Happy Little Scholar

"Xiao Cui, come here."

The two little girls, Yongning and Shouning, were playing house games in the yard. Li Yi sat on a stone bench and waved to Xiao Cui.

"Mr. Li, what's the matter?" Xiao Cui ran over from there.

"Has your young lady had her period these days?" Although he knew that it seemed a bit inappropriate to ask this question, Zeng Zuimo had ignored him for a long time because of those melon seeds. Miss Zeng wouldn't be so stingy. Li Yi thought the problem should be in other aspects.

"Ah..." Xiao Cui was stunned for a moment when she heard this, and then her face turned red as if blood was dripping. Can a woman tell others about this kind of thing casually?

If she said this casually, the young lady would beat her to death if she knew...

"No, no, it will take a few days." Thinking of this in her heart, Xiao Cui said with a red face.

"Is that so..." Li Yi shook his head. If it wasn't for that reason, what other possibilities were there?

Xiao Cui lowered her head and muttered, "I don't know what happened to the young lady these days. She is always in a daze and often forgets things. She was never like this before. Anyway, it's very strange..."

Inside the room, Zeng Zuimo sat at the table, holding a paintbrush, his eyes slightly distracted, and the rice paper in front of him was blank.

The knocking sound lasted for a long time before she heard it. She put down her pen and said, "The door is not closed, come in."

"Swish!"

Li Yi threw a large bag of things on the table, looked at her and said, "Pepper and salt flavor, five-spice flavor, cream flavor, red date flavor, plum flavor..., I just ate a few of your melon seeds, so why are you so angry for so long?"

Zeng Zuimo was stunned, opened one of the small cloth bags, and a strange fragrance emanated. She tasted one, and her expression on her pretty face changed slightly. Then she put them all away and said to Li Yi, "When did I get angry?"

It is a woman's nature to refuse to admit it. She is just short of writing the word angry on her face. She said she was not angry. If she was not angry, why not return my melon seeds to me?

"What's the matter with the ready-made clothing store you mentioned yesterday?" Zeng Zuimo deliberately changed the subject.

Li Yi shook his head and finally spoke normally. He said, "The reputation of underwear has been spread. We can expand the business and make ready-made clothes. In addition to the common styles, we can also design some new styles and divide the sizes. Customers can wear the ones they like after paying the bill."

There were no clothing stores in this era. There were only cloth shops. Small families bought cloth and went home to cut and make clothes by themselves. Large families would hire or have special tailors to make clothes. The concept of ready-made clothes did not exist yet.

Food, clothing, housing and transportation, no matter what era, people cannot do without these four things. If you engage in these four industries, you will never have to worry about being eliminated by the times.

Although the ready-made clothing industry will be involved with Her Royal Highness the Princess, she has always contributed money, manpower and effort, and waited for the money to be divided. She would not ask about management.

Zeng Zuimo said while cracking melon seeds: "After opening two new lingerie stores, we are a little short of manpower. If we want to open a ready-to-wear store, we need more women who are good at needlework. I am afraid that we can't find so many in the brothel."

Li Yi waved his hand and said: "Don't worry about this, there will be no shortage of manpower soon."

Near Kyoto, the new marriage law is enforced by force. In the next period of time, there will be many women aged 13 to 16 who stay at home and do nothing. This is also a headache for the court. If they can have something to do and solve the employment problem of women of marriageable age, the court will definitely support it strongly.

"Then when Sister Ruoqing comes back, I will discuss it with her." Zeng Zuimo said, then looked at Li Yi and said: "I, I have something to ask you."

"What?" Li Yi turned around and looked at her.

"You..." Zeng Zuimo opened her mouth, thought for a while, and finally said nothing. She waved her hand and said, "Forget it, it's okay."

It's very impolite to say half of the words, especially for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Li Yi was not in a hurry to leave this time. He looked at her and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing, you go." Zeng Zuimo waved his hand impatiently.

"Is it really okay?"

"It's really okay."

"Then..., then let me grab a handful of melon seeds before I leave, and I want creamy ones."

...

...

Wangjia Village is a small village only ten miles away from Kyoto.

