Chapter 114 Buying Cloth

Qin Fangci took Yuan, Wang and Li Yulan to the grocery store as their first stop.

It cost a total of eight hundred coins to buy bowls, chopsticks, oil, salt, seasonings and some miscellaneous small items from the grocery store.

The grocery store owner's smile was brighter than the peach blossoms on the branches.

This family alone made him earn one or two taels of silver a month. He is truly the God of Wealth.

When Qin Fangci was about to leave the store, Du Ruliang chased her out. He was still waiting to become classmates with Li Baisong. He waited for a month, but there was no news from the Li family.

Judging from the speed at which the Li family spends money at the grocery store, they don't seem to be short of money.

"A gentleman does not resist deceit, nor does he deceive or be disloyal."

You will know the right and wrong reasons by just asking.

"Auntie, auntie."

Qin Fangci stopped and looked over.

Du Ruliang bowed and said, "Greetings, Auntie. Ruliang has something to ask. If I don't ask, I will be restless day and night. If I have offended you, please forgive me."

Qin Fangci carefully observed Du Ruliang's expression. Seeing that his eyes remained fixed on her without shifting their gaze, she smiled politely and said, "Young man, you are too polite. If you have anything to ask, just ask. I will tell you everything I can."

Du Ruliang was pleasantly surprised by the answer, but the grocery store owner couldn't help laughing. Listen to how well-spoken this is. I'll tell you everything I can say.

Look at this silly boy in his family. He thought that others had agreed, so he was so happy and grateful. The child still needs to meet more people.

"I heard that Brother Bosong wanted to find a school. I wonder if he found it?"

Qin Fangci remembered that Li Baisong had told her that the son of the owner of the grocery store in the county town had talked to him about the Fan family private school in the county town. He was quite active and excited in his words and seemed to want to be Li Baisong's classmate.

Because of Pan He's matter, this matter was delayed. Now that he had decided to become Pan He's disciple, Qin Fangci naturally could not interfere in academic matters. Besides, her ability was limited, so it would be difficult for her to interfere even if she wanted to.

This guy actually took it to heart.

"I'm sorry to bother you. He has already found a teacher and will be studying with him soon. I'm not sure whether he will find a college or not."

"Ah," Du Ruliang was surprised. "In that case, congratulations, Brother Baisong."

Du Ruliang watched Qin Fangci and the other two walk away, and only he knew the pain in his heart.

"Why don't you ask who his teacher is? Why don't you go with him to become his apprentice?" the grocery store owner teased his son.

Du Ruliang waved his hand. "Father, that's not what a gentleman would do. It's fate, and it can't be forced. Father, I'm going to read a book first."

"Mom, I think that scholar looked quite sad."

"Then go back and comfort him." Qin Fangci replied.

Yuan smiled awkwardly, "Forget it, Mom, what else are we going to buy?"

"Go to the cloth shop and make a set of clothes for Mr. Pan, and then buy cloth to make a pair of shoes for everyone in the family."

Yuan suddenly became happy.

Wang hesitated and said, "Mother, if I want to become your disciple, I must make a nice new set of clothes, right?"

Although my mother made a special set of clothes for me during the Chinese New Year and asked me to wear it to school.

Not only did I get a big cut last time I fell, but the scholar cannot be compared with the county magistrate's gentleman.

Yuan nodded repeatedly and gave Wang a clever look. "Mom, we should all make one too, right? Otherwise, it would be embarrassing for us to go there covered in dust, right?"

"Mom, at least make one for the men. Then ask the eldest brother, the second brother and the third brother to go together. And you have to make one too." Wang suggested reasonably.

Yuan: “…” It’s too early to praise.

Wang also wanted to make new clothes for herself and her children, but she had already spent so much money today. If the whole family made clothes, there would be nothing left from the money she earned from buying meat.

Although the family is now running a business and making money every day, Wang still feels uneasy when the family's savings are emptied out in an instant.

When I think back to the past and look back at the present, life seems like a dream. I’m really afraid that if I wake up accidentally, I’ll be back to the bad past.

Yuan looked at Li Yulan, who was secretly counting on her fingers to calculate how much her mother had left after selling twenty-six taels of silver today, and whether she could still make her a new set of clothes. She was so focused that she didn't receive Yuan's signal.

This made Yuan very anxious. Just as she was about to twist Li Yulan, Qin Fangci's voice rang in her ears.

"Come in and take a look. Clothes make the man."

Qin Fangci walked inside. Yuan was still confused. "What do you mean? What did mother just say?"

Li Yulan only listened and waved her hand in annoyance. Whoever wanted to calculate could do it, because she couldn't figure it out anyway.

"Mom said she wanted to buy a saddle."

"What?" Yuan grabbed Wang and asked excitedly, "What saddle did you buy, mother? If we're going to buy one, we should buy an ox or a donkey saddle, right?"

Wang followed and walked in. "I don't know. If you want to know, go ask mother."

Yuan: “…”

Didn’t she feel that her mother was a little annoyed with her? What would she do if her mother stopped making clothes for her if she kept asking her questions?

Business at the cloth shop wasn't very good. It wasn't a holiday these past few days, so not many people were making clothes. Seeing Qin Fangci and the others coming in with baskets full of stuff, the proprietress warmly greeted them, "Do you want rags or whole cloth? The rags I have are all large pieces, and you can make them into bedding. The colors are pretty good. Would you like to take a look?"

"Let's take a look."

"Okay." The proprietress happily took out the scraps of cloth. She should be able to sell them today.

"Look, these are all good fabrics. Master Lu's family just made a batch of new clothes a few days ago. I just cut these good fabrics and took them home to make a few pairs of shoes for the little girl. They are so beautiful."

"Boss, please show me the whole piece of cloth again." Qin Fangci said.

"A whole piece, do you want the green one? It suits the little girl perfectly. A man would be unable to walk when he sees her in this new dress."

"There are also mauve and indigo colors, both of which are very good. They look good and are resistant to dirt..."

"What's the price of cotton and linen for men's clothing?"

"Men's clothes, yes, yes. Brown, green, and blue are all very good for men."

The proprietress swiftly brought out a few pieces of cloth.

"Look, these three are linen, and these three are cotton. Cotton is soft, and linen is cool. Which one do you want?"

Qin Fangci chose a piece of brown linen and asked, "How many pieces of cloth does the third brother need to make clothes for the eldest, second, third, and fifth sons?"

"Mom, if we make shorts for them all, we can use one piece of cloth for two people, and there will be some left to make a pair of shoes and a suit for Dadan."

What this means is that if you want to make suits for all the men in the family, you need two pieces of cloth and you can make one for each of Dadan and Erdan.

"If I were to make something like what my little brother would wear to school, I'd need a whole bolt of cloth to make it, and there would only be enough left over for the children."

"A piece of pure cotton costs 1,200 wen. If you take two pieces, the cost price will be 1,000 wen each." The proprietress said, taking advantage of the opportunity.

There are sincere and warm smiles on their faces.

"Linen is cheap, only five hundred coins a piece."