The Legend of the Farm Girl

Chapter 57 Change of Owners

Li Muwen returned to his home and said to Yunfang: "Don't mind my grandmother's decision today. If I can't pass the imperial examination next year, I will become a teacher. I will teach and study at the same time, and I will be able to pass the exam."

Yunfang smiled and said to Li Muwen, "I don't mind. I understand what grandma said. My family also has two scholars. Even the pens, ink, paper and inkstones require a lot of money every year. In addition to various books, filial piety to the teacher, my elder brother and his wife also have children. How can they support you who are already married? I can understand the decision made by grandma. And I am confident that you will pass the imperial examination next year."

Li Muwen was very touched by Yunfang's thoughtfulness and immediately hugged Yunfang tightly in his arms.

Although the Master said that it was unlikely that Li Mu would pass the imperial examination that year, he would still make every effort to live up to Yun Fang's trust in him.

The provincial examination will be held in September next year, and Yunfang has made up her mind. She decided that from today on, apart from a little learning of wedding dress making in the system, she would spend the rest of her time studying the provincial examination content. Then she would inadvertently guide Li Muwen.

Yunfang confirmed with Li Muwen again: "Muwen, among the subjects of the provincial examination, is it true that you are only unsure about the policy essay?"

Li Muwen thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "If it was only policy essays, it would be better. There are five subjects in the provincial examination, namely Confucian classics, literary works, historical essays, policy essays and imperial edicts. The teacher said that I have a solid foundation, and there will be no problem with Confucian classics and historical essays. Imperial edicts and memorials mainly write facts, and beautiful handwriting is very important. The teacher said that I can write this. I have been practicing policy essays all the time, and I can practice it slowly. As for literary works, the teacher said that my writing has no spirit at all. If I meet a great scholar to review the papers, I will definitely not pass."

After saying this, Li Muwen lowered his head with a little disappointment.

In Li Muwen's mind, no matter how gorgeously written a literary work is, it is of no use. If one really wants to serve the people, he must be practical. Why do ordinary people need those literary works!

Yunfang had heard Li Muwen's disdain for these poems and articles. Although Li Muwen did not say it out loud, she roughly knew what Li Muwen was thinking.

She said softly, "My husband, listen to me. I think this literary work is also closely related to the lives of the people. Good literary works can be widely circulated, which can make people interested in reading and writing. Reading the text can make people imagine the beautiful scenery mentioned in the poems and make them full of hope for life. How can this be considered useless!"

If someone else said this to Li Muwen, his deep-rooted ideas might not be shaken in the slightest, but since these words were said by Yun Fang, he began to think carefully and had to confirm that Yun Fang was right.

At this point, he suddenly had an inspiration. The skills he had learned and the vocabulary he had mastered were sufficient. What he had lacked all along was emotional cognition, and Yunfang made up for it today.

Yunfang also noticed his sudden enlightenment, but next, Yunfang still planned to learn from both articles and policy papers to help Li Muwen.

Starting from the next day, the afterglow of Li Muwen and Yun Fang's marriage had passed, and everyone began to return to their original lifestyle. As Grandma Li said, the Li family members all started to work, and the Yun family members also went to the academy as needed and went to the shop as needed.

Yunfang worked in Linglong Embroidery Workshop for another ten days, but she only went there for half a day each time, chatting with Tian Tian and embroidering two quilt covers. Tian Tian would bring the child to the embroidery room for easier feeding.

Tian Tian’s child is almost one year old and is named Tian Changrui. As if the child knew that Yunfang saved him, he has liked Yunfang very much since he met her and always smiles happily in Yunfang’s arms.

Yunfang, who is already married, sees Tian Changrui again and finds that he is different from before they got married. Now when she sees Tian Changrui, she also begins to look forward to having such a lovely baby with Li Muwen.

In the afternoon, Yunfang would return home. Li Muwen would only go to the academy in the morning to ask the teacher for guidance on the articles and essays he wrote, and in the afternoon he would bring back new questions given to him by the teacher. He had promised Yunfang that he would work on these questions with her, and he thought it would be a casual occasion, but he did not expect Yunfang to be serious. Sometimes, he could not match the opinions and insights Yunfang put forward.

He also gradually discovered that he learned more efficiently when studying with Yunfang. The teacher also said that he had thought he would be lazy for a while after getting married, but he did not expect that he had made great progress in just ten days.

Ten days later, Yunfang's mother sent a message to tell Yunfang that a new shop had been found and the female workers in the garment shop were free to work for her for a while.

Yunfang was very surprised that her mother would act so quickly.

