Chapter 35 Qin's Cloth Shop

Chapter 35 Qin's Cloth Shop

Having barely escaped death, Xie Wanniang had no desire to return to the Xie family and be manipulated by her own parents, only to be caught in endless assassinations and power struggles within the household.

Fortunately, no one knew she could swim, and even fewer knew she was a transmigrator who had skipped all the procedures in the underworld and inexplicably started her second life.

They searched for her biological father and adoptive father, and based on their common sense and experience, they deduced that Xie Wanniang could not possibly be near Baihe Town or further downstream in the river.

Sending people to Baihe Town and two villages further upstream to inquire was already the result of expanding the search area with the hope that "anything might happen."

They couldn't find Xie Wanniang in any of these three places, so no matter how unwilling they were, they could only accept the fact that she had vanished without a trace.

Having regained her freedom and a new life by escaping far enough, Xie Wanniang unabashedly thanked herself for her hard work and humility.

I'm grateful that she cherished her life in both her previous and current lives, not only paying close attention to her health and physical fitness but also learning many essential survival skills. ^_^

Thankfully, she never boasted about her good health, nor did she ever tell anyone that she possessed certain essential survival skills. ^_^

After the people looking for her left, Xie Wanniang, being cautious, did not leave the village immediately, but instead stayed in Mingfu Village obediently for almost a month.

After three months of gathering herbs and embroidery, she earned a total of twelve taels of silver and more than eight hundred copper coins. After deducting the money spent on Xiao Yang and the medical and medicine fees that Jiang Yuan had previously paid for her, she currently has nine taels of silver and more than six hundred copper coins left.

She had originally planned to ask Jiang Yuan to settle all the expenses for her and Xiao Yang's accommodation and meals, as well as the money Jiang Yuan spent on buying things for them. However, neither Jiang Yuan, the creditor, nor Hao Yu, the homeowner, would accept her money.

The two of them took turns trying to persuade her to give up the idea.

Jiang Yuan: "No need to pay it back. I didn't spend much money on those things."

Hao Yu: "You didn't stay for free, why should we pay for your accommodation?"

Jiang Yuan said, "How much can you two eat? There's no need to pay extra."

Hao Yu said, "You've been cooking for us all day long, but we haven't paid you for your work."

Jiang Yuan said, "If you really want to calculate it, then first calculate how much money we should pay you for doing the needlework for us."

Hao Yu said, "That is to say, calculating so clearly makes us seem distant."

Xie Wanniang: ......

Xie Wanniang couldn't argue with them, so she had no choice but to give up and ask Jiang Yuan to calculate a rough figure for her.

But she wouldn't take advantage of them just because of a few words from them. It didn't matter if Jiang Yuan and Hao Yu didn't charge her; she could buy things for them every now and then.

Once she gets the household registration that Chen Lizheng helped her with, and buys a homestead from the village, she will hire some people to build her own house.

Of course, for safety's sake, she would build her house at the end of the village, becoming neighbors with Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan.

These two are capable and upright, and Xie Wanniang has made up her mind to maintain a long-term friendly neighborly relationship with them.

Thinking about these follow-up plans, Xie Wanniang followed Jiang Yuan and walked to Qin Ji Cloth Shop.

Qin's Cloth Shop is a large store, a business that the Qin family has relied on for three generations to make a living.

Qin Niangzi, the current owner of Qin Ji, is a remarkable woman who successfully recruited a son-in-law into the family despite the watchful eyes of her clansmen and relatives, and managed to protect her family business during the turbulent years of war.

Perhaps because she had suffered a lot from being a woman, after taking over Qin's Cloth Shop, she opened a separate counter to sell shoes, socks, clothes and embroidery made in her spare time by women who were unable to work outside the home.

Thanks to her, Xie Wanniang was able to earn about one tael of silver each month by doing embroidery in her spare time.

This amount of money wasn't much for Xie Wanniang, who mainly made a living from medicinal herbs, but it was enough to make the women in the village envious to the point of plasmolysis.

You should know that many families in the village might not be able to save even a tael or two of silver all year round.

After all, they were barely managing to feed their entire family, let alone dream of having surplus food and money.

Therefore, many women in the village who had no way to make money greatly admired Xie Wanniang, who had mastered exquisite embroidery skills.

If Xie Wanniang weren't known for being extremely busy every day, either harvesting or processing medicinal herbs, the women in the village would have already gone to ask her if she could teach them or their daughters and daughters-in-law a few tricks.

They didn't expect themselves or their family members to reach Xie Wanniang's level of skill; they only hoped that their products would meet the purchasing standards of the town's cloth shops, so that they could have another skill to rely on.

Xie Wanniang, who was eager to make money, was completely unaware of the thoughts of the women in the village. Her mind was only focused on "how much money I made today, how much money I have saved so far, and how much more money I need to save to buy land and build a house".

"Auntie," Jiang Yuan, who had already become familiar with the owner and employees of Qin's Cloth Shop, walked up to the woman who was carefully sorting out the cloth, "Could you please call your boss for me?"

The woman was in her early forties, with a fair, round face and a smile that was both sincere and endearing. She recognized Jiang Yuan at a glance, who often came to sell embroidery for Xie Wanniang. "Oh, it's you."

Upon seeing Xie Wanniang standing beside Jiang Yuan, the woman's eyes lit up. "Is this the girl who asked you to bring your embroidery to sell?"

Xie Wanniang smiled and gave her a slight curtsy. "Hello, Auntie. My surname is Xie. You can call me Xiao Xie or Wanniang."

"Wan Niang?" The woman was taken aback for a moment, thinking to herself, how could an elder give their child such an unlucky name? Did they cough up their heart and brain without realizing it?

She thought to herself, but quickly concealed her astonishment on her face.

This wasn't the first time Xie Wanniang had attracted strange looks because of her name. She calmly explained, "It's the 'Wan' in 'a gentle smile,' not the 'wan' in 'early or late.'"

She was given a name by her own mother, how could she possibly change it herself? She'll just have to make do with it.

The woman gave an awkward smile, "Look at me..."

Xie Wanniang's smile remained unchanged. "It's my name that's easy to misunderstand, not your problem."

The woman's smile immediately became more natural. "Then please wait a moment, I'll go and call our master out."

"Thank you for your trouble." Xie Wanniang nodded slightly to the woman, then slowly began to wander around the cloth shop.

She planned to buy two bolts of fine cloth to make clothes for Hao Yu and Jiang Yuan. She also needed to buy new clothes for herself and Xiao Yang.

She quickly selected one bolt each of dark blue, dark brown, and dark gray fine cloth. Xie Wanniang leaned against the counter, patiently waiting for the woman and Qin Niangzi to come out together.

Qin Niangzi arrived quickly; she, her husband, and children lived in the second courtyard behind the shop.

"This must be Miss Xie?" Qin Niangzi, who had been invited out by the woman, smiled before speaking. She quickly walked a few steps to Xie Wanniang's side. "My name is Qin Rong. I've long wanted to meet which sister is capable of embroidering such beautiful patterns."