After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the weather became warmer day by day.
On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, when the two embroidery workshops opened their doors, Shen Xiu had been busy outside for a day. When she got home, Rou Niang greeted her with a smile, "Ms. Shen is finally back. Mr. Qu, Liu Hao and the others are back, and they brought With a girl."
Shen Xiu entered the inner courtyard and saw Wei Yan entertaining Qu Huan and his party. The girl Rou Niang mentioned was Sophora japonica.
The Sophora japonica is still the same as before, except that there is a white flower on the temple.
When Shen Xiu saw the white flower, she knew that the Sophora japonica flower was paying tribute to Aunt Cui.
She said hello to Qu Huan first. Knowing that Huaihua was restrained here, she took her to the inner room to talk.
"Aunt Cui left in the twelfth lunar month. Before she left, she held my hand and told me that she couldn't bear to worry about me." Huaihua's eyes filled with tears when she mentioned Aunt Cui.
Shen Xiu also picked up the handkerchief and wiped the corners of her eyes, comforting Huaihua and said: "The deceased is gone, so you should also look at it more openly. From now on, when Aunt Cui is gone, you can live with me! I have prepared it for you." room."
The residence she prepared for Sophora japonica is right next door to Lianniang.
Just then Lianniang came out of the room and saw Shen Xiu leading a young woman over, so she asked: "Who is this sister?"
Shen Xiu introduced her: "This is Sophora japonica, from the same hometown as me, and I will live here forever. I am often away from home, and my husband is a man. If you have time, you can come and spend time with her."
Lianniang nodded and said: "I am worried about having no one to accompany me. Sister Sophora Flower's coming here will relieve my loneliness."
Sophora japonica smiled shyly and said, "Just call me Sophora japonica."
She was not used to Lianniang's affectionate address.
Lianniang had no choice but to call out "Sophora japonica" calmly, "You just came here, do you want me to show you around?"
Shen Xiu still had something to say to Qu Huan, so he asked Lian Niang to take Sophora japonica around for a while, and then returned to the flower hall.
When Qu Huan saw her, he smiled and said: "Ms. Shen, you have assigned me a hard job. You don't know, it took a lot of effort just to persuade Huaihua to go on the road with me. If it hadn't been for Liu Liu, As long as the child is here, Sophora japonica will never come with me."
Shen Xiu smiled and said: "I know this trip will be difficult for you. So I want to give you a profitable business."
"What kind of money-making business?" Qu Huan's eyes lit up and he immediately cheered up.
Shen Xiu then smiled at Wei Yan and said, "This matter is still
Qu Huan looked at Wei Yan and couldn't understand how this business was related to Wei Yan.
Just listen to Wei Yan say: "I have a friend who is from the provincial capital. Before the Chinese New Year, he wrote me a letter, saying that the cotton fields in the provincial capital were flooded, so the cotton in the provincial capital will definitely increase sharply this year. "
Qu Huan listened and said nothing, but looked at Shen Xiu.
Shen Xiudao: "This friend of my husband is the son of a big family in the provincial capital. This news must not be false. But if you are worried about Brother Qu, you can go to the provincial capital to inquire."
Qu Huan said: "In this case, I will leave early tomorrow morning."
Shen Xiudao: "Why are you in such a hurry? It's not too late for you to stay in Fucheng for a few days before leaving!"
Qu Huan said: "This matter should be done sooner rather than later. Madam Shen probably doesn't know that the fine cotton cloth sold in the cloth shop in Huai'an County and the fine cotton cloth in Fucheng are all shipped from the provincial capital. If they are from the provincial capital If the cotton fields are really flooded, then we have to transport the cotton there as soon as possible. Otherwise, when businessmen in other places get the news, the cotton will not be sold at a good price."
Since Qu Huan abandoned literature and entered business, he has often dealt with people from different industries, so he naturally knows more about business matters than the average person.
Shen Xiu didn't stop her anymore, "Then I'll ask the kitchen to prepare some food for you so you can take it with you on the way."
She originally wanted to discuss with Qu Huan how to set a trap for Mr. Gu, but since Qu Huan was in such a hurry to go to the provincial capital, she might as well wait until he came back.
It was seven or eight days' journey from the provincial capital to the capital. After Qu Huan left, Shen Xiu calculated the distance. When Qu Huan came back, it would be almost February.
Shen Shiqi should also be here by then.
She was thinking about something in the embroidery workshop, and Guo Abacus had already calculated an account.
"Ms. Shen, if this year's business is the same as last year, then sixty bolts of plain satin and one hundred pounds of cotton thread will be needed per year. There are also some embroidery frames that are no longer usable and need to be purchased again. These things cost about one thousand taels of silver. ."
