Splendid Pastoral: The Strong and Hot Wife

Chapter 15 Buying Cloth
After coming out of the vegetable market, Xu Xiaomi went straight to the cloth village.She is still wearing her mother's dress!It is very inconvenient to do things because it is long and big, but there is no way!

Although it doesn't snow here in winter, the weather is cold and if she only wears her brother's fully patched jacket, something will freeze out.

Besides, it's the New Year's Eve, and the whole family is dressed in rags. It really made her sad to see it.

Now, if you have some money, buy two bolts of cloth and go back with your mother to make a jacket for everyone in the family!It's too late to make a jacket.

This Qinglong town is relatively large, and they saw several cloth shops. The good ones at the port are all high-end silk and silk yarn, and the worst one is fine cotton cloth.

Xu Xiaomi thinks he can't afford these with only six taels of silver.So, the father and daughter walked to West Street, which is the street they came from, and saw the door of a company called "Zeng's Cloth Shop".

Xu Xiaomi saw that most of the fabrics inside were cotton, and remembered what the old man said when he first came to the market, that this West Street was not as prosperous as South Street and East Street.The people who buy things here are also poor people.

Thinking of this, Xu Xiaomi dragged his father into Zeng's cloth village.As soon as they came in, a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy came over and saw that both of them were wearing patched clothes, and wanted to drive them out.

But before he opened his mouth, Xu Xiaomi walked up to him generously and said, "Brother, please take down that navy blue cloth for me to have a look."

The young man wanted others to come in and ask the price first, and she just came to look at the cloth, which doesn't look like a poor person!
The young man thought that he didn't care about doing business, he was just a customer when he entered the door, and I would just give her whatever she wanted, as long as she bought it in the end and paid for it.Today is the last day of this year, and if I can buy an extra piece of cloth, I will make money.

When the young man was thinking, Xu Xiaomi picked another piece of cloth with white flowers on the foundation, and the young man brought down a piece of navy blue muslin and pink floral cloth according to Xu Xiaomi's request.

Xu Xiaomi feels good to the touch, but the fine cloth is not wear-resistant since both parents have to work in the fields.

Turning around, he said to the boy standing at the counter, "Brother, please take down that piece of linen on the farthest side for me to have a look."

Xu Erqiang stood at the door, he didn't dare to buy cloth to make clothes for his wife and children.In his opinion, as long as he is not hungry, he is already satisfied.

He came in with Xu Xiaomi thinking she just wanted to have a look.Because, she went to many cloth villages before, and she just left after looking at them.

Thinking that I can't afford it anyway, let her see it!Who knew that when she got here, she would ask someone to take it down, if she didn't buy it later, she wouldn't be scolded?
But he didn't have the courage to go up and pull his daughter away, because he always felt that he owed Xu Xiaomi.When Xu Erqiang was in a dilemma, he heard Xu Xiaomi ask the boy.

"Brother, how much is this coarse cloth?"

The boy looked at Xu Xiaomi and said, "I'll tell you the purchase price! This coarse cloth costs [-] yuan, but yesterday I bought it for [-] yuan."

"Then please wrap it up for me, where are the two horses?"

"Girl! Do we have money? Buy so much?" Xu Erqiang asked his daughter as he pulled her to the door.

"Father! Don't worry! We have money!" Xu Xiaomi said to his father with a smile.

Seeing the father and daughter whispering their ears, the boy thought to himself, could these two see him here alone and want to steal cloth?He paid special attention to this suspicious boy, but in the end he thought too much.

After giving her father a reassurance, Xu Xiaomi walked over and continued to say to the young man, "Brother, help me wrap these two horses too. Do you still have cotton here? How much is a catty?"

Xu Xiaomi was about to check out and saw the cotton in the corner, walked over and grabbed it with his hands, looked at it and said, "Is this cotton damp?"

The boy didn't expect this little girl who looked only eight or nine years old to see something wrong with the cotton at a glance.

He walked out of the counter with a smile and came to Xu Xiaomi and said, "It's because the roof of the warehouse leaked in summer. It's a little damp, but it's already dried." His father said that anyone who wants to lose money will buy this cotton.

But Xu Xiaomi knew that he was a layman when he heard him say this, so she smiled at the young man and said, "It's dried in the sun, but it's covered with black mold. How much is it for a catty?"

The boy came over and took a look with his hands, and saw that there were many black spots in the snow-white cotton.Shaking his head helplessly, he said, "Okay, forty cents a catty, you can give me thirty cents for this one!"

Xu Xiaomi also shook his head and said: "This cotton is like this, you should be cheaper! I bought so much cloth from your house, this time the cotton is still so high? Brother, can you decide?"

This question made the young Bai Jing's face flush. He is the only son of the Zeng family named Zeng Qiu.

On weekdays, he just reads books and writes poems. His parents don't want him to go into business, so they never let him take care of the business in the shop.

Today was the New Year's Eve, and the clerk in the store went home to celebrate the New Year. His father happened to have a few business friends to invite him to drink, and it was inconvenient for his mother to come to the store, so he had to let him watch.

Mother thought that there would be no business today, who would have met Xu Xiaomi to buy cloth!And it’s still so much to buy.

Seeing his blushing, Xu Xiaomi smiled and continued, "Brother, you can buy me less! You see, you haven't bought this cotton for more than half a year. If you buy it for me today, don't worry about it." Yet?"

