Chapter 82 Wu Xincao's Clever Scheme

Wang Dani touched Liu Ye's cotton-padded coat with envy: "Wow, a pure cotton coat, it must be expensive. How much did she pay for this coat?"

The young shopkeeper smiled and said, "800 coins, would you like a whole set, young lady?"

Wang Dani awkwardly withdrew her hand: "I won't buy it, I can still wear the cotton-padded clothes at home..." How could she afford 800 coins? Her mother had only given her 20 coins before she left, and an egg cost 30 coins. She couldn't afford anything...

The shop assistant packed both cotton-padded coats that Liu Ye had bought into a large bundle and handed it to her. Liu Ye took out her money pouch from her bosom, counted out 1200 coins, and handed them to the shop assistant. Men's cotton-padded coats are more expensive than women's ones: "This is 1200 coins, you count it."

The shop assistant quickly counted the coins, put them in the drawer, and then politely looked at Liu Ye and said, "I still have quite a few scraps of cloth in my shop. Would you like them, young lady? If you do, I'll sell them to you cheaply."

Liu Ye immediately agreed, as she was looking to make a quilt for the kang (heated brick bed). The bamboo mat was too stiff, so she decided to use scraps of cloth to cover it. She couldn't buy cotton this time, as Wang Dani and the others were getting in the way, and she would buy it next time. She also bought a good piece of cloth to make a kang sheet: "I want it. If there are lots of large scraps of cloth, I'll buy more."

Upon hearing this, the young man immediately replied happily, "Yes, yes, yes! I have three large bags of fabric scraps, all of which I picked out the best ones. I'll get them for you right away, please wait a moment."

The young man left quickly and returned quickly. He placed three large bundles of cloth scraps at Liu Ye's feet, opened all three for her to see, and Wang Dani and Wu Xincao also quickly came over and squatted down to look through them.

Wang Dani took a fancy to a piece of pink fabric, which was pure cotton and printed with small blue flowers: "Wow, this piece of fabric is really nice. It's big enough to make a whole outfit. Can you sell me a piece? I'll buy this one."

Wu Xincao held up a piece of light blue floral fabric, gesturing to herself: "This fabric of mine is also quite nice; it can be used to make a dress. I'll take this one."

The young shopkeeper took the fabric from the two women and stuffed it into the package: "It's not sold separately, young lady, do you want it all?"

Wang Dani shook her head awkwardly: "I can't buy a whole bag, I just want to buy one."

Wu Xincao stood up awkwardly, took two steps back and stood to the side. She couldn't afford to buy them all; her grandmother had only given her 500 coins, so she had to be careful with her money.

The young man knew that wouldn't do. He looked at Liu Ye and asked, "Miss, do you want them all?"

Liu Ye rummaged through all three packages and thought they were quite nice. Inside were many large scraps of brightly colored fabric, including coarse cotton, fine cotton, and several small pieces of silk brocade. She was just looking to make a backpack: "I'll take them all. How much?"

The young man smiled and said, "Girl, I'll give you 100 points."

Upon hearing that 100 coins wasn't much, Liu Ye readily gave the shop assistant another 100 coins. However, looking at the three large packages on the ground, she hesitated for a moment. She wanted to go to the market, and if Wang Dani and the others weren't there, she could take them out and store them in her spatial storage: "Could you leave the packages at the shop first? I want to go to the market, and I'll get them when I come back."

Upon hearing this, the young man smiled and said, "Alright, young lady, go ahead and go to the market. You can pick it up when you come back. I guarantee you won't lose a single piece of cloth."

"Thank you then." After saying that, Liu Ye turned around and left the shop. Wu Xincao's eyes darted around, and she quickly pulled Wang Dani to follow.

Liu Ye glanced at the two people beside her out of the corner of her eye. How annoying! She wanted to go check out the shop, but with two tails following her, she couldn't go. It seemed she would have to stay for two days before coming back.

Soon the three of them arrived at the market. Liu Ye bought some oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, peppercorns, star anise, and a pound of white sugar, which cost two ounces of silver—outrageously expensive.

Wu Xincao and Wang Dani just browsed without buying anything. When they saw Liu Ye buying this and that, they would tsk tsk, complaining that this was too expensive and that was too expensive, as if they knew how to save money. In reality, they also wanted to buy things, but unfortunately they didn't have the money, so they could only make sarcastic remarks.

As they walked, Wang Dani suddenly pointed to the stall ahead and said, "Look, Zhang Fang and her mother are selling pickled vegetables again. Let's go take a look."

Liu Ye didn't want to join in their fun; she was just about to shake them off: "You guys go ahead, I'm not going. I'm going to the back to use the outhouse."

After Liu Ye finished speaking, she ignored the two of them and turned to walk towards the back of the market. Wu Xincao muttered under her breath, "Like a lazy donkey getting on a sedan chair, it's all about poop and pee!"

Wang Dani and Wu Xincao arrived at Zhang Fang's stall. Ever since their fight, Wang Dani and Zhang Fang had harbored a deep hatred for each other. As soon as Zhang Fang saw the two of them, she put on a long face and said, "Don't block the way if you're not buying anything!"

Zhang Fang's mother, Aunt Zhang, shoved Zhang Fang hard: "How can you talk like that! Oh, isn't this Xincao? You're back from Grandma's house. What would you like to eat? Auntie will serve you."

Wang Dani swallowed the curse that was about to come out. Humph, for Xincao's sake, she'll deal with this ugly ghost another day!

Wu Xincao looked at the jars of pickled vegetables on the ground and curled her lips in disgust. Who would want to eat her lousy pickled vegetables? Her mother had also pickled a lot of vegetables, more than they could eat. "No need," she said. "My mother also pickled a lot of vegetables this year. Auntie, you guys are busy. We're going to the market."

"Alright, alright, be careful of thieves, there are quite a few in the market," Aunt Zhang kindly advised.

Wu Xincao smiled and nodded, thinking to herself that even a thief couldn't steal from her, because she had a pocket on her undergarment where she hid all her money.

Wu Xincao scanned the market but didn't see Liu Ye. She grinned mischievously and nudged Wang Dani, saying, "Let's go to the fabric shop. I forgot, I need to buy some fabric to make clothes. Let's help Liu Ye with her packages while we're at it."

Wang Dani instantly understood what she meant, and her eyes lit up with excitement: "Okay, let's go right now."

Wu Xincao and Wang Dani quickly arrived at the fabric shop. Wu Xincao teased Wang Dani, telling her to go and talk to the cloth shop owner. Actually, Wang Dani was a little timid, but she was determined to have new clothes to wear.

Wang Dani walked calmly to the counter and said to the clerk, "I...I'm getting a scrap of fabric for my...my best friend. Please give it to me quickly, we...we're in a hurry to get home."

When Wu Xincao heard that Wang Dani was stuttering, she was furious. "What a useless person! If you keep stuttering, the young man will start to suspect you!"

The young waiter paused for a moment, scratching the back of his head in confusion, and said, "The girl who came with you just took the piece of cloth. She didn't leave long ago; perhaps you can catch up with her."

Upon hearing this, Wang Dani and Wu Xincao exchanged a guilty glance and quickly slunk away from the fabric shop.