Chapter 259

Before dawn, Dong Fu woke up, tossing and turning, ultimately unable to sleep.

Outsiders only thought Lord Dong's family wealth was abundant and his lands vast, unaware of how staggering the daily expenses to maintain such a great estate were.

However, what now makes him anxious and burning is not daily expenses, but the bundles of hemp piled up in the Houcang.

Last month, he accepted an imperial commission: to deliver a full hundred bolts of hemp cloth next month.

Now only seven days remain until the deadline, yet the amount of cloth that can be woven is still short by thirty-seven bolts!

It is not that he intends to delay; rather, even a skilled woman cannot cook without rice—among the surrounding villages, he could find only twenty women capable of weaving fine cloth, which is already the limit; he had originally planned to look elsewhere, but recent heavy snow has delayed him.

Even the most adept among them would need a full ten days to weave a single bolt of qualified hemp cloth! Twenty people working day and night still fall far short of the required pace.

Just thinking about the consequences if he fails to deliver on time—light penalties and injury from the officials, or worse, losing the trust of the Imperial Grain Official and affecting future business—Dong Fu felt a chill rise from his feet to his head, anxiously pacing back and forth in the Nuan ge like ants on a hot pan.

He knitted his brows, rapidly calculating various remedies in his mind, even beginning to consider whether he should endure a loss and buy finished hemp cloth at high prices from neighboring prefectures to tide over the immediate crisis.

Just as his thoughts were in turmoil, a hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

The steward almost came running in, his face showing incredulous astonishment, not even bothering with usual etiquette, and exclaimed urgently:

"Lord! Lord! Good news, tremendous good news!"

"Huh? What is it?"

He caught his breath and continued: "It's Dong Yong! He brought a girl today to work, saying she can weave cloth!"

"Guess what? That girl… that girl's weaving speed is simply astonishing!"

Dong Fu, already vexed, heard this and frowned even tighter, his tone impatient: "Oh? How fast could it be? Even if faster, could it possibly weave a bolt in five days?"

In his view, this was already the limit of limits.

The steward, however, shook his head like a rattle-drum, waving his hands repeatedly:

"No no no! Lord, not five days!"

"Not? Then why are you telling me about this trifle…" Dong Fu's anger began to rise.

The steward hurriedly interrupted him, holding up two fingers, his voice trembling with excitement:

"Lord! In my view, that girl… could weave a bolt in about two days! And the texture would be even and fine, certainly not ordinary!"

"What?! Two days per bolt?" Dong Fu suddenly stopped, his eyes wide, staring fixedly at the steward:

"You… you really saw clearly? Or are you deceiving me?"

The steward looked certain, almost swearing to heaven: "Oh dear, my lord! For such a big matter, how could I dare speak recklessly and deceive you? Go see the weaving room yourself, and you'll know the truth!"

"The girl's technique is something I've never seen before; surely it's extraordinary, which is why she's so fast!"

Hearing this, Dong Fu still felt it unbelievable in his heart, but a spark of hope had already ignited.

He hesitated no longer, and said at once:

"Come on! Take me to see it right now!"

"If we could learn her weaving technique............"

Having said that, he didn't even bother to straighten his attire, and hurriedly followed the steward's steps toward the backyard weaving room.

In Han times, ordinary households mainly used simple waist looms or oblique looms, and weaving speed was relatively slow.

When weaving, the weaver must coordinate hands and feet, passing the weft through the warp to form cloth.

Under normal circumstances, a skilled weaver can produce about several feet of cloth per day.

The length of a bolt of hemp cloth is usually between two and four zhang.

Thus weaving a bolt of hemp cloth may take ten-odd days to several tens of days.

Of course, this is plain undyed cloth; if finer patterned cloth is required, the time needed would be even longer and the price higher.

For example, the *Xijing Zaji* records that Chen Baoguang's wife used a drawloom to weave scattered-flower silk: "Sixty days to make one bolt, worth ten thousand cash."

In the absence of being able to use magic or immortal power.

After pondering through the night, the Seventh Fairy Maiden remodeled a spinning machine.

Combined with her technique and some small details, production speed increased greatly.

Of course, only she can do it; if others tried, even imitating her method and using the same tools, they would still need at least five or six days per bolt.

However, this is enough for Dong Fu to complete his task.

So.

When Dong Fu personally saw the plain-looking, even ugly Qimei seated before the ingeniously remodeled loom, her hands fluttering like butterflies among flowers, he was struck.

Moments later, when a foot of hemp cloth with even texture and tight weave was woven at a speed visible to the naked eye, his breath nearly stopped.

What shocked him even more was that he had a skilled weaver step forward to try using the remodeled loom.

Although its speed was far less than Qimei's astonishing rate, compared to an ordinary loom its efficiency had increased many times over!

What originally took ten-odd days to complete a bolt of cloth now seems to have hope of being done in five or six days!

"Good! Good! Good!" Dong Fu exclaimed three times in excitement, his face flushing with joy, the gloom of many days swept away, his eyes bursting with the light of finding hope in desperation: "Heaven helps me! Truly heaven helps me!"

He suddenly turned, vigorously patting Dong Yong's shoulder, his voice booming:

"Dong Yong! Good lad! You've this time helped me with a tremendous favor! You've rendered great service!"

He waved his hand grandly and said generously:

"Once this official duty is completed smoothly, I'll cancel the wages you owe me in one stroke, and that'll be it!"

Upon hearing this, Dong Yong did not claim credit, but hastily waved his hands and said sincerely:

"My lord, you overpraise me; this is entirely thanks to Qimei's superb skill and the ingenious remodeling of the equipment—I… I merely showed the way, really not deserving any merit."

"Ah—don't say that!" Dong Fu waved his hand to cut him off, his tone assured: "I know very well in my heart! If you hadn't brought Qimei, none of this would have happened; I'll remember this merit of recommendation."

"As for Qimei's merit, I have another generous reward for her!"

Having said that, Dong Fu adjusted his robes, put on a kindly smile, and walked up to the Seventh Fairy Maiden.

Although he had already been secretly startled by her overly "safe" appearance when they first met, his heart now could not help but stir a hint of regret—

If this girl's appearance could be a bit more proper, just relying on her astonishing weaving skill and ingenuity, she might not be unable to become his Dong family's daughter-in-law; that would truly be a help to the family……

He quickly suppressed that untimely thought, his smile grew gentler, and he spoke to Seventh Fairy Maiden:

"Qimei ah, your skill in modifying the loom and your superb weaving technique have truly helped this old man and saved the Dong family from top to bottom."

"This old man won't beat around the bush—name your price. I'll buy both the method for modifying the loom and the wages for your work these past days, and I certainly won't let you lose out."