Zhan Zhumen

Chapter 208 Poor Scholar

Qian Xiaoyu was stunned when he heard Huo Xi's question.Yu Jiang and the others were also stunned and looked at him.

Qian Xiaoyu thought for a while, then shook his head: "Sister Xi'er, I'm afraid I won't make it. I don't know how to read a few words. If I'm in charge, I'll be able to read accounts and contracts. I'm afraid I'll ruin your business." .”

It is stable in Guangfengshui's shop, but it is working for others. Now he is rowing around receiving and selling goods, earning a lot of money a month.

When there is no business, he fishes and sells, and does not delay saving money.

When Huo Xi heard it, she understood.

Sighing in my heart, I said with a smile: "It's okay, there is no one in my shop, and my mother said that my sister-in-law wanted a son. I thought you would want to find a stable job on the shore."

Qian Xiaoyu smiled and said, "My parents are taking that boy with him, and he is very happy. His mother and I will not want us when we go back."

Several people chatted and laughed a few more words, and then separated.

Yu Jiang returned to his house, sat on the stool in a daze.Mrs. Zheng is calling on her two daughters to pack the money and luggage, and they are about to go out to receive the goods. This time, they may have to be outside for a long time.

Seeing Yu Jiang sitting in a daze, he was a little curious: "What's wrong with you, you just sit in a daze as soon as you come back, if you're free, come over and help our mother."

Yu Jiang glanced at her, but didn't move his butt.

Mrs. Zheng felt strange, usually he was most sympathetic to their mothers, so he put down his work, walked over and squatted down, and asked him what was wrong.

Yu Jiang then said: "I'm afraid that Xi'er really needs people. She knows that Xiaoyu can't read a few words, but she still opened her mouth, indicating that there is a real shortage of people. It seems that she is looking for someone who can communicate with the boatman. A person who facilitates communication."

Mrs. Zheng nodded: "If she talks to me, I'll help her in the shop. If it weren't for the Huo family, we wouldn't be living a good life today. I'm still in the countryside with my two daughters being tortured by your stepmother. Look at our house, where did we expect that one day we could have a small courtyard in the capital?"

Yu Jiang looked at the house and nodded repeatedly: "That's not true. After we got married, we gave birth to two daughters. I have saved money by myself for several years, and I only have one or two taels in my hand."

"It was only after I went to Huai'an with the Huo family that I took you out and received and sold goods to the Huo family. It's only been four years. We not only have a house, but also bought ten acres of land from your natal family. There is also a deposit of silver, and we know that the favor will be reported."

Mrs. Zheng nodded: "Then you want to work as a manager in Xi'er's shop?"

"Well. She should be really short of people now. When I come back with a few shipments, I will mention it to her."

Really want to make such a decision, Zheng Shi hesitated: "But we can earn a lot of money in a year by sailing outside, and as a manager, we only get two or three taels a month. This..."

"Didn't you just say that we want to repay you with gratitude? That's what I thought. Aren't you pregnant? You will stay on the shore then..."

"I don't have to stay on the shore, and even if I stay on the shore, there are Ya'er and Miao'er who can help you share one or two."

Yu Jiang shook his head: "Ya'er is going to be 12 years old soon, and in two years their sisters will say goodbye, so they shouldn't be floating in the river with us anymore..."

Yu Miao took her sister and hid behind the door to eavesdrop, looking at her blushing sister thoughtfully.

The next day, Huo Xi was in Qionghua Lane looking at the round fans, velvet flowers, handkerchiefs, fan surfaces, embroidered handkerchiefs and other things that Grandma Zou had brought back.

"The talented ladies in the alley all said that they would come to thank you in person. We usually provide them with vegetables and daily food. Although they spent money, they made these round fans, velvet flowers, and handkerchiefs. We got a high price, and the family has food and money, and there is still a lot of surplus every month. They are grateful in their hearts. Look, the shoes and socks in this basket are all sent by talented ladies."

Huo Xi rummaged through the basket, there were her shoes and socks, and Nian'er's.I can't help but feel warm in my heart.

At first, Huo Xi only traded some vegetables and daily necessities with them, and didn't think about anything else.

Later, Aunt Zou chatted with them while delivering goods to them, and also found out the situation of these scholars' homes.

The families living in Qionghua Lane and nearby, whether they are their own houses or those who come to Beijing to study and rent here, almost all of them have scholars in their homes.

The conditions are not that rich and powerful, otherwise they would not live in this outer city.

As long as there is a scholar in the family, it is a real gold-swallowing beast, and the family spends a lot of money.Scholars can't do that kind of business, and most of them are from poor families.

Scholars have a good reputation, and the old mother, wife and sisters in the family don't go out very often.

When I'm idle and bored, I mostly do some embroidery work at home to pass some time.The craftsmanship is very good.

At the beginning, because of the family's financial difficulties, he secretly asked her if she would accept handkerchief embroidery.The neighbors were in the business of receiving and selling goods, so Huo Xi accepted the embroidery work of the women in the alley and helped sell them.

Slowly, more and more people came to look for her.

Huo Xi's cost of collecting cloth and sewing needles is low, which is cheaper than what these ladies buy in shops outside, and it's actually very profitable to get in and out.This business was done in Qionghua Lane.

I don't know if it's because these women have scholars in their families, or because they have their own vision. Whether it's color matching or embroidery pictures, they are better than other embroidered women.

In Huo Xi's words, the embroidery in the hands of these ladies has a sense of luxury.

Huo Xi recognized the truth.

Come to understand the situation in person, and then ask the scholars in their family to draw patterns, embroidery patterns, fans, pictures of ladies, Buddhist scriptures, poems and big characters.

Most of these scholars have a certain literary talent, whether they write words or draw pictures, they are all excellent.

Huo Xi got the pictures and calligraphy, and invited the ladies with good crafts in the alley to embroider them into embroidery patterns, or make them into round fans or paper fans, and then framed them and put them on the shop, which turned out to be very easy to sell.

Huo Zhong bought several embroidery samples from her.

Then she bought silk scraps from Huo Zhong's weaving workshop, and took them back to make all kinds of velvet flowers for the ladies, and sold them as bonsai. Slowly, this became a serious business.

Part of the profit in the shop also comes from this.

After the business started, women from nearby scholars often came to pick up the work and earn some money to support their families.

Two phases are cheap.

Now that Guangfengshui also has a shop in the inner city, Huo Xi plans to sell this business in the shop in Sanyuan Lane, making it a high-quality product for sale, and letting small merchants sell it at a discounted price .

Now she is walking in Qionghua Lane, and everyone she knows calls her "little boss".

The women in the alley were all ready to work, and the family had money to live on.In addition to doing these embroidery jobs, Huo Xi took on the job of making military uniforms for them a few days ago.

Making a piece of clothing can cost more than ten or twenty stationery fees, and the leftovers can be taken home to paste the soles of shoes.

Everyone was not unhappy, and rushed to get the work.

The women in Qionghua Lane also got Huo Xi's guidance to unite, divide labor and cooperate, and produce on an assembly line.

Originally, it took only two or three days to make one set, but now through assembly line production, on average, one person can make two sets a day. The speed is faster, more jobs are accepted, and more money is earned.

Now that they are poor scholars, these ladies will pooh each other's faces.

Huo Xi was thinking about this business, flipping through the embroidery samples, round fans, and velvet flowers in his hand, and was about to pick some exquisite ones to take to the shop in Sanyuan Lane, when Xiao Miaoer came to her.

(End of this chapter)