"There are people in the Western Regions who use wool to weave things, but they don't mix silk or cotton. They twist the rope by hand, so the things they weave are heavy and have few patterns. They also don't handle the wool well. Not only is it hard, but it also has a smell. I know how to use medicinal herbs to remove the smell. If we weave it a little lighter, it can be used as a Tapestry, a Screen, a Kang Screen…Auntie Qiao, you've found a big deal! This work did not take up much space. During winter, the sisters-in-law and aunties in the village could do it on their own kang!”
Kim laughed and clapped his hands as he stood up."It's settled then. Let's think about it first, find people, find materials, and learn first. Next spring, we'll raise sheep and rabbits! It's all thanks to sister-in-law's hint. Haha…why don't we split this business between us? Give Ping 'er half and we'll split the rest equally, okay?”
"What?" When Aunt Wang heard the two of them talking about business, her brain couldn't keep up for a moment. When she heard Jin Shi talk about partnership, she hurriedly waved her hand and refused.
"Alright! I'll be in charge of the recipes, patterns, and all the cotton and silk dye. Auntie Qiao will be in charge of the business and find someone who is proficient in weaving to teach everyone. Auntie will be in charge of arranging people to raise sheep and rabbits. My work is the quickest and can't take up the majority. How about this? We'll each take 30%, and the remaining 10% can be used to make arrangements?”
"Alright!" Kim answered readily.
"Don't, don't, Pingping, don't!" Aunt Wang hurriedly refused.
" Aiya, sister-in-law, this is a woman's family earning some money. Ping 'er is a big sugar daddy, let's not stand on ceremony with her, haha..."
"That's…"
Yang Ping stood up with a smile." Aunty Qiao is right. Aunt, this business needs to be taken care of from the beginning. It's long-winded and time-consuming. Aunty Qiao and I don't have the time to take care of it. I reckon that we still have to rely on Aunt to do some business. It's difficult to see profits in the short term. If it's delayed for three to two years, Aunt, don't blame me!"”
"Don't talk nonsense. I don't think I can help much!”，Aunt Wang slapped her thigh." If the two of you aren't worried that I'll make things blind, I'll do it!"”
"That's how it should be. Auntie, save more money and my uncle will listen to you!”
"Your mouth, girl!" Aunt Wang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She turned around and pointed at Kim."I learned it all from you!"
"What does it have to do with me?" I teach martial arts! Old Mr. Meng was her teacher!”
" Aunt, I heard you talking about Sister Lian just now. I think we need to use some picture frames and screens to do this business. I've seen Brother Shuisheng's craftsmanship. He's very talented in carving. We can let him do this work..."
"Him?" Aunt Wang was a little hesitant." That child is really meticulous when it comes to doing things. However, he hasn't seen much of the world. He only knows how to carve some flowers, grass, cats, dogs, and so on. If our things are made, I'm afraid we'll have to sell them to rich families. He-"
Kim cleared his throat and said seriously," Sister-in-law, you might not know this. This rich family usually sees peonies and peonies a lot. Occasionally, they see green melons and weeds. It's a wild taste and a return to simplicity. Those old masters have good craftsmanship, but the things they carve are too artful and lose their appeal. The Li family's kid is unfamiliar with it, but he wins in being bold and natural. Our things also have the same feeling. The two of them match perfectly…"
"Auntie Qiao is right. When I have time, I'll draw some of these things for Brother Shuisheng to see and practice. Everyone looks at things from different angles, so I'll get them to draw some too.”
Aunt Wang was deep in thought." I understand. Then we'll weave some melons, fruits, chickens, ducks, and so on."”
"Sister-in-law, you're so enlightened. That's what I meant!”，Kim poured three bowls of tea for each of them."Come, let's drink to the brim and wish our business a prosperous one!”
"Haha…Good!"
"Good, good, good. Business is booming, business is booming!”
At this point, the few of them were already half-drunk. They moved to the side hall and brewed tea again.
This was the place where Feng Nianen usually received guests. A one-colored Fragrant Ash armchair was placed around the wide table, and behind it was a huge painting of Autumn Scenery of Meishan. Further inside, a five-leaf painted screen blocked half of the book table, revealing a few scrolls that stretched out from a large painting jar of pastel figures. The fresh and ancient ink fragrance quickly surrounded everyone.
"Hey, hey, hey…Don't close the door, let the smell of alcohol dissipate!”，Feng Nianen turned around to stop Wang Qi, who was walking at the back and was about to close the door. He waved his right hand in the air, and the look of disgust on his face made people feel especially close and real.
Wang Maocai, who had drunk too much, did not care if he was in front of a junior. He pulled up his clothes and sniffed hard. Then, he went in front of Feng Nianen and sniffed. He sneered,"Alright, alright, alright…We're having a quarrel, let's not talk about each other! Haha, I think you drank the most! Huang 'er, see if your father has any good tea here. Let me have a taste too…"
"You're really something!" Feng Nianen pointed at him with his index finger and waved for everyone to sit down. Then, he said to his son, who had already run to the cabinet to look for tea leaves,"Silly son, did you really go and look for my good tea? Don't be so practical! Grab a handful of leaves from the jar at the end and soak them for your uncle!”
"You!" Wang Fugui ignored their nonsense. He pulled Xiao Fei to sit on Feng Nianen's left side and gestured for the six brothers to take a seat.
