บท 11: Chapter 11 Household Registration is a Troublesome Matter
Nanny Jin hadn't recovered from the shock of the young lady selling crafts when she received the six wen in copper coins that Ye Xinyan had earned from selling a butterfly flower headdress.
When they sold the first hair ornament and received thirty wen in copper coins, Nanny Jin was so delighted she became giddy. She earned less than ten wen a day from washing clothes, but selling one hair ornament for thirty wen meant a profit of twenty wen. Twenty wen! She couldn't believe that twenty copper coins could be earned so easily.
The two of them busied themselves all day, and when they returned after packing up the stall, Nanny Jin's hands and feet were numb with cold. Yet, she didn't bother lighting a fire to warm the kang; instead, she hastily closed the door, poured the copper coins from her purse, and counted them with stiff fingers, one by one.
One hundred wen strung together made a string, and she had eight such strings, with a few dozen wen left over.
"Ye Zi, guess how much money we made today?" Nanny Jin was about to share her excitement with Ye Xinyan when she realized that her young mistress had already lit the fire and started to warm the kang. The pot on the stove was steaming, indicating it had been heating for a while.
Nanny Jin hurriedly put down the copper coins in her hand and went to take over the kindling from Ye Xinyan, "Put down the firewood and rest on the kang. I'm so happy I'm out of my senses. How can I let you do such chores?"
Ye Xinyan pushed her away smiling, "I've already got my hands covered in ash, there's no need to change hands. You finish counting the money and then rest for a while, I can warm myself in front of the stove. You haven't told me yet, how much money did we make today?"
Seeing that Ye Xinyan insisted on continuing, Nanny Jin obliged and sat back on the kang. While putting the copper coins back into the purse, she murmured joyfully, "We made eight hundred and seventy-two wen today."
"That much?" Ye Xinyan asked with a smile.
"Indeed," Nanny Jin said with pride in her voice, smiling, "We still have items that haven't been sold, and there are quite a few scraps of fabric in the bundle. If we turn all the scraps into headdresses and sell all of them, we could probably get three taels of silver."
With the success of their first batch of handicrafts, Nanny Jin's confidence soared. Without needing Ye Xinyan's reminder, she spent the money they had earned to buy more bright, beautiful fabric scraps from several tailors. And of course, she also purchased more red silk satin.
As for washing clothes, they temporarily ceased that work. It might be a long while, possibly even forever, before they would need to return to such hard, exhausting, and unprofitable labor.
...
It was not until the twenty-ninth day of the last month of the year that Ye Xinyan finished selling her merchandise and stopped to rest.
When they left Xunbei City, they had brought with them less than five taels of silver pieces. After arriving in Miyi County, they rented a room. The money spent on finding relatives, reporting news, and tips of a few or even more than a dozen large coins saw their funds dwindled to one tael and three hundred wen.
In the following days, the two endured hardship doing laundry and mending clothes for others. Despite the backbreaking work, they could only afford to eat mixed noodles and vegetable porridge daily. Not only were they unable to save any money, but to buy anything extra, they had to dig into their meager savings.
However, in just these short twenty or so days, selling headdresses and various ornaments, they now had more than seven taels of silver on hand.
Nanny Jin, counting the money earned over these days, had long forgotten the days of splendor at the Duke's Mansion, focusing only on holding the few pieces of silver and strings of large coins in her hands, feeling an inexplicable sense of security and joy.
"We also have money for the New Year now." They had actually earned so much silver, Nanny Jin was on the verge of tears with happiness, "What kind of days has the young lady, born with a golden spoon, been through in these past few months? Tomorrow, let's go to the market and buy some good food for the young mistress, and get a few yards of fabric to make new clothes."
Ye Xinyan's mouth twitched slightly. They had only just obtained a few pieces of silver and Nanny Jin was already so thrilled that she'd forgotten herself. And now making new clothes, to show off to whom?
Having spoken her piece, Nanny Jin's face then filled with regret, "If only Miss had come up with this money-making method earlier, we could have prepared in advance and surely would have earned more money. It's just a pity that after the New Year, such trades won't be so easy to conduct."
Ye Xinyan couldn't bear to listen any longer and interjected, "Nanny, you're being careless with your words again, aren't you? Don't worry about these things. After the New Year, when the weather gradually warms, we'll think of other ways. We will definitely make ends meet."
"Mmm, with... um... with Ye Zi's ideas, we will surely live well. It's just that..." Nanny Jin suddenly remembered their household registration, "We still need to see if the two of us can stay in this place for the long term."
If they had a hukou, given Miss's intelligence, they might indeed be able to live a modestly wealthy life.
She had seen with her own eyes how Miss had taken some worn-out hemp ropes and managed to tie beautiful knots with the red silk satin rope. Miss was also smart and clever as a child. If she were to focus all her efforts on making money in the future, her intelligence and cleverness would surely find their place.
The trouble was that their household registration had indeed become an issue.
A few days ago, the local authority in charge of their neighborhood came to check the residents. The management of household registration in ancient times was also quite strict. When they reached the courtyard where they lived, the Lijia asked them in detail about their situation and requested a travel pass.
Ye Xinyan was forced to follow their previous plan and truthfully reported Nanny Jin's hometown, specifying the prefecture, county, and village. She informed the Lijia that they had no means to survive in their hometown and had come here to seek refuge with relatives. However, the journey had been long, and they had lost their travel pass; moreover, their relatives had moved away several years ago. They had nowhere to turn and were temporarily residing here. They hoped the Lijia would be lenient for a few days. Once the weather warmed up the following year, they would then make arrangements.
Although Nanny Jin's relatives did have a name and a former address, and what they said about their original place was indeed detailed, the Lijia still seriously informed them that according to the laws of Great Xia, people without a travel pass or guarantor could not stay permanently. Considering it was the end of the year and the weather was bitterly cold, it was not suitable to drive out the two of them, women, hopeless and alone from the city. They could be accommodated for a period of time, but by the first month of the lunar year, they must leave the county town.
Nanny Jin said all the nice things she could and even slipped a corner of silver pieces to the Lijia, managing to delay their deadline until after the first month.
Now things were better; not only did they have no place to settle down, but they had also let slip Nanny Jin's hometown. If they were to leave promptly after the New Year, the people here would not have much of an impression of them, and naturally, they wouldn't have any connection with Duke's Mansion. But if they were to linger and delay, the Lijia and the people in this area would probably have a lasting memory of them.
As the saying goes, adversaries often cross paths; who knows if it was such a coincidence that someone could come back and forth a couple of times and, with an extra word, lead the people from Duke's Mansion here?
Sigh, Nanny Jin sighed secretly to herself. Although they had earned a little silver, what was most important was to think about where they would settle down after the New Year.
...
While Ye Xinyan and Nanny Jin were worried about their future household registration issues, Old Uncle Qi, who lived in the same large, mixed residence, had other thoughts.
Old Uncle Qi was a solitary old fellow, probably around sixty years old, living next door to Ye Xinyan. He was renting a small room and making a living with his masonry skills.
When Ye Xinyan and her companion moved in, it was already the season of cold winter. Perhaps because of the freezing weather, there wasn't much work for a mason, so they hardly ever saw Old Uncle Qi at work.
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