"Xiao Cui, come here."
Yong Ning and Shouning were playing house in the yard. Li Yi sat on the stone bench and waved at Xiao Cui.
"Li, what's the matter?" Xiao Cui ran over.
"Is your young mistress on her period these days?" Although he knew that it was inappropriate to ask this question, Zeng Zuimo had ignored him for a long time because of those melon seeds. Miss Zeng wasn't that stingy, so Li Yi felt that the problem should be in other areas.
"Ah …" When Xiao Cui heard this, she was stunned for a moment. Then, her face turned so red that it looked like blood was about to drip out. This … this kind of thing about a woman, how could she casually tell others?
If she said something like this, the young mistress would beat her to death if she knew …
"No, no, in a few days." Thinking of this, Xiao Cui said with a red face.
"I see …" Li Yi shook his head. If it wasn't for that reason, what else could it be?
Xiao Cui lowered her head and muttered, "I don't know what's wrong with the young mistress these days. She's always in a daze and often forgetful. The young mistress has never been like this before. In short, in short, it's very strange …"
Inside the room, Zeng Zuimo sat at the table with a brush in her hand. Her eyes were slightly unfocused, and the rice paper in front of her was blank.
The knocking continued for a long time before she heard it. She put down the brush and said, "The door isn't closed. Come in."
"Crash!"
Li Yi threw a big bag on the table, looked at her and said, "Salt and pepper flavor, five spices flavor, cream flavor, red dates flavor, plum flavor … I just ate a few of your melon seeds, is there a need to be so angry for so long?"
Zeng Zuimo was stunned. She opened one of the small bags, and a strange fragrance wafted out. She tasted one, and the expression on her pretty face changed slightly. Then, she put them all away and said to Li Yi, "When was I angry?"
It was a woman's nature to refuse to admit it. She almost wrote the word "angry" on her face. How dare you say you're not angry? If you're not angry, then give me back my melon seeds!
"You mentioned a clothing store yesterday. What's going on?" Ceng Zuimo deliberately changed the topic.
Li Yi shook his head and was finally able to speak normally. He said, "The fame of underwear has already spread. We can expand our business and make ready-made clothes. In addition to the common styles, we can also design some new styles and divide the sizes. Whichever one the customer likes, they can wear it directly after paying the bill."
In this era, there were no clothing stores. There were only cloth shops. Small families would buy cloth at home and cut it into their own clothes. Rich families would hire a tailor to make it, so there was no concept of ready-made clothes for the time being.
Food, clothing, housing, and transportation. No matter what era it was, people couldn't live without these four things. If you were to engage in these four industries, you would never have to worry about being eliminated by the times.
Although she would be involved in the ready-made clothing industry together with Her Royal Highness, she had always contributed money, manpower, and effort. She would just sit back and wait for her share of the profits. She would not ask about the management.
Ceng Zuimo said while eating melon seeds, "After opening two new underwear stores, there is a lack of manpower. If we want to open a ready-made clothing store, we will need more women who are good at needlework. I'm afraid the brothel will not be able to find so many."
Li Yi waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about this. There will be no shortage of manpower soon."
Near the capital, the new marriage law was enforced. In the following period of time, there would be many women between the ages of 13 and 16 staying at home doing nothing. This was also a headache for the court. If they could have something to do and solve the problem of employment for women of the right age, the court would definitely strongly support it.
"Then when Sister Ruoqing comes back, I will discuss it with her." Ceng Zuimo said, then looked at Li Yi and said, "I, I have something to ask you."
"What?" Li Yi looked back at her.
"You …" Ceng Zuimo opened her mouth and thought about it. In the end, she didn't say anything. She waved her hand and said, "Forget it, it's nothing."
It was very impolite to not finish a sentence, especially for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. This time, Li Yi was not in a hurry to leave. He looked at her and asked, "What is it?"
"Nothing, you can go." Ceng Zuimo waved her hand impatiently.
"Really?"
"Really."
"Then … then let me grab a handful of melon seeds before I go. I want the creamy ones."
…
…
The Wang Family Village was a small village less than ten miles away from the capital.
