Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty

Chapter 22: Chapter 21 Selling Design Chapter 22: Chapter 21 Selling Design Chen Dabao thought about Chen Aju and Hu Cuicui, who were scared and ran off in a panic by his mother. He smiled, envisioning the scenario where he could go out to play with his mother anytime. He cheerfully said, “Yeah, once mom is cured, nobody will dare to bully her.”

Before long, the sound of a young boy’s snoring could be heard.

Chen Afu was filled with disappointment. She blew out the small oil lamp, thinking, how can I get more money to survive these days… money, money, how can I earn more…

Chen Afu racked her brains and finally came up with an idea. In her previous life, she had studied fashion design and occasionally made small accessories, including fabric bracelets and fabric hair accessories.

She asked Mrs. Wang and found out that the silk flowers made in this era were exquisite, and the embroidery workshop sold a wide range of highly-crafted silk flowers. She admitted that she didn’t have the skill to surpass the people here.

When she was ‘learning’ how to tie knots with Mrs. Wang, she asked about the knot tying techniques of this era, such as Auspicious Cloud Knot, Brocade Knot, Chinese Knot, Ruyi Knot, Coiling Long Knot, and Vajra Knot. She did not know how to tie many of them. However, she had not heard about the Four-strand Braid which was suitable for bracelets. The bracelets and necklaces made from combinations of Four-strand Braid, Vajra Knot, and Snake Knot were three-dimensional, eye-catching, and attractive. In her previous life, many people liked to use this technique to make bracelets and necklaces.

She couldn’t make many of them to sell since her hands were not agile, and Mrs. Wang didn’t have the time as she was busy sewing. So she decided to make a bracelet and let Mrs. Wang take it to the embroidery workshop to sell as a “design”. They would accept however much the embroidery workshop was willing to offer, as long as they could scrape by during this period.

The next day after lunch, Chen Afu went into the East Room to make a bracelet. Her fingers weren’t very flexible, so it took her almost half an hour to make a yellow-blue bracelet. She then asked Mrs. Wang to sew three little flowers on the bracelet. These little flowers were leftovers from Mrs. Wang’s needlework and were readily available.

“Oh my, this bracelet is really beautiful. How did Afu learn to make this?” Mrs. Wang was amazed.

Chen Afu grinned and said modestly, “You taught me how to tie Vajra Knots and Auspicious Cloud Knots. After some careful study, I figured out this weaving method.”

“Oh heavens, Afu is indeed blessed, so intelligent.” Mrs. Wang marveled, also pointing out to Chen Ming, “Our embroidery workshop has many types of knots, but this is the first time I’ve seen this kind of knot, and the key is that the bracelets woven in this way are very pretty. With the addition of few small flowers for decoration, they look even better.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Ming rubbed his sparse beard and laughed heartily.

Chen Afu suggested to Mrs. Wang to sell the bracelet in the embroidery workshop in the county town, share the knot technique with the embroidery workshop, and earn some money to get through this period.

Mrs. Wang has been doing embroidery work for the Jinyun Embroidery Workshop in the county town, so she could probably get a fair price for these bracelets there.

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Wang cheerfully agreed. She made a pot of thick corn porridge for lunch, which filled everyone’s stomachs. After the meal, she hurried off to the county town.

As soon as she left, the whole family eagerly awaited her return.

As the setting sun descended, they finally saw a beaming Mrs. Wang returning. She explained that the shopkeeper was very pleased, saying he had never seen such a unique bracelet, and gave her eight hundred cents. After paying back sixty cents for the borrowed fabrics and threads, she still had over seven hundred cents remaining. As she spoke, she took out a small silver dime and several hundred-cent coins.

She also bought one pound of pork, twenty pounds of brown rice and some jujube fruits and lotus seeds specially for Chen Ming.

The whole family was overjoyed, finally able to have full meals again.

