have these to pass the time.”
The young maids were just at the age to crave snacks. Furthermore, since Lin Sanniang had visited a few times, they knew she was well-acquainted with Manager Zhang, so they didn’t stand on ceremony too much. After a brief polite refusal, they accepted them.
Putting the dried peaches into their mouths, they initially found them a bit dry. But as they slowly chewed and moistened them, the fragrant sweetness of the peaches came through. These were made from perfectly ripe peaches, so the flesh was at its sweetest.
The young maids ate happily and kindly offered a few extra words to Lin Sanniang. “Our Eldest Madame rarely uses things from the outside, but Second Madame likes them. She frequently buys novel trinkets for the Third Young Master. I think the bellybands you made are excellent; they should be kept.”
Lin Sanniang thanked the young maids with a smile for their comforting words and waited quietly.
Manager Zhang didn’t return until more than a double-hour had passed.
“It just so happened that the kitchen received a deer. That pack of clumsy, thick-handed fools didn’t even know to save the deer blood, forcing me to send people chasing after them. I had to bustle around for ages before the deer was finally sorted out.”
Manager Zhang was angry and losing her temper all day long, so Lin Sanniang wasn’t surprised and listened patiently to her venting.
Sure enough, after her long rant, Manager Zhang felt thoroughly relieved and finally spoke about Lin Sanniang’s matter.
“Manager Fang of the needlework department looked them over and deemed them passable. But whether they are accepted or not still requires sending them to the Madames for a look. The estate is busy today, so the Madames have no spare time. Leave the items here for now and return tomorrow.”
She didn’t offer any kind of receipt or token; she just took them away like that.
Lin Sanniang fell silent.
Such occurrences were actually not uncommon. Because they were the ones begging to send items into the estate, the fact that the estate staff were willing to accept them and take a look was already giving them face. In any case, relying on their grand estate and vast wealth, it was only natural for them to treat outsiders who came to the door with cold indifference. They didn’t care in the slightest about the anxiety felt by people like Lin Sanniang.
Left with no choice, Lin Sanniang could only head back home.
A day later, Lin Sanniang came back again. This time, it wasn’t Manager Zhang who came to receive her.
Catching sight of Lin Sanniang, the young maidservant at the side gate led her straight toward the inner courtyard. “Manager Fang said that when you arrive, I should bring you to see her.”
Lin Sanniang followed the young maid all the way to the inner courtyard. After waiting for another quarter of an hour, she finally met Manager Fang of the needlework room.
Manager Fang didn’t think much of Lin Sanniang’s needlework. She only asked where Lin Sanniang had obtained the fabric, wanting to buy the cloth directly from her.
How could Lin Sanniang possibly agree?
The fabric pieces were all small, and only by turning them into bellybands could they avoid leaving any suspicious traces. If she presented the fabric directly, the price would likely be heavily slashed.
So Lin Sanniang shook her head, merely stating that it was uncertain when she would obtain this fabric again, and right now, she only had these few bellybands.
Manager Fang looked her over and asked what price she wanted to sell them for.
Lin Sanniang had always known that the one who names the price first falls into a passive position, so she merely lowered her head, saying her handiwork was crude and simple, and since Manager Fang possessed a refined vision, the price should be decided by her.
Manager Fang weighed the options and offered a price of two hundred copper coins per piece.
“Though the stitching is coarse, the fabric feels soft and fine. Let’s count it as two hundred coins a piece.”
Lin Sanniang was absolutely overjoyed in her heart.
A full outfit of cotton clothes cost eight to nine hundred copper coins. These bellybands of hers had only taken two days and two nights of labor, yet using barely one-sixth of the fabric, they sold for a total of one thousand coins.
One had to know that in the past, when she and Taoya’s father worked together, they could only save one or two taels of silver a year after accounting for food and daily expenses. She had only worked a few days at the young mistress’s estate, secured enough grain to last them for two months, and now she possessed another one thousand copper coins!
What made her even more ecstatic was that she still had eight catties of this fabric at home! If it was all turned into bellybands…
Manager Fang quickly shattered Lin Sanniang’s beautiful dream.
“Though the fabric is excellent, I have enough bellybands here. The undergarments for the estate are rarely purchased from the outside; these few pieces are merely for a change of novelty,” Manager Fang said.
Lin Sanniang felt anxious. Although she could sell them elsewhere, it would never be as secure as having Manager Zhang pass the word along at the Zhang Estate.
Fortunately, Manager Fang had her own calculations. Seeing that Lin Sanniang was unwilling to sell the raw fabric, she said, “If you have the mind for it, make a full outfit according to these measurements. Keep the color elegant and simple, and I can still accept it.”
Saying this, she had someone hand a slip of paper to Lin Sanniang.
Lin Sanniang unrolled it to look; the measurements belonged to a half-grown child. She estimated in her heart that it should be the Young Master of the second branch whom the young maid at the side gate had mentioned.
She accepted the task, promising to bring the clothes for Manager Fang’s inspection in a few days.