On June 30th, Yunfang decided to submit her resignation to Manager An and receive half a month's salary. Starting next month, she would no longer work at Linglong Embroidery Workshop.

On the way to Linglong Embroidery Workshop, Yunfang felt a little nervous. There were not many top-notch embroiderers in Linglong Embroidery Workshop, and she was a little worried that quitting her job would not be as easy as she had imagined.

But when she arrived at Linglong Embroidery Workshop, Yunfang found that the door of the workshop was closed. This had never happened before. She didn't know what had happened.

Yunfang knocked on the door, and someone answered, "The embroidery shop is closed today. Please come tomorrow."

Yunfang hurriedly revealed her identity.

When the man heard it was Yunfang, he hurriedly opened the door and said, "Go directly to the embroidery room in the backyard. I have something to announce later."

Yunfang was a little confused for a moment, but still went into the backyard as she was told. However, she did not go to her own embroidery room, but went to Tian Tian's. Tian Tian brought her child with her, and she was a little worried.

When I went to Tian Tian's embroidery room, I saw Tian Tian walking around with Tian Changrui in her arms. The atmosphere in the entire Linglong Embroidery Workshop was a bit depressing. Tian Changrui seemed to feel the tension and was not in a good mood.

Yunfang hurried over and asked, "What happened today?"

Tian Tian was also a little confused. She shook her head and said, "I don't know either. I didn't see Manager An when I came this morning. I just saw the door was closed. He asked us embroiderers to wait in the embroidery room for news to be announced. If I had known something was going to happen today, I wouldn't have brought Changrui with me. How would I take him out later? If he started crying, it would really disturb everyone's peace."

Just as Tian Tian finished complaining, Tian Tian's mother came. Seeing Yun Fang was also here, she greeted Yun Fang and then said to Tian Tian anxiously, "I just inquired and heard that the Linglong Embroidery Workshop in Yiqing County is going to change its owner. The second young master Yu used gambling to mortgage the Linglong Embroidery Workshop."

Tian Tian and Yun Fang couldn't help but exclaimed. Tian Tian asked, "How much money is such a large Linglong Embroidery Workshop worth? There was no news yesterday, and you lost it all in one night?"

Tian Tian's mother didn't know the details, but she looked at Tian Tian in a comforting way and said, "Now that we have a new employer, we'll see how they pay us in the future. If they pay us well, we'll stay. If they don't, we'll go out and find another job. Anyway, we have embroidery skills, so we can find work anywhere."

Tian Tian nodded after hearing this, but Yun Fang was somewhat tempted. If Tian Tian could come to help her, she could open the wedding dress shop as soon as possible.

Tian Tian's mother then said to Tian Tian: "Take the child back. It might be a mess here soon. Don't scare the child."

Upon hearing this, Tian Tian immediately packed up the child's things and told Yun Fang: "You stay with my mother for a while, it's safe this way."

Yunfang also said to Tian Tian: "Don't worry about what's happening here. No matter who takes over this Linglong Embroidery Workshop, they won't dare to do anything to us embroiderers."

Tian Tian nodded, but still walked away with the child in her arms, feeling a little worried.

Not long after Tian Tian left, someone notified all the embroiderers to gather in the courtyard.

After everyone arrived, a fierce-looking man held up a piece of paper and said loudly, "This is the document that your Second Young Master Yu's boss has used to mortgage the entire Linglong Embroidery Workshop to our Caiyuan Gambling House. Now every stitch and thread of Linglong Embroidery Workshop belongs to us. I have heard about the management system of Linglong Embroidery Workshop before, but our boss feels that Linglong Embroidery Workshop gives you too much share. The boss has decided to make it like the other embroidery workshops in the county, with a 40% to 60% share, and there will be no distinction between embroiderers of different levels. If you are capable, you will get more money, and if you are not, you will get less money. The share is 40% to 60% for all levels."

Someone whispered, "What about our wages for the past half month?"

When the man heard the question, he immediately looked at the person who asked the question and said, "That's the Yu family's business. When the second young master left, he didn't leave your wages. He gave us this Linglong Embroidery Workshop and the embroidery. If you want your wages, then go and ask him! We will be responsible for your future wages."

The person who asked the question didn't dare to ask anything else. Seeing that no one was talking, the man with a fierce face said, "The owner of my Caiyuan Casino is surnamed Gao. You should have heard of this surname. The most useful housekeeper beside the prime minister of the current dynasty is also surnamed Gao. So even if this embroidery shop changes owners, it will still be the largest in the county. Your future wages will not be reduced. If you are willing to stay, come to me to sign the contract. If you don't want to, just leave! But if you want to find me to sign the contract after today, I don't know if you have the ability to do so."

