The straw mats below were merely a basic safety precaution.
Only then did Xie Zhao understand why the master responsible for setting the roof beam earned higher wages. Standing on a roof ridge where it was difficult even to keep one’s footing while guiding such a massive, unwieldy beam into the mortise joint was no easy task.
As the beam slowly shifted into place once more, Xie Zhao seized it firmly. Using the momentum of its movement, he gave it one powerful push and locked it into the mortise slot.
The beam fit perfectly.
But the force of its momentum threw his body off balance, and he immediately tumbled toward the ground.
The people below cried out in alarm, thinking someone else was about to be injured.
Even Xie Zhao thought the same.
Yet just before he hit the ground, something seemed to click inside his mind.
Without thinking, he rolled forward the instant he landed, completely dispersing the impact.
The foreman and several craftsmen rushed over.
“Xie Ziming! Are you all right?”
Although the foreman often spoke harshly, saying things like, If someone dies, that’s their own problem…
He still genuinely worried whenever anyone got hurt.
Xie Zhao slowly stood up and moved his arms and legs.
“I’m fine.”
Even he looked a little dazed.
“I’m really fine.”
Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
Lu Changgeng exclaimed, “That scared us to death! You fell from so high up. Hey… how did you suddenly do… whatever that was?”
“I don’t know either. The moment my foot slipped, I just felt that moving like that would keep me from getting hurt.”
The foreman patted him on the shoulder with a grin.
“Whatever the reason, it’s good you weren’t injured. Now that the beam’s up, I’ll go tell the homeowner. You definitely deserve a bonus.”
“Thank you, Foreman.”
Three different men had failed to set that roof beam, and the homeowner’s family had already begun to think it was bad luck. They were even considering tearing down the entire room.
So when they heard the beam had finally been installed, they were overjoyed.
Not only did Master Zhang personally come to meet the young man who had accomplished it, but he generously rewarded him with a bonus of five taels of silver.
When he heard Xie Zhao had fallen afterward—even though he wasn’t hurt, only frightened—Master Zhang even gave him an extra day off to recover.
Holding the heavy money pouch in his hands, Xie Zhao felt almost unreal.
Just yesterday, ten taels had seemed impossibly far away.
Now he suddenly had five.
“Ziming, you’ve really done it! I never imagined Master Zhang would be this generous.”
Lu Changgeng patted him on the shoulder.
Xie Zhao smiled.
“Neither did I. You said it’d probably be two taels, so I thought maybe, because of the difficulty, it’d be three at most. I never expected him to give me five.”
“Exactly. Normally, a reward like this only comes after the main ridge beam of the principal house is completed.”
Xie Zhao paused.
There’s an even bigger bonus for finishing the main hall’s ridge beam?
He quietly committed that information to memory.
“Changgeng, come to my house. Today’s meal is on me.”
“Then I’ll gladly take you up on the offer.”
“Don’t be so polite. Let’s go.”
The truth was, inviting Lu Changgeng home wasn’t entirely out of hospitality.
After observing him for some time, Xie Zhao felt he was a decent person.
Hardworking.
Able to endure hardship.
Compared to the other workers, he also had one major advantage—
He was educated.
If he managed to pass the county examination and become a xiucai next year, that would be even better.
He’d be more than worthy of Jiang He.
Xie Zhao had promised Jiang Father that he would find Jiang He a dependable husband.
He disliked owing people favors.
The sooner he fulfilled that promise, the better.
…
After spending several days looking around, Jiang He still hadn’t found suitable work.
There were families hiring maidservants, but that was practically the same as selling herself into servitude.
She absolutely wouldn’t do it.
Still, the time hadn’t been wasted.
She discovered that Anyue’s sericulture industry was extremely well developed, while its textile industry lagged far behind.
After merchants bought cocoons, only a small portion was woven into cloth locally.
Most of the cocoons were transported elsewhere, leaving local people with nothing more than the meager profits from raising silkworms.
Jiang Father had previously made his living buying and reselling cocoons.
But selling cocoons could never compare with selling finished cloth.
She could go into the cloth business instead.
She had already thought through the entire plan.
She had noticed that many households already owned looms.
Instead of purchasing expensive weaving equipment herself and hiring weavers, she could simply buy finished cloth directly from local families.
As long as there was demand, they would naturally work harder to weave.
As for the cocoons, the weavers would buy them directly from silkworm-raising families in the countryside.
She wouldn’t have to worry about that part at all.
This way, she wouldn’t need to spend a fortune on looms or wages.
The weavers would also enjoy flexible working hours, and productivity would improve.
After all, the more cloth they produced, the more they earned.
Of course, cloth shops already purchased cloth this way.
If she wanted to compete with them, she’d need to do things differently.
Jiang He remembered reading in Tiangong Kaiwu that one government weaving bureau graded cloth into three categories.
Top-quality cloth sold for two taels of silver per bolt.
Medium quality fetched one tael and two mace.
Inferior cloth earned only eight mace.
The difference came down to two words—
Uniform quality.
She could adopt the government’s method.
Set standardized specifications.
Purchase cloth according to grades.
If she classified household-woven cloth by thread density and bolt length before buying it, then washed, finished, and pressed everything uniformly before reselling it…
She could earn a profit margin of around thirty percent.
But to persuade the weavers to sell to her instead of ordinary cloth shops…
She would have to use the advance-payment system—essentially the equivalent of paying a deposit.
She would pay thirty percent upfront.
In exchange, the cloth could only be sold to her.
This arrangement was called a custom weaving contract.
It secured her supply while giving the weavers peace of mind.
They no longer had to worry about buying cocoons, weaving cloth, and then being unable to sell it at a profit.
It benefited both sides.
Cloth shops did buy cloth, but none of them classified it so carefully.
Nor did anyone dare pay silver in advance.
When profit was involved…
The weavers would naturally know whom to sell to.
Jiang He wrote down every detail of her proposed business plan.
She was still busy when voices came from outside.
“So this is your house? It’s enormous! Ziming, with a place like this, how could you possibly be short of money?”
Xie Zhao smiled bitterly.
“My parents left it to us. I’m the useless one. After they passed away, we became so poor we could barely afford food.”
Hearing that the family had fallen on hard times, Lu Changgeng tactfully chose not to ask any more questions.
At that moment, Jiang He came out after hearing the voices.
She noticed an unfamiliar young man standing beside Xie Zhao.
In Xie Zhao’s hands were a fish and a piece of pork.
It wasn’t New Year’s.
It wasn’t any holiday.
So why was he buying both fish and meat?
What happened? Did he find money on the road?
Xie Zhao introduced them.
“Changgeng, this is my younger sister, Jiang He.”
“Jiang He, this is Lu Changgeng. We met while working at Master Zhang’s estate. He’s a friend of mine, and I’ve invited him over for dinner.”
She hadn’t expected Xie Zhao to make friends—
Much less bring one home.
Smiling, she said,
“Brother Lu, please have a seat. I’ll go prepare dinner.”
Xie Zhao stopped her.
“Don’t bother. What can you cook? You keep Brother Lu company. I’ll make dinner.”
“Huh?”
Ahem…
It felt a little strange for her to entertain his friend.
But then again…
She really couldn’t cook.
How embarrassing.
“Brother Lu, please sit down. I’ll get you a cup of water.”
Lu Changgeng also found the situation rather awkward.
Seeing how enthusiastically she was trying to host him, he quickly waved his hands.
“Miss Jiang, please don’t trouble yourself. I’m not thirsty. I’d… I’d better go help Ziming cook instead.”