Chapter 277: Grandma Is Paying Today
With people available to handle the labor, Xun Feng was more than happy to relax, carrying his sword in both arms as he trailed behind Wen Yao and Old Madam Luo, strolling down the bustling main street.
“Grandma, these silk flowers look quite pretty. Let’s buy them—two each for Wen Di, Wen Ying, Jiaoning, and Jiaoyuan,” Wen Yao said, holding a few silk flowers in her hand.
Old Madam Luo also thought they looked very lovely. Though such things could be bought back in Yunwu Town as well, these were, after all, purchased directly from the prefectural city.
Old Madam Luo nodded. “Don’t forget little Hua’er and Yanyan’s.”
“Mm.” Calculating it carefully like that, six girls, two each—Wen Yao ended up picking out all the prettiest ones on the stall. The vendor grinned so widely his teeth were fully exposed, even thoughtfully packaging them into neat little boxes tied with string so they could carry them easily.
Old Madam Luo paid the money. Wen Yao didn’t argue with the old lady today, obediently listening to whatever she said.
Strolling to the entrance of a ready-made clothing shop, Old Madam Luo paused. Looking first at her granddaughter and then at Xun Feng behind them, she stepped inside.
Catching sight of customers entering, the shopkeeper behind the counter raised his head. However, seeing an ordinary old woman accompanied by a young girl, both dressed in simple clothes that didn’t look like those of a wealthy family, he lost most of his interest.
Yet, when Xun Feng stepped in right behind them carrying a sword and holding their packages closely, the shopkeeper’s eyes lit up instantly.
Ordinary folk certainly didn’t have such imposing retainers following them around.
“What would my esteemed guests like to buy today? Our shop carries the finest fabrics and the most fashionable styles in the entire prefectural city, available for men, women, and children alike.”
Old Madam Luo naturally saw them too—a dazzling array of ready-made clothes hanging on racks, alongside bolts of fabric stacked layer upon layer. Even before touching them, just looking at them was enough to know they were high-quality goods.
Withdrawing her gaze, the old lady looked at Wen Yao with a loving smile and said, “Yao Yao, pick whatever you like for yourself. Grandma is paying today.”
Wen Yao shook her head repeatedly. “I don’t want any. I have so many clothes, and there are still plenty of unused fabrics at home that haven’t been made into outfits yet.”
Setting aside the gifts from Qiu Rongrong, even the Empress Dowager had given her quite a few. Wen Yao genuinely didn’t lack clothes.
“Just pick one. What you have were all given by others—you still don’t have something your grandma bought for you,” Old Madam Luo said, sounding slightly aggrieved as she spoke.
Wen Yao let out a soft laugh. “Alright, alright, then I’ll pick one.”
“Mm.” Old Madam Luo smiled.
Putting on a big show of browsing for a long while, Wen Yao finally selected an outfit with a decent design, suitable for a girl her age to wear. Similarly, the fabric wasn’t exceptionally high-end, and the price wasn’t expensive.
Old Madam Luo walked a circle around the shop, selecting suitable outfits for everyone in the family, before finally picking up a set and measuring it against Xun Feng for quite some time.
“You go try this on too,” Old Madam Luo said, handing the outfit to Xun Feng.
Xun Feng looked delighted. “There’s one for me too?”
Old Madam Luo gave him a fond glare. “What do you think?”
Setting down the bundles in his hands on the table, Xun Feng merrily trotted off to change into his new clothes.
The shopkeeper had been attending to them the entire time. He had originally thought a big spender had arrived, only to find them picking out cheaper items. Still, he showed no trace of disappointment on his face, continuing to serve them with enthusiasm—after all, a small profit was still a profit.
“Does it look good?” Xun Feng emerged after changing, even twirling in a circle before Old Madam Luo. His joyful expression was so bright that anyone who didn’t know better would think he had received some extraordinary treasure.
Old Madam Luo surveyed him, nodding. “Mm, it looks good.” After praising Xun Feng, she turned to the shopkeeper. “Give me two more sets in a similar style, and calculate how much it all comes to.”
