The System Wanted Me to Be a Landlady (GL) - Chapter 14: Great Move

Chapter 14: Great Move

Song Yuyan closed her stall and went to the Shi family to buy materials.

Although she earned eighty-eight wen this time, after deducting costs, she only made thirty-eight wen. Earning thirty-eight wen in two or three days seemed less than what she could get from working for others.

But this was just the start. She couldn’t rush things. Once she got more skilled at weaving, she was confident she could weave two mats in a day. If she had lamplight at night, she could even weave half a mat more.

Thinking about lamplight, Song Yuyan knew lighting here wasn’t like the modern world. Candles were expensive to make, and most households couldn’t afford them. Oil lamps were common, but the oil usually came from plants or fish.

She knew how to make candles, but she needed molds and wax from white wax insects first. Until she found wax, she didn’t plan to focus on that.

This time, she kept only a dozen wen and used the rest to buy materials from the Shi family. Besides rush grass, she also got a bundle of cattail grass. Apart from weaving mats, she wanted to make pillowcases and cattail fans.

Pillowcases were for her family. After the spring chill, the rainy season was coming, and the weather would get hotter each day. Such pillows wouldn’t be suitable anymore.

But hot weather meant the peak season for selling fans was near.

The popular fans used materials like cattail grass, palm leaves, paper, cloth, and bamboo.

Scholars usually used folding fans with bamboo or precious materials as frames. Noble ladies and refined women preferred round fans. But the most common and widely used were cheap and practical cattail and palm fans.

Song Yuyan didn’t plan to target high-end customers yet. After all, wealthy families bought from trusted, established shops. She hadn’t built a reputation, so her fans, no matter how well-made, would be undervalued because of her status.

…

While Song Yuyan seriously worked on her weaving business, her neighbors noticed something unusual. Nosy people sat at their doorsteps, watching her come and go while working. Some even questioned Tang Zhi when they went to buy vegetables or wash clothes.

Though young, Tang Zhi wasn’t naive. She knew what these people were up to. Having lost her father young, she had endured their gossip, which they disguised as concern, but she knew better.

They noticed she often picked fights with Song Yuyan but had been peaceful lately, which sparked their curiosity.

Tang Zhi said, “I’m not close to her. Besides, she hasn’t bothered me. How would I know so much?”

The person didn’t believe her. “She’s actually behaving herself?”

“Isn’t it good if she’s behaving?”

Tang Zhi’s eyes were usually bright, looking smart and lively. Now, her gaze was hazy, her face feigning confusion, acting innocent and clueless.

Her act made people feel awkward about pressing her further. Continuing to pry into Song Yuyan’s affairs would just trouble her.

So someone laughed awkwardly and changed the topic, asking if Tang Zhi’s family’s vegetables could be cheaper.

After the crowd left, Tang Zhi dropped her clueless act. Song Yuyan hadn’t stolen from those households, yet they had the time to meddle.

When she and Tang Ye closed the garden gate and headed home, they saw Song Yuyan standing at their doorstep, looking around. Tang Zhi’s expression turned odd. Had she just said Song Yuyan was behaving, only for her to stir trouble again?

Seeing her, Song Yuyan’s face lit up. She stepped forward openly and said, “Little Miss Tang, you’re finally back.”

“What’s up?” Tang Zhi, carrying vegetables, looked wary.

“I want to buy some vegetables.”

Tang Zhi quietly sighed in relief, but Song Yuyan buying vegetables from her felt strange.

Then she realized Song Yuyan’s clever move. With all the women back from buying vegetables and washing clothes, Song Yuyan openly bought from her to show everyone she no longer needed to steal from the Tang family!

Without saying much, her actions could slowly change how others saw her. How was that not a great move?

Song Yuyan eagerly awaited her reply, unaware that Tang Zhi, despite her young age, had thought so much.

In truth, Song Yuyan didn’t plan this. She’d been working from dawn to dusk lately. Though she knew where the Tang family’s garden was, she had no time to go there. Sometimes Tang Zhi brought vegetables home for neighbors far from the garden, so Song Yuyan had to wait at her doorstep.

