A middle-aged man slowly walked down from the second floor. He was dressed in a black silk outfit and a vermilion vest, with an oval-shaped jade openwork pendant tied around his waist. He walked slowly toward Liang Shuyan and her son with a prosperous and amiable smile.
"Excuse me, are you here to have clothes made?" The man looked Liang Shuyan up and down and defined her as a peasant woman.
Liang Shuyan bowed slightly and said politely, "Excuse me, are you the shop owner? I'd like to show you something, and we can discuss it after you've seen it."
The shopkeeper was very curious. A peasant woman, accompanied by a man who looked to be in his early twenties, wanted to show him something. What could it be?
"Alright, please come upstairs with me!"
Liang Shuyan winked at Jin Dashan, signaling him to be more sensible, quick-witted, and polite.
Dashan nodded, like an obedient child, and followed his mother upstairs to the second floor.
As expected of the shopkeeper, there was a rectangular sandalwood table on the second floor, with some fabrics and picture books on it. Various patterns were hanging on the walls, and the patterns were really beautiful. For a moment, Liang Shuyan was dazzled by the exquisite paintings in front of her.
"What's wrong? Do you think these paintings are nice?" The shopkeeper glanced at them and pointed to a bench next to him, saying, "Sit down. If you need any help, just let me know."
The shopkeeper's words implied that he considered them beggars. Liang Shuyan felt a surge of displeasure, but she could only keep it to herself for the moment.
"Shopkeeper, please take a look at this painting first. After you've looked at it, we can discuss it further if you need anything."
Da Shan looked at her somewhat nervously, then sat down next to Liang Shuyan.
The shopkeeper glanced at the crumpled paper, his eyes lighting up as he looked at Liang Shuyan: "Not bad, did you draw this?"
Liang Shuyan pointed to Jin Dashan beside her and said, "Shopkeeper, this is my son, Jin Dashan. This is his painting. The paintings on our colorful steamed buns this time were done by my son. I saw the paintings of the painter downstairs just now, and I wanted my son to try it too."
The shopkeeper put down the painting in his hand and said with a smile, "Your son is indeed very skilled, but we also have our rules here. If the customers like the paintings you make, we can cooperate with you in the long term. Otherwise, it may not be possible!"
Da Shan walked over politely and bowed slightly: "Shopkeeper, I'd like to try it. Could I give it a shot?"
The shopkeeper took a piece of paper from the table, placed it on the table, picked up a pen, and said with a smile, "Of course you can try. If you draw well, we will use it extensively on the clothes, and naturally, we will have a cooperative relationship!"
Jin Dashan held the pen, his hands trembling uncontrollably. He really didn't know what to draw, so he thought of his own dog, Dahei. He drew Dahei on the paper, baring his teeth and grinning. The expression was as if he had brought Dahei to life on the paper.
The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment: "Hmm, it's indeed quite good. I can tell you have a solid foundation in this area. However, your style doesn't suit us. I'm sorry, I have other things to do. Please leave!"
Liang Shuyan did not expect that the shopkeeper would directly ask her to leave.
Liang Shuyan wasn't so tactless; she took her son and left immediately.
Leaving the tailor shop, Liang Shuyan looked at her son, Jin Dashan: "Look at you! This is a clothing store. Everyone said it's made on the clothes, but you had to draw a big, snarling black dog on it. Who puts a snarling wolfhound on their clothes? It really makes me furious! You could have drawn a sunflower instead; girls would have liked that."
Jin Dashan then slapped his forehead and said, "Mother, it was my negligence, but what can we do now that things have already happened?"
Liang Shuyan didn't want to blame her son. The problem was that the shopkeeper, from the moment he entered the shop until now, hadn't looked down on them at all. She really didn't want to talk to someone like that. Since Dashan had this skill, she would definitely find a way to get it recognized by a discerning person. After all, that snobbish shopkeeper wasn't exactly a talent scout.
Jin Dashan looked disappointed and followed behind Liang Shuyan without daring to say a word.
Liang Shuyan understood her son's feelings, patted Jin Dashan on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't worry, son, if this place doesn't want me, there are plenty of other places that will!"
Da Shan bit his lip tightly: "Mother, Da Shan will definitely try his best!"
Sitting on the donkey cart, Liu waited and waited, but her mother-in-law and Dashan did not return. She simply jumped off the donkey cart. She wanted to wander around the stall and see if there was anything she liked.
Seeing that Liu had left the donkey cart, Liang Shuyan quickly walked over and said with a stern face, "I told you to watch the donkey cart, and you just stood there watching it. What are you doing wandering around here?"
Liu was so startled that she covered her mouth and pointed to the bracelets on the stall, saying, "Mother, I was getting a little bored waiting for you, so I came here to take a look and found these bracelets to be quite pretty."
Liang Shuyan thought of Zhang and Liu, her two daughters-in-law. Since fleeing the famine, they had been busy at home and never thought of buying themselves a decent dress. Now that Liu had taken a liking to the bracelet, why not buy one for each of them? Oh, and her own mother too, she should buy one for her as well!
"Shopkeeper, how much is this bracelet?" Liang Shuyan picked up the jade bracelet that Liu Shi had just been holding and asked.
Liu hurriedly said, "Mother, your daughter-in-law is just looking, please, please don't buy it."
"Five coins each, but I can give you a discount if you want more!"
Liang Shuyan hesitated for a moment, thinking that a bracelet only cost five copper coins, which wasn't expensive, so she said to the shopkeeper, "Take these two coral ones, and give me this jade green one too!"
The shopkeeper wrapped up the three bracelets and politely handed them to Liang Shuyan.
With a flushed face, Liu said, "Mother, it's all my fault for making you spend money again!"
Liang Shuyan glanced at Liu Shi and said, "Never mind, this bracelet isn't expensive. If you like it, just buy it. It'll look good on your wrist. But your skin is fair, so the coral color looks good on you. This jade color would be more suitable for your grandmother!"
Upon hearing this, Liu realized that her mother-in-law hadn't bought the bracelet for her; it must have been for her, her sister-in-law, and her grandmother. Feeling ashamed, she hurriedly took the bracelet off her wrist and gave it to her mother-in-law, saying, "Mother, it's all my fault for being unfilial. I wouldn't even buy one for myself. I absolutely cannot accept this bracelet. Mother, please wear it."
Liang Shuyan immediately frowned: "What, you troublesome daughter-in-law? What mother-in-law wears a bracelet of this color? If others see it, won't I be considered an old monster?"
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