Chapter 24: Many Attempts

“In sincere cooperation with Manager Zhou, I wouldn’t dare to ask for higher prices. Especially for these shallow baskets, the tea garden requires a large quantity, much more than bamboo baskets. I’m pricing them based on the larger volume required. If we were to sell them externally, naturally the price wouldn’t be the same,” Jiang Mixia explained.

Zhou Xing had been inspecting these items over the past few days, and others had come forward with similar products, with the prices mostly falling within the same range. However, the quality of these items was just slightly inferior to those made by Jiang and his daughter.

Most rural folk were honest and straightforward, but it was precisely because of this trait that they often seemed diffident and lacked boldness. Sometimes, their excessive honesty made them appear somewhat simple-minded, and it could be challenging to communicate the key points with them.

However, Jiang Mixia, while down-to-earth, displayed a degree of intelligence. Dealing with her was reassuring and gave peace of mind.

“Alright,” Zhou Xing agreed. He sought out an experienced assistant to determine the quantity of conical hats and shallow baskets needed.

They required sixty conical hats, a few more than the baskets, and a total of one hundred baskets of varying sizes. After the final calculations, the total came to eight taels of silver.

The delivery timeframe remained at half a month.

Furthermore, both parties agreed that in the future, any sporadic need for bamboo baskets, shallow baskets, conical hats, or other similar items at Shaoji Tea Garden would be sourced from Jiang Mixia’s family.

After negotiations, Zhou Xing settled the payment and handed over an additional two taels of silver as a deposit for this business.

Even after returning home, Jiang Youcheng still felt as if the money in his hands wasn’t quite real.

“Wife, slap me.”

“Why would I slap you?” Liu Shi found this request rather odd.

“Why does it feel like I’m dreaming?” Jiang Youcheng sniffed. “So much money…”

Previously, their family hadn’t possessed this much money. Before Song Jingyun entered the family, Jiang Youcheng and Liu Shi had saved up just over ten taels of silver. At that time, they had sent ten taels to Song Jingyun’s uncle’s family as a betrothal gift to bring Song Jingyun into their household.

But that money had been accumulated by Jiang Youcheng and Liu Shi over many years, penny by penny, saved up over a decade. Yet now, with just these two deals combined, they had earned over ten taels of silver in just a little over a month! Jiang Youcheng sniffed again.

Due to his excitement, Jiang Youcheng’s eyes began to water, and his nose wouldn’t stop running.

“Look at you, acting like you’ve never seen the world,” Liu Shi looked at her husband disdainfully. “If you start earning more money in the future, won’t you become unstable on your feet?”

“How could that be?” Jiang Youcheng wiped his nose. “In the future, we’ll have long-term business with the tea garden. According to Manager Zhou, they’ll need more items from us regularly, so it seems we’ll be seeing money every month.”

“After we deliver this batch, I’ll also check on the timber and overhaul our house to make it more comfortable to live in. Also, I think with the money we have now and what we’ll earn in the future, we shouldn’t be so frugal with things like white flour and rice at home. We should eat more, and if we run out, we can buy more,” he continued.

After all, making money was about improving their lives. They didn’t mind working a little harder, but their two kids shouldn’t have to suffer.

Moreover, with the upcoming work of weaving shallow baskets, they needed to eat well to keep up their strength.

“I understand, don’t worry,” Liu Shi nodded.

That evening, for dinner, Liu Shi stewed some potatoes with minced meat. Instead of the usual dark bread, she made buns using a mixture of cornmeal and white flour, and transformed the coarse porridge into a fine paste, adding grains of rice to it.

The cornmeal buns, though coarse, had a sweet taste. Mixed with white flour, they turned out soft and quite enjoyable, despite being called buns.

Both Jiang Mixia and Song Jingyun found the dinner to be exceptionally delicious.

Jiang Youcheng didn’t eat at home that evening; instead, he took some money and headed to the main house.

He settled the wages owed to Jiang Chushi and Fang Shi from their previous help with making the bamboo tea-picking baskets, and also spent some time in the main house.

When he returned home, he seemed slightly inebriated.

The next day, the entire family began a new round of busy work: cutting bamboo, sawing bamboo, splitting bamboo strips, and slicing bamboo splints.

Jiang Mixia, Jiang Chushi, and Liu Shi handled these tasks, while Jiang Youcheng and Song Jingyun were responsible for weaving.

Both father-in-law and son-in-law were now skilled at this work, producing over ten pieces in a single day.

At this rate, it seemed they might even be able to deliver the goods ahead of schedule.

With plenty of time on their hands, everyone worked diligently without excessively pushing themselves, maintaining a steady pace.

Seeing that Jiang Youcheng’s household was bustling with activity, after helping to cut enough bamboo, Jiang Chushi started to gather and organize tools such as saws, planes, and chisels. He began trying his hand at making small items such as chairs and stools.

Firstly, this served as practice to maintain his skills and prevent them from diminishing. Secondly, it was a way to gain expertise. As he worked on these smaller items over time, he would have the confidence and experience to tackle larger projects, allowing for accurate material and labor estimates.

Despite being busy, he hadn’t forgotten Jiang Mixia’s request for a wooden doll. He found time to carve a small dog figurine and showed it to her.

The palm-sized wooden doll resembled a typical farm dog, with its tongue out and tail wagging. While not lifelike, it was undeniably charming.

“You have such a wonderful skill,” Jiang Mixia praised repeatedly.

To be honest, this level of craftsmanship exceeded her expectations.

Feeling a bit embarrassed at being praised by his youngest cousin, Jiang Chushi scratched the back of his head. “My master didn’t allow me to learn woodcarving, so I learned by secretly watching and practicing. Don’t flatter me too much. I know my own capabilities.”

“I wasn’t just trying to flatter you, I genuinely meant it,” Jiang Mixia smiled. “But this little dog figurine, while lovely, isn’t quite unique. Most wooden dolls outside are similar.”

“I could help you with some designs. While you’re doing carpentry work, you could use the designs to create some unique wooden dolls. Perhaps we could make some extra money from them,” she suggested.

“Sure,” Jiang Chushi readily agreed.

He was still a novice in carpentry and would need to invest some resources into making items like tables, chairs, and benches to see if they would sell well. Carving wooden dolls during leisure time, if they could be sold, would be an excellent way to earn extra income.

It was all about experimenting and exploring new opportunities.

“I’ll fetch some paper and a pen for you,” Jiang Chushi offered.

Occasionally, he would draw furniture designs at home, so there was some paper and a pen available, albeit a bit crude.

“I have the charcoal stick here. I’ll just need some paper,” Jiang Mixia replied, shaking the charcoal stick in her hand. Although she could manage with a brush to write a few characters, drawing was still something she wasn’t accustomed to. Using the charcoal stick as a pencil felt much more comfortable.

Seeing this, Jiang Chushi went home and brought back a few sheets of paper, allowing Jiang Mixia to start drawing.

With the cloth-wrapped charcoal stick in hand, Jiang Mixia swiftly sketched a few strokes on the paper, and several cartoon figures leapt to life on the sheet.