Although Wangjia Village is located outside the most prosperous capital of Jingguo, it has not been affected by Kyoto. Dozens of families in the village rely on the thin fields at the head of the village for food. In good years, they can drink porridge every meal. In bad years, the family has to tighten their belts and pray for God's blessing.

Wang Laoer was an ordinary farmer in Wangjia Village. He was squatting on a stone in the yard, puffing on his pipe and sighing.

"Dad, it's time to eat." A ten-year-old girl wearing coarse cloth and an apron came out of the dilapidated house, walked in front of him, and said timidly.

"Eat, eat, eat, you just eat all day long, you can't get married, you know!" Seeing the third daughter, Wang Laoer got angry and waved his hands impatiently.

The girl trembled when she saw this, and hurriedly retreated back into the house.

"What is the court doing? Isn't this going to kill me!" Wang Laoer coughed on the pipe on the stone and said angrily.

The mother-in-law at home failed to live up to expectations and gave him three daughters in succession. Although he still had a strong desire to have a son, he did not dare to have any more children. If he had another daughter, his life would be unbearable.

Although she is a daughter, she is also our own child. Although we often get beaten and scolded on weekdays, the tight life has stretched them one by one after more than ten years. The eldest daughter is fourteen this year and she just said There was a marriage, and the second daughter, thirteen, had reached the age to get married.

I thought that if my two daughters got married, there would be two less mouths in the family, and there would be betrothal gifts from two families, so life would be better. But who would have thought that the eldest daughter would get married in another month, and the court suddenly issued an order that the woman She was not allowed to get married before she was sixteen, which delayed her two children. Wang Lao Er suddenly felt very stressed and could not live this life well.

"No one can live in such a bad court!" Wang Laoer cursed bitterly. A middle-aged woman poked her head out of the room and said, "Keep your voice down. If anyone hears this, It’s here, but you’re going to have to eat it!”

It's okay not to talk about it. When he mentioned this matter, Wang Laoer became even more angry. He jumped down from the stone and cursed: "What, what, what, what? They are allowed to have a son without sex, and I'm not allowed to say anything about it." , I just want to say that this stupid court doesn’t even care about me marrying my daughter..."

"Wang Laoer, who are you talking about?" As the voice came, an official in soap clothes walked in from outside.

"This bastard Wang Ergou has not paid back the two cents he owes me in a month..." Wang Laoer looked at the officer with a flattering face and asked: "Master officer, what kind of trouble is this guy doing today?" You blew it..."

The guard waved his hand, flipped through a booklet in his hand, and said straight to the point: "Wang Laoer, your Zhaodi and Yindi are both over thirteen, right?"

When Wang Laoer heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then his expression suddenly changed, and he said warily: "Master Guancha, my Zhaodi and Yindi are both betrothed..."

"I don't care if people are allowed or not, as long as they are over thirteen, by the way, your family Liudi..."

Wang Laoer looked horrified, "My Liudi, my Liudi is only ten years old, she, she is still a child!"

The official glanced at her and asked directly: "As mentioned above, if a girl from any family is over 13 and has good sewing skills, she can work in a workshop for four hours a day and is paid ten cents. What will your family do? Are Zhaodi and Yindi going?"

"I won't go, I won't go..." Wang Laoer shook his head repeatedly. Can you believe the lies of the official? He paid ten cents for four hours a day. I can't make that much even for eight hours a day. Could it be that he wanted to deceive his daughter?

"Okay, then I'll take note of it." The official waved his hand, turned around and walked out.

Wang Laoer was stunned when he heard this, and then left, no longer forcing himself?

What if he was just bluffing a few words and I would have agreed!

"Dad, dad..." A figure hurriedly ran in from outside, and a girl of thirteen or fourteen years old said breathlessly: "Dad, I heard that Her Highness the Princess's workshop is recruiting people, and it will be ten ten days a day for the first three months. Money, it will be fifteen cents a day in three months!”

"Is it true?" Wang Laoer asked with wide eyes.

"It's true!" The girl nodded repeatedly and said, "The list has been posted outside. The official officials are now registering door to door. I heard that the number of places this time is limited. I just saw the official officials here. Dad gave me and Has Yindi signed up?"

Wang Laoer was stunned again. After coming to his senses, he ran outside.

"Lord Officer, don't leave, I am willing, I am willing!"