vstars Chapter 26 The Zhang Siblings
Chapter 26 The Zhang Siblings
The next morning, Lin Yan remembered the watermelons she had planted earlier, so she forced them to grow faster. Then she went to learn how to weave bamboo mats with her mother, while her father taught Lin Yu carpentry.
The four were busy when they saw a girl of about fifteen or sixteen and a young man of about eighteen or nineteen driving a donkey cart.
Upon seeing the Lin family of four, the young man exclaimed, "Is this Lin Hai's family?"
Mr. Lin put down his work, stood up, and asked, "Yes, is there something you need?"
The young man smiled and said, "Uncle Lin Hai, it's like this. We're from Zhangjiawan. My third sister saw the furniture in my second sister's new house at the Ge family's house yesterday. She thought the style was novel and the workmanship was exquisite, and she liked it very much."
Lin's father realized: "It must be Ge Liu's family! The furniture for their new house was indeed made here. You are Chuanjia's brother-in-law!"
"Yes, my name is Zhang Lixin. My third sister asked the Ge family and said that your furniture is very well made, and she wants a set too. I brought her here today to ask about it."
The girl behind her poked her head out: "It's that folding chair, it's very comfortable to sit on and easy to take out. There's also a clothes hanger, it's so convenient. Did you research all of these?"
Mr. Lin was delighted to hear this: "Those were all designed by my daughter."
Zhang Lixin and Zhang Peixin were both somewhat surprised upon hearing this, but the young man's eyes widened slightly without speaking, while the girl was straightforward: "Your daughter?! Is she also studying carpentry?!"
"Hahahaha, no, it's just that she has a lot of clever ideas and has designed a lot of novel styles."
"If you want a folding chair, I have some made here. You can choose one now. But if you want to buy a cabinet, you'll have to pre-order."
Zhang Lixin glanced down at her younger sister, Peixin, and asked, "Peixin, what do you want?"
"I want them all, both the folding chair and the wardrobe!"
The young man smiled indulgently, "Okay, I'll take them all. Uncle Lin Hai, how much do you want?"
"Folding chairs are 50 coins each, folding tables are 150 coins each, and cabinets are priced according to the style. Ordinary wood and labor are 500 coins, and carvings are 500 coins each."
Zhang Peixin asked with some anticipation, "What styles are available?"
"Come pick one from here!" Lin Yan called out from inside.
The Zhang siblings noticed a little girl inside, dressed in plain linen, standing straight with bright, clear eyes, and smiling as she greeted them.
Zhang Lixin nudged her younger sister, and Zhang Peixin moved closer to Lin Yan. Lin Yan had designed many patterns recently, including carved patterns that people like now, as well as simple and stylish designs that are more common in later generations.
Zhang Peixin picked and chose, liking each one more and more: "Did you draw all of these? They're all so beautiful!"
Lin Yan smiled and said, "Thank you!"
Zhang Peixin spent a long time selecting and finalized the design. Lin Yan then called out to her, "Miss Zhang, would you like to take a look at this?" As she spoke, she took out two drawings.
Zhang Peixin looked at the drawing and saw that it was a chair-shaped drawing, but longer, and couldn't help but wonder, "Is this a chair?"
"This is a rocking chair, and this is a recliner. They are more comfortable than regular chairs. You can relax in them at home, which is better than the bed you usually use."
Zhang Peixin nodded, pointing to the blueprints for the rocking chair. "This looks quite interesting. How much does it cost?"
"Three hundred coins. This rocking chair has a curved bottom, so you can rock back and forth when you sit on it, which is very relaxing."
"Okay, then I'll order one!" Zhang Pei thought about where she could get these things in her room.
Finally, I ordered a carved nanmu wardrobe and a rocking chair. The nanmu wood would be delivered by Zhang Lixin in two days. The total cost was 1.3 hundred wen. I paid a deposit of 200 wen and took away six folding chairs, for a total of 500 wen.
After the Zhang siblings left, Lin Yan looked at the large apricot and peach pieces preserved in sugar in the jar. They had been there for a day and had released a lot of water.
Lin Yan put the peach and apricot flesh into an iron pot and boiled them for two minutes until the flesh was soft. Then she took them out and dried them on the bamboo mat that her mother had woven.
The sun has been shining brightly these past two days, perfect for sunbathing.
Lin Yu glanced at what his sister was doing. The aroma of apricots was released as the fruit was cooked, and Lin Yu swallowed hard at the smell. He couldn't help but pinch a piece of apricot flesh and eat it. The texture was slightly soft, and the taste was sweet and sour without being astringent. It was not bad, and he wanted to take more.
Lin Yan slapped his hand away: "It's not ready yet, the texture won't be good! It needs to be dried in the sun for two days!"
Lin Yu swallowed hard: "Huh? We have to wait two more days? I think it will taste delicious even like this!" He glanced at Lin Yan as he spoke.
Lin Yan glanced at him, sighed helplessly, and Lin Yu chuckled as he took another piece to eat.
…………
Next, the Lin family rushed to complete the Zhang family's order. Two days later, two more villagers from Zhangjiawan came to buy folding chairs from Lin's father. They said they had seen them at the clan chief's house, thought they were very good, and bought four chairs as well.
While Lin's father was busy with his carpentry work, Lin Yan's dried fruit was also ready. The dried fruit was firm and chewy. Lin Yu ate a dried apricot and exclaimed, "It's even tastier now! It's sweet and sour, and very chewy!"
Mr. and Mrs. Lin tasted it and thought it was very good, especially Mrs. Lin, who loved dried apricots.
She and Lin Yu put away all the dried fruit, keeping some for themselves, some for Li Xiaocao, and Lin Yan planned to try selling the rest in town.
Just then, Zhang Lixin came over with the nanmu wood for making the cabinet: "Uncle Lin Hai, I brought the wood my third sister is using to make the cabinet. Where do I unload it?"
Lin's father pointed to the thatched pavilion he had temporarily built. It was where he did carpentry. Wood is susceptible to rain damage, and although it hadn't rained in the past few days, summer was just around the corner, so he prepared a shelter from the rain in advance.
Lin's father and Zhang Lixin unloaded the timber. Lin's father touched the timber and measured it. "It must be more than six feet long. That's enough to make a six-foot-tall cabinet! Come back in half a month to pick it up."
Zhang Lixin smiled and said, "Uncle, you can arrange it as you see fit!" Then he got back onto the donkey cart. "I'll head back now, you guys keep busy!"
"Brother Zhang, wait a minute!" Lin Yan walked over with a paper packet of dried fruit. "Take this back with you!"
Zhang Lixin was a little surprised to see that Lin Yan was going to give him something, and asked, "What is this?"
Lin Yan replied, "These are dried fruits from our own home. Please take them to Sister Peixin for me. Thank you for patronizing our business." The Zhangjiawan villager who came to buy chairs this morning must have been introduced by the Zhang siblings.
Zhang Lixin understood, but still declined, saying, "No need to be so polite. We're here to buy because Uncle Lin's products are good. Others are the same; they only come because they think they're good. We haven't played a big role."
Lin Yan smiled and stuffed the dried fruit back into Zhang Lixin's hand. "Just take it. I gave it to Sister Peixin. I also have something else I want to ask you."
Seeing Lin Yan's firm attitude, and knowing that it was homemade food and nothing precious, Zhang Lixin stopped refusing. "Okay, thank you, I'll give it to her! What do you want to ask me?"