Although the Wang Family Village was located outside the most prosperous capital of the Jing Kingdom, it didn't have much of the capital's glory. The dozens of families in the village relied on the thin fields at the front of the village to eat. When the year was good, they could drink thin rice every meal. When the year was bad, the family had to tighten their belts and pray for God's blessing.
Wang Laoer was an ordinary villager in the Wang Family Village. At this time, he was squatting on a rock in the yard, smoking a pipe and sighing.
"Dad, it's time to eat." A little girl about ten years old, wearing coarse clothes and an apron, came out of the dilapidated house. She walked in front of him and said timidly.
"Eat, eat, eat. You only know how to eat all day. You won't be able to get married!" Wang Laoer was angry when he saw his third daughter and waved his hand impatiently.
Seeing this, the little girl's body trembled and hurriedly retreated back into the house.
Wang Laoer put the pipe on the rock and coughed, and said angrily, "What is the court doing? Are they trying to kill me?"
His wife was disappointing and gave him three daughters in a row. Although he still had a strong desire to have a son, he didn't dare to have another one. If he gave birth to a daughter, he wouldn't be able to continue living.
Although they were daughters, they were also his children. Although they were often beaten and scolded, they had been living in poverty for more than ten years, and they had grown up one by one. His eldest daughter was 14 years old and had just been engaged. The second daughter was 13 years old and was also at the age to get married.
He thought that if his two daughters got married, there would be two mouths to feed at home, and he would have betrothal gifts from two families, so he could live a better life. However, he didn't expect that his eldest daughter would get married in a month. The court suddenly issued an order that women couldn't get married before they were 16 years old. This delayed the two children all of a sudden. Wang Laoer suddenly felt a lot of pressure and couldn't live anymore.
"F * cking court, they don't let people live!" Wang Laoer scolded angrily. A middle-aged woman poked her head out of the house and said, "Keep your voice down. If someone hears you, you'll be punished!"
It would have been better if she hadn't said it. As soon as this matter was brought up, Wang Laoer became even angrier. He jumped down from the rock and scolded, "What's going on? They're allowed to have children, but I'm not allowed to talk about it. I just want to talk about it. This f * cking court, they even care about me marrying off my daughter …"
"Wang Laoer, who are you calling a f * cking dog?" Following this voice, an official dressed in black walked in from outside.
"This f * cking Wang Ergou, he owes me two copper coins and hasn't paid me back in a month …" Wang Laoer looked at the official with a fawning expression and asked, "Sir, what brings you here today …"
The official waved his hand and flipped through a booklet in his hand. He went straight to the point and said, "Wang Laoer, your Zhaodi and Yin Di are both over 13 years old, right?"
When Wang Laoer heard this, he was stunned for a moment. His expression immediately changed and he said warily, "Sir, my Zhaodi and Yin Di are both betrothed …"
"I don't care if they are betrothed or not, as long as they are over 13 years old. Oh right, your Liudi …"
Wang Laoer's face was full of fear. "My Liudi, my Liudi is only 10 years old. She, she is still a child!"
The official glanced at her and directly asked, "It's said that if any family has a girl who is over 13 years old and has good sewing skills, she can work in the workshop. She will work for eight hours a day and will be paid ten copper coins. Will your family's Zhaodi and Yin Di go?"
"No, no …" Wang Laoer shook his head repeatedly. How could he believe the official's nonsense? Ten copper coins for eight hours a day? He couldn't even earn that much even if he worked 16 hours a day. Was he trying to trick his own daughter?
"Alright, then I'll remember it." The official waved his hand and turned to leave.
Wang Laoer was stunned when he heard this. He left just like that and didn't want to force him?
What if he scared him a little more and he agreed?
"Dad, dad …" A figure hurriedly ran in from outside. It was a 13 or 14-year-old girl who panted and said, "Dad, I heard that Her Royal Highness's workshop is recruiting people. For the first three months, it will be 10 copper coins a day. After three months, it will be 15 copper coins a day!"
"Is it true?" Wang Laoer asked with his eyes wide open.
"It's true!" The girl nodded repeatedly and said, "There is a notice outside. The official is going from door to door to register. I heard that the quota is limited this time. I saw the official just now. Dad, did you register me and Yin Di?"
Wang Laoer was stunned again. After he came to his senses, he ran outside.
"Sir, don't go. I'm willing, I'm willing!"
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