Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Last time, Liu bought a piece of dyed cloth in town. Although it had some flaws, she thought the leftover piece smelled quite nice. So, on her way here, she planned to see if she could buy any more flawed cloth to make quilts and undergarments for everyone. She just didn't expect the shopkeeper to get so excited when she mentioned wanting to deal with the flawed cloth.

Soon the shopkeeper came out from behind carrying a bolt of cloth and said to the clerk in front of the counter, "There are a few more bolts on the table by the back warehouse door. Go and bring them over so that the lady can choose some."

"Sister-in-law, look, this is genuine floral silk from our shop, made of pure silkworm silk. Feel how soft it is!" The shopkeeper put down the fabric he was carrying and said to Liu Shi. Hearing the shopkeeper say it was pure silkworm silk, Xia Yu immediately became interested and stood on tiptoe to look at the fabric.

"Why is it silk? Don't you have cotton?" Liu still preferred fine cotton fabric. Although her family had some money, they were farmers in the countryside, and wearing silk clothes would be too conspicuous.

"Sister-in-law, feel this fabric, it's so smooth and soft, look at the sheen. It's very comfortable to wear next to the skin." The shopkeeper vigorously recommended the plain silk fabric to Liu Shi.

Liu reached out and touched it; yes, it was indeed very comfortable. But she still wanted the fine cotton one.

"How much is this?" Xia Yu asked, leaning against the counter.

"Not expensive at all, only forty coins per foot," the shopkeeper said with a smile to Liu and Xia Yu.

"It's too expensive, we can't afford it. We'd rather buy good cotton fabric than buy this defective silk that you can't sell." Xia Yu, now acting as her mother's mouthpiece, said what she wanted to say.

"This is more comfortable than floral cotton. Once you've worn this, you won't want to wear cotton anymore," the shopkeeper persisted, unwilling to give up.

"It's still too expensive. What's wrong with this piece of cloth? It looks fine now," the mouth continued to ask, while Liu Shi was responsible for expressing her dislike and dissatisfaction.

"Actually, it's not a big problem, it's just that this end is a bit dirty." The shopkeeper sighed and turned the cloth over, revealing the other end.

Looking at the other end, which was a completely different color from the previous one, Xia Yu didn't know what to say. She just wanted to say that if she ever needed to hire someone to do chores at home, she would never hire such a clueless person.

The other end is a dark gray color, probably because it was pressed down by the darker color next to it during the drying process after dyeing. Actually, it's not much, only about five or six centimeters wide. You can still use it after cutting off the edges.

If it were cotton fabric with this problem, the shopkeeper could easily sell it for a few coins less; at least, they wouldn't mind. The problem is, those who make clothes from this kind of material are wealthy families who don't lack money. They wouldn't look down on fabric with such obvious flaws. For the poor, as long as a garment is wearable, they're concerned with spending the least amount of money while ensuring the garment is durable and long-lasting. They certainly wouldn't buy such flashy but impractical silk. Some moderately wealthy families buy silk clothes to wear in public and show off. This fabric is only suitable for underwear, and it gets dirty easily, so even moderately wealthy families wouldn't buy it.

Suddenly, Xia Yu felt that this kind of fabric was made for their family—someone who was moderately wealthy but didn't want to attract attention and preferred to keep a low profile. She immediately made up her mind. As long as the price was low enough, she would consider it a good deed and help the shopkeeper resolve this problem. Just then, the shop assistant brought out two more bolts of cloth from the back and placed them together with the plain floral silk.

Xia Yu looked up and immediately spotted one of the horses, not because of its color or its dirtiness, but because she saw the hole on it—it was a radish.

Seeing Xia Yu reach for the fabric, the shopkeeper moved it from the innermost part to the outermost part so that Xia Yu could touch it.

The feel isn't quite as comfortable as the previous floral silk, but Xia Yu values ​​its functionality. The floral silk is breathable yet not see-through, making it the most comfortable fabric for summer clothes, bar none.

Xia Yu knew this thanks to her roommate from her past life. The roommate had no other hobbies but buying fabric from livestreams to make clothes. In her words, "The clothes I like in stores now are too expensive for me. And the ones I can afford, I don't like the fabrics." She was a fan of Xiangyun yarn, spending her entire monthly salary on livestreams selling Xiangyun yarn fabric. After buying the fabric, her roommate would immediately start explaining fabric knowledge to her. She had seen her roommate buy a full-weave Hongyun yarn fabric once, which was similar in weaving, but she felt this fabric was better than her roommate's, since in her future life there were machines, and this was purely handmade. However, the fabric in front of her didn't have the same texture as Hongyun yarn.

When Zhang Gu saw Xia Yu touch the cloth, his eyes flickered and he asked...

"Does the little girl like this fabric?"

"I don't like it. I just think it's too ugly." Xia Yu didn't want to be ripped off by her boss; even if she liked it, she couldn't say it to his face.

"..." Hearing Xia Yu's words, the shopkeeper felt as if he had a mouthful of blood stuck in his chest, unable to spit it out or swallow it down. This was one of the more expensive bolts of fabric in their shop, and precisely because it was so expensive, they couldn't sell it anymore if it had even the slightest flaw. But he couldn't bear to sell it for the price of plain silk.

Xia Yu ignored how ugly the shopkeeper's face was and continued speaking.

"This ugly fabric must be very cheap, right? Is it cheaper than plain floral silk?"

"Young lady, you jest. Although the color of this fabric isn't bright, it's genuinely high-quality. Our normal selling price is 180 coins per foot. This is..."

"How much? One hundred and eighty coins a foot? You might as well rob us! Mother, let's go, it's too expensive. She's taking advantage of us because we're from the village and don't know anything. We won't buy fabric from them anymore." Xia Yu's exclamation interrupted the shopkeeper before he could finish speaking.

The shopkeeper, still a little angry from being interrupted, quickly stopped her after hearing what she said to her mother. "Sister-in-law, please wait! Please wait!" he said, stepping out from behind the counter to block the mother and daughter from leaving. He was actually quite anxious; the bolts of cloth that Xia Yu's family had paid for were still on the other counter. How could they just leave like that?

“Sister-in-law, it’s up to you whether you buy these bolts of cloth or not, but your daughter just said I was lying to you. I would never dare to accept that. My family’s shop has been in business in the county for generations, and we have always been honest and trustworthy. We never do anything fraudulent.” After saying that, he saw that the Liu mother and daughter were still standing there, seemingly waiting for him to continue.

The shopkeeper quietly let out a long sigh of relief before speaking softly, "The very ugly fabric your daughter was looking at is actually silk brocade, a very special weaving technique." He then turned and showed them the fabric, continuing to explain...

"Look at it this way," she said, pulling out a section of the fabric and holding both ends of the cloth with her hands for Liu and the others to see.

"Why are there so many holes?" Liu exclaimed upon seeing the fabric. "Won't this make your undergarments show when you wear it?"

"Sister-in-law, look at my hands again." The shopkeeper covered his hands with cloth and asked Liu to look again.

"Huh, why can't I see your skin?" Liu looked in the direction he pointed. Her hand was hidden under the fabric.

"Yes, that's the magic of this technique. The entire fabric is porous, but you can't see the skin underneath when you wear it. This is a new technique from the south. This material is called 'luo,' and it's the coolest fabric for making summer clothes. It's a single layer and not see-through."

After saying that, the shopkeeper breathed a long sigh of relief. Once this knowledge was spread, they should understand that the 180 coins weren't for nothing!