Seeing the bright smile on Xu Xiaomi's face, Zeng Qiu thought it was right to buy it for her anyway, as his father had said.

So, he lowered his head and said shyly, "Then let's see how much you say is suitable!"

When Xu Xiaomi heard it was so good, let me give it?Then I'll give him fifteen cents a catty!

Anyway, the family lacked it, and the broken quilt that I and my sister built was not warm at night, and the one on my father's bed was also broken.

She also plans to make a quilt for her younger brother, and ask her father to make a simple bed for her younger brother when she is free.

My younger brother is almost eight years old after the new year and can no longer sleep with his parents. Now he is squeezed together because she has nothing to do when she comes back.

Xu Xiaomi's thoughts turned quickly and she thought it over and said to Zeng Qiu: "You can tell how many there are here. If I buy them all, I will give you fifteen cents a catty!"

She thought that Zeng Qiu would ask her to add more, but he just nodded and went to get the scale behind the counter.

A total of [-] catties of cotton cost [-] Wen.This number startled Xu Erqiang, who was suffering at the door, this girl bought so much cotton, so how much money did she get!

Xu Erqiang looked at Xu Xiaomi with anxious eyes, and kept winking at Xu Xiaomi.But Xu Xiaomi just didn't look at him, causing Xu Erqiang to sweat from anxiety.

Xu Xiaomi just wrapped the cotton in linen with Zeng Qiu, and asked Zeng Qiu to wrap the cloth in rags that could not be bought and put them in the basket. Xu Xiaomi asked Zeng Qiu to wrap all the cloth for her.

I also saw a pile of dyed colored cloth next to the ear door in the back hall.

She pointed here and there and asked Zeng Qiu: "Brother, what's the matter? You don't want the cloth?"

Zeng Qiu looked at it and said: "It was also soaked by rain, and it was dyed and has not been sold for a while." Zeng Qiu's voice became smaller and smaller as he spoke.

Xu Xiaomi knew that even if he would never do business again, he would not look down on his own things.

"Brother, how do you want to buy how many dyed horses there are?"

She thought that after buying so much cotton, she would need cloth to make quilt covers and bed sheets, so that she could buy it cheaper.

Seeing that she also wants to, Zeng Qiu can just let her go!See how much she ends up paying the bill.

So, he said in a low voice: "You'd better watch and give it to me!"

Xu Xiaomi was very happy to hear that!But she still doesn't know how much this fine cloth is worth!

She turned around and pointed to the two bolts of muslin she bought and asked, "How much do you charge me for one?"

Zeng Qiu took a look and replied, "I bought 180 wen a horse two days ago, so I'll give you [-] wen if I buy it for you today!"

After hearing this, Xu Xiaomi quickly calculated in her heart that the cloth and cotton had already cost 740 Wen.

There are about three bolts of this pile of cloth, and the three bolts give 210 wen, and one piece needs 950 wen, adding up to [-] wen.

This should not be a disadvantage. I bought so many things in more than 900 articles, and they are all must-buy now.

"Well, I'll give you 210 wen for this pile of cloth. I don't know how much cloth there is. How much do you add up?"

Xu Xiaomi's actions made his father Xu Erqiang's mouth open in shock, not knowing what to say.

Zeng Qiu didn't expect that he would buy all the things that his father hadn't bought for half a year, and he felt an indescribable joy in his heart.Even when I was planning, my hands were shaking with excitement.

"Little sister, you bought 210 catties of cotton plus three bolts of cloth and 950 wen for a total of [-] wen."

Zeng Qiu added everything to Xu Xiaomi and saw her nodding before putting his abacus back in place.

Xu Xiaomi took out a tael of silver from the interlayer of his clothes and handed it to Zeng Qiu.

Zeng Qiu took the silver to have a look. He didn't expect the little girl in rags to give him the silver.

It seemed to him that she might give him all the coppers.So, he looked at Yinzi and then at Xu Xiaomi.Then he opened the drawer of the counter and counted 250 copper coins for Xu Xiaomi.

Xu Xiaomi only now understands that the consistent money is [-] copper coins, which means that it takes [-] Wen to exchange for one tael of silver.

Xu Erqiang opened his mouth even more when he saw his daughter take out a tael of silver.

He is almost 30 years old, and this is the first time he has seen the set money!
Most of the coins he held in his hands were copper coins, and even if he touched silver, it was some broken silver.He thought to himself, where is the silver from his daughter?

Is it selling wolf skins?Ho!This wolf skin was actually sold for a tael of silver. If I had known about it, I would have gone to the mountains to trap wolves.

Now he feels in his heart that he is very useless.Such a big man like himself is not as courageous as his daughter.

It is really aggrieved to guard the two acres of Susukida every year without enough food and clothing!It wasn't until now that his daughter came back that he felt that he was living like a human being.

Xu Xiaomi didn't know what her father was thinking, she only knew that she had to do her best to feed and clothe her family before talking about anything else.

Xu Xiaomi paid for Zeng Qiu to fold the dyed cloth for her and wrap it up. It really is three pieces!
Xu Xiaomi didn't feel that she had earned it, she just felt that she needed and couldn't afford a good one.

Take this cloth back and wash it, and it can still be used as a quilt cover and bed sheet. At least it is still new and much better than the bamboo raft at home!
When she left, she asked her father to carry the cotton, and she walked back with a heavy basket on her back.

(End of this chapter)