Chapter 54

“Xiao Mo, look at what I’ve got!” Zhou Jing excitedly brought in two large quilts from outside.

The fabric was a vibrant, fiery red, dazzling like flames.

The color was so pure, radiant like the midday sun, a shade of red Shen Mo had never seen before.

Even the red fabrics in the cloth shops in town were covered with a layer of dullness, their hues dim and lifeless in comparison.

Shen Mo was instantly drawn to them. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the fabric had a fine texture, a high sheen, and felt soft to the touch. On the back, a pair of vividly colored mandarin ducks were embroidered, playfully frolicking in the water.

Such fine material and intricate embroidery made Shen Mo unable to put it down.

He couldn’t help but run his hands over it from top to bottom. When he glanced at the quilt he was currently working on, the comparison was stark—his own looked like a cheap and inferior product.

One was like a delicate, alluring lady from a grand mansion, while the other resembled a plain country girl from the village.

“This red is truly beautiful. How come I’ve never seen it before? Even in the fabric shops in town, I’ve never come across such a stunning shade of red/” Shen Mo said, clearly enamored, clutching the quilt tightly and refusing to let go. “Brother Jing, such a beautiful color must be expensive. It doesn’t seem like something from around here. Did someone bring it over from the south?”

At that time, the fabric dyeing techniques were still immature, resulting in rough, unattractive colors that looked far from authentic. Even the red cloth often used for weddings was either dyed in a dull, ashy hue that appeared to be covered in dust, lacking any luster, or overdyed into an earthy, unappealing shade.

When Zhou Jing first arrived in this world, he immediately noticed how the local fabrics were monotonous in color, none of them vibrant enough. The few available colors were more unattractive than the next, all with an undeniable rustic feel.

Feeling a bit proud, Zhou Jing boasted, “Of course, it’s not from anywhere else. I dyed this myself. My dear husband only wanted a simple wedding quilt, so naturally, I had to fulfill such a request.”

“These past few days, you’ve been boiling, soaking, and drying—were you busy with this?” Shen Mo asked.

“Yes.” Zhou Jing replied.

A gentle warmth flowed through Shen Mo’s heart, like a small stream running through—soft and comforting.

“Brother Jing, I’m really lucky to have met you,” Shen Mo whispered.

Zhou Brother Jing softly cupped Shen Mo’s cheeks, and with utmost tenderness and sincerity, planted a kiss on his forehead.

Then, he rested his forehead against Shen Mo’s.

“Xiao Mo, meeting you has been the greatest fortune of my life as well. For this meeting, I am willing to travel through a thousand years.”

A thousand years, just to meet you.

—o—o—o—

With Shen Lin providing the money and Wang Ren lending his strength, they purchased a 132-square-meters plot of land in the village and built a large house with five rooms made of blue bricks and tile roofing.

The house consisted of three bedrooms, a central hall, and a kitchen, costing a total of twenty silver coins.

Without any help from elders to supplement their household, everything, from daily necessities to furnishings, had to be bought, which cost them nearly 3 more silver coins.

Once everything was prepared, the wedding day finally arrived.

Shen Lin wore the unique red wedding robe that Shen Mo had sewn by hand and Zhou Jing had personally dyed.

Shen Lin sat on the ox cart, as Wang Ren led it by the reins, escorting him to their house.

Riding in an ox cart to get married was considered a prestigious affair.

The villagers didn’t care much for the grand eight-carrier sedan chairs popular in town; they valued practical, economical options like carts.

Whether it was a mule cart, donkey cart, or ox cart, any would do. Those were seen as real investments, paid for with hard-earned money. As for the lavish sedan chairs, they were merely a way for wealthy families to show off, a waste of money with no real benefit.

The villagers thought that even though the ox cart Shen Lin was riding wasn’t from his own household, it belonged to his Big Brother’s family.

Given the close relationship between the two, while it couldn’t be said that his brother’s belongings were also his, at the very least, he could freely use them whenever needed.

The most eye-catching detail was the wedding garments worn by Shen Lin and Wang Ren.

The fabric was finer than even the best cotton sold in town, which was priced as high as a catty of pork. Its texture was delicate, not coarse at all, and it shimmered with a radiant glow.

Just by looking at it, one could tell that the material was soft to the touch and would feel incredibly comfortable to wear, draping smoothly over the body.

The color was a vibrant, striking red, yet it didn’t come across as gaudy or overdone.

Instead, it enhanced their appearance, making them look lively and full of joy—exuding a cheerful and festive spirit.

