Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 381 - 378: Embroidery Workshop and Garment Shop

Chapter 381: Chapter 378: Embroidery Workshop and Garment Shop

After entering the house, Lin Wanwan stayed at Xiaoxi Town for several more days, and several of her cousins from her maternal family also stayed at the mansion for a short time.

Lin Wanwan was very welcoming of Xiao Xianghua’s arrival. She often corresponded with Xiao Xianghua, considering her a pen pal from the Great Tang, with whom she felt connected in many ways.

People are just strange; some remain familiar strangers for a lifetime, while others become confidants in no time.

This time, Xiao Xianghua brought Lin Wanwan a double-sided embroidered screen.

Such exquisite embroidery must have taken her several months and a great deal of effort. Lin Wanwan reciprocated by taking her along with Xiao Ronghua, Xiao Yixun, and others to the Red Smile Shop for daily beauty spa treatments.

Aside from indulging in beauty and wellness, Lin Wanwan also took Xiao Xianghua to visit her Embroidery Workshop.

This workshop, located in the northwest corner of the Lin Mansion, had a separate wall built by craftsmen at Lin Wanwan’s request. The gate was open during the day and locked from the outside at night, preventing anyone inside from entering the Lin Mansion, safeguarding the master’s privacy.

On regular days, embroideresses do not pass through the main entrance of the Lin Mansion; instead, they enter and exit the courtyard through a side door in the workshop’s wall.

The steward of the embroidery room is still the same old nanny sent by Xiao Chong, whose children and grandchildren all work at the Lin Family Manor. Xiao Chong transferred the family’s servitude contracts to Lin Wanwan, and she isn’t afraid of the old nanny’s betrayal.

The Great Tang is not modern, there is no such thing as equality. If servants betray their master, they pay with their life, not just material possessions. Few are foolish enough to do so.

There are now forty-nine embroideresses in the workshop, most of whom are wives of craftsmen from Xiaoxi Town, with only a few civilians.

Because craftsmen have no land, and the government’s wages aren’t high, most craftsmen only manage to barely make ends meet, belonging to the poor class in town.

The Great Tang is predominantly self-sufficient with a small-farm economy, and commerce isn’t developed, so employment opportunities are scarce.

Men in town either sell themselves to nobles as servants or work in taverns and inns as attendants (not the modern equivalent of a doctorate), or labor as porters.

As for women, apart from weaving at home and supporting their husbands while educating children, they basically have no other employment options.

An embroidery workshop like Lin Wanwan’s, similar to a modern company, is unique in the town. Most merchants prefer to directly buy slaves and train them to embroider so they can exploit them for life.

Thus now, being able to work at the Le’an Xiangjun Mansion’s embroidery workshop is an enviable job in Xiaoxi Town.

This group of embroideresses gets paid by the piece, and their monthly silk and copper coin earnings exceed those of their own husbands. Money means status, so with income, their family status increases.

Citizens of the Great Tang are extremely proud, generally reckless in poverty, and naturally become even more arrogant once they have a bit of surplus.

The embroideresses in the workshop now walk with confidence and are full of vigor every day!

The embroidery workshop providing a midday meal makes each of them look radiant.

If people didn’t see the women entering the Le’an Xiangjun’s embroidery workshop every day, they’d think they were doing something else, with how vibrant they look.

This group’s economic conditions improved, and even their appearances got better day by day, naturally harmonizing their family relationships.

Without contraception, a supporting problem is the number of pregnant workers rising sharply. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Fortunately, commonfolk in the Great Tang are used to laboring daily, and working while pregnant poses no issue, otherwise, the workshop would have to recruit again.

These embroideresses are afraid of having their good jobs taken away, thinking that pregnancy is no big deal and must not interfere with work.

Especially after hearing Lin Wanwan’s proclamation of maternity leave, their motivation surged!

Starting now, deducting twenty coins each month, after childbirth they can rest for a hundred days, a so-called maternity leave. Most importantly, during this leave, they still receive almost equivalent earnings to their current strenuous work!

After the news broke, the workshop’s labor enthusiasm skyrocketed, and they were eager to make the workshop their home.

It was during this time that the town’s ready-to-wear shop joined in.

Lin Wanwan was painstaking in purchasing the ready-to-wear shop, considering that most shops are backed by the shadows of noble gentry.

For acquisitions, Lin Wanwan had to pick a clean and appealing soft target; this required considerable effort and relied on Sun Chuyao’s team mingling at the lower levels to gather intel.

Pure businessmen in the Great Tang are just lambs for slaughter, and the ready-to-wear shop Lin Wanwan acquired was such a fat lamb.

However, she was decent enough, didn’t use force, offering a normal market price.

The shop’s business had been struggling due to lack of backing, squeezed by peers; Lin Wanwan’s purchase was met with immediate agreement.

Even the shop owner himself became Lin Wanwan’s Store Manager, from a proprietor to working for someone else. Of course, it was his voluntary decision, Lin Wanwan did not coerce him.

So now, the embroidery workshop’s products lead to some being turned into ready-to-wear outfits, true Great Tang Hanfu, covering various styles, not just the modern attire like skirts seen on TV.

Lin Wanwan took Xiao Xianghua to see the embroidery in the workshop, where several embroideresses with profound craftsmanship impressed Xiao Xianghua greatly.

"Cousin Wanwan, these embroideresses, though not trained in painting, have a high sensitivity to beauty; their embroidery resembles poetry and painting, really incredible. You’ve discovered treasures. Why not employ some means to buy them?" After the tour, Xiao Xianghua couldn’t help but say.

Lin Wanwan laughingly replied: "I feel this employment system is quite nice, why turn them all into servants?"

"That’s fine for now, but I’m afraid later someone might get jealous and poach them."

People without foresight must worry about close concerns, Xiao Xianghua’s words ring true.

"Don’t worry, dear cousin, I’ll preemptively prevent such matters."

Lin Wanwan holds this confidence; if she can’t retain high-end embroiderers, it means she didn’t offer enough, giving sufficiently ensures they won’t leave.

In the whole Great Tang, she confidently asserts her respect for talent surpasses any noble.

As long as the benefits are sufficient, she believes nobody would betray.

As for whether anyone secretly attempts misconduct, that would push them all to servitude, and even then, the same risk exists.

Now Lin Wanwan holds a Secondary Fifth Rank as Village Lady; should anyone attempt such, she wouldn’t shy from confrontation.

Taking the finest embroidery from the workshop, and waiting for a batch of finished Hanfu from the ready-to-wear shop, Lin Wanwan inspected them, planning to return to modern times with these.

Due to renovations on the second floor, Lin Wanwan currently stays in a simple guest room on the first floor. With frequent visits from family, Lin Wanwan hasn’t transported a large batch to modern times in quite a while.

The Amazon shop is beginning to run out of stock; it’s time for replenishment.