In the 20th year of Guangxu (1894), the winter solstice is approaching. The winter solstice is a big festival in rural areas and is called the sub-year. Liu Gong Sheng Zaofang gave the workshop workers who were not in the county a three-day holiday, allowing them to go back and visit their relatives. Yang Shaowen has been an apprentice at Liu Gong Sheng Chao Fang for more than a month. Before going home, he also received his first month's wages from the proprietress Liu Er's wife. Second Grandma Liu gave him one silver dollar. Yang Shaowen worked as an apprentice for a total of one month and seven days. According to the regulations of the workshop, wages are calculated as one month, and any extra few days will be erased. But Mrs. Liu still gave Yang Shaowen the extra few days' wages. It's not because Second Mistress Liu is naturally generous, but because Second Mistress Liu has taken a liking to him. Second Grandma Liu is very satisfied with Yang Shaowen's performance for more than a month. Yang Shaowen is diligent, able to endure hardships, learns quickly, and has a good eye. When he sees any work in the workshop that is short of manpower, he always actively steps forward to help. In more than a month, he was able to get involved in almost any kind of work, and he was considered a jack-of-all-trades. He can even help with the accounting affairs of Zaofang. After all, scholars still have some advantages over ordinary rural people who work hard. At least they have much better brains. Although Second Grandma Liu looked down upon Yang Shaowen's failure to pass the examination, there were not many scholars who were willing to work in workshops. In addition, Yang Shaowen was quite able to endure hardships, so Second Grandma Liu began to win over him. "Shao Wen, you are very good. From now on, you will be an official employee of our Zaofang. Your wages will be calculated at one yuan per month. You will also sign the contract with the Zaofang. How about it?" "Thank you, my boss, for your love!" Yang Shao Wen replied neither humble nor arrogantly. He had other concerns about signing the contract. "As for signing the contract, since we agreed on it in three or two months, there's no need to rush. I'd better let my employer observe me for a while. I have to let my employer see through my character." Second Grandma Liu was slightly disappointed. The main reason why she gave Yang Shaowen processing money was to get Yang Shaowen to sign this "deed of sale" and completely tie him up in the prison. Grandma Liu regretted not letting Yang Shaowen sign the contract in the first place. "It's up to you. I think that after signing the contract, all the interests of you guys will be protected by the government. It's mainly for your own sake." Grandma Liu looked lazy and seemed to be talking about one thing. Nothing important. Then he had some family talk with Yang Shaowen and asked about his family situation. After hearing that both parents of Yang Shaowen's family died and left behind four young brothers and sisters, I also somewhat understood why Yang Shaowen, a weak scholar, was able to endure so much hardship. Before leaving, Mrs. Liu asked Yang Shaowen to take some soy sauce back from the store for household use, and Yang Shaowen also expressed her gratitude. With his wages, Yang Shaowen wanted to buy a thick quilt and some meat in the city to improve the quality of life for his younger brothers and sisters. Only when I asked about the price did I find out that the cheapest new quilt costs 2 silver dollars, and pork costs about 1.2 cents per pound. He could buy some meat, but considering that the weather was getting colder and his house often leaked, it was more urgent to solve the problem of keeping out the cold. Fortunately, some grocery stores in the city also sell second-hand goods, and Yang Shaowen still found an 80% new quilt for one silver dollar. ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????mbOUT Out of the hard work for a month, the wages earned could not afford to buy ten pounds of pork or a quilt. He converted it to the currency value of modern society, and his first month's salary was equivalent to a monthly income of more than 100 yuan. I heard that he is considered a "high salary" among apprentices. I bought an old quilt, but my pocket was empty. Yang Shaowen didn't have money to take a boat, so he still walked back. In fact, even if he has extra money, he may not be willing to spend it. He now has a personal experience of the preciousness of money. With a thick quilt on my back and a large bottle of soy sauce in my hand, the journey back was much more difficult. However, he was lucky. When he reached