However, Chen Afu was utterly disheartened. Making money in ancient times was really tough. What she sold could be considered as a design, yet it did not even sell for one or two taels of silver.

On May 8th, the harvesting of winter wheat started. It was another bumper harvest year, and Chen Ye and his son were skilled farmers who had a high yield, more than two hundred pounds of wheat per acre.

The four acres of land owned by the second house were also cultivated by the main house. The main house kept forty percent of the produce, and the second house received sixty percent as rent. The sixty percent for the second house, after taxes, left over a hundred pounds of wheat for making flour at home, and the rest sold for over two thousand coins. These matters were always handled by Chen Ye and his son. At the same time, they had a lot of wheat straw, filling up the backyard of the second house.

With this wheat straw, Alu and Dabao were much more relaxed and didn’t need to gather firewood every day.

This two thousand plus coins, if saved, some farming families could make it last half a year. But in Chen Ming’s family, it could only cover four months of medical expenses. This was only because Chen Afu no longer needed to buy medicine, otherwise it would only cover three months of medication.

Finally, on the 20th of May, it was time for the main house to give the second house their share of the grains and money, and discuss what to plant next and the house renovations.

Knowing they were coming, Mrs. Wang went to buy a pound of meat, two pounds of liquor that Chen Ming liked, and prepared several delicious dishes. These weren’t stewed dishes, they were all fried with oil.

Originally, Chen Afu wanted to show off her culinary skills, but Mrs. Wang was unwilling, fearing that she would waste food if she didn’t cook well, so Chen Afu was only responsible for heating the food. The aromatic smell and “sizzling” sound of oil made Chen Afu’s mouth water from time to time. However, she was able to control herself now and quickly swallowed her saliva.

Seeing Alu and Dabao continuously lurking in the kitchen, Chen Afu would use her chopsticks to give them a slice of meat each time a dish was cooked, and ask with a smile, “How is the taste? Should I add some salt?”

Both of the boys, their lips glistening with oil, answered seriously, “It’s delicious, no need to add anything.”

Mrs. Wang just shook her head with a smile and didn’t say anything more.

Previously, Mrs. Wang had proposed buying some cloth as a gift for Mrs. Hu, but Chen Ming did not agree.

Chen Ming said, “We didn’t overcharge my older brother’s family for rent, and others who rent our land also have the same charge. If we have the money, we might as well give some cloth to my mother or my older brother to make clothes. Once she mentions it, we have to give it, and I don’t know how much we have to give. We can’t compare to our third brother’s family, which is rich, and even renovated their courtyard.” He thought for a moment, then added, “Let’s get some coarse cloth for my older brother to make clothes. He works hard all year round.”

Chen Afu wasn’t sure what Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang were implying, but she sensed that while Chen Ming respected Chen Ye greatly, he didn’t think much of Mrs. Hu. After seeing Mrs. Hu’s sycophantic performance, she understood.

Just before dinner, Mrs. Chen, Chen Ye, Mrs. Hu, Chen Agui, and Chen Dahu arrived.

Mrs. Hu sneered at Chen Afu, who was lighting the fire, and said, “I did hear that Afu has grown pretty, and she certainly has. But what’s the use of that? She can’t even earn a bit of dowry for her parents. It’s been a waste of resources to raise her for over a decade.”

Chen Afu calmly replied, “Even though I can’t earn a dowry for my parents, I’ll definitely take care of them like a son.”

Mrs. Hu snorted and went into the West Room.

Chen Ye first took out two thousand five hundred cents, which was the money from selling grains. Then, he took out another four thousand cents. The piece of land of the second house had been bought by Chen Ye, who had previously lent the second house one thousand cents and was now giving four thousand more.

Watching Chen Ming accept these six thousand plus cents, Mrs. Hu was in agony. She grumbled to herself about how stingy Chen Ming and Mrs. Wang were and how they only knew how to take and not give. With so much money, they didn’t even think to give some out as a token of gratitude for the hard work of her older brother and his son throughout the year.

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