Chapter 77 Buying Cloth
The two came to the largest cloth shop in town.
Chen Han followed Chen Qingqing timidly, looking at the various fabrics on the counter, and whispered, "Sister, just buy me the cheapest coarse cloth."
Chen Qingqing smiled slightly, "Xiao Han, don't worry about it. I know what kind of material to buy."
The waiter saw a customer coming and ran over to greet him with a smile, "Excuse me, young lady, what kind of fabric do you want to buy?"
As the waiter spoke, he looked at the two men's clothes. They were wearing tattered coarse linen clothes with patches on top of patches. It was obvious that they were from a very poor family and they were lucky to be able to buy a few feet of coarse cloth.
A trace of contempt immediately flashed in his eyes, and he pointed at the cloth on the counter and said, "Girl, these are the coarse cloths that our shop has just received. They are strong and durable for making clothes. How many feet do you need?"
Chen Qingqing took a quick look and said, "I want to buy some cotton fabric."
The waiter was surprised. The two men were dressed so poorly, they didn't look like people who could afford cotton.
Coarse cloth costs twenty wen a foot, cotton cloth costs forty wen, and making a suit of clothes requires ten feet of cloth. Even if you buy coarse cloth, making a suit of clothes will cost two hundred wen. This girl asked for cotton cloth right away. Doesn't she know the price of cotton cloth?
He kindly reminded her, "Girl, clothes made of coarse cloth are stronger and more durable than cotton, and they are more cost-effective."
"I know coarse cloth is strong and durable, but clothes made of cotton are softer and more comfortable, aren't they?"
"Yes, yes, you are absolutely right, young lady." Although the waiter was dissatisfied, he still politely took Chen Qingqing to the cotton cloth area.
Chen Qingqing didn't know much about making clothes, so she asked with a smile, "How many sets of clothes can be made from one piece of cloth?"
"One bolt of cloth can make about four suits of clothing."
"Give me a dark blue one and an apricot one."
Chen Qingqing planned to use the blue cloth to make two sets of clothes for her father and Xiaohan, and the apricot cloth would be enough for her and her mother to make two sets of clothes. Although cotton cloth was more comfortable, she decided to make a set of coarse cloth for each of them to wear while working at home. "Little Second Brother, get me some more gray coarse cloth."
I thought that since she was so poorly dressed, she wouldn't be able to buy much cloth, but I didn't expect that the girl would take three pieces of cloth at once. The waiter was all smiles.
"Okay, sir, please wait a moment. I'll get the cloth for you right away."
As he was talking, he heard someone shout, "Waiter, what beautiful materials have you received recently?"
Hearing the shout, the waiter's face lit up immediately, "Miss, wait a moment, I'll go greet the guests first."
Chen Qingqing turned around and saw Liu Fengjiao and Chen Ruolan walking in from the door. This mother and daughter were also very cruel. She would hide if she could. She didn't want to provoke them.
She nodded slightly to the waiter, "Okay, but I'm also very busy. Please prepare my fabric as soon as possible."
"Don't worry, young lady. I'll greet the guests and come right over."
The waiter hurried over and said, "Madam Chen, please come in. We just got a new batch of high-quality silk from Jiangbei yesterday. The quality is superb, and I guarantee you'll like it."
"Okay, take me to see it quickly." Liu Fengjiao looked up and saw Chen Qingqing. She was stunned for a moment. It was like enemies meeting and they were particularly jealous of each other. She couldn't help but frowned, "Hey~~Waiter, why did you let this poor beggar in? Send him away quickly."
"Mrs. Chen, this girl is here to buy cotton cloth. You can choose first. I will prepare the goods for her and then let her go." The waiter said with an apologetic smile.
Chen Ruolan curled her lips in disdain. "Waiter, are you mistaken? I know this person. Their family is so poor that they can't even afford to eat. How can they have extra money to buy cotton cloth? I think you've been intimidated by her!"
Seeing Liu Fengjiao bullying her sister, Chen Han gnashed his teeth in anger, "You are talking nonsense, we are not beggars, our family is rich."
The waiter stood there, looking embarrassed. "Miss, why don't you pay first and I'll go get you some cloth."
Chen Qingqing suppressed her anger and ignored the provocations of Liu Fengjiao and her daughter. "Waiter, how much is the total cost for two pieces of cotton cloth and one piece of coarse cloth?"
The waiter quickly calculated, "One piece of cotton cloth is one tael and six qian of silver, two pieces are three taels and two qian of silver, plus eight qian of coarse cloth, a total of four taels of silver."
Chen Qingqing suddenly thought of the man she had rescued and her elder brother Chen Feng, who worked at the Qingshui Restaurant. Their clothes were already torn and could hardly be worn. It seemed that she had to buy another piece of cloth and make a decent set of clothes for each of them.
"Waiter, wait a moment."
The waiter was stunned. "Girl, what's wrong?"
"What did I say? You're exposed. You have no money but still pretend to be a big shot. It's really embarrassing." Chen Ruolan curled the corners of her lips and showed a sarcastic smile.
Liu Fengjiao's face was also full of contempt. "That's right, a stinky beggar who can't even afford to eat is asking for cotton cloth. He's not even afraid of getting his tongue blown away by the wind."
Over the years, Chen Han had been oppressed by Chen Zhancai's family. Seeing Liu Fengjiao and her daughter being so aggressive, he was afraid that his sister would suffer, so he gently pulled the corner of Chen Qingqing's clothes and said, "Sister, I don't want to buy new clothes. Let's go!"
"Don't be afraid, Xiaohan, I have money to buy you clothes." Chen Qingqing comforted her.
Chen Ruolan's face was full of disdain. She curled her lips and snorted coldly, "Chen Qingqing, you are too self-important. Others may not know, but I know you. I'm afraid your family has run out of food a long time ago. You still have money to buy cloth piece by piece. Can you afford it?"
"What if I could afford the cloth?"
Chen Ruolan acted as if she had just heard a ridiculous joke. "If you can afford these three pieces of cloth, I, Chen Ruolan, will crawl out of here. But if you can't, not only will you have to crawl out, you'll have to bark like a dog."
"You said it, I hope you won't regret it." Chen Qingqing smiled coldly.
Chen Ruolan was full of confidence. She didn't believe that Chen Qingqing could buy three pieces of cloth. She crossed her arms and put on an arrogant look.
"Chen Qingqing, you've ruined my good mood. If you kneel down and kowtow to me and admit your mistake, saying that you disturbed me while I was shopping, I will forgive you. Maybe when I'm in a better mood, I'll even give you a few feet of coarse cloth."
Liu Fengjiao covered her lips and smiled, "Qing girl, our Ruolan is kind-hearted, so stop pretending to be rich. Hurry up and kowtow to our Ruolan and apologize. I believe Ruolan will definitely forgive you."
"No need." Chen Qingqing said, cupping her fists towards the crowd outside the cloth shop. "Uncles, aunts, you all heard what this girl said just now. Please bear witness for me. If I can afford these pieces of cloth, this girl will crawl out of here."
The crowd watching could no longer stand what Liu Fengjiao and her daughter did, and they all started to agree.
"Okay, we'll swear for you. If she doesn't crawl, we won't let her leave."
"Okay, thank you all, uncles and aunts, uncles and aunts." Chen Qingqing took out a silver ingot from her cloth bag and put it on the counter with a clatter. "Waiter, add another piece of cotton cloth, that's five taels and six cents, right?"
"Yes, yes, the girl is absolutely right." The waiter laughed so hard that his mouth almost fell apart. He hadn't realized that this girl was really rich and generous. She must be well protected...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
