Chapter 8: Sewing Machines (Part 2)

  Wei Hong didn't dare to tell the truth, so he thought for a moment and made up a lie: "In the past when my husband was taking the imperial examination, he met an extraordinary person, and this sewing machine skill was learned from that extraordinary person."

  Yan nodded slightly, not asking much, but one thing was certain. With the sewing machine, completing 200 pieces of clothing within six days shouldn't be too difficult. Yan, this apprentice, quickly excelled under Wei Hong's guidance, surpassing her master despite being a bit slow. By the end of the day, Yan had completed 30 pieces of clothing, and because of the even density of the stitches, the sewing machine's quality easily surpassed that of pure handmade embroidery.

  The next day, Wan Niang's sewing machine skills were even more skilled, and in one day, she actually made fifty finished garments.

  Looking at the clothes piling up into a small mountain inside the house, Wan Niang smiled with joy, but Wei Hong's face didn't show much delight. Although Wei Hong had just met Sun Zi Hang, from his behavior style, it was clear that this person would stop at nothing to achieve his goals, and even if he delivered all the clothes on time and in full quantity to Sun Zi Hang, Sun Zi Hang would not let things go easily and might even take more ruthless revenge.

  If it were only Wei Hong alone, it wouldn't be a big deal. At most, Wei Hong would roll up his sleeves and fight with Sun Zi Hang, then run away afterwards. The world is vast, where can't one go? But with Wan Niang by his side, things become complicated. He must come up with a foolproof plan to either kill the evil intentions in Sun Zi Hang's heart or directly defeat him, striking him down into the depths of despair, never to rise again!

  "Husband, your complexion doesn't look quite right. Is there something on your mind?" Yuanniang put down her work and looked at Weihong with some concern.

  Wei Hong shook his head and said softly: "Nothing's wrong, Madame Wei doesn't need to worry."

  "If there's anything on your mind, just tell me and I'll listen. Although I may not be able to help with anything, I can at least share some of the burden with you."

  A simple sentence, yet it made Wei Hong very satisfied. Before crossing over, Wei Hong was like most men, always thinking that marriage is the tomb of love. Now it seems that those who say marriage is a tomb are just men who haven't found the right woman to be their wife. A woman like Ruan Niang, where is the tomb? It's clearly the sublimation of love.

  It is said that behind every successful man, there is a virtuous woman. Looking at the busy back of Yuanniang, Weihong suddenly had an epiphany. He realized that he had just carelessly fallen into a dead end in his thinking. Now that even sewing machines have been invented, what else was there to worry about? With this thought, Weihong's mind was filled with ideas, and a string of thoughts emerged one after another. All he needed to do was spread the reputation of the sewing machine, and naturally, far-sighted rich merchants would come to discuss cooperation. As long as he could climb up a big tree, what did it matter about Sunzi Hang?

  Although there was no intellectual property protection law at that time, the working principle and manufacturing method of the sewing machine were known only to Wei Hong, which in a way gave him a unique secret recipe that could make a lot of money easily.

  Things took a turn for the better, and Wei Hong's solemn face also relaxed. He hugged Yuanniang from behind and gently kissed her earlobe: "Yuanniang, thank you. If it weren't for you, I don't know when I would have turned this corner."

  Wan Niang didn't know what Wei Hong was muttering about, but feeling his warm breath, Wan Niang's small face involuntarily turned red, and she replied shyly: "Husband, you must be thinking of something delightful?"

  Weihong didn't respond, letting Ruan Niang continue making clothes at home. He himself turned around and went out the door, preparing to use his old trick again, getting those beggars who had collected scrap iron a few days ago to help him with another favor, doing some sensational commercial propaganda. After inquiring around, Weihong found a large number of beggars in an abandoned City God Temple outside Hangzhou city. In the end, he hired nearly a hundred beggars at the cost of three buns and two cents per person per day, letting them spread exaggerated rumors about sewing machines throughout Hangzhou city.

  One hundred beggars, not a single day out, will make Hangzhou city noisy and lively, almost everyone is talking about sewing machines. The efficiency of the beggars is very high, Wei Hong is not stingy at all, the two hundred coins earned in the past few days are paid to the beggars without any hesitation. As a businessman who has been mixed in the business world for many years, Wei Hong deeply understands that doing business, some money can be saved, but some money must not be saved! This time, Wei Hong only spent two hundred coins, and let everyone in Hangzhou city know about the existence of sewing machines. The propaganda efficiency is something that even the TV advertisements of the past life cannot reach.

  "Wang Auntie, have you heard? In the eastern part of the city, Wei Xiang has invented something called a 'sewing machine' that can sew fifty long shirts in just one day by one person!"

  "I hadn't heard about it, but listening to those beggars' chatter, I don't know if it's true or false."

  "It shouldn't be wrong, those beggars also said that Sun Gongzi of Wan Yongbu Hang deliberately made things difficult for the Wei family couple, forcing them to make 200 long shirts within 10 days. As a result, Wei Xianggong invented the sewing machine and finished making all 200 shirts in just a few days. I have a good relationship with the young apprentices of Wan Yongbu Hang, and they told me that this is indeed true."

  "Wow, if that's the case, then Wei's little daughter-in-law can replace ten embroiderers with her sewing machine. Isn't she going to get rich?"

  ……

  Two hundred long shirts, under Yuanniang's efforts, were delivered to Sun Zihang on time and in full. Sun Zihang had also heard about the sewing machine incident and his face looked a bit unpleasant. After all, in this commercial promotion, Sun Zihang was at a moral disadvantage and became a despicable person who everyone could bully. However, Sun Zihang did not lose his temper in front of Wei Hong because the Sun family, like most fabric merchants, were also calculating their profits from sewing machines: "Young Master Wei, I heard you've come up with something new these days? May I take a look?"

  Wei Hong didn't respond. This sewing machine was a divine weapon to deal with Sun Zi Hang, and it was also the important capital for Wei Hong's future wealth. How could he easily show it to others? Besides, you little brat forgot how you squeezed me dry in the first place? Now you want to see the sewing machine? Not even the door is open! I'm just a petty person like that, love it or hate it!

  Sun Zihang ate a loss, feeling extremely unhappy in his heart, but he couldn't do anything about Wei Hong. In the end, he could only turn around and leave. On the way out, Sun Zihang thought viciously to himself: "You think that just because you handed in all your clothes on time, I'll let you off? Dream on! We'll see about that!"