The Legend of the Farm Girl

Soon, the group arrived at the rented house. The yard was not big, smaller than the yard of the house that Yunfang's family had originally rented from Aunt Li, but there were more rooms than the original rented house, a main house, a wing room on each of the east and west sides, and a kitchen connected to the main house and the east wing room. There was no well in the yard, but the decoration was quite exquisite. There was also a grape rack in the middle of the yard, with a stone table and several stone chairs underneath. The whole yard revealed the meticulousness of the original owner everywhere.

Yunfang's family is very satisfied with this place. The only drawback is that there is no well, making it inconvenient to get water.

Thinking about this, Yun Fangniang asked about the well.

The agent smiled and replied, "What we have the most in Yiqing County is water. There is a small river two lanes south of here where we can wash clothes and drink water. There is a well at the end of every lane."

When Yunfang's mother heard this, she looked at Yunfang again and saw that she was very satisfied with the house. She said to the broker, "Brother Broker, how do we decide on this house?"

"Pay six months' rent and sign a three-year lease. If the lease is less than three years, you will need to pay a penalty of five taels of silver. Similarly, if the landlord wants to take back the house before three years, he will also pay you a penalty of five taels of silver. You need to take your household registration to the chief registrar to register your contract. It is absolutely effective."

Yun Fangniang didn't expect that renting a house in a government-run pawnshop would be so formal, but Yun Fangniang felt that this was a guarantee for her family. After three years, her family should be able to settle down in Yiqing County.

Yun Fangniang said to the broker, "Okay, I'll sign. Let's sign the deed now. I want to move in today."

The broker was happy that he had made a list, and said to Yun Fang Niang with a smile: "Okay, let's do this, you let your children start to pack, you take your household registration documents and go to the county government with me. It just so happens that if you want to live in the county, you have to go to the county government to register."

Yunfang's mother quickly agreed, called her three children over, and instructed them carefully to listen to their eldest sister Yunfang.

Then she asked Yunfang to go to the mule cart and pretend to rummage through the bags, but in fact she wanted Yunfang to take out some of the things she had on her. Yunfang had thirty-five taels on her, and Yunfang's mother had five taels left. Yunfang's mother asked Yunfang for fifteen taels, thinking that it should be enough for them to settle down and pay the rent.

Yun Fangniang put the twenty taels of silver into her own purse and walked towards the broker with the household registration book. When they couldn't see, a gleam of light flashed in the broker's eyes.

After Yunfang's mother and the broker left, Yunfang led Yunfeng and Yunying to pack up. Yunfang was mainly responsible for the packing, while Yunfeng looked after his younger brother Yunying.

Yunfang decided to leave the main house to Yunfang's mother and Yunying, and she lived in the east wing, while Yunfeng lived in the west wing.

Towards evening, Yun Fang's mother finally came back with red eyes, obviously from crying.

When Yunfang saw her mother like this, she asked hurriedly, "Mom, what's wrong with you?"

Yun Fangniang frowned and said angrily: "I thought the broker was kind-hearted and a good person, but he changed when he arrived at the government office. He insisted that I promised him a commission of five taels of silver and confiscated my household registration, saying that if I didn't give him the money, I would not be able to stay in this city."

Yunfang didn't expect that the broker who had been so enthusiastic just now would be this kind of person. She asked hurriedly, "He's in the government office, so there's no one from the government to take care of him?"

Yun Fangniang became more and more angry as she spoke. "He is a pawnbroker in a pawnbroker run by the government. All the government officials are on his side. And the officer said he would put me in jail if I make trouble again."

Yunfang immediately felt her mother's helplessness and grievance, and she thought of herself who was unable to protect herself in the deserted temple. She made up her mind to make sure that her family would not be bullied again.

Yunfang said to her mother: "Mom, don't worry, my brother and I will grow up and our family will never be bullied by others again."

Yunfang's mother looked at Yunfang who was confident, nodded, and said, "I know you have the ability."

