Chapter Fifty-One: Delivering Cotton Clothes

Lin Miaomiao looked at Li Yanhe with her fair little face, speaking earnestly, “These coats are all padded. Please distribute them to the soldiers stationed at the border.”
My factory may not make gold every day, but earning thousands of taels a day is no longer a challenge. So, I wanted to do something for the soldiers guarding the frontier.
After she finished speaking, Lin Miaomiao handed the design sketches to Li Yanhe. On those black coats, she had printed the characters for Dayong.
Li Yanhe was immediately captivated by Lin Miaomiao’s designs. The coats were black, a color easily dyed in Dayong City. The Emperor’s dragon robe was a bright yellow these days.
Lin Miaomiao embroidered the Dayong insignia in white thread. She based her designs on modern military coats, but this era couldn’t produce army green dye.
Other shades of green were unappealing, so Lin Miaomiao chose black: it suited any style, any person, and was exceedingly resistant to dirt.
She organized the wives of the soldiers to make these coats. The women, hearing the clothes were for the border guards, refused payment and volunteered their labor. The families of the soldiers, the elderly mothers at home, all stitched each garment, thread by thread.
Before long, all the coats were finished. Lin Miaomiao intended to pay them, but the soldiers’ families, seeing her offer money, stuffed it back into her purse.
Soon, hundreds of thousands of coats were ready. Before the first snowfall, Lin Miaomiao withdrew all the men from the factory and sent the military coats to Daankou.
Li Yanhe was wearing the very coat Lin Miaomiao had sewn for him—a simple black padded jacket embroidered with the two characters for Dayong.
On the chest, she had also embroidered the Dayong dynasty’s battle flag, and beneath it, she stitched Li Yanhe’s official rank.
She had chosen snap buttons, and when Li Yanhe saw her fixing them onto his coat, he was overjoyed.
Once everything was ready, Li Yanhe wore the coat the next day, and the rough soldiers were all particularly fond of his attire.
Within days, the workers from the temporary factory delivered the rest of the coats. The lieutenant at the border had long coveted his general’s coat.
To coordinate with Lin Miaomiao, Li Yanhe had measured the soldiers’ heights and weights, and Lin Miaomiao had asked him to find a few soldier models.
Li Yanhe’s men distributed the coats one by one. That morning, Lin Miaomiao handed him a note: XXXL was the largest size, for those who were taller and heavier; XXL for medium builds; XL for those slightly shorter than average; L for the smallest, for those who were short and slight.
Thus, for the first time, the millions stationed at the frontier wore these new military coats. Lin Miaomiao thought Li Yanhe looked particularly handsome in his.
She took up a pencil and sketched a dashing portrait of his back in the coat. Recently, in the capital, it had become fashionable to wear sweaters, and now military coats were all the rage.
Everyone in the capital, men and women alike, owned a military coat. Some noblewomen wore particularly light clothing this winter.
Lin Miaomiao’s designs were stylish and lightweight, so the noblewomen’s fashion became wildly popular, and Lin Miaomiao profited handsomely once again.

