Good heavens, I didn't expect to already have two acquaintances after only one visit to the county. Song Anxin said with a smile, "I'm not buying ready-made clothes today, I'll buy some cloth to make clothes."
"Alright, alright, these are all cheap coarse cloths, these are slightly more expensive cotton cloths, and cotton flannel cloths. Further up are the more expensive brocades and satins, including brocades and silk fabrics... Take your time choosing what you want, I guarantee you'll be satisfied," the shopkeeper said, introducing his fabrics one by one.
Seeing that the shopkeeper didn't look down on her at all, and even introduced her to fine silks and satins, Song Anxin felt that the shopkeeper was a good person. Her goodwill towards the shopkeeper increased rapidly.
Song Anxin picked through the fabrics on display, then compared them and said, "I want twenty feet each of blue and cyan homespun cloth, ten feet of lotus root-colored homespun cloth, ten feet of yellow homespun cloth, twenty feet each of white and black cotton cloth, and twenty feet of brown cotton cloth."
Song Anxin calculated that the fabric was enough to make two sets of clothes for herself, her four sons, and Meizi. The cotton fabric was bought to make inner garments, which would be more comfortable to wear, and two sets of those would also be made for each of them.
She remembered that none of her four sons wore inner garments. When it was cold, they would put their winter clothes on top and use their summer clothes as inner garments. It was truly an eyesore.
Of the four basic necessities of life—food, clothing, shelter, and transportation—clothing comes second. Song Anxin simply couldn't stand dressing in rags every day anymore. Now that she had money, she definitely needed to dress more presentably, as she would be doing business with people in the future.
Moreover, she didn't buy any fine silks or satins; she bought the cheapest coarse cloth. She only bought slightly more expensive cotton cloth for her undergarments because coarse cloth felt uncomfortable against her skin as an undergarment.
When the shopkeeper heard that this woman was quite generous and open-minded, and that although she didn't want any expensive fabrics, she was buying a large quantity, he happily agreed and quickly sent his assistant to pack the fabrics.
The cloth was wrapped up by the shop assistant and handed to Song Anxin. Coarse cloth cost two coins per foot, while cotton cloth was more expensive at ten coins per foot. Song Anxin paid a total of seven hundred and twenty coins.
Song Anxin left the cloth shop and went to the pork stall to meet her two sons. It was close to the city gate, and Song Anxin had told them they would meet there before they left.
On the way, she bought some seasonings, including salt, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, and oil. Because she was going to pickle salted duck eggs, she bought a full ten catties of salt at thirty coins per catty, which cost her three hundred coins.
The total cost, including other seasonings, was 364 coins.
When they arrived at the pork shop, the two young men were already waiting there. When they saw their mother coming, they added a lot more things to their baskets. Lin Fengnian quickly offered to carry them himself, but Song Anxin wasn't so fussy; she could manage such a small amount of stuff.
I bought five jin of pork fat, two jin of pork, and one jin of pork belly from the pork shop.
It cost another 147 coins.
Song Anxin couldn't help but sigh, "This money really doesn't last long. I've already spent more than three taels of silver since I just got it. Oh, and I still have to give one tael of silver to the Zhang family and return one tael and three qian to Sister-in-law Lin's family."
Almost half of it was gone in one go, and Song Anxin was in pain. She dared not buy anything else and wanted to hurry back. However, they were moving quickly, and it was only 9:00 AM. There was still an hour and a half left before the end of 9:00 AM. She didn't want to go over there and sit there waiting. Instead, she could go to Yong'an Lane to see her mother.
The street where Song Anxin and her two companions were walking was bustling with activity, filled with the continuous cries of vendors.
Lin Fengnian and Lin Fenghe rarely come to the county. Even when they came last time, they only finished their business in a hurry and left. So they looked around curiously the whole way.
Lin Fenghe, in particular, was visiting the county for the first time in his life. He craned his neck to look at the street vendors from left to right, but didn't dare to go forward, looking extremely curious.
Song Anxin couldn't help but find it a little funny. She hadn't really explored the area properly the last time she came, but now that she had the time, she didn't find it particularly special. Modern streets were much more bustling than this.
Song Anxin said to them, "If there's anything you want to buy, just say so. I still have money here."
Lin Fengnian and Fenghe dared not waste money and shook their heads frantically in refusal.
Seeing them like this, Song Anxin thought of the last time she brought Lin Fengnian, Fengshou, and Zhang Mei to the county, they each bought a big steamed bun.
Song Anxin still remembers how they ate the steamed buns. Thinking that Lin Fenghe must have never eaten them before, she went to the steamed bun stall and bought seven steamed buns, one for each person in her family, and one for her mother.
Lin Fenghe hesitated to take a bite of the steamed bun, as it was the first time he had ever eaten a meat bun. Lin Fengnian, having learned from his previous experience, immediately started eating.
Seeing how much her mother and older brother enjoyed their meal, Lin Fenghe took a bite. It was indeed quite delicious; so this was what meat buns tasted like. However, it wasn't as good as the rabbit her mother made. Lin Fenghe herself hadn't realized that even meat buns couldn't satisfy her appetite.
The three of them soon arrived at the door of Old Mrs. Song's house in Yong'an Lane. Old Mrs. Song hurriedly came out to greet them. She was overjoyed to see her daughter again after only a few days. Since her daughter came home a few days ago, she had been smiling in her dreams every night.
Song Anxin introduced her third son, Lin Fenghe, to Old Mrs. Song.
Grandma Song spotted him immediately and said, "I was wondering why this child looked so familiar. You really do look exactly like your mother when she was little. Come here, let Grandma take a good look at you."
Lin Fenghe shyly called out "Grandma".
Grandma Lin chuckled and said, "Good, good. But this personality is unlike your mother's. Your mother had quite a temper when she was little."
When Song Anxin saw Old Madam Song pointing out his shortcomings, he said in a coquettish tone, "Mom, please don't point out my shortcomings in front of your sons."
Song Anxin silently despised herself for being so old, but what could she do? She was a child who had a mother's love.
When Grandma Song saw her daughter acting like a child, she was overjoyed and laughed, "Good, good, I forgot you're a mother now, but you'll always be my child."
Song Anxin hugged her mother's arm and laughed.
Lin Fengnian and Lin Fenghe had never seen their mother like this before, and they were quite ashamed to look at her...
At that moment, a pleasant young man's voice came from inside the house: "Mother, have you touched the books in my room? I can't find one of my books. Also, who came here?"
That voice, looking for a book, could it be my younger brother who is a student?
Song Anxin and the others looked curiously in the direction of the sound and saw a man wearing a white and blue long robe walking out of the house. She recognized the clothes; some scholars on the street wore the same outfit, so it seemed to be the uniform of the academy.
The man was tall and slender with a handsome face and a scholarly air. His features even bore a resemblance to Song Anxin's, so she wouldn't believe he wasn't Song Anxin's relative.
Grandma Song slapped her forehead and said, "Oh dear, look at this old woman, I'm getting senile. Bang'er, what are you looking for? Come and meet your sister and your nephews."
"Xin'er, you all arrived at just the right time. Anbang is off work today."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com