Chapter 64 The Ke Family Arrives
Ruan Xiaoyu looked terrified and shook her head to refuse. "Aunt, you can help me bury my grandfather and take me in. You are my great benefactor. I have good food and good accommodation in this family. I am already very satisfied. I don't need to buy jewelry."
"I'll give it to you if I say so!" Han smiled cheerfully, turned her head to look at Su Tai, and advised earnestly: "There are no elders in Chen Yi's family. You will have to rely on yourself in everything after you get married. The only thing your parents can do is to prepare more dowry for you. They really can't help with other things. Just keep it with peace of mind."
Now that things have come to this, Su Tai naturally would not push the money away. After all, there would be plenty of opportunities to repay her parents for raising her.
The next morning, Su Chunlin drove a ox cart and took the women in his family to Moshi Town.
There are only two jewelry shops in Moshi Town. One has a bigger storefront and sells more expensive items, while the other is a small shop that caters to ordinary women, selling mostly common items such as rouge, powder, hairpins, flowers, wood hairpins, and copper hairpins. There are also silver jewelry, but not much and their styles are old.
Han had money and was buying a dowry for her daughter, so she naturally didn't want to let Su Tai down, so she went to a larger jewelry shop.
After looking around, I saw that the silver hairpins in the shop were of varying thicknesses, with the expensive ones weighing five or six taels and the cheap ones weighing one or two taels. Most of the silver bracelets were worth more than one tael each.
Han had been frugal for half her life, and she wanted to buy something but was a little hesitant. After some hesitation, she bought a two-liang silver hairpin, a pair of more than one-liang silver bracelets, and a pair of more than one-liang necklaces for Su Tai and Ruan Xiaoyu respectively.
These cost ten taels of silver.
Han felt distressed and refused to spend any more money after paying the silver. She even refused to take the silver hairpin that Su Chunlin had chosen for her.
Su Tai watched silently from the side, then stepped forward and said, "Dad and Mom, you go look at the cows first, I'll go for a walk."
Han immediately dragged Su Chunlin away.
As soon as they left, Ruan Xiaoyu asked, "Sister, where are we going?"
Su Tai pulled her to the shelf, looked carefully, and selected a silver hairpin inlaid with jadeite, a pair of exquisitely crafted silver bracelets, and then picked out two dark-colored but very elegant wooden hairpins and asked the shopkeeper to pack them up.
Then she picked out five pairs of pearl flowers, a small box of silk flowers, and a pair of jade hairpins, totaling twenty taels of silver.
Seeing her pay the money without blinking, Ruan Xiaoyu was stunned and murmured absentmindedly, "Sister, why did you buy so many jewels?"
Su Tai knocked Ruan Xiaoyu's head with amusement, "Stupid! Of course they are for everyone. This jade hairpin and this pair of pearl flowers are for you. You can choose the silk flowers yourself. Choose whatever you like."
"No, no, no need. Auntie has already bought a lot for me." Ruan Xiaoyu shook her head like a rattle.
Su Tai did not bother to be polite with her and continued, "These precious silver bracelets and wooden hairpins are for mother. When she got married, her grandparents were very poor and did not give her any dowry at all. She has been very worried about my illness these years and she does not even have a decent piece of jewelry. Father wanted to buy some for her just now, but she was reluctant to spend the money.
Since mom is reluctant to spend it and won't let dad spend it, I'll buy it for her. You can help me cover for it and keep it a secret for now. I'll give it to her before I get married, and she won't be able to return it even if she wants to."
Ruan Xiaoyu nodded repeatedly to ensure her cooperation.
Only after Su Chunlin and Han had selected the cattle and obtained the deeds did they leave Moshi Town.
On the way, Han really asked Su Tai what she bought.
Ruan Xiaoyu helped to change the subject and Han didn't ask any more questions.
Two days before Su Tai got married, the Ke family, who were far away in the ice field, finally arrived, and thirty-six sheep accompanied them into the village.
Such a big scene alarmed the whole village, young and old, men, women, and everyone followed the flock of sheep in great curiosity.
Su Chunlin and Han heard the noise and came out to see what was happening.
Seeing that it was Su Nizi and her brother-in-law Ke Dasong, he hurried forward to make arrangements.
Huang teased, "Xiaotai's mother, did your sister-in-law get all the family property back?"
Han was in a panic and looked at the haggard Su Nizi for help, "Sister, what are you going to do with these sheep? Where is their food?"
Thirty-six sheep were not three or six, and she was totally unprepared.
Su Nizi felt uneasy and smiled awkwardly, saying, "We wanted to sell the sheep along the way, but we only sold fourteen out of fifty, leaving more than half."
Su Tai, who ran out, just happened to hear this and immediately looked at Huang, "Auntie, why don't you ask the village chief to see if there is anyone in the village willing to buy a sheep?
It just so happens that every household has earned some money this year, and it’s time to give some nourishment to the elderly and children at home. Goat milk is a great tonic. Drinking a bowl of it every day in winter will definitely make you energetic when you go to the fields in spring!
Even if you don't buy milk-producing ewes, you can buy rams. It's not expensive for several families to buy one together. Just think about it, meat is so expensive during the Chinese New Year! Pork costs 70 or 80 wen per pound, not to mention mutton, which can be sold for hundreds of wen. If you buy it now and raise it until the Chinese New Year, it can still grow a few more pounds of meat. The price will definitely be cheaper than during the Chinese New Year, and it will definitely be worth it."
Su Tai's little mouth really brainwashed a lot of villagers. Before Huang said anything, some villagers asked Su Nizi about the price.
It took Su Nizi a while to react, and she replied awkwardly, "A pound of live meat is sixty cents, and a pound of slaughtered meat is eighty cents."
"Then we must buy them alive!" the villagers shouted, and some of them had already started picking them up.
The family with many elderly people and children prefers milk-producing ewes, so they asked Sunizi to help choose ewes.
Ke Dasong immediately separated the ewes and rams and let everyone choose for themselves.
In just two quarters of an hour, fifteen sheep had been bought by the villagers.
Su Chunlin helped Su Nizi collect money and settle accounts, while Han helped the villagers select sheep. They were so busy that they didn't even take care of the luggage on the cart.
Su Tai took the initiative to help push the cart into the yard. Just as she got closer, she discovered the little girl hiding in the pile of luggage.
The two looked at each other, and Su Tai blinked hard before asking tentatively, "Cousin?"
Ke Yunyun smiled at Su Tai, her eyebrows were curved, her eyes were bright as stars, under her delicate nose were red lips, and there was a pair of cute dimples, which made Su Tai stunned.
What a beautiful lady, like a dodder!
"Cousin?" Seeing Su Tai in a daze, Ke Yunyun called out weakly.
Su Tai finally reacted and hurried forward to dig her out from the pile of luggage.
When Ke Yunyun was next to her, Su Tai felt the girl's weakness again. Thinking of what Su Chunlin had said before, she subconsciously frowned and asked, "What's wrong with my cousin's body?"
Ke Yunyun pursed her lips and lowered her eyes. "I'm not in good health. I can't stand the wind or the cold. When I was on the ice field, I couldn't even leave the house. I started coughing in the fall. I saw a witch doctor and took medicine, but nothing worked. My parents wanted to take me to my uncle's house to see a doctor outside."
Su Tai asked in surprise, "I see that my cousin has not had any coughing since she came home."
Ke Yunyun's cheeks flushed slightly, and she was a little excited. "It's strange to say, since I left the ice field, my cough has eased a lot. I only cough when I'm struck by the wind. My parents and brothers are also very surprised. They said that if they had known this, they should have sent me out earlier."
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