The Legend of the Farm Girl

Yunfang has already thought about it. She cannot learn embroidery directly. Her family’s current situation does not allow her to have enough money to buy cloth, needles and thread. She has to learn some skills that can make money without any capital.

She told her mother about her idea. Although her mother was obsessed with embroidery, she had to admit that what Yunfang said made sense, and she gave Yunfang another suggestion.

"Fang'er, you can learn some handicrafts, and then teach me, and we can make them together and sell them for money."

Yunfang listened to her mother's suggestion and thought it was feasible. When the system asked her to choose what to study in the evening, Yunfang said to the system: "I want to learn handicrafts. The materials used in the things I make are easy to obtain and sell."

"According to the host's wishes, I recommend learning the knowledge of hand-woven rattan items. The items obtained after learning are beautiful and durable. Do you want to learn?"

"Learn"

“When I started teaching, I first learned how to choose fresh rattan. I chose rattan of the right size and length.”

"Then you have to process it, steam it and dry it in the shade to ensure its toughness, and finally learn how to weave it."

After three days and six sessions of learning, Yunfang has mastered the method of making rattan. Within the system, Yunfang can already make beautiful, sturdy and durable rattan baskets, vegetable baskets, and even fruit plates. The next step is to put it into practice.

There are many vines growing at the foot of the mountain behind the village. These vines are difficult to burn, so no one touches them. Over the years, these vines have grown very lush.

This gave Yunfang ample opportunities to choose. Based on what she had learned, she selected many rattans of different sizes. Different types of rattan weaving required rattan of different thicknesses. Yunfang silently calculated in her mind that two rattans would be enough for each weaving, as she could not carry more than that.

After bringing the picked rattan back home, Yunfang's mother had already lit the stove. In the past few days, Yunfang was studying and explaining the learning process to her mother. Although her mother could not practice in the system like Yunfang, she had memorized the weaving process. She knew that Yunfang would need to steam the rattan when she came back, so she lit the stove. When Yunfang was out of confinement and could see the wind, she could not let Yunfang go to the mountains alone. They could go together, which would be safer and more effective.

Fresh rattan needs to be steamed and dried repeatedly. It took Yunfang and her mother three days to process the rattan, and they were finally able to start weaving.

Yunfang and her mother sat in the house weaving rattan baskets. Yunfang would patiently teach her mother little by little, and Yunfang would continue to practice in the system. Good craftsmen would have several years or even decades of experience. If Yunfang wanted to compete with them, she would have to work harder. It took another two days, and they finally made two of all the styles they knew. Yunfang's mother mainly wove simple objects, while Yunfang's weaving was a bit more difficult.

The finished product is really both beautiful and practical. Yun Fangniang feels that it will definitely sell for a good price.

In this way, Yunfang began to go to the mountains to pick fresh rattan, come back and process it with Yunfang's mother, weave rattan baskets together, practice and learn new styles in the system in her sleep, and teach her mother this repetitive work.

Soon, there were eight types of rattan baskets of various sizes in the Yun family’s house.

It was time for Yunfang's mother to leave confinement. It was June and the weather had become much hotter. The fifth day of June was the day when there was a market in the nearby township. The adults in the village, who had been busy with farming for a month, would take their children to the market to buy some things needed for the family.

Yunfang's mother had been out of confinement for two days. She decided to go to the market today to try to sell the rattan baskets they had recently woven. She had already discussed the price with Yunfang. The smallest and simplest ones would be sold for one penny, and different styles would be gradually charged according to the amount of materials used and the difficulty of weaving. If two large baskets costing more than four pennies were bought, one penny would be discounted. And if five small baskets were bought, one penny would be discounted.

Yun Fangniang stacked up more than 60 baskets in her home, big baskets stacked on top of small baskets. These baskets were not light, and it would be almost impossible to pull them to the town on foot. Yun Fangniang had thought about this a long time ago. She had agreed with Aunt Wang last night to hire Aunt Wang's ox cart today to take these rattan baskets to the market to sell. If they were sold, she would pay with money, and if they were not, she would pay with rattan baskets.

Aunt Wang tried to refuse in every possible way, but she finally agreed after being persuaded by Yunfang's mother. Yunfang's mother only said to her, "We are all daughters-in-law, and I understand the difficulties of being a daughter-in-law." Aunt Wang then agreed with Yunfang's mother.

After Yunfang and Yunfang's mother prepared the rattan basket, they heard Aunt Wang calling Yunfang's mother.

"Are you ready? Let's go!"

Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang came together and helped Yun Fangniang move the rattan basket onto the ox cart. Aunt Wang was very surprised to see the rattan basket and said to Yun Fangniang, "When you told me about it before, I didn't think this basket was really good. If you sell me a big one, it will cover the cost of hiring a cart. I'll carry it to the market later so I can buy more things."

"That won't work. It costs at least 10 cents to hire a cart to carry the goods. My biggest basket only costs 8 cents. I'm taking advantage of you."

"Let's not talk about whether we're taking advantage of each other or not. If not, give me a few more of these small ones. I think they'll look nice when I put some things in my home."

Aunt Wang continued, "Yunfang is really capable. How come she has all these wonderful ideas and can research these things by herself? I think these things are really good and they will definitely sell well. Well, let's go quickly. It's getting late and there will be no good place to set up the stall."

"Wait for me for a moment. I'll go back and feed the baby, and then we'll set off."

Yunfang's mother came into the house, fed Yun Xiaodi, and then told Yunfang, "I will be back in two hours no matter how much I sell. You don't have to make rattan baskets at home. Just look after your two brothers."

"Mom, don't worry, I will take good care of my two younger brothers." Yunfang replied.

Yunfang's mother and Aunt Wang went to the village together and occupied a good spot, where they put out all the baskets. The styles of baskets that Yunfang chose to learn from were all practical. Now was the season for selling baskets, and it was almost the season for picking wild fruits and mushrooms, which was when this kind of basket was needed. The slightly larger baskets quickly attracted many people, and these people asked for a cheaper price when they bought them. If they couldn't get a cheaper price, they would ask Yunfang's mother to make a small basket for them.

Yunfang's mother made a temporary decision to give away the small basket as a gift, and sure enough, business improved. Except for the large basket left for Aunt Wang, the rest were all sold. According to the price agreed upon by Yunfang's mother and Yunfang at home, they earned a total of 312 cents.

She took out another 10 coins and gave them to Aunt Wang in front of Uncle Wang, saying to her: "Sister Ling, thanks to your help, I give you these 10 coins and this big basket. Please don't refuse me. I will need your help in the future. If you don't want this money, I will not be able to ask you for help in the future."

Aunt Wang put the money away. Afraid that little brother Yun would be hungry, they drove back home quickly.