He paused again and said, "Fortunately, the information about the house is real. I have paid six months' rent and registered my household registration."

"Mom, I've already moved everything in. I'm thinking we should sell the mule cart tomorrow. There's no place to keep it in this yard, and we don't need it."

"Also, mother, tomorrow we will go to the city to look for an embroidery workshop here, and I will continue to embroider the quilt cover. Also, we have almost run out of food, so we need to buy some back."

"When our family's income is stable, we will send Yunfeng to study at Tingfeng Academy."

"Okay, it's all up to you."

The next morning, Yunfang's mother asked Yunfeng to take care of the house and her younger brother, and then she took Yunfang with her.

They asked along the way and found out about the largest embroidery workshop in Yiqing County, called Linglong Embroidery Workshop.

The two of them went straight to Linglong Embroidery Workshop. As soon as they entered, someone came up to them and asked them whether they were here to sell embroidery products or to apply for a job as an embroiderer.

Yun Fangniang said, "We are embroiderers. We want to ask if your embroidery shop accepts embroidery works, and what kind of embroidery works do you accept?"

The waiter muttered, "We don't accept embroidery from outside."

Then he said to Yun Fangniang, "I'll take you to see Shopkeeper Ma. Shopkeeper Ma is in charge of hiring embroiderers. Ask her if you have anything."

After saying that, the waiter took Yunfang and her mother up and walked through the embroidery shop inside.

Inside is a courtyard, with women coming and going holding pieces of cloth. It is much larger than the Shanhai Embroidery Workshop.

The waiter found the shopkeeper Ma in a large room. When the shopkeeper Ma saw the two of them, he asked, "Are you two mother and daughter? Are you both here to apply for the position of embroidery lady?"

Yun Fangniang replied, "No, Shopkeeper Ma, we just want to ask if your embroidery shop accepts embroidery and what kind of embroidery you accept. My daughter embroiders quite well. She used to live in Deping County. She sent her embroidered items to the largest Shanhai Embroidery Shop in the county and they were very popular!"

Shopkeeper Ma looked at the mother and daughter in front of him, grinned, and said nonchalantly: "Deping County, it's Deping County in Wendong Province, right? What good embroiderers can there be in that place? When it comes to embroidery, how can it compare to our Jiangliao Province?"

Then he said to Yun Fangniang, "We don't accept embroidery works sent by outside embroiderers. We recruit embroiderers to work in our embroidery workshop. The wages are calculated according to the quality and quantity of the embroidery works you produce. If you embroider well, I guarantee that there will be no place in Yiqing County that pays more than our embroidery workshop."

"So what is your process for recruiting embroiderers?" Yun Fangniang asked.

Shopkeeper Ma looked up at Yunfang and said, "We are going to recruit five embroiderers this time. More than 30 people have signed up. You can register your information first and come to the embroidery workshop at 9:00 pm on the eighth day of the first lunar month. After the test, we will select the five best embroiderers."

"What is the content of the test?"

"It's okay to tell you. Every year the test is to embroider a handkerchief. However, the theme of the handkerchief is chosen by the host and it is different every year. The five who embroider the best within a quarter of an hour will be able to stay."

"Okay, thank you, Shopkeeper Ma. Let's register."

Shopkeeper Ma took out a piece of paper and asked Yunfang to write down his age, name, and home address.

Yunfang handed the written paper to the shopkeeper Ma, who was secretly surprised, thinking that this girl with simple and plain clothes had really good handwriting. You know, writing beautiful words is also a skill of the embroiderer, and many embroidery works are more valuable only if they have good handwriting.

Shopkeeper Ma put away his previous disdain for Yunfang because of her young age and simple clothing, and instead warned her: "Don't be late on the eighth day of the first lunar month. The boss cannot tolerate latecomers the most."

Yunfang's mother and Yunfang thanked Manager Ma, and they left Linglong Embroidery Workshop.