Beisitian took the so-called braids, knowing this thing was used to make straw hats. Primarily using wheat sheaves, the braids were thumb-width and flat, woven into a braid, coiled together, and then sewn to form a straw hat.
But generally, the villagers just braided them and directly took them to the market to sell. As for further processing, the original owner’s memory didn’t include any more, so it wasn’t something villagers would likely do.
Beisitian gestured with her hand for a moment; this thing was best done with fingernails so the braids would come out neatly. If the braids were well made, the corresponding price could be a bit higher, sometimes even one or two dimes more.
"Only two months without doing it, and you forgot! Such a memory!" Mrs. Qin muttered, taking the braid and demonstrating for Beisitian.
"Make it neater. Look at what you used to make; you couldn’t even sell a flower or two!" said Mrs. Qin disdainfully.
The braids Mrs. Qin made could sell for a yuan per handful, sometimes even a yuan and one or two dimes, while Beisitian’s could only fetch three or four dimes, quite a difference!
It was Beisitian’s first time encountering such things, but perhaps the original owner had done it a lot before, so the memories remained in her mind. She picked it up very quickly, mainly because it was straightforward, and after trying a few times, she mastered it.
After mastering it, Beisitian began to braid better, becoming increasingly adept. The long braid dropped onto the bed, and the change was noticeable.
Braiding neatly wasn’t hard. At first, Beisitian got used to inserting the sheaves. Each sheaf was only an inch long, and when one was used up, another had to be connected, and an incorrect fit at this point could impact the overall appearance significantly.
Mrs. Qin, focused on sewing shoe soles, didn’t look at Beisitian. She had long since acknowledged Beisitian’s craftsmanship, no use teaching her however many times. Her hands were too clumsy; she didn’t have much hope. Selling a little was still something.
Beisitian was slow at first, mainly familiarizing herself through exploration. She liked using her brain in tasks. Before, in the women’s quarters, besides practicing writing every day, it was embroidering, weaving, hooking, braiding, and sewing—she could do them all, and not just the basics.
Of these, embroidery was the finest. Beisitian’s double-sided embroidery was renowned throughout Capital City, praised highly by even the Empress Dowager.
At that time, Beisitian hadn’t met her master yet, so these were her all-day activities in the women’s quarters. Naturally, she delved into them daily, adding her own creativity based on existing techniques. Any of these was countless times harder than braiding.
So the task at hand was straightforward for Beisitian, to the point where she lost interest in it.
However, since it earned money, she continued braiding despite her lack of interest. Practice makes perfect, and for such low-skill tasks, Beisitian’s speed was swift, quickly braiding through more than half a basket of wheat sheaves.
Mrs. Qin, sewing for a while, began rubbing her eyes, rubbing while sewing, eventually needing to put down the sole to rest before continuing.
Seeing this, Beisitian said, "Mom, stop sewing and leave it for tomorrow."
Mrs. Qin rubbed her brow, "There’s not much left."
Mrs. Qin was in a hurry. In the past two months, because Beisitian was bedridden, she hadn’t gone to the market, and Mrs. Qin couldn’t have time for handiwork. Now seeing her much better, Yang Wulang said she’d be mostly fine in another ten days or so, so she thought of going to the market.
The family had nothing left, needing to buy things at the market and sell some handiwork to earn some pocket money. Now, trying to catch up on work wouldn’t guarantee much output. Ever since her eyesight worsened, the quality of her work declined, and its appearance was even worse, causing the price to drop significantly.
Mrs. Qin was frustrated. In recent years, there were several times when her work didn’t even sell. The family didn’t have much money to begin with, and they were always experiencing hardships. This time, the work she completed felt rough even to the touch. It was uncertain how much could sell.
Mrs. Qin was in a bad mood. After responding to Beisitian, she glared at her, "If you had been more careful and stayed away from that dead girl Lian Qiao, you wouldn’t have been bedridden for so long. If it weren’t for the freshly sold wool in the house, you would have been bedridden waiting to die!"
Beisitian wasn’t annoyed. Mrs. Qin was mentally distressed and needed some proper venting. Anyway, a few words wouldn’t hurt her, and she let them in one ear and out the other.
Beisitian took a shoe upper from the basket, a plain black upper with a white sole, looking simple and unremarkable.
She noticed that the villagers wore these cloth shoes, with those coming from better-off families having some decorations on the upper or changing the color.
These thick-soled shoes were breathable and very comfortable to wear.
"Mom, do we have red thread and yellow thread?" Beisitian asked.
"There’s a little yellow thread. What do you need it for?" Mrs. Qin asked.
Generally, the family only bought white and black thread for handiwork. Other colored threads weren’t usually bought. Though not expensive, they were unnecessary, a waste of money. The yellow thread was leftover from when the eldest son was home; it was used to patch a yellow jacket.
Beisitian got off the bed, following Mrs. Qin’s directions to rummage through the cabinet.
The layout of both the eastern and western rooms was the same: there was a large cabinet against the north wall, about one-third of the wall size, placed next to the wall.
The cabinet wasn’t an upright one; it consisted of two square sections, a meter on all sides. The top had a half-panel that could open, with the other half-panel holding items.
A long bench was in front of the cabinet, seating three to five people. Besides this, the east room had a table against the wall, its base glass, with a God of Wealth offering on top.
Aside from these possessions, there was the large earthen bed. Apart from the glass on the table in the eastern room, even the windows were pasted with paper.
But every household in the village had papered windows. Having a piece of glass was relatively novel.
Beisitian rummaged through the cabinet and found a packet of paper on the side, opening it to find several spools of colored thread, three yellow and one green.
Too bad there wasn’t any red; otherwise, embroidering two flowers on the upper would make it look much nicer.
Beisitian took out the yellow thread, returned to the bed, picked up the shoe upper, and began embroidering by the oil lamp.
Mrs. Qin gasped in shock when she saw this, snatching the shoe upper from her.
"What are you doing! Don’t ruin things!"
Mrs. Qin’s shout echoed, and questions came from the eastern room. She said it was nothing, glaring at Beisitian.
Beisitian was startled, looking at her in confusion.
"I thought you were going to do something with the thread, but if you ruin the shoe upper, how will I sew it on!" Mrs. Qin angrily said.
Already there were few finished products, and if she ruined another, there would be even fewer. So many days and nights were spent making those few pairs; it wasn’t that easy!
Her clumsy hands couldn’t even make braids that could sell for much, let alone embroider flowers!
When Beisitian heard this, she smiled bitterly. Indeed, the original owner was clumsy, and Mrs. Qin didn’t wrong her. Though she hadn’t embroidered before, her braiding was always criticized by Mrs. Qin. Embroidering was even more out of the question!