When Shen Xiu returned home from the Third Party Banquet, she still had some worries in her heart.
She thought about it and decided to write a letter to Wei Yan to remind him.
Before he reached the study room, he saw Rou Niang and Liu'er walking towards them, Liu'er still holding a few pieces of paper in her hand.
"What are you doing?" Shen Xiu asked.
Rou Niang said: "Liu'er begged me to find some old pieces of paper for her. She said she wanted to write down the precautions for raising silkworms so that she would not forget them in the future."
Shen Xiu looked at Liu'er and didn't expect that she could read.
Liu'er said: "One of the people who used to take care of us in the Salesian Bureau was a nun named Xu. She not only knew how to be a nünren but also read books. I learned her handwriting after her, but I didn't know many words."
Shen Xiudao: "Since you can read, that's the best thing. Come with me."
Liu'er handed the paper in her hand to Rou Niang and followed Shen Xiu to the study.
Shen Xiucun wanted to test her, so she spread out a piece of paper and asked Liu'er to help write a letter.
When Liu'er was writing, Shen Xiu was watching from the side. She saw that Liu'er's posture of holding the pen was very correct and her writing was also straight. It seemed that she had worked hard.
"Have you followed that Aunt Xu? In addition to being literate, have you also read any books?"
Liu'er said: "Mama Xu only taught me the Three Character Classic and One Hundred Family Surnames. Later she died of illness and no one taught me anymore."
Shen Xiu asked: "Then do you still remember the contents of these two books?"
Liu'er nodded and said, "Remember. I remember things very quickly. I can memorize the contents of the book after reading it twice."
Shen Xiu didn't believe it, so he took a simple copy of "The Thousand Character Essay" from the study, pointed at two paragraphs, and asked Liu Er to read it twice.
Liu'er read it twice, then closed the book and recited the two paragraphs.
Only then did Shen Xiu believe that what she said was true, and couldn't help but sigh: "It would be great if you were a man. With such qualifications, if you go to take the scholar examination, it will definitely be no problem."
Liu'er said: "Mama Xu said the same thing."
Shen Xiudao: "Since you are so qualified in studying, you don't have to follow Sophora japonica to raise silkworms in the future."
"Then what should I do in the future?" Liu'er asked with her big eyes open.
Shen Xiudao: "You can follow me from now on! Follow me to the embroidery workshop during the day, and I will teach you how to read at night. But I don't read many books, so I don't think I can teach you much. When my husband comes back, I will ask him to teach you
Please invite a gentleman."
It is true that Liu Er is a woman, but since she has such qualifications, she must not waste them.
Compared with raising silkworms, Liu'er naturally prefers to follow Shen Xiu, not to mention that she can continue to study in the future. Her face immediately showed a happy expression, "Mrs. Shen, are you serious? I can really continue to study."
?”
"Of course." Shen Xiudao: "Although we women don't have to take the imperial examination, it is always right to read more books. If Amei is willing, you can also teach her to read in the future."
Liu'er said: "I have taught her before, but it's a pity that she doesn't like to read and only likes female celebrities."
On the other hand, there are indeed not many girls who like to study and are qualified like Liu'er.
Shen Xiu had doubts in her heart again. With Liu Er's qualifications, could she really come from a poor background?
If Liu Er hadn't said that her parents were sharecroppers, Shen Xiu would really have thought that she was the daughter of a scholarly family.
Not only was Shen Xiu thinking this, but when Liu Er followed her to the embroidery workshop the next day, when Guo Abacus first saw Liu Er, he thought she was someone's daughter.
Shen Xiu was always very generous to her own people. After she adopted Liu'er and the others, she asked Rou Niang to buy some new clothes for the three of them.
However, new clothes could not be made for a while, so Shen Xiu took out the clothes that she did not often wear and put them on Amei and Liuer first.
What Liu'er is wearing today is a peach-pink embroidered orchid cardigan. She is fair-skinned and has beautiful eyebrows. Putting on this pink dress and standing there, she really looks like a daughter of a rich family.
Shen Xiu introduced Liu'er to Guo Abacus, "This is Liu'er, and he will work with me from now on."
Guo Abacus smiled at Liu'er, said hello, and then talked about business with Shen Xiu: "Now that the weather is getting warmer, fine cotton jackets will not be sold for long."
It's almost April, and I won't be able to wear jackets anymore.
Shen Xiudao: "I know what you mean. Our fine cotton jackets sell well, firstly because of the cut-and-paste embroidery, and secondly because silk and duck down are lighter than cotton. Now that the weather is getting warmer, people don't need to keep warm.
Muslin clothes have to find another way to keep customers."
Guo Abacus said: "That's what I mean. Nowadays, fine cotton clothes have been accepted by people. I have inquired and found that several embroidery shops now have a large amount of fine cotton. In the past, they did not know the shortcomings of duck down and did not dare to compete with us for business.
.But now, the weather is getting warmer day by day, and the duck down is no longer needed. In this way, they can continue to do the fine cotton clothing business."
What Guo Abacus is worried about is that once other embroidery shops start to do the fine cotton clothing business, then the neon clothes embroidery shop will have no advantage.
Shen Xiu also knew that something happened at Meixiang Embroidery Workshop, which caused other embroidery workshops to wait and watch for a while.
But time can change everything.
Once the incident at Meixiang Embroidery Shop subsides, other embroidery shops will compete with Nishang Embroidery Shop for the fine cotton clothes business again.
She was thinking deeply about how to solve the problem at hand, when she suddenly saw Liu'er looking out the window attentively.
Shen Xiu patted Liu'er and said, "This is the second floor. Don't get too close to the window. It would be no joke if you fall."
Liu'er turned around and pulled Shen Xiu towards the window, "Ms. Shen, look at what the woman on the street is wearing. Why have I never seen it before?"
Shen Xiu followed Liu'er's line of sight and saw a woman walking down the street. The woman wore a sleeveless gown over her jacket, but it was smaller than the gown.
"That's cotton bijia." Shen Xiudao: "It should be used to keep warm."
After Shen Xiu said this, she suddenly thought of something and her eyes lit up: "Shopkeeper Guo, I have thought of a good way."
"What can I do?" Guo Abacus asked hurriedly.
Shen Xiudao: "Although the weather is getting warmer now, it is still a bit cool in the morning and evening. At this time, if you wear a jacket, you will feel hot at noon. But if you wear single clothes, you will catch a cold in the morning and evening."
Guo Abacus said: "Ms. Shen is right. It is indeed difficult to wear clothes in March and April."
Shen Xiudao: "I have an idea. We can put a bijia on top of our single clothes, so that we won't feel cold in the morning and evening. The fabric of the bijia is made of fine cotton. As for the length, it shouldn't be too long.
, it’s best to reach the waist, so it looks neat.”
Guo Abacus thought for a while and said: "This is a good idea. I'm just afraid that other embroidery workshops will follow suit."
Shen Xiudao: "Don't be afraid, just let the embroiderers do it. It's just that I have something to give you."
"What's up?"
Shen Xiudao: "After the dyeing workshop delivers the dyed muslin, you ask the guys to soak it in alkaline water first, and then take it to the embroiderers to cut it after it dries. You must remember that when soaking the muslin , don’t tell the guys that there is alkali in the water. I just said that I was afraid that the fine cotton cloth would not be clean, so I went through the water again.”
Guo Abacus was a smart man and quickly understood Shen Xiu's intention.
"Ms. Shen, is there any secret to this alkaline water?" Guo Abacus asked curiously.
Shen Xiu smiled and said: "I won't tell you the secret for now. You will know it after other embroidery workshops follow suit and do this."