His master don't like having many people around him, so it was only the three of them. If Pengmo was by himself he could maybe barely scrape by but Pei Xuan had been raised as a young master so he wasn't used to any sort of housework. In the end, the key point was that there was no one around to do the things like cooking or washing clothes. And the worst part was, they were planning to stay in Qinghe Town for a while, so their lives were pretty miserable.
Pengmo had wanted to ask his master to buy two servants to help with the housework but he hadn't agreed. So now, by asking this question, Pengmo was actually more or less just trying to save himself. After all, the only person his master had praised since they started staying in Qinghe Town was this girl in front of him, Su Tang. He even called her 'clever', the same moniker he often applied to his late wife.
However, the invitation was also made on Pengmo's own initiative after he had seen that Su Tang and her brother's lives didn't seem very good. However, the truth was he would have to go back and ask his master's permission first, so it wasn't certain if Su Tang would be able to make the clothes even if she agreed.
Su Tang hesitated for a moment before asking Penmo, "How old is your master? You're not trying to find him a partner, are you?"
When he heard Su Tang's question, Pengmo froze for a moment before responding, "My master is about to be sixty years old and he's deeply in love with his wife, so how could I be looking to find him a partner?"
After saying that, he looked at Su Tang and asked, "Miss Tang, why would you ask that? I'm not deceiving you. There really are no women in our family who can make clothes and I have no other thoughts."
Su Tang stared at him for a while before deciding that he probably wasn't lying, so she finally nodded and said, "Well, tell me the address. I'll visit after the Mid-Autumn Festival."
When Pengmo head Su Tang finally agreed, he smiled happily and said, "Thank you, Miss Tang. Also, please accept this fabric. If my master is willing to let you make clothes for him, you can rest assured that he will pay you no less than the young master did this time."
Ironically, neither Pengmo nor Su Tang knew that, in the future, she actually would be making clothes while being paid less money than this time, because by then she wouldn't even ask for money.
So when Su Tang heard that, she laughed along and said, "Well, I'm sorry but I really can't accept this fabric. I will come to visit after the Mid-Autumn Festival though. However, I'm not sure how much use I will be."
As a matter of fact, she had decided to agree, not for the sake of the wages, but because she had felt moved when Pengmo told her the story of his master's love for his late wife.
Even in modern society, where monogamy was the standard, it was rare for a husband and wife to continue supporting each other all their lives. Since she heard the story of an old man who had loved his wife all his life, and still loved her even now after she passed away, she could only think that this kind of love was very touching.
Even if it weren't for the sake of making clothes and earning money, she would like to meet such a man. After all, that kind of love was a kind of happiness that she would never be able to experience herself, but she could at least go out and see it in other people.
When Pengmo heard that she still didn't want to accept the fabric, he shoved it directly into her arms and said, "Just take it. I might even get scolded if I take it back. So just think of this as you doing a favor to me."
After that, he quickly jotted down the address where he and his master were staying, and handed it over to Su Tang while saying, "This is the address where we are staying. Miss Tang, you can come directly to our door the day after tomorrow."
Su Tang took a look at the address and saw that it was on South Street. That wasn't surprising to her at all actually. After all, all the best houses in Qinghe Town were built on South Street and the people who lived there were the richest and most powerful people in town.
Pengmo seemed worried that Su Tang would try to push the satin back to him because, after saying his piece, he spun on his heel and walked away, leaving Su Tang standing behind him and feeling very helpless. Eventually, she could only put the fabric away for the time being.
As a matter of fact, this kind of expensive material wasn't actually very useful for Su Tang. It was too expensive to be used for her own clothes for a variety of reasons and, on top of that, it just didn't sit well with Su Tang to accept something for free without giving anything in return.
Today, Pengmo seemed to be very sincere, and when he mentioned the time that he bought her apples, Su Tang seemed to remember that he really did buy her last few apples that day. It was just that such a long time had passed, and Su Tang hadn't really taken it to heart in the first place, so she had forgotten. However, now that Pengmo reminded her, she could remember it clearly.
With the reason why the Pengmo had extended his invitation to her explained, Su Tang felt a bit more comfortable and decided that it would probably be alright to go and visit him and the master that he served.