nycdaug Chapter 62 Helping Out
Chapter 62 Helping Out
"Wu Cuicui, you're being completely unreasonable." Zhao Dazhuang was somewhat angry. "This Yun... this Yun family girl came to ask me to arrange something, how come you've made her sound so despicable?"
She already has seven children, so it's not appropriate to call her "girl" anymore. Let's change it to "sister".
"You...I..." Wu Cuicui finally realized that she had been too hasty and had taken her anger out on others. However, Zhao Dazhuang's words to her had really hurt her. Finally, she stomped her foot and said, "Zhao Dazhuang, I will never talk to you again." Then she turned around and ran away crying.
"I'm so sorry, Miss Yun, I..."
"This isn't your fault." Yunyi waved her hand. "Let's go."
Zhao Dazhuang nodded and didn't say anything more, but he was even more determined to sever ties with Wu Cuicui from now on. As for Wu Xiuer... he didn't want to provoke anyone from the Wu family anymore.
Old Zhao hadn't even unloaded his oxcart yet, he was still waiting for Yunyi to return to town, so when Zhao Dazhuang called out, she came right out.
Yunyi asked Old Man Zhao to drive her back to Xiajiazhuang in his oxcart. When she got off at the village entrance and offered him money, he waved his hand and said, "Dazhuang has already given it to me."
"How about that?"
"Dazhuang told me that you are his benefactor." After saying that, Old Zhao turned his car around and drove away.
Yunyi shrugged. That person was indeed a good one. If they met again, she could give him some pointers. After all, marrying a virtuous wife brings prosperity to three generations, but marrying a bad wife would be a waste of that good young man.
Of course, what Yunyi regrets most is Zhao Dazhuang's craftsmanship. Although there are many craftsmen in ancient times, it is too difficult to find one with good character and pleasing appearance.
"Sister Yunyi." She had only taken a few steps when someone called out to her.
Yunyi turned around and saw two children from the village. The girl was named Xia Xiuxiu, who was ten years old, and the boy was named Xia Zhuzi, who was eight years old. "Are you looking for me? Is there something you need?"
"Sister Yunyi, do you only need firewood? Do you need anything else?" Xia Xiuxiu seemed a little hesitant, and after speaking, she bit her lip, looking somewhat uneasy.
Xia Zhuzi looked at Yun Yi with some trepidation.
Yunyi's eyes flickered: "Firewood is something we need year-round, as for the rest... what do you have?"
The original owner of this body didn't pay attention to the affairs of these two families, but she learned about them after she arrived. Of course, she also learned about the dozen or so households in the village.
Xia Xiuxiu's father was named Xia Yinshan, the youngest son of Xia He. However, after entering Qinglong Mountain five years ago, he never returned. Five years have passed, and he has neither been seen alive nor dead. It is estimated that he is probably dead or missing. Only his wife, Guo, and their daughter, Xia Xiuxiu, are left to depend on each other for survival.
Xia He and his wife have two sons, Xia Jinshan and Xia Yinshan. However, each son only has one granddaughter, which is a heavy blow to the couple who want a grandson.
However, with their eldest son still alive and protecting his wife and daughter, they dared not do anything. So, they could only vent their anger on their widowed second daughter-in-law and granddaughter.
Xia Zhuzi's father, Xia Laohan, also died five years after entering Qinglong Mountain. He entered with Xia Yinshan, but the difference was that he was found at the foot of the mountain, but his stomach had been eaten by something and half of his head had been bitten off. So, he had a grave, but Xia Yinshan only had a cenotaph.
After Xia Laohan died, his daughter-in-law, Lin, abandoned her son and ran off with a peddler.
Xia Zhuzi lived with his sickly grandmother.
It can be said that Xia Zhuzi and his grandson were the poorest in the entire Xia Family Village, but fortunately, everyone would help them out whenever they could.
Xia Xiuxiu took out a small cloth bag from her bosom, opened it, and took out two things that looked like Chinese knots: "My mother taught me how to make these. I heard that wealthy families call them 'luozi' (络子), and the young ladies use them to tie things." After saying that, she glanced at Yunyi cautiously, "I know more than ten ways to tie them." In her eyes, Yunyi was now from a wealthy family.
Yunyi picked it up and glanced at it. Well, the little girl's knots were just the simplest beginner-level ones. After all, in her mission world, she had been an embroiderer hundreds of times, and she knew at least a hundred different ways to tie knots. She had even combined the techniques of Chinese knotting from later generations to create many unique knot-tying methods. However, she still nodded and said, "Pretty good."
Xia Xiuxiu smiled and said, "Then... will you accept it?"
“I can accept it.” Yunyi nodded. “How about this, I’ll provide the silk thread, and you do the work. I’ll pay you three coins for each piece of work, how about that?”
"Really?" Xia Xiuxiu's eyes widened instantly.
"I never lie."
"I'll do it, I can do it." Xia Xiuxiu's eyes reddened with excitement. One is three coins! If she works hard, she can make three or four a day. If she becomes more skilled, she can make even more. That way, she can earn ten coins a day, and she and her mother can have enough to eat.
"Then come to my house the day after tomorrow, and I will go to buy silk thread tomorrow."
"Okay." Xia Xiuxiu's face lit up.
"What do you have?" Yunyi looked at Xia Zhuzi beside her.
"I...I..." Xia Zhuzi was at a loss.
"Sister Yunyi, he knows how to weave straw." Xia Xiuxiu hurriedly went over and pulled Xia Zhuzi's hand out from behind his back. In his hand was a small straw basket, which was woven from a kind of cattail at the foot of Baihu Mountain.
Yunyi took it and glanced at it. The small basket was exquisitely designed, and inside were a grasshopper and a butterfly made of straw: "Do you know anything else?"
“I can weave birdcages, puppies, and ponies…” Xia Zhuzi sniffed, “My dad taught me all of that back in the day.”
"Then I'll accept them. If you can make them even more exquisite in the future, I'll charge five coins for each one, how about that?"
"Five...five coins?"
"Mm." Yunyi nodded. This could be considered her way of helping the poor. After all, too many people in this era knew how to make these things, and they simply couldn't be sold in the town. However, she couldn't bear to discourage the children's ambition to support their families.
It is said that when one is poor, one should cultivate one's own virtue, and when one is rich, one should help others. Although she is not rich, she is not poor either. She cannot help others for the time being, but she can still help the kind people in the village to the best of her ability.
Xia Zhuzi burst into tears, but quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand: "I can do better, I... I can definitely weave more exquisite ones."
"Then send them over whenever you have them. If I'm not around, just ask Er Ya and San Ya, they'll calculate the cost for you." Yun Yi patted his head. "How about you give me these three things?"
"Okay." Xia Zhuzi nodded.
"Sister Yunyi, I'll give you this one too." Xia Xiuxiu hurriedly stuffed the three knotted ornaments in her hand into Yunyi's hand, and then grabbed Xia Zhuzi and ran away.