The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!

Chapter 584: The Whole Village Sewing Cotton-Padded Clothes Together

Winter is fast approaching, requiring us to quickly stockpile charcoal and cotton. Mr. Lu and Huang Yuanwai wasted no time and left Qinghe Bay.

Lu Zhaozhao initially wanted to stay, but now that Mr. Lu was personally teaching her the ways of business, she naturally couldn’t stay in Qinghe Bay as casually as before.

This time, Mr. Lu intended to train her, letting her follow the shopkeepers in accumulating resources like charcoal, cotton, and grain.

After Mr. Lu left, Tong Huaqiong thought about sending Nie Xiaofeng to the Liu family in Pingchuan County. Usually, if there was a joyous event at Tong Huaqiong’s house, County Magistrate Liu’s mother, Mrs. Han, would attend. This time she didn’t come, and it was heard that she caught a cold.

Tong Huaqiong asked Nie Xiaofeng to deliver medicine to Mrs. Han and take the opportunity to pass on a message to County Magistrate Liu.

"Just say that I suffered from a chill when I was young, and in winter, my bones would hurt. This year, the pain is especially severe, and I’m afraid there will be an extremely cold weather this year."

Whether County Magistrate Liu believed it or not, she sent the message along.

Tong Huaqiong, mulling it over, still hoped that the local officials could anticipate the extremely cold weather before it arrived.

The next day, Aunt Tang hurriedly delivered two thousand taels of silver notes.

Next, Magistrate Yao sent someone with a deposit for cotton garments.

Tong Huaqiong’s weaving workshop was initially a trial, but now it was to be a major operation.

After all, producing tens of thousands of cotton garments in two months was substantial business for a village weaving workshop.

However, for Tong Huaqiong, working overtime was not an issue; it’s the season when there’s no fieldwork, and most villagers had already started preparing to stay home for the winter.

Gathering manpower was easy.

Her weaving workshop could not accommodate so many people, so she planned to keep tasks like preparing cotton and spinning yarn in the workshop, while tasks like sewing cotton garments could be distributed, allowing each household to sew at home.

With this in mind, she turned and sought out the village chief.

After all, she needed many hands, so she needed the village chief’s help to spread the word to neighboring villages, eliminating the need for her to visit each village personally.

Thus, the women in neighboring villages who envied the opportunity to work in Tong Huaqiong’s weaving workshop flocked back after hearing that the workshop needed hands again.

Tong Huaqiong asked Su Qing to retrieve the list of women workers who weren’t initially selected, and she hired them directly into the weaving workshop.

They were not selected because their weaving was inadequate but because those chosen were more outstanding.

Tong Huaqiong specifically had Gu Taohua explain to them that they were hired because there was a batch of urgent cotton cloths and garments for rush jobs, which did not mean they could continue working in the workshop indefinitely.

Those who were not initially selected didn’t mind; they were just glad for the opportunity to work in the workshop, even if only for two months, as they could earn some silver to support their families.

Moreover, it didn’t mean the workshop wouldn’t need people in the future. If they performed well, in the future, should the workshop need manpower again, Manager Tong would likely welcome them back.

As for the task of sewing cotton garments, every household was eager to take it up.

After all, from now until spring the following year, everyone would be idle at home, and having the sewing work available was like a windfall for the women in the village.

They didn’t have to leave their homes or endure the elements, and engaging in sewing was something they were accustomed to doing; meeting deadlines was hardly an issue for them.

The cotton garments bound for the borders needed to be warm yet lightweight; clumsy attire would impede movement, making it difficult to march and fight.

Tong Huaqiong constantly retained faith in the wisdom of the people of any era, believing that even rural housewives could come up with clever solutions for making warm and lightweight garments.

As expected, when Tong Huaqiong laid out the requirements for sewing cotton garments, several young women and elder women came forward with suggestions.

In all of Qinghe Bay, the most skillful hands belonged to Mrs. Zhao, the mother of Liu Yueer.

Tong Huaqiong had seen Mrs. Zhao’s handiwork before, so she requested Mrs. Zhao to sew several cotton garment samples to distribute to various villages as standards for everyone to follow.

Just as the cotton garments were about to be sent out, Gu Fengnian’s wife, Mrs. Wei, visited.