Surprisingly, though unintentional, her neighbors acted like they’d discovered a new world, as if meeting Song Yuyan for the first time.

Tang Zhi sold her some vegetables, enough for Song Yuyan and her two siblings to eat for two days.

Casually, she asked, “How’s your mat weaving going?”

This was also to tell everyone Song Yuyan had a legitimate business, so they should stop prying into nonsense.

Song Yuyan was in a good mood. Though the naughty Song Yuban still teased her, he was getting better at handling grass. The little Song Yuzhuan was also very obedient.

Her recent patterns pleased the buyer, so she sold a few more mats at twenty-five wen each.

In five days, she made nine mats. After costs, it wasn’t more than the thirty wen a day from working for others, but she earned about twenty wen. If she stayed steady and kept improving, she could reach that amount later.

Plus, she’d been weaving cattail fans in her spare time and had several ready. Lin Yongming said he’d buy them at the same price as others’. Lin Yongming was the one buying her mats and fans, a middleman of sorts.

Seeing Song Yuyan’s slight smile, Tang Zhi knew she was satisfied with her weaving work. She hadn’t been as inconsistent as before.

Song Yuyan asked, “Little Miss Tang, how’s the mat for sleeping? Any discomfort?”

In business, reputation mattered most. After-sales feedback showed if her products had issues, which she’d fix promptly.

Tang Zhi smiled faintly. “Brother said it’s not bad. The mat he slept on was old. Thanks to you, he got a new one and sleeps well.”

“Good to hear!”

Song Yuyan had to get back to work, so she didn’t chat long with Tang Zhi.

…

A few days later, the weather changed. Earlier spring rains were occasional and refreshing, but now, constant rain and heat made everything sticky. The rainy season was clearly coming.

In the Jiangnan region, people hated the rainy season most. For over a month, there was no sunlight, and everything molded easily. Food was fine if eaten the same day, but clothes, even when air-dried, had a bad smell.

Before the rainy season, Lin Yongming came to collect Song Yuyan’s mats and fans. During the rainy season, clothes didn’t dry, and grass for mats couldn’t be aired out. New mats had no chance to dry in the sun.

Old mats molded easily, so those who could afford it bought new ones to use first. With limited supply in the short term, the mat trade picked up.

Hearing Lin Yongming’s words, Song Yuyan thought more. He reminded her that if sunlight was scarce in the rainy season, how would she dry new mats? Should she only weave fans?

Seeing her deep in thought, Lin Yongming stared at her, making her uneasy.

“Is something wrong with my face?” Song Yuyan asked, worried he might notice her feminine features since she looked cleaner now.

Since arriving here, she was particular about hygiene and worked hard to fetch water daily. But cleaning herself up made her more noticeable, risking her true identity and others’ suspicions.

Lin Yongming didn’t have those thoughts. He smiled and said, “Song, the shopkeeper, was right. You’re a smart and clever kid.”

It took Song Yuyan a moment to realize he meant Song Bing by “Song, the shopkeeper.”

Surprised, she asked, “You know Uncle Twenty-One?”

Lin Yongming smiled. “Cixi is small. We’re all doing business here, so of course we know each other. But I didn’t know you were his nephew until I met you.”

He explained that Song Bing approached him after he bought Song Yuyan’s mats, asking him to buy her mats as a favor.

Lin Yongming gave him face and found they’d met before, so their deals went smoothly.

“Honestly, if Song, the shopkeeper, hadn’t recommended you, I might’ve played the shrewd merchant and haggled your price down,” Lin Yongming said.

Song Yuyan then learned Song Bing and Aunt Fierce had helped her behind the scenes. She was very grateful. This made Lin Yongming like her more. She was hardworking and grateful—a fine young man.

He added, “I don’t just buy mats and fans. I also take drying baskets and roasting baskets. Anything made of bamboo or wood, I’ll consider. Do you know bamboo weaving?”