136 Chapter 136: Getting Tough To Do Business

Qin Xiaoyao was caught off guard.

“You also want to learn how to weave straw sandals? You have the time to weave?” she was somewhat surprised.

“Yes, I want to learn!” Big Girl Li quickly nodded.

After that, she added, “How can I not have time?”

!!

“Right now, I follow Daniu to come into town in the morning to deliver the goods to you. Then, I go and set up the stall.”

“After returning to the village, there’s almost nothing much to do.”

“Daniu and his younger brother are the ones doing the goods collecting in the countryside. When the villagers come to sell their goods, there’s Xiaomei holding the fort.”

“Mother-in-law saw that I was free and even asked me to fetch water.” When she said this, Big Girl Li’s expression was a little glum.

“I’m afraid that if this goes on, she’ll make me pick firewood to start a fire or even cook and feed the chickens.”

Doing those dirty and tiring jobs was not as comfortable as sitting down and weaving straw sandals.

Moreover, the straw sandals could be sold for money.

Qin Xiaoyao’s expression was one of sympathy.

Compared to her good sister’s mother-in-law, Qin Xiaoyao felt that her own mother-in-law was really the best.

“Sister Sanya, please consider it. If you feel that the apprenticeship fee is too low, I can increase it.”

Seeing Qin Xiaoyao looking over, Big Girl Li quickly covered her purse.

“But you can’t add too much!” she said again.

The main thing was that she also wanted to save money to buy a courtyard dwelling.

Although that goal seemed very far away, she could always hope, right?

Qin Xiaoyao laughed with amusement.

After pondering for a moment, she said, “Alright then. I’ll charge both of you two taels of silver as school fees, and then we’ll sign the contract.”

“The rule is that each of you… hmm… have to provide me with 400 pairs of straw sandals every month at two copper coins a pair.”

“If you exceed this amount, I can give two and a half copper coins. Or if you don’t want to give me, you two can deal with the excess on your own.”

“If it’s less than 400 pairs…”

Big Girl Li immediately looked at Qin Xiaoyao.

Qin Xiaoyao chuckled. “You’ll have to compensate me with as many copper coins as your shortfall. How about it? ”

This was also to prevent the apprentices she had taught from from selling the woven straw sandals in large quantities to a certain extent.

When she was selling straw sandals in the village, the price was only three copper coins.

If the two couldn’t satisfy her requirement and yet still sold the straw sandals off at a price below three copper coins, then the whole exercise would be meaningless.

However, if the price was higher than three copper coins, it would not be so easy to sell.

Big Girl Li frowned.

After some thought, she understood the underlying meaning behind Qin Xiaoyao’s words.

“Deal!” Then, she smiled and agreed to Qin Xiaoyao’s condition.

It was all for the sake of making use of the free time she had to earn more copper coins.

She didn’t expect to rely on this to make a fortune, nor did she think of scamming her Sister Sanya. What was there she couldn’t agree to?

“Let’s first set the contract for five years. Unless there’s a change in my business operation and I don’t allow you to supply so many pairs of straw sandals, each person will have to provide 400 pairs a month, not a single pair less. If you fall short, you’ll have to compensate me money.”

Big Girl Li quickly nodded.

“The other thing is keeping the skill a secret.” Qin Xiaoyao looked at Big Girl Li.

“I’m not asking you two to keep this skill a secret forever. Let’s make it five years as well. Within five years, you’re not allowed to spread it to the outside world.”

“Otherwise, for each person you pass the skill to, you will have to compensate me ten taels of silver. If the person who learned the skill passed it to a second person, you would have to pay another ten taels. And so on.”

Big Girl Li’s heart was pounding furiously.

“Ten taels?” Moreover, they would have to continue to compensate for the subsequent spread of the skill.

“Yes,” Qin Xiaoyao replied.

“So, you have to make this clear to your little sister-in-law. Don’t be soft-hearted and pass on this skill to your family members. Otherwise, I won’t let this matter rest.”