Many people gathered around and gasped when they saw the contents of the contract. The contract required one to work for the embroidery workshop for at least five years. If one did not work for those years, half of the wages would be returned.

Many embroiderers began to hesitate. It was still unknown how the embroidery workshop would develop in the future. If it was not good, wouldn’t they have wasted five years of their time here? You know, embroiderers also have a golden age. After this age, their hands and eyes are not coordinated anymore, and they can do less work.

Of course Yunfang would not sign. She had already decided to leave, but she wanted to wait until Tian Tianniang made a decision before leaving.

Tian Tian's mother was a little conflicted at this time. She was already old and had passed the golden age of an embroiderer. Even if the contract was shortened by five years, it would not have much impact on her. But she didn't know whether she should sign a contract for Tian Tian as well.

Tian Tian took the child home. As Tian Tian's mother, she could help Tian Tian make a decision, but this made her feel embarrassed. Tian Tian could not afford to waste these five years.

Seeing the man who showed no respect to the embroiderers, Tian Tianniang thought that if this man became the manager of the embroidery workshop next, she would never let Tian Tian stay here again.

After making up her mind, she only signed her own deed.

There were many people who shared the same idea as her. The older embroiderers all signed the contract, but half of the younger ones chose not to sign. The man ordered those who refused to sign to leave. Yunfang couldn't keep them any longer, and Tian Tianniang gave her a reassuring look.

The great changes in Linglong Embroidery Workshop soon spread throughout the streets and alleys. Yunfang first went to Yun’s Garment Shop. She was afraid that her mother and Li Muwen’s mother would worry, and she also wanted to see the shop her mother found for her as soon as possible.

In the past few days, Li Muwen has told her mother about Yunfang's plan. When Yunfang's mother was looking for a shop to arrange female workers, Li Muwen's mother also helped a lot.

When they arrived at Yun's Garment Shop, everyone was already discussing the Linglong Embroidery Workshop. When they saw Yun Fang, they all came forward with concern. Yun Fang told them the whole process, which put their minds at ease.

Then Yunfang's mother told Yunfang the whole story of how Yu Jingyu lost Linglong Embroidery Workshop, which was now circulating on the streets.

It turned out that Yu Jingyu lost the Linglong Embroidery Workshop in Yiqing County overnight.

When he first arrived in Yiqing County, he was often led to the gambling house. At first, he often won, but later he lost all the money he brought with him. When he ran out of money, different people would always tell him that they believed in his luck and that he could win back the money in the next round. They would actively lend him money, only asking for a receipt and no interest. After a long time, he didn't even know how much he had borrowed.

Every time this happened, he would borrow money. Until yesterday, all the IOUs were taken out by the owner of the Caiyuan Casino. After counting, there was actually a total of 100,000 taels.

Yu Jingyu was stunned at that time, he didn't know that he owed so much money. When he got the IOUs in his hands, he found that none of them were fake. He immediately felt weak in the knees. Even though he was the young master of Linglong Embroidery Workshop, the Linglong Embroidery Workshop he managed was in Yiqing County. He had only made 10,000 taels in the past year or so since he took over, and he had lost all the money he earned in gambling.

How could he afford this one hundred thousand taels of silver!

He also knew that the owner of the Caiyuan Casino had a powerful backer, no less powerful than his Linglong Embroidery Workshop, so he didn't dare to default on his debt.

Just when he was at a loss, he was invited into the inner room by the owner of Caiyuan Casino. He didn't know what happened afterwards, but he only knew that Linglong Embroidery Workshop had changed hands today.

This was all witnessed by other gamblers in the gambling house. With the news that Linglong Embroidery Workshop had changed its owner today, the news spread.

Yunfang couldn't help but sigh that gambling really does harm to people!

After listening to her mother's story, Yunfang said, "Mother, this incident just gave me a legitimate opportunity to leave Linglong Embroidery Workshop. Next, I will start planning my wedding dress shop."

Yun Fang Niang nodded and said, "Come on, I'll take you to see the shop I found for you. It's not far away."

Yunfang went out with her mother and arrived after walking a few steps.

Originally this shop was a ready-made clothing store. After Yunfang's family became famous, someone followed suit and opened this shop. However, because the clothes were never new enough, not many people bought them. Unexpectedly, it is now closed and has been rented by Yunfang's mother.

Yunfang took a look around and was indeed very satisfied.

Then, Yunfang left her mother and went to try to persuade Tian Tian to help her.