After the food was replaced, it was piled on the oxcart, and Zhao Da was responsible for guarding the oxcart.
Cheng Wanwan and Mrs. Zhao went to the embroidery workshop.
The most prosperous industry in Ping'an Town is probably the cloth shop. There are more than ten embroidery shops, large and small, and many women from small families in the town work as embroiderers in the embroidery shops.
I casually walked into a not-so-high-end embroidery shop. There were quite a few customers in this shop. Most of them were farmers in the village who got money from selling grain after the autumn harvest, and then bought cloth to make autumn and winter clothes.
Mrs. Zhao and Cheng Wanwan walked in and went directly to the shopkeeper standing behind the counter.
The shopkeeper is also a good judge of people. There is an old lady and a woman in front of him. These two people look smart and capable, and they look like family members. If they come to the store now, they must make arrangements for the whole family.
When the harvest was bad and everyone didn't have enough to eat, the cloth village's business was extremely bleak, so they relied on making some money during the change of seasons.
The shopkeeper came forward and said, "This old lady, this sister-in-law, if you need anything, just ask."
Mrs. Zhao took out the bib from her sleeve: "Can you help me see how the embroidery on this bib looks like? Can you use it?"
In addition to selling cloth and ready-made clothes, this embroidery shop also sells some embroidery items, such as handkerchiefs and purses, but these embroidery items are difficult to sell.
Unless it's a good harvest year and everyone has enough to eat and clothes to wear, then they would think of buying these frivolous things.
The shopkeeper shook his head: "If it were the year before last, I could have accepted this bib for two cents, but not this year. People in the village will not come here to buy bibs. People in the town will buy food if they have spare money. This thing is difficult sell away……"
A smile appeared on Mrs. Zhao's face: "What the shopkeeper means is that the embroidery craftsmanship is not bad, and it can be sold at a normal price when it is mature, right?"
The shopkeeper nodded. This female red is actually not bad. The main reason is that the fabric is too poor and it is made of rags sewn together. If it is replaced with satin and fine fabric, the price will be higher.
Old Mrs. Zhao was satisfied. It would not be a bad year forever. When things got better, she would let Xia Hua do this business.
She finished her work and was about to leave, but was caught by Cheng Wanwan.
"Now that we're here, let's buy some pieces of cloth. Autumn is coming soon, and the children have grown taller. Last year's autumn shirts can no longer be worn, so they all have to be made again." Cheng Wanwan took Mrs. Zhao to pick out pieces of cloth, " Mom, what color do you like, and dad, can black be okay?"
Mrs. Zhao frowned: "Aren't you buying it for those boys in Dashan?"
Cheng Wanwan lowered her voice and said: "Didn't the county magistrate reward me with one hundred taels of silver before? I have wanted to buy something for my parents for a long time, but I was too busy with the autumn harvest and couldn't spare the time. We just happened to come to town together. , let’s buy them together. I think this gray one is very suitable for my mother, and I’ll give the black one to my father. Each person has sixteen feet of cloth, and each can make an inner garment and an outer garment..."
These were the lowest coarse cloths, costing two cents per foot, totaling thirty-six cents. Mrs. Zhao knew that her eldest daughter-in-law had money, and these few copper coins were nothing. What she did not expect was that her eldest daughter-in-law would take the initiative. Offering to buy cloth for the couple... Since the death of the eldest son, she has never thought that the eldest daughter-in-law can honor the couple. As long as she can treat her four grandsons well and marry them, she will be thankful to God.
"Mom, can you give this piece of cloth to Master Shen? The moon-white color is so beautiful and complements your complexion." Cheng Wanwan waved a piece of cloth in front of the old lady's eyes, "It's just that this piece of cloth is a bit expensive. It costs eighteen cents per foot." , it costs more than one hundred pennies to make a suit, it’s too expensive, forget it, let’s switch to this one which costs twelve pennies per foot, it’s quite nice too.”
Mrs. Zhao immediately said: "I paid half of the money for this piece of cloth. The county magistrate is a good official, and his life is not easy. He can't even eat eggs. He is a poor person..."
Cheng Wanwan laughed a little but did not refuse.
The old lady just got two taels of silver from selling grain. This money sounds like a lot of money, but in fact it is not used at all. Buying cloth for a family of twelve people is a big expense, buying some meat and some salt, the money is like running water... At the end of the year, if I can save two or three taels of silver, my ancestors will burn high incense.
Even so, spending dozens of pennies to buy cloth for the county magistrate's son was barely within the reach of the old lady.
Cheng Wanwan chose cloth of the same price for Cheng Zhao and Shen Zheng. These two were scholars and should really dress better.
Her sons were busy working in the village every day, and they probably couldn't bear to wear such good fabrics. She bought coarse cloth as usual to make outer clothes, and then bought some fine linen cloth. Fine linen cloth is more expensive, costing six cents. A foot of money is suitable for making linings, and you also need to buy fabric for shoes, and some needlework and thread... Add up the money, and when you go to pay the bill, the total price is more than 700 pennies.
Mrs. Zhao was twitching with distress: "Country people have rough skin and rough flesh, so coarse cloth is used. Why buy fine linen cloth? Isn't this a waste of money..."
One hundred silver dollars is indeed a lot, but it only cost twenty taels of silver to buy the land. There are also three eldest grandsons who want to marry. When the baby is born, money will be used everywhere. You can't live like this. You have to save some money and use your money wisely...
Cheng Wanwan ignored the old lady's twisted face and paid the money happily.
She didn't dare to spend like this before because she didn't have the money to show for it. Now that she has money, she can't continue to dig around.
Of the four major things in life, food, clothing, housing and transportation are the second most important. As the weather gets cooler, the children don’t even have a decent autumn sweater. It’s okay to wear straw sandals in the summer, but they have to change to cloth shoes in the autumn. , people feel cold from the feet down, and if they don’t protect their feet, they will easily get sick all over the body.
After coming out of the embroidery workshop, Mrs. Zhao said: "It's hard to come to town. I'm going to the butcher's shop to cut a pound of pork and go back to satisfy the children's hunger. You can go too."
Cheng Wanwan covered her face. The twelve members of Lao Zhao's family only bought one pound of pork, and two mouthfuls for each person were gone.
It's better not to spend half of the money and use it all to buy meat for the children.
However, the old lady regarded the county magistrate as her parents' official, and loved Shen Zheng deeply because of her love for the house, so she still did not say this to offend others.
Besides, she had more important things to do.
The storage function of the mall can only be opened with one thousand taels of silver. It took a lot of time to come to town after the autumn harvest, just to solve this top priority.
Cheng Wanwan said: "Mom, go and bring me two kilograms of meat. I'll go to the grocery store to buy some coarse salt or something, and then wander around to see what small business I can start in the future. We'll meet at the city gate in half an hour. "
Mrs. Zhao knew that the eldest daughter-in-law had a plan in mind, and the ice powder business was not going to work out, so she must have had other ideas in mind.
The old lady warned: "Don't show off when you spend money, or you will be stared at."
Cheng Wanwan nodded vigorously: "I know everything."
The two separated at the entrance of the embroidery workshop.
Cheng Wanwan has long been familiar with Ping'an Town. She knows where the busy areas are and where few people pass by.
She walked into a small alley, clicked on the mall, and entered a clothing store specializing in ancient costumes...
