I played as an assistant in ancient times

"Brother Changsui, you...you are really a real person! Cousin." Yue Jinxuan was amazed. He now also sat in the open-top donkey cart.

Shen Changsui just smiled without saying anything. Shen Cungeng couldn't help but lower his head and roll his eyes. He was so far away from her.

After a while, the carriage in front stopped and a man who looked like a butler came over. Three people got off the donkey cart, led by Shen Changsui.

The butler bowed and said, "Master Shen, the Second Master invites you to the flower hall for a chat."

Shen Changsui nodded and motioned for Brother Geng to take the gift.

Yue Jinxuan then realized that the things they brought were just two square wooden boxes that were wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, with the lids closed tightly.

He wanted to remind his friend to hand the gift box to the servant he brought with him, so he nudged his arm slightly, but Shen Changsui gave him a look that told him not to move.

Seeing this, the housekeeper also thought that Shen Changsui didn't understand very well, so he smiled and said, "Young Master, you can leave your things and carriages to the servants to look after them. You only need to take the gift list."

"This thing needs to be shown to Uncle Yu in person." Shen Changsui said only one sentence.

"This..." The butler was a little stunned. Since his eldest master was injured, it was basically the second young master who received guests on his behalf.

Shen Changsui simply said: "Lead the way!"

His expression was calm, yet revealed an air of unquestionability. The butler couldn't help but become more serious and stepped aside to lead the way for them.

There was a gleam in Yue Jinxuan's eyes. He never knew that his classmate had such aura and was more like a young master than himself.

They passed through two alleys, went around several corridors, and finally arrived at a flower hall...

……

Meanwhile, Lin Erniu, who had completed the matchmaking mission, came back carrying his nephew. He was very curious: "Why did my cousin suddenly come to visit the master?"

Shen Xiaoye was even more curious: "Do you call Master Lin like this in the village?"

"No, we should call him ninth uncle and tenth uncle." Just as Lin Erniu finished speaking, his little nephew said in a baby voice, "great uncle."

Shen Xiaoye pinched the little guy's face and said, "My fourth uncle only told my grandmother, I don't know the details.

However, I need your and my aunt's help with something." I thought my aunt was at home.

"Tell me what's the matter." Lin Erniu didn't ask the previous question.

Shen Xiaoye compared her horse-faced skirt, and took out two feet of red cloth from her messenger bag, as well as a piece of blue cloth with patterns such as rolling clouds, whirlpools, etc. from last year, and said, "I dyed all of these. Many girls in our village like them and bring them to my house for five cents a foot to be dyed, but other villages charge six cents a foot for dyeing cloth.

If you receive the cloth and give it to others to dye, I will only charge you five cents.

Look, the color and pattern are both OK, right? Blue cloth can also be worn by boys, and printed with a chequered collar, etc. ”

"It looks great! Xiaoye, you are really good. My mother has always said that the material the two little ones are wearing is made by your family.

You charged me five cents, I'll give you six cents." Lin Erniu touched the two pieces of cloth, which were quite soft.

Shen Xiaoye said: "You can't refuse your hard work fee, but you can help us promote it in Wuli Village, how about that?

Even if they don’t have plain white cloth at home, they can ask their cousin to weave it for them.”

“No problem, but since you can dye cloth, you should be able to dye cotton and silk threads, right?

Will you take this kind of work?" Lin Erniu's mind worked quickly. The thread his mother used to weave flowered cloth was more expensive than white thread.

Shen Xiaoye nodded: "Of course I will take it. I was originally planning to dye silk thread for my cousin, but I'm not very good at it yet. I can do it this year."

Lin Erniu: "You set a price for the silk thread, and there will definitely be work."

Shen Xiaoye thought for a moment and said, "Three catties costs two hundred and forty coins. The main thing is that winding the thread back and forth is time-consuming and laborious.

Three catties of thread weighs about the same as one bolt of cloth."

"Well, anyone who is willing to dye it will definitely pay the money." Lin Erniu is good at accounting. Dyeing a piece of cloth for two cents and dyeing and weaving more than one piece of cloth with three pounds of thread are the same price, so there is no comparison between loss and profit.

His little nephew somehow twisted into his arms and stretched out his little hand to touch the cloth.

Erniu's hand instantly grabbed his little hand and said, "Your paws haven't been washed yet." Then he picked him up and took him to the well to wash his hands.

Shen Xiaoye envied his family's well and brought the little girl in the cradle over to him and said, "She's sweating. Do you have hot water to wipe her body?"

"Hey, Erniu, do you have guests at home?" Before Erniu could respond, a woman passed by and looked at Shen Xiaoye curiously.

Erniu said, "Yes, Aunt Tu, the granddaughter of my aunt from Jiuli Village."

"She's from the Shen family. Oh, I was wondering why she was dressed so beautifully. It turns out she is the daughter of Master Tongsheng." Mother Tu actually sighed across the wall.

