The end of August is the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, but summer still dominates.
It was early in the morning, before the sun came out, and the air was hot. Sitting in the carriage without ventilation made it even hotter.
Cheng Wanwan took a carriage and sent Cheng Zhao and Shen Zheng to the official road to the provincial capital.
The two of them went home separately yesterday. Their families had prepared a lot of food, and together with what she had prepared, more than half of the carriage was piled up.
"The provincial capital is no better than home. You have to spend money everywhere, so don't be reluctant to stay outside." Cheng Wanwan took out two purses from his sleeves and handed them over, "Find a better inn. If possible, it is best to rent a small courtyard to live temporarily. Come on, how should it be purer..."
It takes almost a month from arriving in the provincial capital to the end of the rural examination. It is said that after the examination, officials will hold a Qionglin banquet and various poetry activities. After the results are out, all the candidates who are on the list will be Those who are ready to become officials need to visit officials and figure out the future... They are busy with a lot of things. Before the New Year, they have to go to the capital in advance to prepare for the exam...
She believed that Cheng Zhao would pass the exam and would definitely not be able to come back this year, so she put a lot of money in her purse.
"Godmother, this is too much money." Shen Zheng opened his wallet directly, "One, two, three, four, five... Oh my god, five hundred taels of silver!"
Hearing this, Cheng Zhao immediately opened his wallet. In his wallet were also five 100-tael silver notes.
His expression immediately became obscure. Yesterday when he returned to the Cheng family, Li Zheng and the clan leader worked together to give him a total of eighty taels of silver. The eighty taels of silver were like a thousand pounds to him.
Now, there are five hundred taels more.
"By the way, there are still two taels of silver here, which your aunt saved for you." Cheng Wanwan put the two taels of silver into Cheng Zhao's hand, "Your aunt originally planned to hand it over to you personally, but she was afraid that you would I refuse, so let me pass it on. This is also your aunt’s wish, so accept it.”
Cheng Zhao pursed his lips and held the two taels of silver.
"Brother Cheng, what's your expression like?" Shen Zheng put his arm around his shoulders and said, "Our family has given us such a large amount of money, so let's just keep it. When we become officials in the future, can't we just pay it back tenfold or a hundredfold? It's a pity that you are just a nephew, so you can't ask for a royal title for your godmother... I'm just a godson, and I don't have the qualifications... If you count on Si Dan, it will take at least seven or eight years..."
Cheng Wanwan laughed: "Your godmother, my rank is already very good. I don't need you juniors to ask for a royal title. Okay, okay, it's getting late, let's go quickly. And Cheng Ding, you and Ah Fu The two of you have been working hard for a while, if anything happens, Cheng Ding, you should hurry up and come back to report, don't waste time, do you hear me?"
Cheng Ding held up his hands: "Yes, Anren!"
The carriage finally set off slowly, and Cheng Wanwan stood on the official road, feeling indescribably.
Although he is not his biological son, he has lived together for so long and suddenly traveled far away for so long. It is a lie that he does not worry.
If Sidan goes to rush for the exam in the future, she is afraid that she will not be able to sleep well day and night.
Cheng Yihou stood by his side and asked respectfully: "An Ren, are you going back to Dahe Village now or going to the city?"
Cheng Wanwan suppressed the sadness of parting and said, "Go to Hekou County."
After the first batch of cotton was spun into thread and woven into cloth, it was sent to the Cao family dyeing workshop for dyeing. She had to see it on the spot.
She went straight to Cao's Dyeing House in Hekou County. Most of the Cao family's business is related to cloth, and they also have their own dyeing house, but the dyeing house is not big, so many of the Cao family's cloths are contracted to other dyeing houses to help with dyeing, just to be on the safe side. , Cheng Wanwan came to test it directly at Caojia Dyeing Workshop.
"Mom, come and take a look at the newly dyed cotton." Cao Defu hurriedly welcomed Cheng Wanwan in, "This cotton is very soft and soft, and the color goes on easily, but it will fade slightly in the first wash, but the dyer tried it. Just wash it two or three times and it’ll be fine…”
Cheng Wanwan looked at the various colors hanging in the yard, mainly red, green, and cyan, with a small amount of white, black, and blue.
After dyeing these colors, they look very bright. Compared with silk, which has excellent drape, cotton is more skin-friendly, which means it is more comfortable to wear, absorbs sweat and is breathable in summer, and keeps warm in winter.
But among these colors, the color she wanted was missing, so she asked, "Have you ever tried dyeing it bright yellow?"
Cao Defu said quickly: "Minghuang is the color of the royal family. As a businessman, I don't dare to violate the law."
"In December this year, the emperor will be celebrating his 40th birthday. As a sixth-grade Anren, I must give you a congratulatory gift." Cheng Wanwan said, "I can't do this myself, so I can only ask Boss Cao for help. .”
Cao Defu's face immediately became serious: "My mother-in-law just gives orders."
The gift Cheng Wanwan wanted to give was bedding and a set of bright yellow linings, all made of cotton.
Every detail of the items used by the royal family must be made to the extreme. It is definitely not possible to let the embroiderers in the village do it. It must go through Boss Cao and invite the best embroiderers in Huzhou to make the most perfect gift.
She explained her requirements in detail, took out several drawings, and explained them to Cao Defu in detail, emphasizing the details.
Although Cao Defu was big-hearted and didn't care much, this matter was related to the royal family. He didn't dare to be careless and carefully wrote down every word of Cheng Wanwan.
"Okay, I know everything." He looked serious, "I'll go to the official dyeing workshop in Huzhou first and let the dyers who receive official food help dye the cotton. As for the embroiderers, don't worry, mother-in-law. There are many outstanding craftsmen in Huzhou. Embroiderer, if you spend some money to invite her back, I will definitely handle this matter beautifully."
"Then thank you for your hard work, Boss Cao." Cheng Wanwan said with a smile, "Here is a thousand taels of silver, use it first."
"Hey, my mother-in-law, you are too outspoken!" Cao Defu took a big step back, "Our relationship has become estranged as soon as we talk about money. I still want to get more glory from my mother-in-law, but I don't want to accept money."
Cheng Wanwan was helpless.
She knew that the Cao family was not short of this money, so she had to take the banknote back and wait for an opportunity to give the Cao family a big gift later.
After leaving the dye house, she walked around Hekou County and bought some daily necessities before heading back home.
As soon as I arrived at the door of my house, it started to rain heavily.
As the saying goes, one autumn rain brings another cold. After the rain is over, summer will really be over.
Fortunately, the cotton in the fields has almost been harvested, otherwise we would have been worried when it rained.
The warehouse at her home is filled with dried cotton, which cannot even be piled up. Some of it has been transported to the Cao family weaving workshop for storage. It is currently estimated to be at least 50,000 kilograms, and some more will be collected sporadically in the future. The number should be between sixty and seventy thousand catties. This is a huge number. As long as it is made into quilts and clothes, it will be nothing but money.
When it rained, the villagers were free. Cheng Wanwan called the village women to the Cao family workshop, and she wanted to teach everyone how to play quilts.