She handed over a cotton garment, sewn with fine stitches, to Tong Huaqiong.

Upon receiving it, Tong Huaqiong’s eyes lit up. This cotton garment was even more lightweight and warm than Mrs. Zhao’s, and Mrs. Wei had creatively added an extra layer of fabric at the elbows, while the knees had an additional cotton padding.

"Madam, I heard these cotton garments are destined for the border. Considering how tough marching and fighting can be, involving crawling and wielding weapons, I thought the elbows and knees, which easily wear out, should be reinforced," Mrs. Wei explained.

Tong Huaqiong gave Mrs. Wei an approving glance.

Gu Youtian and Mrs. Jia hit the jackpot, managing to find such a clever daughter-in-law.

Neither Chen Sufen nor Liu Yueer combined could compare with Mrs. Wei.

Tong Huaqiong only revealed to everyone that the cotton garments were intended for the border, without mentioning they were military supplies, so even the village chief believed that Tong Huaqiong was merely expanding into the border market, urging her that the risk was too high should there be a border conflict, and she should avoid such significant investments.

Only Mrs. Wei saw the clue and knew the true destination of these cotton garments.

Seeing that Tong Huaqiong remained silent, Mrs. Wei felt uneasy and said, "Madam, rest assured, I won’t disclose this to anyone."

Tong Huaqiong waved her hand, saying, "I trust you. Here’s the plan: not only will I assign you to sew cotton garments, but when the time comes for deliveries, I’ll have you serve as a supervisor."

Though Mrs. Wei heard of the supervisor role for the first time, she guessed that Tong Huaqiong wanted her to inspect the garments for quality.

"Rest assured, I will inspect thoroughly, and any subpar work will be rejected." Mrs. Wei was delighted. She had initially just meant to showcase her sewing skill, hoping to get more cotton garment assignments. But unexpectedly, she was entrusted with the crucial task of supervision as well.

Indeed, separating from her in-laws was the right decision.

Even though some in the village whispered that she was not virtuous for urging Gu Fengnian to separate from his parents, how did it matter as long as her aunt didn’t hold a grudge against her?

Then, Tong Huaqiong instructed Gu Xiaoxue to provide more cotton and cotton cloth for Mrs. Wei to make additional cotton garments, to be issued alongside the ones made by Mrs. Zhao to each village.

Once preparations were set, the various village chiefs led their villagers to collect the cotton and cotton cloth.

Since the weaving workshop had just started, the result is that despite the bustling activity over a few days, not much cotton fabric had been woven yet.

Thus, the first assignments went to the women in each village known for their swiftness.

Given that the work of sewing cotton garments mostly fell to women, Tong Huaqiong stipulated that the recipients of cotton and cotton cloth had to be women from each household, a policy which greatly annoyed many of the household heads.

But there was no helping it—needlework wasn’t their expertise.

"Let’s make things clear from the start: I have records of all the cotton and cloth distributed. Don’t think you can deceive me; if anyone is caught skimping on materials or secretly swapping cotton for reeds, not only will you owe ten times the value in compensation for my cotton and cloth, but you’ll also never be entrusted with my work again in the future."

As Tong Huaqiong’s words echoed, Su Qing stepped forward with a contract to read out the guidelines and penalties for sewing cotton garments, then asked everyone to place their thumbprints on it.

"Placing your thumbprints signifies acceptance of the terms and penalties; any skimping will result in either tenfold restitution or referral to the government," Su Qing said with a broad smile as she shook the paper. "Alternately, you can choose not to press your thumbprint, which signifies non-acceptance of the work assignment, and you may leave."

Nobody had witnessed such a formal process before, so people hesitated to step forward.

Aunt Qin was the first to place her thumbprint, then took some cotton and cloth, saying to everyone, "Both my son and daughter-in-law work for Manager Tong and have placed their thumbprints. As long as you don’t act unscrupulously, you won’t be penalized."

Aunt Qin set a good example.

"Exactly, I won’t be cutting corners."

"As long as we honestly sew according to the requirements, there won’t be any issues."

"Getting our thumbprint on it also serves as protection, yet you only hear about the penalties and didn’t notice the wages listed, too."

After some discussion in the crowd, everyone stepped forward to press their thumbprints and receive their cotton and cloth.