Madam Wei didn't sense Ye Zhinan's discontent at all and kept blowing her own trumpet.
"This was originally something we'd been keeping under wraps. Fortunately, Concubine Li has some skills. She stayed up several nights and finally managed to figure it out."
As she spoke, she picked up the silk cloth and held it up in the sun.
The strands of sunlight shone through it, almost blinding Ye Zhinan.
Her brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and her face grew more and more unpleasant.
All she wanted to do now was go back to sleep. She didn't want to listen to Madam Wei's sales pitch at all.
"Hey, why do you have to research that kind of cloth? Isn't silk good enough? It's so transparent!"
Ye Zhinan forced a smile and stuffed the silk cloth back into the box exactly as it was.
"Since it's something you've been keeping under wraps, it must be useless. Why not make some for every household? It would be a good deed."
Madam Wei's face instantly turned ugly. She snatched the box and eyed Ye Zhinan warily.
Only then did she realize that her actions might have been a bit too crude.
She tidied up her skirt.
"Ah, that's definitely not possible. Although it's something we've been keeping, there are over a hundred people in the village. We don't have enough of this stuff in our family."
Ye Zhinan nodded with a smile. It seemed Madam Wei wasn't completely stupid.
She was originally too lazy to explain, but she was afraid the Weis would spread rumors when they got back, so she patiently spoke up.
"The reason I want to make that kind of cloth is that every household can afford it. Even if it gets torn or damaged next year, they can make a new one without feeling heart - broken over a piece of cloth."
The amount of cloth needed for the greenhouses is not small. Using something that others are reluctant to use for making clothes to build greenhouses shows a lack of understanding of the common people's hardships.
Madam Wei's face turned white then red, and finally turned completely cold.
In short, Ye Zhinan didn't want her stuff.
Even though she was unhappy, she still had to maintain face.
She took the stuff back and carefully wrapped it up again.
"In that case, can we take it back and use it ourselves?"
Ye Zhinan knew the Weis were up to something. She sighed and nodded in agreement.
Use it if they want. Anyway, it won't last long.
She didn't bother with false politeness and turned around to go into the kitchen to help.
Only the Weis were left in the yard. Madam Wei clearly felt embarrassed. She stamped her foot hard and turned away.
"She's really ungrateful. Thinking she can be something just because she knows a bit of technology. She's too naive."
Ye Zhinan had sharp ears and heard all of Madam Wei's complaints.
She just shook her head helplessly and didn't say anything extra.
"You're really calm. Aren't you afraid they'll sell the technology?"
Ye Zhinan looked at Han Xiangmei and suddenly smiled.
Of course she was afraid. How could she not be?
The Weis were always profit - driven. Now that they'd finally mastered the technology, they would surely try to take advantage of it.
But whether they could sell it and whether they would end up like the Zhaos was another matter.
"Let's sell it too. I don't believe that if the Yejia can do it, we can't."
It was bustling in the Wei's yard. Ye Zhinan didn't know if they were deliberately saying it for her to hear or if it was really that lively.
Ye Shenyan paused while eating and looked up at the sky.
"It seems a big wind is coming."
It was good that a big wind was coming. There would be a good show then.
The sky was gloomy the next day. When Ye Zhinan opened the window, she was surrounded by the cold wind and shivered all over.
She carefully looked by the window and seemed to see a cloth bag there.
She looked around to make sure no one was paying attention, then quickly picked it up.
The cloth bag was tattered but filled to the brim.
The things inside seemed to be struggling to pour out.
"I didn't expect they'd really managed to make it."
She murmured to herself with her head down and slowly rummaged through the things in the bag.
There was not only a winter robe but also a box of mung bean cakes.
There was also a stack of cloth. She held the cloth up against the sunlight.
The faint light shone through, making her feel much warmer all over.
She carefully rummaged further and saw a note with a familiar handwriting on it.
"The villagers were too afraid to give this to you, so they gave it to me. See which family's cloth can be used."
She carefully examined the cloth and found that each piece had the name of the family on it.
Some were rather rough, while some were very delicate.
Her mood instantly brightened. She picked up the cloth bag and hummed a tune as she went out.
"Constable Qin came to deliver things. He said they were winter clothes for every household. Since the harvest was bad this year, the government has given out subsidies."
Ye Zhinan nodded and turned to look at the clothes drying in the yard.
There were four neatly hung clothes. Han Xiangmei's was a low - key maroon, while hers was a bright canary yellow.
Ye Zhinan suddenly thought of the small medicine bottle Qin Yihuai had given her. The girl drawn on it was also wearing a canary - yellow dress.
Her face fell.
Could it be that old cliche of finding a replacement for a lost love?
She shook her head. Qin Yihuai's social circle was simple, and Chen Zhenhai had also told her that he always abided by moral principles for men.
There probably wasn't a lost love in his past.
"Let me tell you some good news. We've got the cloth we need."
She excitedly showed everyone the cloth she'd collected, deliberately skipping over the unimportant details.
She asked Han Xiangmei to help compare, and finally they decided on the Liu family's cloth.
It not only had good transparency but also was very tough. Even if you pulled it hard, it wouldn't break.
Han Xiangmei smiled like a flower and quickly urged Ye Zhinan to go find the Lius.
But Ye Zhinan was in no hurry. She sat on the chair and deliberately played hard - to - get.
"We still have a good show to watch."
As soon as she finished speaking, she heard shouting coming from the neighboring Wei's yard.
She peeked over the door frame and saw that the Weis had finished building the greenhouse and were transporting it to the fields.
Ye Yingfeng saw his little sister's smug look and instantly understood.
"Shouldn't we be waiting to watch the Wei's show?"
Ye Zhinan nodded, her eyes full of anticipation.
The Weis were making a big commotion, and every household came over to watch.
Ye Zhinan also pulled her family out.
"I didn't expect your family to figure it out so quickly. It seems quite simple."
Sister - in - law Zhang fawned over the Weis, afraid of being left behind if the Weis got rich.
Ye Zhinan didn't have the time to deal with them. She searched the crowd for the Lius.
She remembered the Liu's daughter, who was extremely beautiful.
She just had a rather tomboyish personality,
so her family named her Liu Ruonan.
She looked at the Lius, and Madam Liu looked back. Their gazes met in the air. Instead of feeling embarrassed, they nodded to each other.
"I didn't expect everyone to come and watch. We'll show you our skills. What we use is indeed different from the Yejia's, but the materials are better. Maybe the crops we grow will be better too."
Ye Zhinan rolled her eyes in her mind.
Great, my foot!