It was a strange thing for a young widow to come all the way with a little maid and settle down in Chang'an.
The place where I lived was a mixed bag of people, from all walks of life, and traffickers and footmen were crowded together in a narrow and long alley. After a while, the neighbors all knew that a new widow named Wang had moved in next door.
She wanted to live in seclusion, but she always had to worry about her livelihood. Whenever she returned home after selling her goods, she was inevitably greeted by prying eyes along the way.
But within ten days, a matchmaker with a smile on his face was waiting for her to come to her door after she came back.
Holding a handful of melon seeds in his hand, he spit out the shells while asking her for details with twinkling eyes.
I also want to introduce men to her.
She subconsciously avoided such inquiries.
How could a matchmaker come to her door for no reason?
Naturally, some man somewhere saw her coming in and out alone or with two women, Qing Fei, and he had some evil thoughts in his heart.
She had been frightened for a long time. She politely refused with a straight face and closed the door tightly. She still felt uneasy when she slept at night, so she and Qing Fei dragged the table in the room behind the door to block it.
Thinking of the way the matchmaker left with a cold face and squinting eyes, she couldn't sleep well for several days.
About ten days later, she originally thought that this matter would just go away. At night, she and Qing Fei had just fallen asleep when they heard a soft rustling sound coming from the door.
They live in the West Market, which is one of the most crowded alleys in the West Market. The neighbors are all small traders. Some vendors selling vegetables and making breakfast will always carry their burdens and push their children before dawn. When the wooden cart went out, she would always be woken up at first, but then she gradually got used to it.
Today I heard noise at the door again and turned over without paying attention.
She originally thought that the sound would be far away after a while, but for some reason it was very strange today, as if someone outside was sticking to her wall and playing with something.
She yawned, dazed for a moment, and suddenly woke up with a jolt.
The sound came from the door at first, but she and Qing Fei had put the cabinet behind the door before going to bed. Now they listened carefully, the sound was stumbling, like someone was prying open the door or window.
The sound had reached the window.
In an instant, her scalp numbed to her heels. She stood up on the bed and held her breath to look at the other side of the window. Sure enough, there was a vague shadow of a person outside, pushing the window furtively, and the old window panes creaked as they were pushed. Sound.
Qing Fei was sleeping deeply and snoring. She got out of bed on tiptoe and quietly picked up the kettle that was still hot on the stove in the room.
Go to the window.
She suppressed the fear in her heart, suppressed the tremor in her voice, and spoke coldly in a low voice.
"who?"
"If you don't leave, I will report you to the police."
The person outside the window paused for a moment, and the sound of prying the window disappeared. The ruffian seemed to consider it for a moment, and said "hehe" and laughed twice.
"Be careful, don't report to the official. My brother just wants to take a look at you. Open the window and let's have a conversation."
Her hands holding the kettle were shaking.
"You leave quickly, I won't report it to the official."
"Are you leaving?"
She originally wanted to tell him to get out, but she was afraid of irritating him, causing him to get angry and forcefully break in. The window could be kicked open with just a little force. She and Qing Fei might not be able to control the gangsters outside the window.
"Then stretch out your hand and touch it for me!"
The voice was urgent and he was breathing heavily, as if he couldn't help but want to climax just thinking about that fragrant scene.
Seeing that she didn't agree, the gangster outside the window couldn't restrain himself and started banging on the window.
With a "bang", the window frame broke, and half of the window was completely smashed down. It fell to the ground in pieces with a clang, hitting her instep.
She didn't even have time to check her instep, which was numb and painful from being hit. A big, skinny, dirty hand with dirt hidden between its fingernails reached out from the broken window and touched her randomly. With his arms, he grabbed it like a treasure.
Then a middle-aged man with yellow teeth and wide eyes came in with a grin and his head.
"My sweetheart, are you afraid of living alone? Brother, let's talk to you. My brother looks at you and feels very distressed these days. Tell me what's wrong with you. My brother loves you..."
A few lewd laughs came.
Then there was a scream.
With Qing Fei screaming and the man wailing in pain, the kettle in the woman's hand was turned upside down, and all the boiling water in it poured onto the middle-aged man's head.
The boiling water flowed down the skinny and brown neck into the clothes. In the cold winter sky, the middle-aged man was covered in white steam and rolled around on the ground screaming.
Qing Fei reacted, jumped off the bed, picked up the bamboo pole for drying clothes in the house, stretched out to poke the drowned dog on the ground outside, and the man got up angrily.
"Slut! Why are you pretending to be a fierce woman?"
He still wanted to rush over, but due to the burn, he lost all interest. Qing Fei was staring at him with a bamboo pole with a wary look on his face. He turned around angrily and cursed as he walked.