the afternoon, he met Liu Sanfu who was punting in the river. "Shao Wen, come up, Uncle Liu will give you a ride!" "Uncle Liu, I don't have any shipping money to give you." Liu Sanfu laughed and scolded, "You little melon, how can Uncle Liu accept your shipping money? Stop talking nonsense. Come up quickly. You can walk back by yourself. I'm afraid you won't be able to get home until it gets dark." Yang Shaowen didn't push back anymore, and there was no need to be too polite with Liu Hu and his son. On the boat, there was also a middle-aged rural woman sitting, with a large bamboo basket on either side containing some daily necessities. She is Uncle Liu's boat passenger and lives in Fengming Village, which is not in harmony with Yang Shaowen's Yangpu Village. Because the woman had to be sent back to the village first, the boat had to take a detour. Being bored on the road, Yang Shaowen started chatting with this woman. I learned from her that the woman was going to the town to sell homespun cloth and buy some daily necessities along the way. "Auntie, there are a lot of homespun cloths sold in the town this time, right? I think your two big bamboo baskets are quite big." "About 30 pieces in total!" Yang Shaowen feels that there are quite a lot. Their Yuhua can only weave about 6 pieces each time. He complimented: "Auntie, your hands and feet are very fast. You should have sold a lot of money this time, right?" According to the market price that Yuhua told him, each piece of homespun cloth is recycled at a price of three cents. These thirty pieces of cloth can be sold for 9 silver dollars. After deducting the cost of buying flowers, the net income is about 4 yuan. The middle-aged woman explained: "The main reason is that we have accumulated it for a long time. Our family started weaving these thirty pieces of cloth in the summer, and it took almost four months. We earn an average of about 1 yuan a month, and our lives are tight. "Yang Shao Wenqi said: "It's been almost half a year, why have you been saving for so long?" "The money for daily expenses at home is low." He heard Yuhua say that it took two months for their cloth to be sold. Yang Shaowen felt that it had been long enough, but he didn't expect that it would take four months for the cloth to be sold. The middle-aged woman rolled her eyes at him, thinking that the question he asked was not very good: "Who doesn't want to sell cloth earlier? The flower gauze shops that can receive goods are all in several large towns. The road is not close, and the boat ride is expensive. Big. We rural people usually save the homespun cloth for a month or two, and then go to the towns to sell it, and bring back some daily necessities. Otherwise, it is not cost-effective to go to the towns. No? " Judging from Yang Shaowen's delicate skin and tender flesh, he should be a scholar who doesn't care much about oil, salt, sauce and vinegar. The middle-aged woman thought that she was teaching young people common sense in life. Yang Shaowen also nodded in agreement. The late Qing Dynasty was no better than modern times, and he had a deep understanding of the inconvenience of transportation. When it comes to selling cloth, the middle-aged woman complained to Yang Shaowen about the arrogance of the store owners: "Those evil-hearted stores said that starting from next year, the delivery price of homespun cloth will be reduced by one point. Young man, you may not know, When my aunt was a girl, the price was 40 cents per horse. Now it has been reduced to 30 cents per horse. Hey, how will we live in the future? In the meantime, the boat has arrived at Fengming Village where the middle-aged woman is. This village and Yangpu Village are both on the edge of the county seat, but they are under the jurisdiction of Maze Township. Unlike Lamma Town, where Yangpu Village is located, Maze Township does not have a gauze shop that collects homespun cloth. Therefore, compared with Yangpu Village, it is more inconvenient for villagers here to sell homespun cloth. As soon as the woman got off the boat, Liu Sanfu drove the boat directly to Yangpu Village. On the way, Yang Shaowen chatted with him. Naturally, he talked about his apprenticeship in the county and asked about Liu Hu's current situation. From time to time, Liu Sanfu would often lament that he was getting old and that he could no longer make a living as a boat operator. Yang Shaowen always smiled and comforted Uncle Liu that he was always strong and strong, and Liu Hu would also have great potential in the future. In his mind, he was still chewing on the middle-aged woman's words, vaguely seeming to catch a hint of business opportunity.