My name is Chang An, your name is Gu Li

Chapter 182 Gu Niang starts learning to weave clothes

Sitting in the carriage, the driver was still looking for the way to the dental clinic, and Chang An, sitting in the carriage, reminded: "Mother Gu, do we have to buy some new needles and thread later?"

"The pins used to make shoes and the needles used to embroider clothes are different from embroidery needles."

Gu Li said, "I have needles for making clothes. I can go to the shoe store to buy materials for making shoes later."

So Chang An directly told the driver: "After going to the dental clinic, let's go to the shoe store."

"Yes, Lord Marquis."

When they arrived at the shop, as soon as the couple walked in, a waiter came up to them and asked enthusiastically, "What do you two guests want to buy?"

Chang An asked, "I wonder if there are any maids or servants for sale recently?"

The waiter said enthusiastically, "Yes, yes, I wonder what kind you would like. I'll go find it for you."

"We need those who can make clothes and do embroidery. The more skillful the better," said Gu Li.

The waiter said, "Please wait here, I will go and ask."

"it is good."

Chang An nodded and let the servant leave. Soon, the servant brought two young-looking female slaves over and said, "My two guests, these two are the most skillful embroidery slaves here. Would you like to take a look?"

Gu Li now turned his attention to Chang An and asked, "Chang Lang, do you want to take a look?"

Chang An found a stool, sat on it, and said, "Madam Gu chooses, and I'll pay."

Helpless, Gu Li asked: "Do you all know how to make clothes?"

"Will do."

At this time, the waiter interrupted and said, "Sir, these two were both learned in the embroidery workshop, and their skills in making clothes are excellent."

Gu Li nodded, then turned back to look at Chang An and asked, "Chang Lang, can you buy them all?"

The family is now quite wealthy, so they can certainly afford to raise a girl. Besides, there is a lot of cloth and silk in the storehouse, so it is not impossible to buy two maids to be embroiderers. Chang An nodded and said:

"can."

So Gu Li asked the clerk, "I want both of them. How much silver do you want?"

The waiter said, "These two are both skilled. One is thirty-five taels, and the other can read a little, forty taels. The total is seventy-five taels. What do you think, sir?"

After calculating in his mind, Gu Li thought that it was not a bad deal to buy two embroiderers for seventy-five taels. He nodded, and the clerk said happily:

"Then please follow me, sir."

She brought Gu Li to the counter and asked the shopkeeper to do a simple calculation. Then Gu Li took out enough silver from the purse Chang An had stuffed in her pocket and put it on the counter. After the shopkeeper counted the amount, he nodded and took out the indentures of the two embroidery slaves and two contracts.

"Please sign your name here," said the shopkeeper, pointing to the contract.

"Chang Lang! Come and sign." When Gu Li saw that he was about to sign, he turned around and shouted.

Chang An then stepped forward and filled in his name on the two contracts. At this point, the shopkeeper handed the two indentures to Chang An, and the slave transaction was completely completed.

Chang An looked at the two indentures and found that the column for the slave's name was still blank.

"Sir, they don't have a name yet. You need to give them a name before they can sign the contract of sale." At this time, the shopkeeper reminded.

In ancient times, slaves were divided into official slaves and private slaves. Official slaves were the servants that Li Longji rewarded Chang'an and his wife. Most of them were prisoners of war or relatives of criminals, and their names were retained. The two they bought were private slaves, and their status was lower than that of official slaves. Their original names were erased, and their names could only be decided by the next owner.

Chang An looked at the two maids and asked, "What were your original names?"

"My Lord, my original name is Zhou Qi, the Qi in Qiluo."

"My name is Zhou Qi, Qi as in Wang Dake."

Chang An raised his eyebrows - they are sisters. After thinking for a while, he said, "Then you two should drop your surnames and change them to Chang, Chang means "often", and your given names should remain the same, just keep the same surname as mine."

"Thank you, master." Chang Qi and Chang Qi bowed, and then Zhou Qi picked up the pen and wrote his name on the two indentures.

At this point, the slave trade was completed, and Chang An and Gu Li left the brokerage shop with the two new servants. Chang An first carried Gu Li into the car, and then said to Chang Qi and Chang Qi:

"You two are new maids and have never been to the mansion. So sit on the edge of the carriage and get acquainted with the road," said Chang An.

"Yes, master." The two sisters said in unison.

Chang An was about to turn around and get into the car, but when he heard the very uncomfortable title of "Master", he pulled himself out again. Then he pointed at the two sisters and said:

"Don't call me Master. Either call us Young Master Sanniang or Marquis's wife. We are quite free to call us whatever we want, as long as you don't call us Master. Do you understand?"

The two sisters looked at each other and replied, "Yes, my lord."

