Zhao Jiaqi saw so many people leave at once, and felt it was inappropriate to follow her husband to town. She decided to stay and do some work, giving her husband a look and signaling the men to go ahead.
Fan Zehao felt helpless but couldn't show it. He said, "Uncle, why don't you all go? I'll stay home and help my wife with some chores. She's not strong and can't do heavy lifting!"
The village chief, whose literacy was limited and whose mind didn't react as quickly as the young people, refused to let him go. "No, no, if you don't go, we won't feel confident. You go with us, and after we get back, Uncle and the others will help you with your work!"
Fan Zehao was in a difficult position. Zhao Jiaqi saw he didn't want to go, but considering she had Twelve with her, nothing would happen at home.
"You should go. I'll be fine at home with Granny Li!"
Seeing his wife had spoken, the village chief became even more reluctant to let him go. If the horses hadn't needed feeding, the old men would have dragged him away by then.
As dawn broke, the horse carriage left the small courtyard. Before long, three aunts arrived, their faces beaming with joy!
The room was heated warmly. Wang Zhangshi, seeing this, was very envious of Mrs. Fan marrying a man who cared for her.
"I was thinking there's still some time before the new year, why don't we find more people and make more items!" Wang Zhangshi suggested.
Liu Qinshi and Meng Sunshi had no objections. Instead, their gazes turned to Mrs. Fan, primarily to see if she intended to agree.
Zhao Jiaqi hesitated, "This... I need to think carefully about it!"
It wasn't that making these cloth dolls was impossible, but she was currently unsure about the intentions of the Chu family in Hexinzhou. If they only wanted to steal her designs, that would be one thing, but she feared they might have other plans.
However, on second thought, if she didn't show any flaws, how would they find an opening?
After a brief moment of reflection, she agreed to their request, but secretly remained vigilant.
"Since the aunts all want to do this, why don't we build a workshop and gather all the women in the village? Those who know embroidery will be paid copper coins for each doll they make. Those who don't can assist, like cooking, boiling water, or stuffing the dolls. The workshop will provide two meals a day. What do you all think?"
Free meals and payment – where could such a good deal be found?
The women said in unison, "Agreed! There are only a little over twenty women in our village. If we can make one extra item each day, it will be enough to eat. This way, we can all work together to get through the winter!"
Meng Sunshi said, "Indeed. Life in our village is not easy. Anyone with some ability would not stay here!"
Zhao Jiaqi saw that everyone agreed, so she decided to help them build the workshop first, giving the village women something to do. As for their husbands, they could consider it temporary work.
Zhao Jiaqi said, "Then how about this: we have many empty houses in the village. Let's section off a row of houses and have a few people tidy them up to make a simple workshop. We can reuse existing structures, saving the cost of building a new one. What do the aunts think?"
Liu Qinshi clapped her thighs and smiled, "What do you mean, what do we think? This is absolutely wonderful! We'll do as you say!"
"Alright then. Once the uncles return, we'll discuss this in detail. I don't know anything about building houses. So, what should we do next?"
This question surprised everyone. Liu Qinshi asked, "If not cloth dolls, then what else?"
Zhao Jiaqi, curious, countered, "Besides cloth dolls, we can make many other things!"
She extended her fingers and began to count, "Handkerchiefs, clothes, bibs, and shoes. We can even make children's toys, like all sorts of small animal stools, seesaws, and slides..."
"Wait, what is a seesaw? And what is a slide?"
Zhao Jiaqi: ...
She had been too hasty. Such items might not exist in this place, but that didn't mean they couldn't be made!
"Let's put aside the latter items for now. The former ones can definitely be made. For this kind of handicraft, if the selling price isn't too high, we can find more women from nearby villages. For this part, we can earn the difference in price!"
This was undoubtedly more good news for making money. The earned copper coins were essentially free.
"If you ask me, we might as well rent a shop in town and sell them ourselves. This will also prevent those cunning people from taking our embroidered work and selling it in town!" Granny Li suggested. The other aunts agreed, all thinking it was a good idea.
With that decided, the four aunts immediately began to plan with Zhao Jiaqi. If they made three thousand taels of silver, each of them would get six hundred taels. After deducting the cost from the remaining one hundred taels, they could use the rest to rent a shop, which would be perfectly feasible!
"What do you think of this?"
Zhao Jiaqi was the first to express her approval: "That's a great idea! We can produce and sell ourselves, and the profit will be even more substantial!"
The women at home readily agreed. The men out and about were still discussing how to spend the money they would receive, each with their own ideas, all sorts of suggestions flying.
The aunts on the kang were planning what to sell in the shop, and some were even thinking about the shop sign, chatting happily.
Zhao Jiaqi smiled and withdrew from the room. Unexpectedly, she bumped into a stranger, a young man.
In this village, men around forty were considered young. Seeing someone in his early twenties suddenly startled her!
"Who are you looking for?"
The man hadn't expected her to suddenly come out of the room and was clearly taken aback. He quickly said, "I'm just passing by and looking for a place to get some water!"
Zhao Jiaqi nodded, lowering her gaze. The man's eyes flickered slightly as he spoke, and there was a distinct accent from Hexinzhou.
Her mind raced a bit, and she figured out who he was!
"We're out of hot water in the room. I'll start boiling some now, please wait a moment!"
The man nodded frantically, "Okay, okay, then I'll help you start the fire!"
In the kitchen, while Zhao Jiaqi was boiling water, she glanced at him a couple more times and sighed softly, "Times are hard these days. Someone your age who's out on their own must be doing it to earn more silver, right? Otherwise, with the new year approaching, who wouldn't want to go home and be with their parents!"
The man was clearly startled by her words and then, belatedly, forced a bitter smile. "My parents passed away early. I'm all alone, so it doesn't matter where I spend the new year!"
Therefore, no one paid him much attention.
When his mother was alive, he had something to look forward to during the new year. Now that she was gone, returning home meant being alone, so it was cold and desolate. He might as well not go back!
Zhao Jiaqi tried to pry, "What, you're not married yet? You look like you're not young anymore!"
"I'll be twenty-four after the new year. No one at home is arranging things for me, and I'm a bit lazy, so I've missed the age for getting married. Plus, I don't have a good house, no land, and I don't earn much each month. Many people are unwilling to marry me. Over time, I've lost the desire!"
Seeing how frankly he spoke, he didn't seem to be lying!