Chapter 81 - : Even More Moved
Girls in peasant families almost all knew how to sew and mend clothes, make shoes, and because people in the countryside weren’t fussy about clothing, everything was made generously sized, especially for children, to prevent them from outgrowing their clothes too quickly.
And making shoes, especially attaching the soles, required a bit of strength.
Neither task required much skill.
But Old Granny Zhang, as unworldly as she was, knew that embroidery was a valuable skill for a woman, one that could increase her worth and ensure that, even if married to a nasty mother-in-law, she wouldn’t starve.
When she had agreed to Lady Jiang’s marriage to Laosan, it was not only because a small dowry could virtually secure a daughter-in-law for nothing, but more so because she had surreptitiously inquired around Lady Jiang’s maternal home.
She found out that Lady Jiang’s mother had once been an embroideress for a wealthy family; what crisis befell her patrons was unclear, but their servants ended up being sold, and Lady Jiang’s mother was among those bought by a trafficker. She was cunning, deliberately kept her face dirty, acted ugly and strange, and was far more passive than the other girls, which made her less appealing. After selling the others, the trafficker brought Lady Jiang’s mother to town.
Lady Jiang’s mother seized that opportunity. Because she was unattractive, the trafficker figured that opulent households wouldn’t want her, so as he passed through Shiqiao Town, he thought that the country folks, unexposed to the wider world, might settle for such a girl at a lower price, perhaps even trick someone into buying her.
At that time, Jiang Chengye was a poor scholar; to support his education, his family was left with nothing, and they could no longer afford it, so he had to drop out and return home with several younger siblings still depending on him.
With heavy family burdens and Lady Jiang being frail and helpless, they moved to town where they survived by writing letters for people and other menial tasks.