Union

Chapter 130 Inquire
A few days later, the new road survey was finally completed, and the road construction work resumed.

Second Master has started going out frequently again these past few days.

Yunying's health improved somewhat, and since she was bored at home, she went out a few times.

Yunying first went to find Qiuning, intending to have a good talk with her and make up for the lack of care she had shown her before.

Unfortunately, he arrived at the wrong time; Qiu Ning was extremely busy.

Seeing Yunying come over, Qiu Ning said to Yunying, "I've been so busy these past few days, I haven't had a full night's sleep in days. I can't rest until midnight every day, and I have to get up as soon as the rooster crows. I can't get more than two hours of sleep a day, look at all these dark circles under my eyes."

Yunying suddenly remembered that the Second Master had told her that he had instructed the manager of the dried goods shop to send all the dried goods that had been collected to the north.

We should sell some silver to buy some coarse grains so that the people in the county can at least get through this year.

Once the year is over and spring arrives, all the wild vegetables and grasses will grow, and then no one will starve to death anymore.

But several days have passed, and this matter is still not finished?

"Finished? Just you wait, this time we'll probably be busy until the end of the year. You don't know, but a large portion of the dried goods here have already been shipped out. But the people are desperate for money, and they know that this place doesn't discriminate based on size or type; they'll buy anything that's dried. And since they have nothing else to do right now, the people are spending all day fishing and collecting seafood and mountain produce. Just yesterday, the dried goods shop received twenty large sacks of dried goods."

These dried goods include not only fish, shrimp, and seafood, but also a variety of mountain products such as chestnuts and mushrooms, and even a large quantity of dried medicinal herbs.

Every day as soon as the dried goods store opens, many people flock in.

They brought a lot of things, and the workers in the dried goods workshop had to pick out the substandard items while also preventing some people from taking advantage of the chaos, so they were constantly busy.

Take her for example. She was supposed to be a supervisor, but seeing so many people queuing up to inspect the goods and collect payment, she couldn't sit still and kept going up to lend a hand, which exhausted her.

Qiu Ning said to Yun Ying, "I feel like I've lost a lot of weight these past few days. My waist is thinner, and my face is less chubby. Look, don't I look better than before?"

Yunying pinched Qiu Ning's cheek; her face was indeed not as round as before. But had she become prettier...? It didn't seem so. She still thought the Qiu Ning with the round face, plump figure, and rosy complexion was more attractive.

But Yunying dared not say this aloud, for fear that Qiuning would beat her.

Yunying said, "You are even more beautiful now, but I feel that after all this busy period, you should rest more to recover your health. When your face was a little chubby, you looked more auspicious, and your complexion was rosy and full, which made people feel happy just looking at you. After all, it's our own body, and we shouldn't deliberately lose weight for the sake of beauty, otherwise we'll ruin our health."

"Is that so?"

"Is such that."

She had only exchanged a few words with Qiu Ning when someone came to call her. Qiu Ning quickly responded and urged Yun Ying to go back quickly, as she had things to do.

Mingming Qiu Ning was also happy to have something to do and to feel needed, but in front of Yun Ying, she couldn't help but mutter, "I came here to supervise, but now I'm doing everything. These people can't leave for even a moment. If I leave for a moment, they'll look for me everywhere, as if they can't do any work without me."

"That's because you're so capable."

"Hehe, you've finally told the truth."

Because the dried goods market was so crowded, the locals who came to sell their goods were also eager to find more items after they had sold them. Yunying and Qiuning didn't want to talk much, so they quickly said goodbye and went about their own business.

After leaving Qiu Ning's place, Yun Ying returned to her residence. The next day, she went out again, but this time she went directly to a shop that sold cloth and ready-made clothes.

Yunying went to the clothing shop not to buy clothes or fabric.

She had many bolts of cloth, whether they were gifts from the Second Master, the Lady of Rongguo, or gifts from servants during festivals. She had accumulated enough to last her for one or two decades.

With more fabric in hand, and also because she didn't like the clothing styles in Yun Gui County, Yun Ying often drew the designs of the clothes she wanted herself and had the maids in the mansion who specialized in needlework make the garments.

She had no shortage of clothes, but the reason she made a special trip to this shop today was because she was considering her earlier plan—the tea mountain was gone, and the business of selling tea bricks and tea cakes could no longer be done, but she still had to do something to pass the time.

