"Didn't you earn five taels of silver recently? Lend it to me, consider it a loan." Wu Caiwei looked at him intently.
Liu Changhe suddenly felt a strange sensation, as if he were facing a stranger. In fact, things had been amiss ever since he decided to divorce her, but he had deliberately ignored it. Now, looking at her profound eyes, he felt a sense of reverence.
After a moment of hesitation, he took out a small cloth bag from his embrace and pressed it into Zhou Xue'e's hand.
"This silver is for you to tide over, so you won't end up on the streets. You can find work in the county town, prefecture, or even a smaller town; you'll always be able to survive. Absolutely do not associate with the Zhou family, nor give them this silver. Otherwise, it will be like a dog eating a meat bun – gone forever, and you'll be in dire straits." Although it was inappropriate to say these words after their divorce, Liu Changhe was afraid she would be deceived again and instructed her with some unease.
"Don't worry, after this incident, I've seen their true colors and won't interact with them much anymore. I will return the silver soon, including the sixty taels." With that, Wu Caiwei took the silver and turned to leave, knowing that whatever she said now, he wouldn't believe.
For some reason, Liu Changhe couldn't shake the feeling that she meant what she said and would follow through. A moment later, he found his thoughts ridiculous. He shook his head. They had lived together for over a decade; surely he knew her character.
Stepping out of the village, Wu Caiwei headed towards the town. Fortunately, the village wasn't too far from the town. She hadn't walked such a long distance in a while and felt unaccustomed to it. Along the way, she didn't see any ox carts. After walking for more than half an hour, she finally reached her destination.
A town was a town, after all; it was more prosperous. There were regular horse-drawn carriages and ox carts running from the town to the county seat. Wu Caiwei spent a hundred copper coins to squeeze into a horse-drawn carriage with others, rattling her way towards the county town.
If the original owner were walking on the street, she would have been looking around everywhere, as she rarely came here. Before marriage, she had barely left the house. After marriage, whenever it was nearing the New Year, Liu Changhe would bring their sons and daughters, along with Zhou Xue'e, to the county town to buy them new clothes and good food. It had been more than half a year since her last visit, and the place hadn't changed much from the original owner's memory.
Arriving at the county yamen, she inquired with the scribe and learned that women here could establish independent households if they were divorced or repudiated. This way, they wouldn't be controlled by their parents and could remarry as they pleased. However, a tax of two taels of silver was required.
At this moment, Wu Caiwei understood why the original owner and others in her memory wanted to establish independent households but no one did. For ordinary farming families, accumulating a few taels of silver was the work of a lifetime. These two taels of silver were almost half their family fortune. Even Wu Caiwei felt a pang of heartache. Gritting her teeth, she took out two taels of silver and handed them to the scribe. Shortly after, she walked out of the yamen, holding the household registration with her name as the head of the household.
In fact, she had considered what she would do in the county town yesterday. Although she had learned a great deal through so many lives, she felt none of it could be easily revealed. After all, she was too different from the original owner.
After thinking for a long time, she suddenly remembered that the original owner knew embroidery. Clothes and shoes at home all needed to be made. To avoid being lazy, Zhou's mother had taught this skill to Zhou Xue'e. When she had free time, Zhou Xue'e would also embroider handkerchiefs and sachets to sell in town.
However, embroidery was too time-consuming, and she couldn't stay in the inn forever. So, she spent another tael of silver to rent a courtyard for two months and another tael to buy some thread and a little cloth.
At this point, she only had nine hundred wen left. To earn silver quickly, she started with small items. Fortunately, she had once spent a lot of money to hire a master of double-sided embroidery and learned the technique. Now it came in handy. Yes, she planned to embroider a small screen with double-sided embroidery.
Five days later, Wu Caiwei looked at the lifelike orchids in her hand and the plum blossoms on the back, feeling content.
Walking down the street and making a few inquiries, she learned that Ruyi Xuan was currently the largest embroidery shop in the county town.
Before she even got close, a maidservant approached her with a smile and asked. Upon learning that she was there to sell something and not to buy, her attitude didn't change. This made Wu Caiwei nod unconsciously, realizing why the establishment's business could grow so large.
At first, the shopkeeper was dismissive, assuming she was an ordinary skilled embroiderer selling her work. Ruyi Xuan had its own embroiderers, of course. Sometimes, when the embroiderers were too busy, these small items would be purchased from women who wanted to supplement their household income.
When the small screen was presented, the shopkeeper thought he was hallucinating. Otherwise, how could he see double-sided embroidery in this small county town? It was said to be something priceless in the capital.
He quickly led Wu Caiwei to the back courtyard, asked her to rest a moment, and went to invite the owner. Soon, the owner arrived.
After inspecting the goods, he was enamored with it and said he would buy as much as she could produce, offering a fair price. Wu Caiwei readily agreed.
Leaving Ruyi Xuan with twenty taels of silver, Wu Caiwei went to a nearby cloth shop to buy fine silk and more embroidery thread.
However, before that, she had to return to town to find Liu Changhe. When she handed him ten taels of silver, Liu Changhe could hardly believe his ears.
"You're saying you earned this?" In the past, they had a division of labor with the husband working outside and the wife managing the household. He never knew she could earn money so quickly.
"Yes, I embroidered a screen as soon as I arrived in the county town, and it sold. You know, my embroidery skills are excellent. The embroidery shop thought my work had value and unexpectedly gave me twenty taels of silver, stating that they would buy anything I embroidered from now on. So don't worry, I'll return the remaining fifty-five taels of silver to you in a while." The reason Wu Caiwei was so eager to return part of the money was that she feared Liu Changhe would take risks again like in her previous life. It was also to convey a message to him: if possible, he should try to stabilize the young master of the Liu family, as Ling Jie was very fond of him. She was confident that in a while, she would be able to earn enough money for the Liu family to buy a house and a shop in town. (Su Dan Novel Network)
After a brief exchange with Liu Changhe, she hurried back to the county town. This time, with money in hand, enough to live on for a month, she planned to use this month to embroider a larger screen.
Embroidery was the most straining on the eyes, so to protect hers, Wu Caiwei would go out for a stroll from time to time. Over time, she gained some understanding of her surroundings. She had a plan in mind for what to do after selling this screen and receiving the money.