Luo Chen was still a little dizzy when she left the shop. She really had money; she took out so much money all at once to buy clothes and quilts.
Luo Li, quick to speak, blurted out, "Stepmother, where did you get so much money?"
Luo Yang tried to cover his brother's mouth, but it was too late. Xiao Yunying didn't care and walked towards a stall selling various trinkets, saying perfunctorily, "Guess."
Luo Li thought about it seriously for a while: "I can't guess."
"It's good that you can't guess. As long as you have money to spend, it doesn't matter how I got it."
"But...but..." So much silver couldn't have been used for bad things, could it?
Xiao Yunying picked up a light blue hairband used by men to tie their hair, held it up to Luo Li's head, and found it was a bit too big for him. She then changed to a smaller one and asked him, "Does it look good?"
Luo Li nodded blankly: "It looks good."
"Do you want it or not?"
"think."
Seeing that he was no longer concerned about where he got the money, Xiao Yunying said to the vendor, "I want two of these small ones, four of these medium ones, and a pair of those peach-colored beaded flowers."
After paying with copper coins and handing the hairband to Luo Chen and the others, Luo Li grinned from ear to ear, completely forgetting that he had just been worried about the stepmother's ill-gotten gains.
Luo Xin hugged the beaded flower to her chest like a treasure: "Mom, the beaded flower is so pretty."
"It will look even better when it's on Xin'er's head. Later, she can alternate wearing it with the pair of yellow ones on her head."
"Mother is so good."
“You’re too young now, your hair can’t hold up the hair accessory. When you grow up, Mom will buy you a prettier one.”
Why doesn't Mother wear a pearl hairpin?
Xiao Yunying touched the wooden hairpin in her hair. She really didn't care about these things: "Mother has to work. She would be heartbroken if she lost the hairpin."
The little girl looked serious and said with great determination, "Then Xin'er must grow up quickly and help her mother with chores."
"Okay, Mom will wait for Xin'er to grow up."
There were many food vendors at the market. Xiao Yunying led the children to stroll around, eating and browsing. Before they knew it, the children's bellies were bulging, and they were all quite full.
As they passed the bookstore where they had bought writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones last time, Xiao Yunying noticed that Luo Yang kept glancing inside. She asked, "Want to buy some books?"
Luo Yang hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "I want to."
He wanted to buy it, but hesitated because the book was expensive, and he didn't know if she still had the money or would buy it for him.
Xiao Yunying felt that the second son's personality suited her better than the eldest son's. He was decisive, not pretentious, knew what he wanted, and dared to tell her.
"Let's go in and take a look."
The bookstore clerk remembered this plump, fair-skinned girl; she'd bought quite a lot of things last time. "You're here, miss. What do you need this time?"
"My child will be going to school next year, so I'll buy three sets of calligraphy brushes and inkstones, and two reams of paper."
After saying that, he asked Luo Chen, "Can you read? Should we buy some primers like the Thousand Character Classic?"
“We can read, Dad taught us before. We don’t need to buy an inkstone, we have two at home. We just need to buy a brush, ink sticks and paper.”
Luo Yang continued, "We already have the Thousand Character Classic at home, and we've already studied it. Can I buy some other books?"
"Okay, go ahead and pick out whatever books you want to buy."
Knowing Xiao Yunying's requirements, the shop assistant brought ink sticks, brushes, and paper of medium quality, which was sufficient for a farmer's needs.
Luo Yang and Luo Chen discussed what books they wanted and asked the shop assistant. After a while, the shop assistant brought over four books of different thicknesses.
Xiao Yunying flipped through it casually; it was full of classical Chinese text, so she quickly closed it.
"Just these few books?"
"That's enough for now."
Xiao Yunying paid the bill, which came to a total of six taels and three mace. She didn't buy an inkstone, but spent the majority of her money on books, which cost nearly four taels of silver for four books.
Luo Yang wiped the sweat from his palms behind his back: "How about we don't buy the book?"
Xiao Yunying readily took out her silver: "It's just a few books, buy them if you want."
She just flipped through a few pages and saw not only the original article, but also annotations on the side, so there's a reason why it's expensive.
She could tell that Luo Yang was intelligent and eager to learn, and since she could afford to support him, she wouldn't be stingy with the money.
She's rich!
The shop assistant wrapped the papers and books in oil paper, and Xiao Yunying put them into her basket: "If you need anything in the future, just tell me. Don't be shy. If you can pass the imperial examination and become high-ranking officials in the future, I will also benefit from it."
Luo Yang knew she said that to put him at ease: "Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Come on, let's go buy some meat. It's almost time to meet up with Old Zhang."
I went to the meat stall I always buy from. They still had pork belly, but no bones. So I bought a piece of fatty pork for seasoning, two pig trotters, and three pounds of spare ribs.
Having nothing else to buy, I went to the blacksmith's shop, gave him the receipt from last time, paid the remaining silver, put the axe in my basket, and with a flourish, carried the pot a few steps before returning.
She simply couldn't carry it anymore; her shoulders ached from the strain. She couldn't put it in the supermarket in front of so many people, so she had no choice but to come back for help.
"Brother, could you help me carry this pot to the city gate? I can't carry it."
"OK."
The blacksmith didn't say anything, but told the others and carried the iron pot to the city gate.
“I’m not going out anymore; I’ll have to pay the city entry fee when I come back.”
The oxcart wasn't far from here. Xiao Yunying thanked them and quickly carried the load to the oxcart herself.
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