flstandardbreds Chapter 118 Preparing to Buy Someone
Chapter 118 Preparing to Buy Someone
After lunch, the group each took a short nap in their rooms, keeping track of the time.
Zhang Youtie woke up first, washed his face, told Liu Shi, and then went to the old house to find someone to help look after the shrimp ponds in the afternoon.
"Big brother, second brother, my wife and I are taking Xiaxia to the county town this afternoon. Could either of you come over and watch the shrimp pond for half a day?" As soon as I entered, I saw Zhang Youjin and Zhang Youyin sitting under the shade of a tree in the yard.
“Okay, you guys go ahead. I’m free this afternoon, I’ll keep an eye on things for you.” Zhang Youjin agreed immediately when his younger brother spoke up.
"When are you going?" Zhang Youjin asked again after saying that.
"Everything's packed, let's go now."
"Let's go then!" Upon hearing this, Zhang Youjin stood up and walked out.
"Third brother, don't go yet!" Wang Shi, who was taking a nap inside the house, heard the voices of several people in the courtyard and hurriedly called out to Zhang Youtie, who was about to leave.
"Sister-in-law, what's the matter?"
"I want to go to the county town to buy some things. Would it be convenient for me to take your oxcart?" Wang asked as she casually gathered her hair behind her head.
"Sister-in-law, of course it's convenient for you. You get ready first, I'll go back and drive the oxcart, and pick you up from the old house in a bit. Second brother, why don't you and your wife go for a walk together?"
"What's there to see? We're not buying anything. You go back and pack your things first. I'll ask your second sister-in-law if she's going. If she wants to go, she can ride in your oxcart with your eldest sister-in-law."
"Alright, I'll go back and drive the oxcart first. You guys get ready."
After they settled their arrangements, Zhang Youtie and Zhang Youjin left first. Back home, they first scooped out over thirty catties of large shrimp from the pond, put them in a bucket, and Xia Yu added a couple of drops of her space well water to the bucket. Once everything was packed, the family drove the oxcart to the old house to pick up the guests. Li Shi didn't want to buy anything, so she and Zhang Youyin didn't plan to go. Besides, she had been suffering from severe morning sickness recently, and the hot weather made her feel rather listless.
Wang was ready. She had changed into clean clothes, her hair was neatly combed, and she was holding a straw hat in one hand to shield herself from the sun, while carrying a basket in the other.
"Sister-in-law, what are you planning to buy in the county town?" Liu asked softly, nudging Wang's arm in the car.
"My mother will be turning sixty in a little over ten days, and I'd like to buy her some silver jewelry," Wang said softly, glancing at Zhang Youtie, who was driving the carriage.
"That's something we should buy; the old lady will definitely be happy to see it."
"I haven't really taken good care of her all these years. This time I finally managed to save up some money, so I'm going to buy her something to make her happy. Hey, can you help me pick something out in a bit?"
"Of course, no doubt about it!" The two chatted and laughed all the way, talking about everyday things. Xia Yu particularly admired her mother for this. She wasn't a talkative person herself, but she could always find something to talk about with those who were, and they always had endless topics to discuss.
Time always flies when you're talking. Thinking about what her family needed to do, Liu decided to first go with her sister-in-law to buy silver, then people, and finally a mule. Having been to the county town many times, they knew there were regular shops selling livestock. The prices there were naturally higher than at the market, but the animals' health was guaranteed.
Zhang Youtie drove the oxcart to the outside of the silver shop and parked it in a shady spot to wait for them. There were also shrimp on the cart, which he watched over from inside.
The clerks at the jewelry store had long since developed a keen eye; they could tell from a customer's attire whether they had money in their purse to buy their goods. Seeing Wang and Li entering, dressed in fine cotton blouses and skirts, they warmly greeted them.
"Ladies, what kind of jewelry would you like to see? We have many newly made designs here, all of which are styles that came from the capital."
"Let's take a look first. I want to buy something for my mother's birthday celebration." When Wang heard that there were new styles from the capital, she felt that coming to the county town was the right decision, as the silver shops in the town didn't have anything new or interesting.
"This way, ladies. Here are some bracelets, rings, earrings, and hairpins suitable for birthday celebrations. They have beautiful designs and auspicious meanings, making them perfect gifts for elders. We have gold and silver pieces. See what you'd like, ladies, and I'll get it for you."
“We farmers don’t need gold, I only want silver. I want to buy a hairpin for my mother, take out a few and let me choose.”
"Alright!" The shopkeeper, upon hearing Wang say that he was a farmer who only cared about money, did not show any disdain on his face and still smiled as he responded to Wang.
Five silver hairpins were taken out from behind the counter and placed on a tray for Wang and Li to choose from.
"Oh, sister-in-law, this is beautiful." Wang Shi held a silver hairpin with two phoenixes holding longevity fruits in its hand and whispered to Liu Shi, who had spotted it at a glance.
Although she had tried to lower her voice, the loud-voiced shop assistant, who was only next to her at the counter, could still hear her clearly.
"Yes, this is really beautiful," Liu praised sincerely.