"A bitch that has been ridden by countless people is now being held up in front of me!"
The curses were vulgar. Over the years, she had never heard anyone scold her like this, even if Wei Cheng looked at her with stern expressions, and her eyes instantly turned red.
The courtyard walls on both sides were covered with people watching the fun. Her face was burning, so she took Qing Fei and hid in the house. The next day, she bravely went out and went to the carpenter's shop and bought a dozen wooden boards. Come back and work with Qing Fei to strengthen the window.
Now that she was alone, she became more and more careless about money.
Firstly, it costs a lot of money to have a carpenter come to her house to do the work. Secondly, the carpenter is also a man, so he will inevitably cause gossip when he comes in and out of her house.
In the evening, the two of them banged in the house for a long time, and finally repaired the broken window. Although it was very ugly, she took a washboard outside and smashed it several times. The window made of nailed wooden boards was very strong. She finally breathed a sigh of relief.
From then on, the two of them slept, and put a basin of water under the nailed window before they dared to fall asleep.
Even during the Chinese New Year, the two of them did not dare to let down their guard at all. They just stayed in the house with a pot of wine, cut a few taels of meat, bought vegetables and tofu, and boiled the pot to eat.
There were a lot of drunks on the streets during the New Year, and she was worried.
After all, it is not an option to keep worrying like this. In the past two months, she has saved more than 20 taels through frugality and Qing Fei digging money from between her teeth. At this rate, she can save up to 100 taels in a year. .
She still earns this by doing embroidery alone.
But she couldn't just rely on her to do the embroidery, and she didn't want to grit her teeth and struggle on the line of food and clothing.
Peilin is still with that man. She must make herself rich enough as soon as possible. At least she can support Peilin's stable life. She will also have the confidence to stand in front of him and ask him to return the child to her. .
She was afraid.
I was afraid that time would drag on for too long and that I would miss the most important years when Peilin needed his mother the most.
More scared...
Peilin remembered that he would hate her afterwards.
Faster.
After spring, she went to Xufu to borrow money.
She wanted to rent a shop on a street in the West Market with a slightly more crowded area.
Twenty taels is definitely not enough.
She is now much thicker-skinned than before, and she didn't hesitate at all when asking to borrow money.
After Xufu came to Chang'an, he found some way out and became a disciple of the eldest princess Qinghe. The eldest princess Qinghe was the cousin of the emperor. She had a noble status, was sociable, and was informal. Seeing Xufu's bright tongue, She was also proficient in physiognomy and Zhouyi, so she was appointed as an aide.
Xufu was also very happy. Thinking of her kindness in rescuing him, he lent her most of the money he had saved these days, a total of fifty taels. The two agreed to share the dividends, which Xufu had left for himself. A way back.
After leaving the house in the narrow alley, she looked for a new shop on a slightly more crowded street in the West Market.
Almost the whole street is filled with shops selling ready-to-wear embroidery. People in Chang'an who want to buy clothes and embroidery will come here to shop, so she values this new shop very much.
The shop is not big. Compared with the big shops opposite, it is very small and exquisite. It only has enough room for two shelves and cabinets. To tidy up the inner room, a bed can be set up for her and Qing Fei to rest at night. During the day, she can bring her embroidery with her. My mother is busy making embroidery.
Now that she had money, she no longer worked alone. She bought an unwanted girl with some physical defects at a low price in a dental shop, named her Bixiu, and personally taught Bixiu and Qing Fei how to do embroidery.
Progress was slow at first, but gradually she became proficient after a month passed, and the new efficiency in the store increased day by day. In addition, she often pretended to be a customer and went to other stores to inquire about the market trends, observe the most fashionable patterns and fabrics, and even took the time to follow a merchant ship alone. A trip to Jiangnan.
Now she is very skilled at traveling far away.
The scenery of Jiangnan is winding and rich in silk, pearls and other luxurious things. She used to follow Wei Cheng and never lacked gold, silver, jewelry, clothes, silk and satin. At that time, she had no feeling for the treasures at hand. Now she goes to Jiangnan bit by bit. Exploring, I just feel that there is a lot of fun in it.
There are many beauties in the Yangzhou area, and food, drink, and entertainment are all over the streets. Especially when I see the groups of pearl divers in the Zhuji area, they can support their families without relying on charity from others. I was shocked for a long time before I came back to my senses.
During this trip south, she brought back many exquisite southern specialties, such as pearl agate, and the latest Qingrong gauze, Wu gauze, Sanfa gauze, dark flower gauze, etc. suitable for summer wear.
She and Qing Fei Bixiu worked together overnight to produce the latest summer clothes. At the beginning of April, the number of people in the shop gradually increased, and the daily income was four times what she had been selling alone.
