Chapter 326: Chapter 325: Both Flower and Vegetable

When everyone had fallen asleep, Qin Yao sat up from bed, tucked in the quilts for the two little ones on the inner side of the bed, put on her homemade slippers, and came to the table.

The thank-you gifts sent by Qi Xian today were all here.

The moon during Mid-Autumn Festival was indeed bright. Under the moonlight, the two pieces of silk looked even more radiant, and the jacquard patterns on the fabric sparkled.

Qin Yao touched them; they felt smooth, as soft as clouds. It’s a pity that such good fabric would be wasted if made into clothes and worn out, so she decided to store it away. She thought she’d wait until she became a landlady who didn’t need to work, and then turn them into a few sets of comfortable home wear.

The two pieces of cotton fabric, however, would be useful for making clothes when the temperature drops, enough for each family member to have an extra set.

The two copper hand warmers came just in time. In a month or so, they’ll be useful for the winter.

She’d use one herself, bringing it to the factory to work. It’s small, fitting perfectly in her hand.

The other one, Qin Yao hadn’t decided who to give it to. With four children in the family, giving it to all of them wasn’t enough, and giving it to only one was unfair. She decided to keep it for now.

These copper products were expensive just in raw materials, so they would make good gifts in the future.

There were five sets of stationery, and although Qin Yao didn’t know how to judge the quality of ink stones, ink sticks, or brushes, she could tell good products by their feel. The ink stick she touched with her fingertip was exceptionally smooth, unlike the coarse ones typically found in markets.

Not to mention the engraved patterns on the ink stones, which were clearly the work of skilled craftsmen.

The five sets of stationery had different carved patterns, including grape vine designs and educational motifs like “Lying on Ice for a Carp.”

Qin Yao kept the grapevine one, while the remaining four sets were perfect for each of the four children.

Thinking back, she used to be a trendy girl, complete with beautiful clothes and jewelry.

But when the apocalypse arrived, those beautiful pursuits turned into burdens that hindered survival.

She didn’t know when her long, smooth black hair became short hair that didn’t need care, and her clothes and shoes all became practical in nature; she always wore a protective suit that smelled of heavy plastic.

Occasionally, looking in the mirror, Qin Yao almost couldn’t recognize the person staring back at her.

She looked down at the silver bracelets set with green jade, which were so beautiful that she instinctively wanted to take them apart for their silver, to melt it down for survival use.

But wasn’t there no apocalypse now?

Qin Yao put the bracelets on her wrist; they were a bit large. Shaking her hand, the silver bracelets swayed on her arm.

They were so beautiful; moonlight shined through the jade, revealing cotton-like textures, each unique. Qin Yao stared at them for a while, thoroughly engrossed.

However, after appreciating them, she took off the bracelets and stored them carefully in a box. She thought she’d bring them next time she went to the Prefecture to handle some affairs!

…

There was something new happening in Liu Family Village.

A distinguished guest from the city wanted to build a house in their village. The owner of the brick and tile shop from Lower River Village received a large order, sending carts full of green bricks and tiles to Liu Family Village.

The road leading into the village had now been repaired, a sturdy and smooth main road, making the villagers feel proud and happy as they walked on it.

This road instantly shortened the distance between Liu Family Village and the surrounding villages. The daughters who had married away were returning to their maiden homes, joyfully discovering that it was indeed much closer than before.

Of course, they were also delivering shoulder straps for the stationary factory.

Yun Niang was in charge of managing the business related to shoulder strap packaging. The leading women from each village brought the finished goods from the embroideresses to Yun Niang, settled accounts on the spot, and then paid a five hundred cents deposit to take back two or three hundred items. After completing the work, they brought them back again next time.

When they decided to stop working, the factory would return the deposit.

Initially, the deposit was only 300 cents, but with market competition becoming fierce, the prices for taking more worktents, the level of the deposit was pushed to 500 cents.

After all, the money they earned from labor outweighed this deposit significantly.

Women who got the work could earn money by using their skills at home. Having money gave them more confidence, and they spoke louder.

Now, people passing through Jinshi Town would notice that the women in these villages seemed much more ’fiery’ compared to before.

Take, for instance, Shi Tou, who was tasked with picking wildflowers to decorate the new house for his master. He encountered Sister-in-law Zhou and others who were just getting off work from the factory.

Sister-in-law Zhou instantly recognized the onions grown at home.

She immediately shouted, “Hey, young man, stop right there!”

Shi Tou was pushing a cart full of flowers and plants with soil attached, unaware that a group of women had surrounded the path ahead. Only then did he realize that the ’young man’ they were calling was him.

The situation seemed serious. The wife of Liu the carpenter screamed in shock and anger, pointing at the heap of sunflowers on the cart, “Where did you get these sunflowers? Even uprooted! Oh heavens—”

Shi Tou felt a pang of guilt and, nervously pointing to the hillside outside the village, said, “Just picked them from that hill over there. I saw a large patch, and since no one was looking after them, I took some back.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the wife of Liu the carpenter wailed, “This is terrible!”

“What kind of hill grows such a large patch of sunflowers by itself? Those were painstakingly planted by me. Go ask anyone in the village; who wouldn’t know?”

Hearing her wails, the other women crowded around the cart to inspect the flowers, and soon there were three or four angry roars.

Shi Tou thought to himself, “This is bad.” Who knew these vegetables looked just like flowers?

With the women about to drown him in their accusations, Shi Tou glimpsed Qin Yao passing by with an abacus and hurriedly shouted, “Miss Qin, save me!”

Qin Yao looked over and smiled, “You’ve got some nerve, messing with the vegetables these ladies worked so hard to grow.”

Shi Tou was speechless and just hoped Qin Yao would quickly come over and help mediate.

He had just offered to pay, but the women weren’t having it.

Sister-in-law Zhou thought earning money from these vegetables wasn’t even worth two coins, but each onion was planted laboriously by hand, so how could it be the same?

Qin Yao quickly approached, apologizing on behalf of her guest, and offered the women a free use of her water mill. Only then did they let Shi Tou off the hook.

Before leaving, they kindly educated him on which of these beautiful flowering plants were actually vegetables.

The white flower clusters were onions, the big yellow florets were sunflowers, and the clusters of purple flowers were chives, among others.

Shi Tou nodded in awe, impressed by what he had learned.

Dragging the cart of ’flowers and plants’ to the old house being renovated, he proudly showed them to Qi Xian.

“Young Master, please look, this purple flower is called chive. It’s what they use to make chive pockets.”

Qi Xian looked at Qin Yao, astonished, “Madam, is this true?”

Qin Yao plucked a sunflower, tucked the abacus under her arm, and nibbled on the tender seeds as she nodded seriously, “Yes, what I’m eating now are sunflower seeds.”

Qi Xian marveled, “How fascinating…”

He decided to pluck one for the teacher to bring back, too!

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