Wang held the hairpin in her hand, examining it carefully, clearly admiring it. Anyone could see how much she liked it.
"Auntie, let me tell you, the design of this hairpin is said to have come from the palace, a style used by noblewomen. We only have one silver hairpin with this design made here; the rest are gold," the waiter explained to Wang in a low voice.
"And this was just put out. If you had come an hour earlier, you wouldn't have seen it. This design is for the elderly to use for their birthday celebrations. If you ask me, this hairpin is practically made just for you. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence!" The shopkeeper enthusiastically introduced the rarity of the hairpin.
"how much is this?"
"This isn't expensive, it's only one tael of silver," the waiter said with a smile.
"One tael of silver? That's expensive! I only have six or seven qian in my hand. Even if the design is pretty, it's still too pricey." Wang immediately retorted loudly when she heard the shop assistant quote the price. She suspected that the guy had quoted the price based on the amount of money in her purse.
"Auntie, you're joking. It's not just the designs that are good, but the master craftsman's wages are also very important. This hairpin was made by the master craftsman in our jewelry store. It takes our master craftsman four or five days to make just this one hairpin, so the price is really not expensive."
"No, you have to give me a discount, it's too expensive." Ignoring the shopkeeper's explanation, Wang still thought it was too expensive. A hairpin that cost only a few coins was costing one tael of silver—it was robbery!
"Auntie, why don't you take a look at these other styles? They're also suitable for older people, and they're all cheaper than this one. You have a good eye; you picked out the prettiest and most expensive one of these I showed you at a glance." He then picked up a silver hairpin with a cloud pattern and presented it to Wang Shi.
"Look at this hairpin, it's half a coin heavier than the previous one, and it only costs nine hundred coins."
Wang glanced at the hairpin in the shop assistant's hand and looked down on it. Cloud patterns were so common; her second aunt from her maternal family wore one. If she were to give a gift, she would give one with a pattern that no one else had ever seen before.
"I want this one, so how much cheaper can you offer?"
"This really can't be missing!" The waiter looked troubled and seemed quite embarrassed.
"Can we take a look at these fancy gold hairpins?" Xia Yu suddenly interjected from the side.
"Uh, a gold hairpin? Oh, the gold hairpin is still being made. If you want to see the gold one, little sister, you'll have to wait a couple of days." The shop assistant was a little taken aback by Xia Yu's question. She already thought silver was too expensive; did she really intend to buy gold?
"Oh, the gold one hasn't been made yet? Is this the first one the master made?" Xia Yu asked after hearing the waiter's answer.
"Yes...yes...yes!" The waiter was a little confused by Xia Yu's incoherent words. He felt that it was wrong to answer in the same way, but he couldn't think of a better answer.
"So, according to what you're saying, this silver hairpin was actually used by Master for practice, wasn't it?"
"Huh?" The waiter was dumbfounded. Did he mean that?
"Since it's just practice, how about we lower the price? Give us a discount. Besides, although this design is pretty, look, the tips of the peaches on the design are all crooked; they don't look as nice as the rounder ones." Xia Yu said with a smile as she negotiated with the shopkeeper.
The young shop assistant, looking at Xia Yu who was barely taller than the counter, thought, 'Your chin doesn't even reach the counter yet. The person next to you is holding a hairpin so high; how did you see the pointed end of the peach was crooked?'
However, Xia Yu was absolutely right when he said that the hairpin was actually just something the master used for practice; the real star was the gold hairpin that followed.
"Then I'll have to ask the shopkeeper. Normally, our craftsman makes jewelry for exactly the right price, without cutting corners at all." The shop assistant looked very troubled.
"Then hurry up and go. Don't be stingy by only offering seventy or eighty coins; that would be too insincere," Xia Yu said, watching the young waiter's retreating figure.
Upon hearing her words, the waiter stumbled, thinking, 'What kind of person is she? I only intended to give them a fifty-cent discount.'
While the shop assistant went inside to ask for instructions, Xia Yu wandered around the shop. Although the other shop assistants noticed them, none of them came up to greet them.
Soon, the young waiter came out and said helplessly to Wang, "Nine hundred coins is the bottom price. Can you lower it? The shopkeeper even scolded me. Auntie, I'm not lying. Our master chef's skills have never been lacking."
"Alright, alright, nine hundred coins it is." This was probably the price Wang had in mind, and she readily agreed.
She handed the silver to the shop assistant and waited for his change, still holding a brocade box in her hand. "Auntie, let me pack this up for you; it'll look nice when you give it as a gift."
"Oh, your shop is really nice. I'll go back and tell everyone in my village that they should come to your shop if they want to buy silverware," Wang said happily as she watched the waiter packing her hairpin.
"..."
Clutching her newly bought hairpin, Wang sat contentedly on the oxcart and asked Liu, "Sister-in-law, where are we going next?"
"Let's go to the dental clinic."
What are you going to the dental clinic for?
"Buy someone to look after the shrimp ponds." Liu was now able to say this very calmly.
"..." Wang looked at the people around her with a surprised expression. She had previously thought that the third son only had some money, but she never expected that they were actually planning to buy people.