She trusted Big Girl, but she didn’t have much contact with Liu Xiaomei and the Liu family.

“Mm-hmm. Okay!” Big Girl Li realized the seriousness of the problem and nodded.

Suddenly, she thought of something and asked Qin Xiaoyao, “You just said that it can’t be spread to the outside world for only five years?”

Qin Xiaoyao saw through Big Girl Li’s thoughts and smiled.

“Yes, you only need to keep it a secret for five years. After five years, I’m afraid your little sister-in-law will also be married, and I can’t keep watching her.”

Even the factories before the apocalypse might not be able to keep their technology a secret for five years.

It would be amazing if she could keep her skill a secret for five years.

In addition, she had also asked Yun’er to teach Wang Xiaomei how to weave straw sandals.

She had also made an agreement with Wang Xiaomei that she would be allowed to redeem herself after five years.

At that time, Wang Xiaomei would be a free person, and Qin Xiaoyao wouldn’t be able to stop her from making money by weaving straw sandals.

Five years… Hoho! After five years, she might even have her own career. She probably wouldn’t care about the straw sandals business anymore.

...

Big Girl Li’s eyes lit up.

“Deal!” she said hurriedly.

The contract was only limited to five years. After five years, Sister Sanya could no longer be bothered with them.

There was hope for her and her little sister-in-law to rely on this craft to earn money to support their family in the future…

As the two of them were talking, Song Yun and Wang Xiaomei arrived one after the other.

Song Yun found out that her sister-in-law had promised Big Girl Li that she would teach Big Girl Li how to weave straw sandals.

Song Yun offered to take Qin Xiaoyao’s place as the teacher.

Qin Xiaoyao was also very generous. She gave Song Yun two silver coins, which made the little girl absolutely delighted.

And so Big Girl Li began to learn this craft in the Song family.

After half a day, although she couldn’t fully grasp the trick, she did learn the basic outline.

After Qin Xiaoyao finished making the century eggs for the day, she brought Wang Xiaomei to take reading and writing lessons from Song Que. Big Girl Li went along too.

...

After signing the contract and paying the silver, the apprenticeship was officially confirmed.

She also mentioned that she would bring Liu Xiaomei over tomorrow, and only then did she leave.

Before she left, she looked at Wang Xiaomei with envy.

Right now, the entire Brook Falls Village felt this girl’s life was hard, having signed an indenture at a young age and becoming a slave.

No one expected that she would not only eat well and dress well in the Song family, but she was also highly regarded by her Sister Sanya.

Delivering goods, setting up stalls, and weaving straw sandals… she was involved in all of these.

Now, Sister Sanya was even taking her to attend lessons, learning how to read and write.

Even the girl’s biological parents did not treat her so well.

She could still redeem herself after five years. If this condition was offered to her own little sister-in-law, her little sister-in-law would probably pounce on it.

Sigh! One could only say that a person’s fortune could be so strange…

The next day.

When Big Girl Li and Liu Daniu came to deliver the goods, they also brought Liu Xiaomei along.

Qin Xiaoyao had to deliver the goods and set up her stall later, so she didn’t have time to entertain them. She wanted to arrange for Song Yun to take charge of Liu Xiaomei.

Liu Xiaomei, however, suggested that she set up the stall with her sister-in-law to see the world.

Qin Xiaoyao agreed. She decided to postpone her talk to Liu Xiaomei about weaving straw sandals until after she closed the stall.

It was a hot summer day.

After Qin Xiaoyao delivered the goods, she went to the market on North Street. She had only stayed there for a while before the market wrapped up.

She then pushed the handcart home with Wang Xiaomei, and the two of them chatted as they walked.

“Mrs. Song, the market is dispersing earlier and earlier. If this continues, I’m afraid it will be harder to sell our goods.”

Not only did the market disperse early, but in the past few days, she found that the number of people going to the market had also decreased.

If it still didn’t rain, no one would be willing to go out.

Qin Xiaoyao glanced at the remaining woven bamboo products taking up more than half of the handcart, and her expression turned grim.