The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

"knew."

Boss Liu was satisfied. "Alright, it's good that you know. Go to that room, there's someone inside. Just ask her for your things to do."

Du Mingxian saw that he was pointing to the long row of houses on the left outside, and said, "Yes."

She turned and left. Boss Liu stared at Du Mingxian's back with an unfathomable look in his eyes until she went into the house, and then he looked away.

There was a table right by the door, and an old woman was sitting behind the table. She frowned when she saw Du Mingxian come in.

“I was in the inner courtyard before, but I didn’t come yesterday. I just arrived this morning. The person in charge told me to come here.”

Upon hearing these words, the old woman relaxed a little, but instead of offering Du Mingxian anything, she asked, "Do you remember the rules?"

"Yes."

The old woman didn't say anything, but turned around and went to get the pre-cut fabric for Du Mingxian. She gave her the things from a pair of boots and then gave her a basket, putting everything into it.

"Boots are more difficult to make than clothes, so they are more expensive. They need to be fast and of good quality; you can't use inferior materials."

"Yes."

The old woman waved her hand, "Alright, find a place yourself."

This time it was still tables, one for each person, but they were arranged very neatly.

It's still very cold now, but there are many charcoal braziers burning inside, so it's quite warm inside.

Du Mingxian chose a spot, walked over, sat down, and started working.

There were already three people in the room when she arrived, and no one greeted her as she came in; everyone was busy with their own things.

She lowered her head and began to tidy up and get to work.

The soles of the boots were glued on in advance, but they still needed to be sewn with needles and thread, otherwise they would be impossible to wear. Du Mingxian and her team did all the sewing work.

Du Mingxian worked diligently, seemingly always busy, but she was also paying attention to what was happening inside the house.

She hadn't been sitting down long when the others arrived one after another. At this point, all that could be heard was the sound of needles rubbing against fabric; there was no other sound at all.

The old woman guarding the door seemed to be wandering around the room, acting like an invigilator.

At noon, the old woman called out, "Alright, everyone put down what you're doing and go eat."

Seeing that the others had stopped, Du Mingxian quickly stopped as well and went with everyone to get their food.

The place to eat wasn't far, just one row of houses ahead of them. When Du Mingxian and the others arrived, they lined up to eat.

The food was very good, with meat and vegetables. For ordinary people, this was really good food, and for Du Mingxian, it was also excellent.

The food was delicious and plentiful, which made everyone incredibly happy. Each one or two of them felt very fortunate.

Du Mingxian went to get her food. She could take her own staple food, such as rice, noodles, or steamed buns, and eat as many as she wanted. The side dishes were given by the lady serving the food, but the portions were quite large.

She got her food and sat down at a table. Just as she was about to eat, another group of people came in. She saw Lin Guixiang in the crowd. It seemed that these people were eating in the back of their inner courtyard.

Lin Guixiang also saw Du Mingxian and waved to her. Du Mingxian raised her hand in response.

Soon Lin Guixiang got her food and sat down next to Du Mingxian. She was very envious when she saw that Du Mingxian had more food than her and even had one more type of food.

"You people in the inner courtyard are eating really well. Look at your plate, it's overflowing."

Du Mingxian was a little embarrassed, "These were made by those older women, and I can't eat all of them. I'll share some with you."

Upon hearing this, Lin Guixiang's eyes immediately lit up. "Really? Thank you so much!"

"It's okay."

Lin Guixiang smiled happily when she saw Du Mingxian pour some of the food she hadn't gotten into her bowl. "I'm not saying this to be mean, but the treatment you inner courtyard students receive is definitely better than what we outer courtyard students get."

"Look, we outer courtyard students can only order three dishes, two meat and one vegetable, but you inner courtyard students can order three meat and two vegetable dishes. Oh my god, I'm so envious."

Du Mingxian chuckled to herself, but still explained, "If you want to get into the inner courtyard, then work hard in the outer courtyard. If you do it quickly and well, you might get transferred to the inner courtyard."

Lin Guixiang excitedly grabbed Du Mingxian's arm, "Really? That's wonderful! I want to go into the inner courtyard every day. You and we both make clothes, but you earn more money."

"Everyone's making boots now, but the price is still high. You have no idea how envious I am."

The goods outside are all ordinary, but those inside the courtyard are all things that will get you beheaded. Lin Guixiang clearly doesn't understand this.

It's not Lin Guixiang's fault. In the past, she had no contact with officials in the Li family. Even if she saw the different fabric, she would only think that their products were different and would never think of anything else.

That makes sense, though. These people are discreet and cautious in their actions, so it's normal that Lin Guixiang didn't recognize them.

If it weren't for Wu Daniu's official position in her previous life, which gave her exposure to these things, she would have been completely clueless.

Candidates with even a little bit of connections won't show up before the exam; the others have no connections, and those with connections can't come out to work and earn money.

"Then you should do a good job. If you do well, you'll definitely be transferred to the inner courtyard." Du Mingqin could only smile and dodge the question, and he certainly couldn't tell the truth.

I used to think Lin Guixiang was a bad person, but after getting to know her recently, I realized she's just a bit mercenary. She's just an ordinary person, and it's normal for her to have some flaws.

Lin Guixiang's biggest wish right now is to go to the inner courtyard. "Okay, okay, I'll take your good wishes. I hope I can go to the inner courtyard soon, so that we can keep each other company."

"Hmm." Du Mingxian noticed that the whole room was quiet.

The row of houses was all connected, much like the large dining hall in my previous life. Although there were many people, everyone made very little noise and no one talked or chatted; they were all silently eating.

Lin Guixiang wanted to say something more, but Du Mingxian stopped her with a look. However, she still explained in a low voice, "Let's eat quickly. After we finish eating, we still have to go back to work. There are old women watching over us."

Lin Guixiang also saw Bozi glance in their direction. She wanted to say something and share it with Du Mingxian, but Du Mingxian seemed unwilling to listen.

It's so hard.

Forget it, it's best to just eat well and work hard.

Lin Guixiang started eating and stopped talking. Du Mingxian secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that she was no longer talking.

She now enjoys chatting with Lin Guixiang, especially about things in the workshop. She thinks that more communication might be beneficial, but she's also afraid of being targeted, so she can only refrain from talking for now.

Even if they want to talk, they can go home at night and chat however they want in the yard, and no one will be watching them. How wonderful!

Hopefully, Lin Guixiang can see the unspoken rules here.