Shen Xiaoye quickly turned around with the child in her arms and said with a smile: "I dare not call you Master, only after you pass the examination for a scholar and then a Juren, can you be called Juren Master.

The rules are here, just call me by my name."

This is also the reason why Houzi said that his uncle admitted his mistake, but his uncle ignored him and instead broke his arm.

In ancient times, using names beyond the rules would sometimes cause big trouble.

Tu Bo Niang was startled. "Is there such a thing?"

Shen Xiaoye confirmed again: "Yes."

He walked over to the cradle and put the little girl back.

But Aunt Tu not only did not leave, but walked around into the yard and said, "Little girl from the Shen family, can Aunt Tu tell me where your skirt was made? It's so beautiful."

"Aunt, you can touch it. This is made at home with the coarse cotton cloth we weave ourselves and dyed with different patterns." Feeling that there was business coming, Shen Xiaoye quickly pointed to the bowl of water on the table and motioned Erniu to bring over a bowl of tea.

She took another piece of cloth from the table and handed it to Tu. "Look, there are two colors and multiple patterns."

"Did you dye it yourself?" Tu took it and spoke in a shocking voice, which frightened the baby in the cradle and made him cry.

Shen Xiaoye didn't bother to answer her. She took the child out and patted his back, saying "oh oh" to coax him.

Tu smiled embarrassedly at Erniu who brought her tea. Fortunately, the little girl stopped crying after being fed some sweet water.

She then looked at the cloth carefully, praising the color and the shape of the patterns.

Erniu took over his nephew and gave Shen Xiaoye a wink, asking her to concentrate on attracting business.

So Shen Xiaoye told Tu in detail about her family's cloth dyeing business, and how she also did the work of dyeing thread and collecting cotton cloth.

She did not mention the fine linen because the other person was wearing cotton clothes, which were dyed and woven, and looked rough, dark and dull.

Moreover, it will be a trend in the future for cotton to replace linen cloth. With the steady development of the new dynasty, the lives of ordinary people will basically improve in the next few decades. This is the law of history.

Of course, Shen Xiaoye was not discussing this with outsiders. She just wanted Tu to see the highlights of her fine cloth jacket and skirt.

Tu was so excited that she nodded repeatedly and asked, "How much would it cost if I bought a piece of dyed local fine cotton cloth from your family?"

"A four-meter-wide piece of machine-made cloth costs four cents and two cents, and a standard piece of cloth costs three cents and five cents." Shen Xiaoye quoted the lowest price right away.

Tu thought that four coins equaled four hundred coins, and the wide-woven cloth cost four coins and eight cents in the cloth shop: "It's forty or fifty coins cheaper than in the cloth shop, but it seems that if I take the white cotton cloth to be dyed, it can be cheaper."

"Sure, as long as you have cloth." Shen Xiaoye could get the cheapest fine cotton cloth for a few cents, and others could also buy it in the countryside. She needed travel expenses to dye it and then sell it, so earning a few dozen cents was not much.

Not every village has someone who knows how to dye cloth, and the inheritance of skills may be interrupted due to wars, disasters, etc. Although "Qimin Yaoshu" and "Bowuzhi" have methods of making dyes, the prerequisite is that you have to be able to read and think of reading these books.

So when the villagers couldn't find a dyeing workshop, they had no choice but to sell their own woven cloth at a low price and then spend more money to buy dyed cloth of various colors.

The circulation of commodities in all industries and sectors gradually circulates among these various levels of demand, driving the vitality of the entire society.

Of course, she is currently only dyeing two colors on a small scale. Only when she has the capital in the future can she study other dyeing methods. She also needs to pay attention to the fact that some colors are not allowed to be used by the public.

Shen Xiaoye said: "If Auntie thinks it's suitable, we can send the cloth to be dyed today."

"It's eighteen or nineteen miles away. Why don't you just take it away after I bring it to you?" Tu didn't understand.

Shen Xiaoye smiled and said, "Aren't you afraid that I won't come back?"

Tu also laughed: "We all have roots and are relatives, so why should I be afraid? Do you think I don't know where your home is?"

"Then can you bring the cloth?" Shen Xiaoye indicated.

Tu clapped her legs and said, "Wait, I'll be there soon."

When he was out of sight, Shen Xiaoye clenched his fist and shook it vigorously. Great, another deal was done.

Lin Erniu looked at the whole scene and said, "Xiaoye, it doesn't look too difficult."

"That's because your village is close to the county town and there are many fields. You can make some money by working for a year." If Shen Xiaoye lived closer to the county town, he would not have failed to run his small business several times.

In fact, the round trip journey takes up a lot of time, and renting a place in the county town is not cost-effective, and my family is not willing to do so.

She slapped her forehead again and said, "You were just talking about the price and the value. Aunt Tu didn't tell me what color she dyed her hair."

"Blue." Erniu's little nephew suddenly said two words.

Lin Erniu snapped his fingers at him and said, "You know nothing, and you're still green."

Then he said to Shen Xiaoye, "You guys can have lunch here at noon."

