They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 155 How did you know?

Under the guidance of Xu Zhichun, an outsider who had only crammed at the last minute and was not even a half-baked expert, Zeng Xiaojuan listened to his advice and revised the pattern again and again. Finally, she combined the opinions of Zeng Xiaoyan and Aunt Zhu'er and carefully drew six pictures. Along with the four pairs of shoe soles she made, she went to the city with Xu Zhichun and the others to sell them that day.

Qiao'er was entrusted to Aunt Liang for half a day to look after.

Whether you herd one sheep or two, it's all the same. Aunt Liang already had to stay home to take care of her grandchildren, so having Qiao'er along was just a side job.

Besides, although Qiao'er is young, she is precocious and well-behaved, so she doesn't need much attention.

Zeng Xiaojuan was gentle and kind, and well-behaved. All the aunties and older women in the village who had contact with her felt sorry for her and were happy to lend her a hand.

Zeng Xiaojuan originally didn't want to go to the city and wanted to ask Xu Zhichun and the others to help her sell the goods, but Xu Zhichun tried her best to persuade her to go with them.

The reason was that the women were not very good at the work. Zeng Xiaojuan went to the shops to pay attention to the various fabric patterns, clothing and shoe styles, and chatted with the shopkeepers to have a better understanding and make the things the shops needed.

Another reason is that Xu Zhichun felt she should interact more with outsiders, as it would be a form of experience.

Zeng Xiaojuan thought it made sense, so she went.

Accompanied by Xu Zhichun and the others, Zeng Xiaojuan finally mustered up the courage to stammeringly try to sell her wares to the female shopkeeper of the clothing store, haggling over prices. She successfully sold six floral patterns and four pairs of shoe soles.

The patterns weren't as valuable as Xu Zhichun had thought; each one sold for only fifteen coins, and six of them made a total of one hundred coins.

A pair of ordinary thick-soled cloth shoes could sell for at least sixty coins in a clothing store, but the store would buy the soles for much less.

Zeng Xiaojuan's shoes had thick soles, dense stitching, and tight, solid edging. The shopkeeper praised them highly, but only paid fifteen coins for a pair.

After deducting the cost of needles, thread, and fabric scraps, and ignoring labor costs, the profit per pair of shoe soles is estimated to be only about seven coins.

Zeng Xiaojuan sold them all without hesitation.

The patterned shoes and soles sold for 160 coins. Zeng Xiaojuan clutched her money bag tightly, her eyes shining with excitement. "I... I can earn money now! I really can earn money! Xiaoyan, I can support Qiao'er now too!"

Zeng Xiaojuan felt as if she were dreaming.

I never imagined I would have this day.

Zeng Xiaoyan was also happy for her, "Second sister, without those who are holding us back, things will be better in the future."

"you're right."

Everyone laughed.

The shopkeeper greatly admired Zeng Xiaojuan's craftsmanship and immediately said that he would buy as many of her future shoe soles as possible, as long as they were made in the same style.

You should know that making good shoe soles isn't easy either.

The soles of cloth shoes are not all made of layers of cloth glued together. Several layers of cloth are sandwiched with a layer of bamboo shoot husks unique to the area, which are glued together with rice paste. This process is repeated seven or eight times, and then the soles are tightly sewn together with needle and thread, stitch by stitch, until a single insole is finally obtained.

The bamboo shoot husks used are very flexible, waterproof, abrasion-resistant, and flexible enough not to hurt the feet. You have to go up the mountain to collect bamboo shoot husks that are wide enough to cut a shoe sole, bring them home, boil them thoroughly in boiling water, wash them clean, and then air dry them before they can be used.

When using it, cut it with scissors according to the size and shape of the shoe sole, and then you can sandwich it between layers of coarse cloth to glue it.

Therefore, this is a job that requires a lot of handcraft skills. How skillful your hands are directly related to how comfortable, durable, and good-looking the soles will be.

Zeng Xiaojuan was quick and skilled at needlework; she could make a pair of shoe soles in a day. Although her income wasn't much, it was enough to support her and her daughter for the time being. She readily agreed.

With a stable source of income, I feel much more at ease.

After returning home from the city, Zeng Xiaojuan picked up Qiao'er and began sewing shoe soles. She had bought a lot of fabric scraps and needles and thread that day, enough to make quite a few more soles. She planned to work until the light became too dim in the evening, then go water the garden and plant vegetables.

There wasn't much konjac left at home, so Zeng Xiaoyan and her husband, along with Aunt Zhu'er, went to the mountains to dig some more. Xu Zhichun planned to deal with the remaining konjac at home first.

Unexpectedly, an uninvited guest arrived. "Xu Zhichun! Xu Shi, open the door! I know you're back, open the door quickly!"

It was Zhang's voice.

Besides her, there were other voices, so it seemed that both families had come.

Xu Zhichun's eyes darkened.

Zhang's tone was urgent and somewhat exasperated, which both disgusted and confused Xu Zhichun.

They tacitly formed a grudge and never interacted with each other again. Xu Zhichun didn't know where they got the audacity to come to his door.

This posture seems to suggest that they are even acting with righteous indignation?
Xu Zhichun glanced at Chunfen, and Chunfen glanced at her in return.

"Sister-in-law Zhichun, that's your aunt, and there are others too."

Xu Zhichun gave a slight sneer, "They are all bad people. Chunfen, you'll have to listen to me in a moment."

"Yes, yes, Sister Zhichun, I'll do whatever you tell me to do. They definitely can't beat me."

Xu Zhichun felt a warmth in her heart and chuckled.

It is the Spring Equinox, a time of simplicity and without many concerns. She doesn't care about elders, and no elder would dare to argue with her.

Fortunately, she was there.

Xu Zhichun strode forward, abruptly opened the door, and took two steps back to the side.

With a whoosh, they rushed in like water, including Zhang, Uncle Liang, the Mao couple, Liang Mingguang, Liang Cuier, Bai, Uncle Liang the Second, and all the adults from Liang Mingshan's family.

Xu Zhichun glanced over and saw that both families had arrived in perfect unison.

"What are you doing here?"

Bai smiled enigmatically: "What? Are we not allowed here? Is there some secret in your house? Won't you invite us in for a chat?"

Xu Zhichun sneered: "You're not worthy to be invited."

"you--"

"presumptuous!"

"Ms. Xu, do you have any manners? How can you speak like that?"

"Try being arrogant again? Your parents didn't raise you properly, but now that you're in the Liang family, we'll teach you. If you keep acting like this, we'll beat you up."

"Yes, I think she needs to be taught a lesson, otherwise she wouldn't have become so bold and cunning! Xu, I've seen through you."

"This is really unreasonable!"

The two families grew increasingly angry as they talked, each one so furious that it seemed they had suffered a tremendous injustice at Xu Zhichun's hands.

Xu Zhichun was initially confused, but at this moment, he suddenly understood.

What could possibly drive them to such anger besides self-interest?
Although she didn't know the reason why, she already knew what it was.

"How did you know? How did you know I made a lot of money selling gray tofu and gray bean shreds?"

"How dare you say that!" Zhang felt as if Xu Zhichun had stolen her family's money. "You'd rather betray your own family and help outsiders get rich, while keeping your own family in the dark and abandoning them all. Xu, is this how you do things?!"

(End of this chapter)