Li Zheng watched the accounts of the shop he ran jointly with Lin Miaomiao, noting that the balance never fell. As always, Lin Miaomiao and Li Zheng split the profits evenly, forty percent each.
Because Li Yanhe told Lin Miaomiao that Li Zheng’s earnings required a twenty percent cut for the royal treasury, which was managed by a member of the royal family.
Unfortunately, without royal status—even though Li Zheng had died—the royal family refused to acknowledge Li Zheng as one of their own.
But in truth, all those in power knew that Li Zheng controlled the silver in the royal treasury; this was his sole value.
Upon hearing Li Yanhe’s words, Lin Miaomiao met with Li Zheng and changed all contracts to a forty-forty split, with the remaining twenty percent going to the treasury.
Li Zheng never expected Li Yanhe to reveal such a secret to Lin Miaomiao, nor did he anticipate her foxlike shrewdness. In the end, she proved quite adept at currying favor with those in power.
Lin Miaomiao became very glad to do business with Li Zheng; after all, since a tenth of her earnings went to the Emperor, who would dare meddle with her factory?
The clothing shop run by Li Zheng and Lin Miaomiao opened quickly. The old arrangement continued: Li Zheng managed operations, Lin Miaomiao provided clothes and jewelry.
Whenever Lin Miaomiao released a new design, she sent the sketches and samples immediately, along with matching jewelry.
Thus, noblewomen, wealthy ladies, and young misses from the capital flocked to buy her clothes and accessories. Lin Miaomiao felt her creations had become the luxury goods of the modern age.
Winter arrived almost unnoticed. Snow began to fall at Daankou. Lin Miaomiao watched the large flakes drifting outside, sighing quietly.
She had traversed to ancient times for two whole years now. Time had slipped by without her realizing it.
From her beginnings as a street vendor, opening her own factory, running shops for profit—Lin Miaomiao felt an unreality to it all.
Looking at the snowfall, she found herself missing her modern parents. She had no relatives or friends in this era.
Her thoughts and the times were at odds, and a sense of loneliness welled up. She leaned by the window, watching the falling snow.
Li Yanhe saw Lin Miaomiao standing there, gazing blankly at the snow, a shadow seeming to fall across her.
He sighed, walked to her side, and placed his large hand gently on her head. Lin Miaomiao looked up at him.
“Li Yanhe, do you know what loneliness is?” Her voice was soft, as though she had never spoken the words aloud.
Li Yanhe was unsure what had prompted the child to say this, but the words tugged at his heart.
He followed her gaze to the snow outside and said, “Lonely? I came here when I was fourteen.”
His voice was light. Lin Miaomiao suddenly remembered he was a prince, sent here at fourteen. From that year, he endured freezing winters and bloody battles.
She could hardly imagine a child of fourteen facing such trials, and her heart ached for him.

Li Yanhe said nothing. He was a man of few words, cold and reserved, but at that moment, Lin Miaomiao felt the weight of his hand on her shoulder. After a long silence, she heard his cool voice, “Do you miss your parents?”
Lin Miaomiao smiled brightly at him, shook her head, and said, “Not really. It’s just that winter always brings a melancholy for the passing of seasons.”
They smiled at each other. In that moment, two lonely souls stood by the window, watching the snow blanket the world.
Lin Miaomiao glanced at Li Yanhe, suddenly recalling that today was the Winter Solstice. She looked up and smiled, “This Winter Solstice happens to be my birthday. Should we celebrate grandly?”
Li Yanhe didn’t quite understand her meaning. In his experience, a grand birthday meant hiring an opera troupe and inviting many guests.
He was about to ask Lin Qi to arrange the troupe when he saw Lin Miaomiao bustling about.
She called Cui Liu and another helper into the kitchen. Because of the snow, Lin Langluan and Lin Langze didn’t have school, so they followed her closely.
Li Yanhe watched as Lin Miaomiao darted outside, and suddenly the household was lively. In the courtyard, she directed the two children to various tasks.
Lin Langluan and Lin Langze helped her clear the dishes. Lin Miaomiao suddenly wanted to bake a birthday cake, but without an electric mixer, Li Yanhe became her laborer.
After the cake was finished, Lin Miaomiao began piping the cream. The two children stared wide-eyed as she worked.
The cake’s sweet aroma tempted them, and Lin Miaomiao, seeing their urge to sneak a taste, squeezed a dollop of cream onto their fingertips.
The tiny blobs were carefully licked off, and as they savored the creamy sweetness, they cried out, “Sister, sister! We want more!”
Lin Miaomiao found it amusing, and Li Yanhe, standing nearby, seemed eager to try as well. She climbed onto a stool and, like a little adult, piped a bit onto his finger.
Then she did the same for Lin Langluan and Lin Langze. Li Yanhe’s eyes brightened, and as he tasted her homemade cream, they sparkled with delight.
By ten in the morning, Lin Miaomiao had just finished the birthday cake. The winter temperature was perfect; even if prepared ahead of time, the cake wouldn’t melt.
She set it outside. The snow had stopped. Then she heard a knock at the door, looked at the two children, and said, “Go open it quickly—is it Brother Lin Qi and Brother Lin Ji Wang returning?”
The children, overjoyed, hopped to the door and opened it nimbly. Lin Miaomiao saw Li Zheng standing outside.
She looked at him with curiosity. Li Zheng had been unusually busy these days and she wondered why he had suddenly appeared.
Li Zheng, upon seeing Lin Miaomiao, immediately caught the scent from the kitchen and looked at her in surprise, “Oh, what’s the occasion today? Why does the food smell so delicious?”