After drinking half a cup of hot tea, Wang Maocai felt that the alcohol in his stomach had dissipated a lot. He pinched the space between his eyebrows and calmed himself down. He looked at Feng Nianen and asked seriously,"Brother Feng, just say it. If there's anything, just say it.”
Feng Nianen also put down his teacup and nodded at Xiao Fei. He then said in a deep voice,""It's not an appointment, but it's indeed a big deal.”
Wang Maocai took the two pages of paper from the other party and looked at them with confusion. The more he read, the more shocked he became. The more he read, the more afraid he became. His face turned pale and he sobered up.
The rest of them looked at each other in dismay. Haruki quickly took the letter from his father and read it to them in a low voice.
The letter was from Fragrant Valley, stating that Master Xing Yi had predicted that there would be a great disaster this winter. Second Young Master Xu had also found that the weather this year was quite similar to the great disaster a hundred years ago after reading many ancient books.
Wang Maocai didn't know who Master Xing Yi was, nor did he know how it was recorded in the ancient books. However, he knew that Yunzhou had suffered from poor harvests for three consecutive years, and this summer was unusually hot. Even the Qinglai River had stopped flowing for half a month. It was only after the labor of the surrounding villages cleared the silt that water was diverted from the upstream Canglan River. There were many elderly people in the surrounding villages who privately said that this year was not a good year. Moreover, it had snowed three times in just one month of winter. At first, he was glad that the villagers had a few living money to support them this year. At least they would not freeze to death or starve to death this winter. However, it seemed that things were more serious than he had imagined.
The room was silent for a long time before Wang Maocai finally spoke,""Brother Feng, Little Fei, tell us what we should do. We'll listen!”
"Yes, we will listen to Little Lord and Mister Feng!”
"Yes!"
"Uncle Li Zheng and brothers, don't panic. This is just a prediction. We'd rather believe it than not. In short, it's better to be prepared.”
Uncle Wang echoed," Little Fei is right. When you go out, you should watch your words. Don't spread it everywhere. If something happens, the government won't be willing!”
Seeing everyone nod, Feng Nianen said,"Not only do we have to prepare ourselves, but we also have to let our relatives and neighbors in the surrounding villages do their best to prepare. The key is that we can't make a big fuss. Brother Wang is right. If we cause a panic, the government might not be willing.”
What he didn't say was that the abnormal celestial phenomena had already reached the ears of the relevant people of the imperial court through other channels. In short, those who should know already knew. As for what they would do after knowing, it was not something that Fragrant Fruit Valley could control. This was the so-called doing everything to let heaven decide. After all,"helping the world" was not something that could be done as and when one wanted to.
After an hour of discussion, the conclusion they came up with was to call on the neighbors to take advantage of the stable prices to store as much rice and grain as possible, cut down wood, and strengthen the roof. Fortunately, every family in the village had a few taels of silver in their hands. If they exchanged it for coarse grain, it would not be a problem to eat for the entire winter.
Everyone split up, but Feng Nianen got busy. On the one hand, he quietly received the large amount of grain that the caravan had sent over. On the other hand, he urged Yang Zhong and the other two who were hiding in the mountains to lead the fifty to sixty people who had gathered in the mountains to dig caves in the mountains, dig cellars, and build plank houses to scatter and hide the grain. In addition, he also took advantage of the time when he was restocking the embroidery workshop to transport some cotton wool from other places.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner, and everything seemed very calm.
However, those who were observant could smell something unusual under the seemingly calm water. First, the weather had warmed up for a few days. Two sprouts had sprouted from the cabbage under the straw mat in Yang Ping's courtyard. Then, the porter who walked the streets and alleys said that there were more beggars than before. He had used silver to follow behind the caravan to come back safely. So, he could get a hair rope for every fifty wen he bought, but now he could not. Then, when he came back from buying vegetables, Uncle Wang said that the price of rice in town had increased by one wen per catty, and the price of salt had increased by two wen per catty…
Finally, on this day, the sun had not risen since the morning. Strong winds rolled up black clouds and flipped back and forth under the iron-gray sky.
Half a day later, the wind stopped, but the clouds were getting lower and lower. The entire Black Cloud Mountain seemed to be covered by a huge curtain, suffocating people. The air was frighteningly humid. After going out for a walk, the cotton jacket seemed to have become heavy as if it had absorbed enough water vapor.
Yang Ping and the others were huddled together in the big study, buried in a pile of old papers and writing furiously. It turned out that Old Master Meng was asking them to think about and sort out the regulations for disaster relief.
Feng Huang and Wang Qi didn't pay much attention to these things, so the regulations were mostly about distributing food and porridge and settling the refugees. Although Yang Ping and her brother did not have much experience, they were educated and influenced by their elders. They could still talk about comprehensive arrangements, collecting donations, and stabilizing prices. But Zhao Jing was different. His eyes were sharp and thoughtful. In addition to those mentioned above, he even considered how to win over merchants and rectify the administration of officials. He even mentioned the spring plowing next year, the security of the border, and the movements of the court.
Old Mister Meng stroked his beard and nodded repeatedly. Yang Ping had only just seen a burning heart under the other party's usual gentle and calm appearance today. Perhaps, this was really born?
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。