The shopkeeper immediately ordered a worker to fetch them, while tapping away rapidly on his abacus for a long while before coming up with the total: “Altogether nineteen sets of clothes. Old Mistress, I run an honest business, so I’ll give you a fair price—thirty-eight taels of silver in total.”
Hearing this, Old Madam Luo knitted her brows slightly. That was quite expensive, working out to nearly two taels of silver per set. If they bought the fabric to make it themselves, think of how much cloth that could buy!
Old Madam Luo felt somewhat hesitant. Perhaps they shouldn’t buy for the adults and just buy for the children instead.
Seeing her hesitant expression, the shopkeeper guessed she was likely unsatisfied with the price and quickly said:
“Old Mistress, among these clothes you picked, the sets for the adults are really not expensive at all. I calculated them for you at just one tael of silver per set. It’s these few sets for the younger ones where you picked top-quality fabrics, and the cuts and embroidery are all superb. The price I calculated for you doesn’t even reach three taels of silver a set. You can stroll anywhere in this prefectural city, and you truly won’t find anything cheaper than our shop.”
The clothes Old Madam Luo had chosen for her old man, three sons, and two daughters-in-law were all made of ordinary fabrics, just with nicer cuts. However, the ones picked for the younger generation like Datou were all made of fine materials. After all, those who needed to attend classes went to the academy, those who needed to consult patients set up practice, and even Wen Nong was now a young shopkeeper running his own store.
After a long hesitation, Old Madam Luo gritted her teeth and spoke: “Thirty-five taels. If the shopkeeper is willing to sell, I’ll take all of these.”
Xun Feng stroked the clothes he was wearing and spoke up at the right moment: “In that case, I’ll go change back out of these clothes.”
Seeing this, the shopkeeper realized that after browsing for so long and trying things on, if he failed to close this deal, not only would he lose time, but he would also have wasted effort without earning a single copper.
Still, thirty-five taels was far too low.
“Thirty-seven taels. It really can’t go any lower,” the shopkeeper gritted his teeth. At worst, he would just make a smaller profit.
Old Madam Luo remained silent. Xun Feng rolled his eyes, turned around, and began walking toward the fitting room. The shopkeeper hurriedly grabbed hold of him, gritting his teeth: “Thirty-six! The absolute lowest! It really can’t be lowered further, or I’ll be taking a loss!”
Old Madam Luo: “Deal. Shopkeeper, please wrap all of these up.”
Shopkeeper: “…” Had he been too hasty? But since the price had been stated, it wouldn’t be right to back out now. He could only resignedly order the worker to package all the clothes chosen by Old Madam Luo and her party.
Xun Feng didn’t bother changing back either, bundling his old clothes together with the rest into a giant package, slinging it over his shoulder.
Old Madam Luo swiftly paid the money and left with Wen Yao. The shopkeeper saw them off to the door, watching them walk away before looking down at the silver in his hand. Though filled with regret and heartache, he had ultimately made a bit of profit without suffering an actual loss.
Old Madam Luo had just spent a large sum of money. Even though she wasn’t short on silver now, she still felt a strong pang of heartache.
Yet heartache aside, what needed to be spent still had to be spent.
The three strolled around for a bit longer, but because they had bought far too many things, they ultimately refrained from continuing their outing, making their way back to the cozy little courtyard instead.
When Wen Xiuyi returned in the evening and saw so many new clothes bought, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. Women—no matter what era or age group they belonged to—were truly terrifying once they went shopping.
The group stayed in the prefectural city for another three days until Wen Xiuyi had visited every place he needed to, only then preparing to return to Yunwu Town.
The carriage they arrived in had been driven back by Mu Li and Wang Zhao to transport the duck eggs, and they couldn’t very well walk all the way back.
Out of options, they went to the human tooth agency previously introduced by Broker Deng to purchase a new carriage.
On the road back, Old Madam Luo couldn’t help muttering to Wen Yao: “We’re definitely not coming out like this again in the future. Going out costs far too much money.”‘