Putting aside the terraced fields, which are already on track and require no further guidance, there's nothing more to her to do. Besides, the hurricane has severely damaged the fields, and a good harvest this year is unlikely.

However, the fertilizer that needed to be applied has been applied, the water that needed to be drained has been drained, the seedlings that died from waterlogging have been pulled up and thrown away, and the insects have been caught.

The crops on the terraced fields are currently in their growing season, and even if Yunying wanted to do something, she couldn't really get involved. So, Yunying remembered weaving, something she had considered before.

Speaking of weaving, we must first mention the clothing of the people in Yungui County today.

As everyone knows, Yungui County is a barren land, and the people are extremely poor. In such an impoverished place, the people certainly cannot afford silk or fur. Let alone silk and fur, they cannot even afford ordinary coarse cloth.

What do the people here wear?

They mainly wore linen and straw raincoats.

The main raw materials for linen are ramie, flax, abaca, and sisal.

Because raw materials are readily available, many people in Yungui County wear hemp cloth.

However, this kind of linen has several particularly obvious drawbacks: it is rough in texture, irritates the skin, and shrinks after washing, making it wrinkled and very irregular when worn.

Even so, linen is very expensive in Yungui County, and most families can't even afford to provide linen clothing for every member of their household.

Let's talk about the straw raincoat.

In Yunying's eyes, the raincoat was mainly for keeping out the rain. But in the eyes of the people of Yungui County, it was their winter clothing.

This is because straw raincoats are mostly woven from rice straw and reeds, which provide some waterproofing and snow protection. At the same time, they also offer some warmth, making them one of the only two winter clothing options available to poor people.

The reason it's described as "only two" is because there was another type of paper garment at that time. This paper garment was made from the paper mulberry tree. Using the bark of the paper mulberry tree as raw material, the garment was made by steaming, processing, and pressing. Such garments were soft, thick, and easy to repair even when torn.

But there are only so many paper mulberry trees, how could they withstand so many people peeling their bark? The bark from one paper mulberry tree is not even enough to make two sets of clothes. Thus, although such paper garments existed, they were not popular.

Another method involved stuffing duck feathers, reeds, and hemp fibers into hemp clothing to create similar cotton-padded garments for warmth.

However, this method is not popular.

Throughout Yungui County, the most common winter clothing is still the straw raincoat.

The making of a raincoat is very simple, requiring only simple weaving.

Making linen clothing is a bit more complicated, as it requires stripping the linen, spinning the yarn, and weaving the cloth. Of course, whether the linen cloth needs to be degummed, bleached, or dyed after it's made is entirely up to personal preference.

In short, the people of Yungui County wouldn't waste money bleaching and dyeing linen. As a result, most of the people on the street were dressed in off-white.

Leaving aside these trivial matters, let's just talk about how the manufacture of linen also requires a loom. The looms in Yungui County could only produce a piece of cloth about the width of an adult's palm at a time. Not only was it extremely troublesome and time-consuming, but it also wasted a great deal of physical strength and endurance, and resulted in significant wear and tear.

When Yunying thought about starting a weaving business, her first thought was to improve the loom.

She didn't have the ability to modify the machine, but some prefectures famous for textiles should have better looms, right?

Yunying was a complete novice in this area. Even though she had read many books, some of the books on machine manufacturing wouldn't tell her how advanced the loom had become.

Ask the Second Master, but he knows nothing about these things either. Helpless, Yunying decided to find a shop that specializes in cloth to inquire about the most popular looms on the market, their prices in which prefecture, and their advantages and disadvantages.

With this in mind, Yunying's goal was very clear: after leaving home today, she went straight to the clothing store on the main street.

The clothing shop was run by a husband and wife. The husband was in charge of purchasing the goods, while the wife sold the clothes in the shop. Because it was a small business, there weren't many customers. When the woman had free time, she also had to sew the clothes for sale, so she was always busy.

As soon as Yunying entered the shop, the woman selling clothes, Cheng Niangzi, reflexively greeted her with a warm smile.

But then she noticed Yunying's attire... The girl was wearing clothes made of the finest jacquard silk. The silk was a pale yellow color, and under the sunlight, it shone with a lustrous and dazzling light. The jacquard pattern on it was intricate and beautiful, giving it a very precious feel at first glance.

It's confirmed; this is a girl who would absolutely never make a purchase at her store.