"Marquis" is better than "master", so Chang An got into the carriage. Then they drove to the shoe store, and after Chang An and Gu Li bought the things quickly, they went directly to Anrenfang.

After returning home, Chang An instructed the two about their future work: "In the future, you two will be responsible for making all kinds of clothes to be worn in the mansion. If there is anything missing, report to the storehouse and you can withdraw money."

"The monthly salary is one tael, the same as for the rest of the family. It includes food and lodging, and there will be no shortage of you."

"Thank you, Lord Marquis."

Chang Qi and Chang Qi did not seem to have any emotional fluctuations. As a slave, in the Tang Dynasty, where the average monthly salary of a slave ranged from 500 to 1,000 coins, a salary of one tael of silver a month was considered very generous. Even Huaiqin and Zhen'er, two personal maids, had a monthly salary of two taels of silver.

Chang An didn't care and directly asked Huaiqin to arrange accommodation for Chang Qi and Chang Qi, and then went back into the house with Gu Li.

......

The next day, Chang An got on the carriage with his salary and book box on his back. After watching Chang An go away, Gu Li asked Zhen'er to call Chang Qi and Chang Qi to the yard.

"Madam." The two sisters came to the yard and greeted her first.

After the "patient" guidance of all the maids last night, Chang Qi and Chang Qi also knew the situation of the new master Chang An. And they were filled with the maids' praise for the master, and even the fact that Gu Li was pregnant was told to them.

Gu Li pointed to the two pieces of new cloth on the table and asked, "How are you two doing with making clothes?"

Chang Qi replied: "Madam, that is acceptable."

"What about children's clothes?" Gu Li asked again.

Chang Qi and Chang Qi looked at each other and said, "We can do it."

Gu Li immediately became happy and said, "Then I wonder if you can teach me how to weave clothes."

"Of course, ma'am." Chang Qi nodded and replied.

"Then let's start now. I have all the needles and thread." Gu Li immediately stood up happily and went back to the house to get the needles and thread.

Gu Li's sewing kit was very complete, and he took out the entire basket. Then he sat in the yard and said, "We can start now!"

So, Chang Qi and Chang Qi took turns to teach Gu Li how to weave clothes, from cutting the cloth to sewing the stitches. When cutting the cloth, Chang Qi stretched out his hand to measure the length, and after a simple estimate, he told Gu Li how much cloth he would need to make the clothes.

Then Chang Qi took the knife and cut the measured cloth with a pair of scissors. Then she drew several lines on the cloth with scissors and cut the cloth into garment pieces while giving instructions.

But when Chang Qi finished explaining, she looked down and found that Gu Li's eyebrows were slightly frowned, and his lips were pursed, as if he couldn't keep up. There was no choice but to put the piece of cloth she had just cut aside, and then took out a wooden ruler from the basket, starting with measuring the size of the cloth, and explained it to Gu Li bit by bit.

Even the drawing powder, which was rarely used, was taken out and given to Gu Li to draw lines on the cloth to facilitate cutting.

......

At noon, Chang An returned home from school and saw Gu Li standing at the door waiting excitedly.

"Mother Gu, I'm back." Chang An walked up to her with a smile and kissed Gu Li on the face.

"Welcome home, Chang Lang." Gu Li also responded with a smile.

Chang An took Gu Li by the hand and walked directly into the mansion. As they walked, he asked, "How is it going, Madam Gu, learning how to make clothes today?"

"One has been made." said Gu Li.

Chang An raised his eyebrows and asked with a smile, "Really? My mother Gu is really amazing."

But after receiving the compliment, Gu Li felt a little embarrassed and said, "But Chang Lang, my cooking is not pretty."

As they talked, the two returned to the yard. At this time, Chang Qi and Chang Qi had already gone back, and the stone table was also tidied up. But Gu Li's knitwear basket was still on it, so Gu Li led him over.

She reached out her hand, picked up the clothes inside, handed them to Chang An, and said, "Chang Lang, take a look."

Chang An took the dress and could easily tell it was a children's dress. The overall shape had been made and it was wearable. At first glance, there was nothing wrong with it, but if you looked closely, you could see that the stitching on the dress was not very good and was a little crooked.

Chang An nodded with satisfaction and said, "Mother Gu has done a great job, and this is only the first day. There are still nearly ten months to go, so take your time."

Encouraged by Chang An, Gu Li was visibly happy. He said, "Now I am learning to make children's clothes. How about when I learn how to make robes, I can make clothes for Chang Lang!"

Chang An pinched Gu Li's cheek lovingly and said, "Okay! When the time comes, I will look very pretty when I go out wearing the clothes that Gu Niang made for me. It will definitely attract the envy of those gentlemen."

"Hey, ok!"