A nearby onlooker nudged Shen Wen, who was watching the festivities and pointed at Shen Lin’s wedding clothes. “The Zhou family really spared no expense for a ger. Just look at the fabric of Shen Lin’s wedding outfit—not only is it top-quality fine cotton, but the red color is absolutely stunning.

It’s not that I’m inexperienced or haven’t seen anything fancy. In fact, I have a few wealthy relatives in town, and I’ve attended their weddings. None of their outfits had colors as beautiful as what Shen Lin is wearing today. I can guarantee this fabric wasn’t made around here. It must have been brought in from the south.”

It wasn’t just the villagers who noticed Shen Lin’s wedding dress; a few merchants from the town recognized its uniqueness as well.

These merchants had long-term contracts with Zhou Jing and handled large quantities of goods. After Wang Ren took over the deliveries from Zhou Jing, they interacted daily and became friends. Today, they all came to show their support.

Butcher Wu even brought his wife along, wanting to give a face to the occasion.

His wife had never seen a village wedding before and insisted on joining in the festivities.

At first, they had thought there wouldn’t be much to see at a rural wedding, just some casual excitement. However, when they laid eyes on Shen Lin’s wedding dress, they were left speechless, their eyes wide in astonishment.

Mrs. Wu turned to the maid accompanying her and said, “Look at the wedding outfits of those two newlyweds; the color is so beautiful!”

The maid also admired the garments. Having served her mistress for many years, she had seen plenty of fine things, but she had never come across such a striking shade of red before.

However, since the maid wanted to please her mistress, she sweetened her words, saying, “Oh, the fabric isn’t that impressive. It’s not as remarkable as the villagers are saying. When you got married, madam, you wore the finest double palace silk, and your wedding outfit was embroidered day and night by dozens of seamstresses. That was worth much more than this.”

Mrs. Wu replied, “That’s true; nothing can compare to it. I just think this color is absolutely gorgeous. If only my wedding dress had been this shade of red, it would have certainly stood out even more.”

The maid fell silent but couldn’t help thinking about her younger sister, who was about to get married. No matter how much the farmers spent, they could certainly afford nice fabric. She hoped to snag a few yards to make her sister a beautiful wedding outfit, allowing her to marry in style and outshine the other girls in the family.

What truly surprised the newlyweds was the unexpected arrival of Wang Fu and Hao Yulan, who were seated in the hall, waiting for them to come and pay their respects.

The moment Shen Lin saw the two elders, tears streamed down his face. Wang Ren, too, his eyes turned red.

Shen Mo turned to Zhou Jing and quietly asked: “You weren’t here earlier; did you go to invite them?”

Zhou Jing nodded.

“I know you want your younger brother’s wedding to be perfect. Otherwise, you would feel regret. I don’t want you to have any regrets, so I will do my best to fulfill your wishes.”

—o—o—o—

During the banquet that day, Zhou Jing, along with Cheng Yu and several men working at the Zhou household, managed to get Wang Ren completely drunk at the table, leaving him in a state of oblivion.

Zhou Jing himself wasn’t in much better shape, swaying around and shouting incoherently, “I will surely make you drunk! It’s payback for your husband knocking on my door in the middle of the night, not letting me and Xiao Mo sleep! I’ll make sure you can’t even enjoy your wedding night… *hic*… hahahaha…”

Shen Mo was startled by his husband’s words, so he hurriedly covered Zhou Jing’s mouth, dragging him back to their room.

—o—o—o—

The day after the wedding, neither Wang Ren nor Shen Lin took a break; they immediately jumped into their busy routines.

After the busy afternoon, they finally found some time to eat.

They prepared a total of four dishes and a soup: two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes. The meat dishes were stir-fried mushrooms with pork and dry-fried tenderloin.

The vegetable dishes were spicy stir-fried cabbage and sour and spicy shredded potatoes. The soup was a hearty pork rib and yam soup.

As Wang Ren ate, he said: “Brother, those shopkeepers from town who saw Shen Lin’s wedding outfit the other day have been asking me where I got that fabric. They want me to buy a few meters for them. I know that cotton was dyed by you, and I was worried you might have other plans, so I didn’t mention it for now.”

Shen Mo also added, “A few girls in the village who are getting married soon have asked me how much a foot of that fabric would cost and where they could buy it.”

Zhou Jing thought for a moment and said, “Before, I was focused on starting a prepared food business and completely overlooked the fact that this could be a more profitable opportunity. Now that so many people like it, why not make this our business?”

Shen Mo was puzzled. “You mean we’re going to sell fabric? Do we have to start weaving?”

