Chapter 78: Zhi Jie’er
Li Xiaonan was still a step away from the side room door when it was pulled open.
Li Xiaonan took a step forward into the side room and, looking at Zhi Jie’er with her flushed cheeks, took half a step back to examine her carefully.
Zhi Jie’er’s usual clothes were very plain. This time, she was wearing a light, pine-colored silk wadding jacket, a peach-red fine cloth skirt, and over that, a crimson silk wadding long jacket. This, coupled with her flushed cheeks, made her as lovely as a half-bloomed peony.
“What are you looking at? I came to this room to weave cloth,” Zhi Jie’er said, forcing an explanation.
Li Xiaonan made a sound of understanding and stood by the window, peeking out through a crack.
“It’s not like I don’t know you,” Zhi Jie’er said, her cheeks flushing even more as she saw Li Xiaonan looking out the window.
“My brother has grown, and I’ve grown too,” Li Xiaonan said, propping the window open a bit higher.
“You haven’t grown that much,” Zhi Jie’er replied, sitting down at the loom.
“My brother is very happy. Third Sister said he was so happy he was silly,” Li Xiaonan said, sitting down next to Zhi Jie’er.
Zhi Jie’er lowered her eyes and sorted the shuttle in her hands, not replying.
“Oh, you’ve got a new loom,” Li Xiaonan stretched her neck, looking at the long loom.
“This is a six-harness jacquard loom,” Zhi Jie’er immediately put down the shuttle and stood up to introduce it to Li Xiaonan. “These six are the pattern harnesses, and this is the ground harness. I’ve just started weaving, so it’s very slow.”
“It’s so beautiful. What kind of pattern is this?” Li Xiaonan looked closely at a section of jacquard fine cloth in front of the scroll.
“It’s only six-harness, so it can’t weave much, just something like ‘twin blossoms’,” Zhi Jie’er’s words were very vague.
Li Xiaonan understood immediately. Twin blossoms. Zhi Jie’er was weaving her dowry.
Li Xiaonan walked around the new loom again. “This must be difficult to weave, with so many treadles. What happens if you step on the wrong one?”
“You won’t make a mistake. These are for lifting the ground harness, and these are for lifting the pattern harnesses. The pattern harnesses are already arranged. See, like this: step on the ground harness treadles twice, then step on the pattern harness treadles one by one, step on the pattern harness treadles twice, then step on the ground harness treadle once, then step on the pattern harnesses twice. It’s quite simple.”
Zhi Jie’er sat down and demonstrated for Li Xiaonan.
The fine threads flew back and forth. Li Xiaonan watched Zhi Jie’er step on the treadles more than ten times, but the piece of cloth seemed to have barely grown at all.
“These threads are so fine. How much can you weave in a day?” Li Xiaonan looked closely at the thin cotton threads.
“Sister Zhou, who helps me thread the yarn onto the loom, can weave a piece in three days. I can’t. I’ve been working on this small amount for almost ten days. I kept ruining it at first, but I’m faster now. See, this is one I ruined.”
Zhi Jie’er took a piece of cloth from a nearby yarn rack and handed it to Li Xiaonan.
Li Xiaonan touched the cloth and then unfolded it to look. The fabric was exceptionally fine, dense, and soft.
Li Xiaonan touched her own skirt and then touched the cloth Zhi Jie’er had given her.
Zhi Jie’er laughed. “Mine is made with yarn from Yangzhou, with a silk thread twisted into it. Yours is just fine cotton cloth.”
“That must be very expensive, right?” Li Xiaonan looked closely at the threads on the loom and indeed saw a faint sheen of silk.
“It’s not much more expensive,” Zhi Jie’er said, smiling with her lips pursed.
“Sister, what are you planning to use this for?” Li Xiaonan touched the fine cloth on the scroll.
The fabric had a natural white base with grey-green jacquard, giving it a simple and elegant look.
