The System Wanted Me to Be a Landlady (GL) - Chapter 13: Not Slacking Anymore

Chapter 13: Not Slacking Anymore

Tang Zhi, who thought she had seen all of Song Yuyan’s old tricks, had sharpened her eyes through countless experiences.

Though she didn’t know what Song Yuyan was up to this time, she nodded along, pretending to believe her.

Seeing that Tang Zhi believed her, Song Yuyan didn’t keep making things up. She took out a few coins, wanting to buy a few ounces of salt from Tang Zhi. Tang Zhi, noticing Song Yuyan’s genuine effort to change, softened a bit and gave her almost half a pound of salt.

Song Yuyan was “flattered”—this little girl was surprisingly generous!

Of course, her nature meant she wouldn’t take advantage of the Tang family for free. So, after weaving her second mat, she gave it to Tang Zhi.

If Tang Zhi hadn’t seen Song Yuyan carry the straw back herself, she would’ve thought she bought the mat—how could she work so fast!

Only then did Tang Zhi truly believe that Song Yuyan could weave straw mats, and her skills weren’t bad. The mat could sell for at least twenty coins. Anyone else seeing it wouldn’t believe a first-time weaver could make it.

But Tang Zhi was used to arguing with Song Yuyan and catching her mistakes to scold her. Now, suddenly, Song Yuyan wasn’t slacking, wasn’t stealing their vegetables, and was even making up for things. Why did Tang Zhi feel uneasy?

“No way, I can’t take her stuff for free. If she brings this up later, won’t I be the one in the wrong?” Tang Zhi thought. The next day, she picked some vegetables from her garden, added some ginger, green onions, and garlic, and gave them to Song Yuban to take back.

When Song Yuyan noticed extra ingredients at home, she asked the two little kids one by one. Learning it was from Tang Zhi, she sighed, “Ah, this is what mutual respect and harmonious neighborly relations look like!”

Of course, though Song Yuyan wanted to improve the Song family’s ties with neighbors, she wouldn’t use her woven mats to flatter anyone.

In the past two days, she had the two little kids help with the straw, speeding things up. She could weave one and a half mats a day, making four mats in two and a half days.

She gave one to Tang Zhi and sun-dried the remaining three after brushing off the debris.

The two little kids, who helped make the four mats, looked at the leftover materials and asked, “Aren’t we weaving the rest?”

Song Yuyan said, “We’ll weave, but with a twist.”

Mats made from rush grass were plain since they were layered one by one, making patterns tricky.

Besides rush grass, mats could use cattail or salt grass. Rush grass stems were round, while cattail and salt grass were flatter. Weaving with these was more complex, but adding patterns was easier.

After weighing options, Song Yuyan stuck with rush grass but gathered some cattail from the river. She dried and stored it. When she reached the right spot in her weaving, she added cattail, gradually forming a faint flower.

Though the flower wasn’t perfect, its color stood out against the straw, making it pop.

The two little kids were stunned, and Song Yuban grew more determined to learn her craft.

Song Yuyan sighed in relief. She had learned this in middle school:

The handicraft committee was filming a video to promote traditional crafts. She joined for fun and met Yuan, an eighty-year-old mat-weaving master, who demonstrated the process.

To highlight the lack of successors and promote the craft, the committee had Song Yuyan learn from her.

Yuan, learning Song Yuyan grew up with traditional crafts, saw potential and taught her hands-on, sharing pattern-making tips.

Song Yuyan hadn’t woven mats much since, but she bought books on it. Seeing she still remembered Yuan’s techniques, she felt she hadn’t let her down.

With leftover cattail and fluff, she didn’t want to waste them. She wove a pillowcase, stuffed it with fluff, and made a pillow.

She decided not to sell this pillow—she didn’t even have one herself!

…

After finishing four mats, the market day on March 23rd arrived. Song Yuyan told the two little kids to watch the house and left with the mats.

Though buyers offered to purchase, their prices were low. She decided to seek opportunities herself.

Village markets and straw fairs were where farmers and small vendors sold their goods or crafts. No city officials chased them, and no one demanded protection fees.

Following her memory, Song Yuyan found a good spot, laid out her old worn mat, and spread her woven mats on it.

In the past, she wouldn’t have shouted to sell, but after working as a hawker, she called out a few times.

Many sold mats here, but since supply was low, big buyers usually bought them at a standard price. When they saw Song Yuyan’s mats, they offered eighteen coins each.

Eighteen coins was the usual price for poorer mats. Better ones could fetch twenty coins. When sold to foreign merchants, prices rose to nearly thirty coins.

The high price included a ten-to-two tax, meaning twenty percent of earnings went to taxes. After taxes, buyers earned only five or six coins per mat.

Song Yuyan refused to sell so cheap. The buyer, looking closer, saw her mats were top-notch in material and craft. It’d be a shame to sell them to foreign merchants.

After haggling, Song Yuyan held firm at twenty-two coins. Their commotion drew a crowd.

Seeing her mats, people thought, “Wow, pretty nice! Must be from a Gulin workshop.”

The crowd loved the drama. Some made offers to mess around but didn’t buy.

Seeing the buyer hesitate, Song Yuyan spread out the patterned mat and said, “If you buy the first three, I’ll sell this one cheaper.”

The lifelike pattern caught everyone’s eyes. They were sure Song Yuyan worked at a workshop—how else could she master such clever techniques!

They weren’t wrong to think so. Back then, no machines mass-produced patterned mats. People focused on basic needs.

Only wealthier households could afford such pretty mats.

Only workshop craftsmen bothered making mats look nice to sell to rich families for more profit. Farmers doing it as a side job wouldn’t care for such detail.

Someone asked if Song Yuyan was a workshop artisan. She smiled, “If the mat’s good, why ask about the weaver’s background?”

The buyer asked, “Only this one?”

Song Yuyan nodded, “Time was tight. I only made this one.”

“If I buy the first three, how much cheaper for this one?”

“This one took more time and effort than the others, so I planned to sell it for twenty-seven coins. If you agree, I’ll charge you twenty-two coins.”

The crowd gasped. All four mats at twenty-two coins? This pretty one sold so cheap—she was losing money!

The buyer didn’t think so. The first three were nice but would sell for twenty coins at most. The patterned one at twenty-seven made eighty-seven coins total.

At twenty-two coins each, Song Yuyan earned eighty-eight coins—not less, but one coin more. She wasn’t foolish!

Wanting to work with her long-term, the buyer thought and said, “Deal! But if you make more like this, sell them to me cheaper.”

Song Yuyan smiled and agreed. After the buyer paid and took the mats, she packed up.

The crowd, seeing them leave, lost interest and dispersed.