"No, Fourth Uncle will be back soon." It was only eight or nine in the morning, very early. Shen Xiaoye hoped that his uncle's trip to the Lin Mansion would go smoothly.

Perhaps with her blessing, after Shen Changsui met Master Lin's son in the flower hall, he presented the gift along with Yue Jinxuan's gift list.

Soon, Master Lin saw him through the screen. Well, he was injured by a stick and couldn't get up.

But the voice came through clearly: "Two liters contain two different quantities of wheat, old and new. What do you want to say, nephew? Or, does someone want you to say something to me?"

"I couldn't hide it from my uncle. When I was exempted from summer taxes and labor service, I was as happy as the villagers. If we tighten our belts, we won't have to suffer from famine this winter and next spring.

The adults in the village are also willing to let their children go to school to attend two classes, rather than rushing to the mountains early to pick wild vegetables and bending over in the fields for a long time.

When the Lingshan Temple holds a water and land assembly on June 28, my family can also find some things to exchange with fellow villagers from all over the village." Shen Changsui only mentioned what he saw.

Master Lin was silent for a moment and said, "It's just a moment of happiness."

Shen Changsui bowed and said, "So please take good care of yourself, uncle, and let this music appear in the countryside every two years."

"You are very good." Master Lin couldn't help but smile, "What is this?"

"Guliang Chunqiu."

"Ah."

At this point, Shen Changsui knew that it was enough, "Uncle, please take a rest. I will not disturb you any more."

"Okay, Enjun, please send Sui Ge'er off for me and give him the annotated Spring and Autumn Annals in the study." Master Lin instructed his second son.

Lin Enjun was slightly surprised. Daddy gave him a book with a commentary by a little boy? But he immediately agreed.

Shen Changsui bowed again: "Thank you, uncle, for the book."

"Go." Master Lin's voice came again.

Lin Enjun looked at Shen Changsui a few more times, then personally took the book and sent him to the gate of the flower hall.

Until he left the Lin family, Yue Jinxuan was a little confused. He thought his classmate was an ordinary farmer's boy, but it turned out that he was a cousin of the current university scholar.

He thought that the scholar's son was a distinguished guest, but in fact his classmate was invited directly to the back house to meet him.

"Brother Changsui, can I ask what you gave me?" The two wooden boxes looked very rough.

Shen Changsui only asked: "Can you keep it a secret?"

"Yes!" Yue Jinxuan nodded heavily. A rare treasure?

Shen Changsui: "I can do it, too."

After a moment, Yue Jinxuan came to his senses. He took a deep breath, fanned himself with his folding fan, and decided to get back in his carriage after leaving the village.

So when Shen Xiaoye got on the bus carrying a piece of fine cotton cloth, he saw that he was so angry that he looked like a puffer fish.

So she looked at the other two, but unfortunately neither of them told her.

But Yue Jinxuan said, "You didn't buy the cotton cloth in the village, did you?

It would be better if you can get Songjiang cloth directly from my shop. I will give you a discount."

"How much discount?" Shen Xiaoye asked, "How much discount is there? Can the local ones be cheaper?"

Yue Jinxuan: "Subtract 10% of the selling price. I don't have much local cloth, so I can't lower the price."

Shen Xiaoye: "My family collects and dyes cloth, and sells a piece of standard cloth for four coins."

"So cheap?" Yue Jinxuan sat up straight instantly and didn't want to go back to his carriage even when he reached the village entrance.

“My father said that the finished products he received from the cloth shop were almost four cents.

So our family has been importing fabrics from the south, and we can transport them directly to Linghe by water. "

"So expensive?" Shen Xiaoye and his uncle looked at each other. They also knew that the cloth shop had a wide variety of cloths in all colors.

Yue Jinxuan said: "Of course, the smaller the quantity, the more expensive it is.

The cloth in our north is wide and long, and it serves as ballast.

It’s a pity that the quality can’t catch up with Nanbu, otherwise it would sell well.

Last time, a batch of cloth from my family was damp, and the cloth shop had to pay a lot more money to dye it again, so in the end I had to sell it at a loss."

"Why haven't we heard about it?" Shen Xiaoye would definitely grab a piece of this bargain.

Yue Jinxuan said: "I paid a small fortune to sell it outside the Great Wall.

If I had known that you were dyeing cloth, I wouldn’t have put so many stickers on it.”

Shen Xiaoye told him: "It costs 200 coins to dye a piece of white cloth, but if it's just damp blue cloth, a little over 100 coins will be enough.

In this way, you can sell it in the county town at the original price without losing too much.

Of course, if you ask my fourth uncle for help, you can get a better discount. "It's too troublesome to re-dye the ready-made cloth.

"That's right. Oh, that's not right. It sounds like the cloth in my house can get damp." Yue Jinxuan glanced at their group of people.

Shen Xiaoye quickly waved his hands: "No, no, no, your warehouse must be well-renovated and safe."

But is that true? Life is full of surprises, and of course, there are also chances of shock…