“It can be used for anything – quilts, linings for clothes, or even curtains. Or I could just weave it for fun,” Zhi Jie’er tried hard to appear casual.
“You’ll definitely get faster and faster, almost as fast as Sister-in-law Zhou. One piece in three days. You can’t weave every day, though. Let’s say five pieces a month, no, three pieces a month. That’s forty pieces a year, so in two years…”
“What are you calculating so wildly for!” Zhi Jie’er’s cheeks flushed again, interrupting Li Xiaonan’s calculations.
Li Xiaonan glanced at her sideways, saying nothing.
Zhi Jie’er paused for a moment, then sighed, her cheeks turning even redder.
“Our family runs a preserved egg business. You’ve heard about it, right?” Li Xiaonan changed the subject.
Zhi Jie’er lowered her eyes and hummed in agreement.
“The business is doing exceptionally well and is quite profitable. When we did the inventory before the New Year, we distributed seventy-six taels of silver. Sister-in-law Yin got fifty-one taels. We have a four-six stake with Sister-in-law Yin,” Li Xiaonan said casually, leaning closer to Zhi Jie’er and chatting.
“However, last year, even though we divided the accounts, neither Sister-in-law Yin nor I received a single copper coin, because all that money had already been spent. We added a new workshop, hired many new people, and so on. There were just so many places to spend money.
“Eldest Sister said that the money earned this year can be taken home. Eldest Sister and Second Sister calculated that if the business this year is as good as last year, the money earned this year and next will be enough to buy a proper two-courtyard house.
“Eldest Sister said that then, Mr. Gao and Mrs. will live in the main courtyard, and you will live in the front courtyard. Second Sister said it would be best to have a small garden to grow vegetables and such.”
“And what about you?” Zhi Jie’er listened intently and asked.
“We’ve already paid five years’ rent for our current house. If we terminate the lease early, we’ll lose half the rent. Eldest Sister definitely won’t agree to that, so we’ll have to live here for the full five years,” Li Xiaonan sighed with an air of maturity.
Zhi Jie’er wanted to laugh but held it back. “I’ve heard people say your Eldest Sister is very good at managing household finances.”
“Yes!” Li Xiaonan affirmed with great certainty, moving closer to Zhi Jie’er and lowering her voice. “Once, Eldest Sister said to Second Sister: ‘Look how big these copper coins are. If only they could be broken in half.'”
Zhi Jie’er burst out laughing.
“My brother has grown quite a bit. He used to be the same height as me, but now he’s a head taller. I think he looks better than before,” Li Xiaonan continued her gossip.
“Mm,” Zhi Jie’er hummed vaguely.
“I heard the lantern festival in the county town this year is going to be very lively. Our family has also set up a lantern shed, and we have a lion dance team. They dance quite well. Do you want to go see it?” Li Xiaonan looked at Zhi Jie’er.
“Mm!” Zhi Jie’er smiled faintly.
“Do you have anyone to go with? Why don’t you come with us? There’s me, Third Sister, Ai Ye, and Cui Ye. We won’t go with Eldest Sister and Second Sister,” Li Xiaonan invited.
“Okay,” Zhi Jie’er’s cheeks flushed again.
The New Year’s visit feast at the Gao family was divided into inner and outer tables. After a lively meal, Li Xiaonan, following Li Jinzhu, happily bid farewell to Mr. Gao’s family and climbed into the cart.
As the cart began to move, Li Jinzhu reached out to Li Xiaonan. “Let me see it.”
“No copper coins to ward off the year!” Li Xiaonan tightly clutched the small lucky bag.
“If it were copper coins, I’d give you lucky money,” Li Jinzhu said, tapping Li Xiaonan’s hand.
Li Xiaonan reluctantly opened her fist and watched as Li Jinzhu picked up the lucky bag, opened it, and poured out a small silver nugget. She weighed it and put it into her sachet.
“You can keep this to play with,” Li Jinzhu said, patting the embroidered lucky bag into Li Xiaonan’s hand.
