After delivering the goods to the Silk Shop, Madam Zhou received her wages, but looking at the silver in her hand, she was somewhat astonished as she looked at Madam Rong.
"This? Manager Rong, have you made a mistake?" How could it be so much.
Manager Rong clasped her hands together and said, "I didn't make a mistake. Your embroidery work this time was very well done, and there is also some advance payment here. There is a batch of embroidery work that needs to be rushed. Can you take it on?"
"Yes, yes, what kind of work is it?" Madam Zhou asked.
Manager Rong lowered her voice and said, "This year is the imperial selection year, and the young ladies participating in the selection are all striving to outdo each other, wanting their jewelry and clothes to be novel. Therefore, business is extremely good everywhere for silk shops. If you can come up with new patterns, even without a request, and embroider them well, the wages will be higher."
Madam Zhou was delighted, "Really?"
Seeing Manager Rong nod, she then said, "I'll do my best, but I'm afraid I can't compare to the embroiderers of your household."
She hadn't signed a contract with the Silk Shop and was only taking on external work to do, so her wages weren't that high.
"You could also sign a contract with our household." Manager Rong looked at her sympathetically and said, "Wufu has grown up, you need to gather some dowry for her."
Madam Zhou glanced at Wufu, and sensing something, Wufu looked over, flashed a toothy smile, and so Madam Zhou also pursed her lips in a slight smile, and said to Manager Rong, "It's quite good this way."
Manager Rong looked at the two of them and sighed deeply, ultimately couldn't help herself, and said, "Are you still not giving up? Are you still waiting?"
Her unwillingness to sign a contract, keeping Wufu in the village living their lives even at the cost of scorn, was all because of that faithless man. She feared that he might come and not be able to find her.
She was both pitiful and exasperating!
Madam Zhou's expression stiffened, and her lips pursed as she said, "I have to wait."
Seeing her stubborn and foolish appearance, Manager Rong then said, "Dear sister, I know you don't like to hear what I'm about to say. But after so many years, what have you waited for? As someone who's traveled far and wide, what kind of men haven't I seen? If he truly cared, how could he let you wait all these years?"
Madam Zhou's face turned pale, tears welled up in her eyes, and she stammered with trembling lips, "Dear sister, he, he must have been delayed, or maybe he's in a difficult situation and not intentionally staying away."
Manager Rong looked at her, being willfully ignorant, and felt both angry and sad. Truly, such a foolish person.
"Dear sister, waiting like this won't bring any outcome. Wufu will be reaching the age of marriage next year. How many more years can you wait?" Manager Rong, clenching her teeth, said, "Rather than waiting in vain, why not go look for him!"
Madam Zhou was taken aback, lifted her head to look at her. Go look for him?
"Don't you have a Marriage Certificate? Don't you also know who he is?" Manager Rong said, "Why not try to find him? Maybe you'll find a way out, whatever the outcome, at least it would be some closure."
Actually, the so-called Marriage Certificate was probably just a ruse. If he intended to abandon her, it's likely even the name was fake.
Madam Zhou hesitated and said, "I, I don't know where his family is, I've only heard that they are from the Capital."
"Then go to the Capital to find him," Manager Rong said, but to be honest, she didn't actually advise Madam Zhou to go and look.
Not finding him would be one kind of bitterness, but finding him would probably be even more bitter.
If he had intentions, he would have come long ago, and all these years later, he must have found a wife and had children. If Madam Zhou found him, how could she cope? The best outcome might be to become a concubine, and at worst, she might even lose her life.
Just go and look for him. The suggestion she spoke out of was only because she couldn't bear to see her empty waiting for so many years. If this trip could provide her with some resolution, then
Some people only realize the error of their ways after they hit a wall.