Shen Xiu came back to her senses and asked after listening to Guo Abacus: "Do the embroidery threads in the embroidery workshop only have cotton threads and no silk embroidery threads?"
Guo Abacus said: "If the customer does not request it, the embroidery studio usually uses cotton thread. It turns out that the embroidery studio also uses silk embroidery thread, but it has to be brought back from Jiangnan, which takes at least two or three months."
Shen Xiudao: "I still have some silk embroidery thread on hand, which should be enough for a month or two. When the silk embroidery thread is used up, there will be new silk to replace it."
Guo Abacus wondered: "Where did Mrs. Shen get the silk embroidery thread? This silk is only found in the south of the Yangtze River!"
"The skills of mulberry trees and silk reeling are not only possessed by people from Jiangnan." Shen Xiudao, "I know a person who can raise silkworms and reel silk. In short, you don't need to worry about silk embroidery thread. From now on, the embroidery workshop and the All embroidery products in Jinxin Embroidery Shop use silk embroidery thread as much as possible.”
The embroidery made with silk embroidery thread is far from comparable to that of cotton thread.
Shen Xiu wanted to make Nishang Embroidery Shop and Jinxin Embroidery Shop bigger. On the one hand, he wanted to improve the embroidery skills of these two embroidery shops, and on the other hand, he wanted to highlight the characteristics of these two embroidery shops.
And silk embroidery thread is a clever trick she came up with.
When Sophora japonica came from the county town, she naturally brought some silkworm seeds with her.
Shen Xiu plans to find more helpers for her and raise silkworms with her. The more silkworms she can raise, the better.
Aunt Cui taught the silk reeling skills to Sophora japonica. So there is no need to worry about the silk reeling problem.
The only thing Shen Xiu had to consider was that silkworms consumed a lot of mulberry leaves every day.
Naturally, we have to ask the locals for advice on this matter.
It happened that Mrs. Huang came to visit one day and gave Shen Xiu a basket of tangerines and a bag of dried chestnuts.
Mr. Huang gave these gifts because Wei Yan introduced Huang Ziyan to Mr. Meng before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Mr. Meng no longer planned to accept disciples. For the sake of Wei Yan, he only read the article written by Huang Ziyan and pointed out a few shortcomings.
Huang Ziyan had the courage to ask a few questions, and Mr. Meng also answered them. Before leaving, he even gave him a copybook.
Huang Ziyan was very happy and talked a lot with Mrs. Huang when he came back. Mrs. Huang was very grateful and came to visit from time to time, most of the time bringing some things. These things were not expensive and were purely a token of their gratitude.
Shen Xiu refused to accept it and asked the maid to carry the tangerines and chestnuts down, and then said to Mrs. Huang: "Sister-in-law, please stop doing this in the future. I haven't finished eating the things you sent me last time!"
Huang laughed and said, "It's not worth it. You just eat slowly." After saying that, he asked again, "Why don't you see Miss Sophora japonica?"
The last time Huang came to visit, she happened to meet Sophora japonica. She asked Shen Xiu a few questions, and when she heard that Sophora japonica had not been betrothed to anyone yet, Huang was a little moved.
It's just that Shen Xiu said that Huaihua didn't want to get married in her life, so Huang didn't say anything, but she would mention it every time she came.
Shen Xiudao: "She is taking care of the silkworm seeds in the room. Speaking of which, I also want to ask my sister-in-law, is there a large mulberry forest in Fucheng?"
Huang said: "Of course there is. There is a mulberry forest next to our ancestral field."
The ancestral field of the Fan family was purchased when Fan Guangzu's grandfather was still alive, and it is located on the outskirts of the city.
"The mulberry forest grows at the foot of the mountain. There are almost a hundred mulberry trees. In summer, fallen mulberries are everywhere."
After Huang finished speaking, he said, "Why do you ask this?"
Shen Xiudao: "I want to raise silkworms, so I asked if there are any mulberry trees here."
Huang said: "That should be enough. As long as you don't raise too many silkworms, the hundred or so mulberry trees should be enough."
Shen Xiu thought for a moment and said, "Then I have to ask Sophora japonica. She should know how many mulberry trees are needed to raise silkworms."
Mentioning Sophora japonica, Mrs. Huang suddenly lowered her voice and said, "This Sophora japonica girl, do you really not plan to get married in this life?"
Shen Xiudao: "I mentioned it twice, and every time she said she didn't want to get married."
"You just leave her alone, are you really going to never marry?" Huang said: "You don't have children now, so it's better. When you have children in the future, she will see it every day, and I won't believe her.
I won’t envy you. It doesn’t matter whether this woman has a husband or not, but she must have her own children. Otherwise, what will she do when she gets old?”