bookrebus Chapter 590: Not Afraid of Being Busy, Only Afraid of Having Nothing to Do
Chapter 590: Not Afraid of Being Busy, Only Afraid of Having Nothing to Do
The first snow of winter has fallen.
Tong Huaqiong watched the falling snowflakes, her heart filled with waves of emotions, wondering if the extreme cold was about to arrive.
The storage room at home was piled with coal, enough for both the family and the Weaving Workshop.
She thought the extreme cold would arrive with the snow.
After the snow stopped, the weather didn’t get much colder.
It was about as cold as the year Tong Huaqiong first came.
Tong Huaqiong was indifferent to the arrival of extreme cold weather, anyway, she had already prepared everything needed.
She focused her energy on the Weaving Workshop, now that the cotton cloth woven by the Weaving Workshop began supplying the market, it really depended on their skills to win the customers’ favor.
She thought she could concentrate on promoting cotton cloth, but then news came from the magistrate that another batch of border cotton clothing needed to be made.
Tong Huaqiong was worrying about a cotton shortage when Magistrate Yao unexpectedly allocated some cotton; Tong Huaqiong’s side only needed to weave and sew.
This saved a lot of trouble.
So a new round of task distribution started.
The village people, having finished sewing the first batch of cotton clothes, thought they wouldn’t have such good luck until next year, and felt a bit disappointed.
It was a long winter, staying at home costs money for food and living without a way to earn, which was quite frustrating.
Unexpectedly, a new assignment came, and everyone couldn’t keep the smiles off their faces.
Tong Huaqiong told the female workers of the Weaving Workshop that they needed to be busy throughout the entire twelfth month until the first day of the new year.
The female workers at the Weaving Workshop laughed and said they weren’t afraid of being busy, just afraid of having nothing to do.
Now they all enjoyed the benefits of earning money with Tong Huaqiong, and now they stood firm at home, either being cherished by their mothers-in-law or respected by their husbands upon returning home.
Besides, the Weaving Workshop was much warmer than home; at home, they wouldn’t burn coal until it snowed heavily and it was unbearably cold, while Tong Huaqiong had the fires burning since the beginning of winter, saying, "The most valuable thing for the female workers at the Weaving Workshop is their pair of hands; we definitely can’t let them get frostbite."
Moreover, she brought from the magistrate’s city the rose lotion supposedly only used by concubines in Shengjing, letting them apply it after washing their hands.
"Boss, let me tell you, my uncles at home used to wish they could sell me far away, but now they’re clinging to me. Isn’t it because they see me earning money and want to take it from me? I’m not stupid, I lead them on a bit, and now they wish I’d never get married, that I’d earn money at home for them," Li Mingxiu said to Tong Huaqiong as she stretched her muscles and bones, talking about her family matters.
Li Mingxiu was that girl whose parents had died, and whose strong uncles almost sold her far away.
Now, she was the leading cotton worker, and sometimes Tong Huaqiong suspected that she seemed indefatigable, like an electric motor.
Plying cotton was a strength job, but whenever Tong Huaqiong saw Li Mingxiu doing it, it looked effortless and focused, just like someone playing the piano in later times.
Tong Huaqiong laughed and said, "Then keep a tight hold on your money, let them think they can get it, but they can’t actually get it."
Li Mingxiu nodded and said, "Thank you for reminding me, boss. Now I just fool them into thinking I won’t get married and will stay at the Weaving Workshop to work and earn money, hinting that whichever nephew treats me well, my money will go to them. Now a few sisters-in-law are fighting tooth and nail for money, urging their sons to be extra nice to me."
Tong Huaqiong laughed.
This girl was quite clever.
...
As the first snow melted, Tong Huaqiong came out of the Weaving Workshop against the wind, rubbing her hands as it grew colder.
The maidservants Xue Qing and Xiao Xi wrapped a large fur garment around her shoulders, and the three of them faced the thin evening sun as they headed home.
A luxurious carriage passed by.
"Boss, this carriage is going to the old house," Su Qing said.
Tong Huaqiong pondered whether there was a wealthy relative she didn’t know about at the old house, which seemed unlikely as Tong Dajiao had no memory of such a thing.
Could it be someone from Mrs. Wei’s family? She had heard that Mrs. Wei’s family in the south was quite wealthy.
After turning a corner, just in time to see the scene at the old house, Tong Huaqiong saw a young man in fur clothing getting off the carriage.
The young man looked so familiar, Tong Huaqiong thought, like the image of Mr. Zheng in her memory.
If she wasn’t mistaken, this person should be the second Mr. Zheng, and he had come to the old house to see Gu Ruinian.
Sure enough, the second Mr. Zheng had come to see Gu Ruinian.
Gu Ruinian was trembling cold at home.
Considering it was winter, Tong Huaqiong had sent coal for the in-laws a few days ago.
Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu were reluctant to burn it, insisting on waiting for the New Year, so the room was as cold as an ice cave.
For the first time in both his past and present lives, Gu Ruinian faced the cold, and with the addition of chopping wood and carrying water, his hands developed chilblains.
Seeing the second Mr. Zheng enter, he felt as if a golden Buddha had walked in.
"...Is it true what you said in your letter, that this winter will be extremely cold?" The second Mr. Zheng entered the old house, and it was so cold he crawled back into the carriage, holding a hand warmer as he said to Gu Ruinian, "But this weather is cold, yes, but isn’t every winter like this?"
Gu Ruinian felt panic, but with a calm face he replied, "That’s what the history books of the later generations say. If you don’t believe me, there’s nothing I can do. Stock up on coal now to sell at a high price when the extreme cold hits; even if the history books are wrong, coal won’t go bad; if not this year, it’ll sell next year just as well."
The reason Gu Ruinian said this was because he wasn’t sure when exactly the extreme cold would arrive.
If the winter weather remained as usual, he’d blame it on historical errors.
He observed the second Mr. Zheng’s expression and said, "I have no capital. If I had, I’d never have shared this tip with you."
The second Mr. Zheng pondered this, then gritted his teeth, "I’ll believe you this once. I’ll have the steward stock coal; since you’ve given me this tip, if there truly is an extreme cold as you say, you’ll get a twenty percent profit from the coal."
Gu Ruinian breathed a sigh of relief.
The second Mr. Zheng then said, "How’s your progress on the potent gunpowder?"
Gu Ruinian lifted his frostbite-covered hands, "These past days of snowing, the house was too cold; my hands bled from the frostbite if I tried to work, truly impossible."
The second Mr. Zheng looked inscrutable and said, "You know the border is at war, right? If you absolutely can’t make potent gunpowder, you should at least be able to make the heavy cannon you mentioned."
As he spoke, he tossed a blueprint to Gu Ruinian.
Gu Ruinian opened it — it was a design for a firearm.
"Didn’t you say there were planes that could fly, bullet trains, and missiles that could shoot thousands of miles where you came from? You don’t need to actually make those; just improve on these firearms to create heavy cannons," said the second Mr. Zheng.
Gu Ruinian, holding the firearm blueprint, was speechless. Did the second Mr. Zheng know what industrialization means? In this era, even gunpowder had to be mixed by hand; how could he develop it into heavy cannons?
But he dared not admit he couldn’t, for fear that the second Mr. Zheng would turn away in anger.