Zhou Jing smiled and shook his head. “Not necessarily. We don’t need to weave the fabric ourselves. We can buy plain cloth from the town, or even from the city if necessary, and then focus on dyeing it. The colors I’ve been making are what attract people, and we can set ourselves apart by offering these vibrant shades that no one else can produce.”

He continued, “It’s similar to how local businesses in the Philippines have found success by offering something unique. Just like the handmade *pina* fabrics in the Philippines, they stand out not just because they’re beautifully crafted, but also because they’re something you can’t easily find elsewhere. People are willing to pay more for what’s special, just like how those shopkeepers are interested in our fabric. If we focus on perfecting the dyeing process and making something exclusive, we can carve out a niche and make a decent living.”

Shen Mo nodded, starting to see Zhou Jing’s vision. “That makes sense. People always appreciate something unique and well-made.”

Zhou Jing shook his head. “Not at all. Although it is a business involving cloth, we do not weave cloth; we only handle dyeing. We would have to grow hemp, raise silkworms, and go through the complicated process of silk reeling and weaving. This series of tasks would probably take until next year. Moreover, we don’t have that many hands available. It’s better to collect cloth directly from the individual farmers in the village; we will only be responsible for dyeing. Once dyed, we can sell the fabric or make it into finished garments for sale.”

Shen Lin suddenly asked, “How did you learn to dye clothes? No one in our village knows that skill.”

Shen Mo, startled, quickly replied, “Your brother-in-law learned it from a book. At first, he didn’t take it seriously. Since your wedding is coming up, he thought the red colors didn’t look good, so he thought to give it a try. To his surprise, it actually worked, but I don’t know where is that book now.”

This was a flawed lie, but it somehow managed to smooth things over, and no one pursued the matter further.

After deciding to enter the dyeing business, the Zhou family began to recruit workers on a large scale and select a site for the factory.

To avoid disturbing the villagers’ lives, they chose a piece of barren land located ten miles away from the village. The soil there was not fertile and unsuitable for farming, making it the perfect spot for a factory. It was also close enough to the village that a walk would only take a little over half an hour.

The factory covered an area of about fifty mu. In addition to constructing sleeping quarters and a dining hall for the workers, they also built six rows of factory buildings.

The first and second rows of factory buildings were divided into ten rooms, with each room dedicated to boiling one or two types of dyeing plants.

For example, shades of indigo could be produced using plants like polygonum tinctorium, woad, or indigo.

Black was achieved by boiling woad leaves, chestnut shells, or lotus seeds with iron sand.

Bright red could be obtained from safflower or black plum; the red fabric Zhou Jing dyed for Shen Mo was made using safflower.

Goose yellow required a layered dyeing process, first dyeing the base color with yellow pomegranate water, and then overlaying it with indigo water. Tea brown could be dyed using lotus seed shells and then treated with blue vitriol.

Green was created by boiling sophora flowers and then overdyed with indigo, with the depth of color adjusted using alum.

Sky blue was dyed a light blue in the indigo vat and then dyed with sappan wood water.

The third row of factory buildings was designated for dyeing and printing.

The prepared dye liquid was transported by a designated worker using a small cart. The workers in this area were responsible for applying limestone to the pre-carved flower patterns on the twisted hemp boards, spraying water to dye, and then laying the fabrics out to dry on drying racks.

The fourth row of factory buildings was for the second round of dyeing. Sometimes, certain colors could not achieve the desired effect with just one dyeing, so a second or even multiple dyeings were completed here.

The fifth row of factory buildings was where finished garments were made. Each worker was responsible for a different step in the process; one worker would complete their task and then pass it on to the next person.

The last row of factory buildings was where the embroiderers worked.

The overall embroidery pattern was not visible to the embroiderers; they could only see the section they were tasked with stitching. Each room’s embroiderers worked on the same part of the design. Once they finished, their work was handed over to designated transport personnel, who would take it to the next room, and so on.

There were strict rules against wandering between the factory buildings and even between different rooms within the same row. If a worker was found visiting other rooms, they would be immediately sent home and required to compensate the Zhou family with a hefty sum. In more severe cases, they could even be taken to the authorities for questioning.

All of this had been clearly communicated to the workers beforehand, and they were required to sign a confidentiality agreement. On the day the Zhou family’s shop opened in town, everyone in the village knew that the officials and their attendants had come to show their support, and no one would question Zhou Jing’s assertion that workers would be sent to the authorities for punishment. It would be a piece of cake for someone who had close ties with the officials to target a peasant.

The Zhou Family has strict rules, so, the division of labor was clear, and the work schedule was well-organized. As a result, both villagers and those from neighboring villages flocked to the factory.