Thinking this to herself, Cheng Niangzi looked somewhat dejected and began to ignore Yunying.

Sui'er and Liu'er noticed the man's expression and naturally saw Cheng Niangzi's disdain and displeasure. The two frowned, wanting to say a few words, but Yunying stopped them and asked first, "I want to ask my sister a few questions. I don't want to waste your time, so I'll give you a reward."

When the real gold and silver were displayed, Madam Cheng's worry turned to joy, and her expression immediately changed.

But even if she says nice things, what if the girl is lying to her?

Cheng Niangzi looked at Yun Ying, who knew that this woman was also the type to not act until she saw a good deal. So she took out a tael of silver from her bag and placed it on the counter. "This is the deposit. If things go well, I'll give you another tael."

"Oh, if you have any questions, just ask. Why are you being so polite? Your generosity makes me feel embarrassed."

That's what she said, but Madam Cheng's actions were anything but polite. She grabbed the silver from the counter, wiped it on her clothes a couple of times, and then even took a bite out of it.

Several teeth marks immediately appeared on the broken silver, and Cheng Niangzi's smile became even brighter.

Seeing this, Sui'er and Liu'er couldn't help but roll their eyes. But they didn't say anything too outrageous, after all, if they were Madam Cheng, they might be even more mercenary than her.

With the money paving the way, Yunying was able to ask about whatever she wanted, and Cheng Niangzi answered all her questions without reservation.

Cheng Niangzi quickly gleaned Yunying's meaning from her question.

This girl is probably planning to import looms and start a cloth weaving business.

However, Yungui County doesn't have such a large market, let alone so many buyers.

Don't be fooled by the fact that she runs a shop and seems to have a legitimate business and live a carefree life. But as a family member, you know your own situation. Her shop only earns her enough to barely make ends meet.

If it weren't for the fact that she and her husband couldn't endure the hardships of farming, who would still keep the door open to do this business?
They have to smile at people every day and take such big risks, but year after year, they've not only failed to get rich, their lives have become even harder than before.

After saying what she wanted to say, Madam Cheng sincerely said to Yunying, "Miss, it's not that I'm afraid you'll steal my customers, it's just that the weaving business isn't as easy as you think. Especially this year, with the disaster, the people are suffering. Right now, if people have two copper coins, they'll save them to buy a pound of coarse grain for their household registration. Who would want to buy clothes? What's more, you want to buy large looms. Even if you buy them, we don't have any weavers here who know how to use them; and even if you train some weavers, the cloth they produce will definitely not sell. In the end, you'll not only waste your energy but also lose so much money, and you'll get nothing in return. Miss, why do you have to do this?"

Upon hearing this, Yunying glanced at Madam Cheng again.

She had previously thought this woman was also greedy and mean-spirited, but unexpectedly, she turned out to be a person of genuine feelings.

Yunying thought of Madam Cheng's well-intentioned advice. Although it wasn't entirely out of concern for her well-being—she was probably afraid that Yunying would actually introduce looms and produce cloth, thus competing with her for business—most of what she said was sincere and made a lot of sense.

If she were truly only after making money, she would probably have been disheartened by Cheng Niangzi's cold water. But her goal wasn't just to make money; she wanted to add another source of income to provide a way out for the people. Her secondary objective was to use the cheap raw materials and labor available here to weave cloth and sell it elsewhere to earn money.

Yunying had no need to tell anyone about her plans, so she thanked Madam Cheng for her kindness and gave her an extra tael of silver as a token of her gratitude.

Cheng Niangzi earned two taels of silver with just a few words. This silver was earned so easily; such a large sum of unexpected wealth was equivalent to half a month's income for her.

Cheng Niangzi was overjoyed and no longer worried that Yunying would buy a weaving machine that would steal her business.

This girl is so kind; she probably won't drive her to desperation.

Thinking this to herself, Madam Cheng's smile grew even more eager. She personally saw Yunying to the door, and said in a sweet voice, "If you need anything, come and ask me again. I'll be here the whole time. You'll see me when you come back. Take care, I won't see you off any further."

Two updates today. Sigh, I feel a bit guilty for only updating once a day. Also, I had the baby's trace elements checked; he's not deficient in calcium or zinc, just a little startled and has a weak digestive system. The doctor suggested feeding him less, giving him more water, and also gave him a massage and applied a medicated plaster. I don't know if he'll be better in a few days, but he slept okay last night.