Free Web NovelChapter 457: Chapter 457: Economic Strength Determines Family Status
Even after Adrian Hawthorne left, Phoebe Huxley and the other women stayed busy. Although the three of them worked with all their might, getting faster and faster until they could each make more than eight pieces a day, Juliana Rhodes was still quicker.
Juliana didn’t look rushed, nor did her movements seem particularly fast. In contrast, Phoebe Huxley and the other two were a flurry of activity. Yet, by the end of the day, Juliana had simply made more than they did—typically ten pieces, which amounted to six yuan. Phoebe was green with envy, wishing she could grow an extra pair of arms and legs.
Phoebe Huxley was frustrated, but there was nothing she could do. Her skills simply weren’t a match for Juliana’s. Juliana Rhodes earned her money fair and square through her own abilities; Phoebe couldn’t just fly off the handle and start cussing her out.
Still, Phoebe Huxley was quite content. Even if she couldn’t match Juliana Rhodes, her own daily wages were nothing to scoff at. Eight pieces earned her four yuan and eighty cents—more than Felix Thorne made. That added up to over a hundred yuan a month, and nearly two thousand a year. That was enough to support three college students without a problem.
Phoebe Huxley could finally stand tall. ’Financial power determines your status in the family. Before, Felix Thorne was the one who earned more, so no matter how ticked off I got, I had to rein it in. Not anymore. If Felix Thorne dares to give me any attitude now... hmph! I’ll take a cleaver to him. If I cripple him, so what? I can afford to support him for the rest of his life.’
However, Phoebe Huxley’s happiness didn’t last long. They had run out of scrap fabric. Four days after Adrian Hawthorne’s departure, the supply was gone, leaving only tiny, fragmented remnants. Piecing those into clothing was too time-consuming; you couldn’t even finish a single garment in a full day.
"When is Adrian coming back? We’ve run out of work."
Fiona Rhodes asked Rosalind Green. The thought of not earning money for a day made her anxious.
"Adrian said he’d be back in five days at most," Rosalind Green replied softly.
"That’s two more days. What are we supposed to do until then?"
Everyone suddenly felt a little lost. They had gotten used to working the sewing machines, and now that they suddenly didn’t have to, they felt a bit out of sorts.
Phoebe Huxley snorted and retorted, "Just do what you’re supposed to do! Feed the pigs, feed the chickens, tend the vegetable patch, do the laundry, cook. We got by just fine before we were pedaling these ’foreign contraptions,’ didn’t we? All the housework has been piling up these last few days. Now’s the perfect time to catch up. We’ll get back to work when Adrian returns!"
(In the Brystol area, sewing machines are called "foreign carts." Some nouns are prefixed with a word meaning "foreign"—for example, matches are "foreign fire" and umbrellas are "foreign umbrellas.")
"That works. The housework really has piled up." Fiona Rhodes and Sylvia Swann had no objections and got ready to head home and tackle their chores.
Juliana Rhodes, however, picked out some of the fabric remnants. They were all palm-sized pieces of floral-patterned cloth. She sat down at her sewing machine and, in no time, had made a beautiful pair of floral sleeve protectors. Slipping them onto her wrists to try them on, she found they were surprisingly pretty.
"Making sleeve protectors is a good idea. We shouldn’t let these go to waste," Juliana Rhodes said with a shy smile, handing the finished pair to Rosalind Green.
"These are really pretty! And they don’t seem hard to make. With all these scraps left over, why don’t we turn them all into sleeve protectors?"
This energized Fiona Rhodes and the others, who began searching for their own scraps to use. Sleeve protectors required little skill and were incredibly easy to make. Even patching together remnants didn’t take much effort. In no time, they had produced over a dozen pairs—some floral, some blue. No one touched the white cloth, however. White sleeve protectors were considered bad luck, and they were sure no one would buy them.
Rosalind Green, however, looked troubled. "Um... how should payment for these be calculated? Why don’t we wait for Adrian to get back to settle up with you? I’ll just keep a record for now."
"You don’t need to count mine," Juliana Rhodes said with a smile. "They don’t take much effort, just a few minutes."
After a moment’s hesitation, Fiona Rhodes and Sylvia Swann also said not to bother counting theirs. They had already earned more than ten yuan each, and they felt it would be embarrassing to ask for payment for just a few sleeve protectors.
