Chunru was unusually clear-headed; she used a contract of servitude to protect herself from being exploited and to secure a permanent place to live.
Madam Huang patted Chunru's arm and took out the dowry she had prepared earlier.
The Zhao family is celebrating a happy occasion today, so the shop will be closed for the day.
The maids and boys from the shops in Wufang Town came to the county together, along with the maids and shop assistants from the county shops, and together they took on the role of the maternal family.
Liu Qing took on the heavy responsibility of carrying Chunru on his back to the bridal sedan chair, just like his brothers from his maternal family.
People are in high spirits when they have a happy occasion. Today, Wang Wen is dressed in a bright red wedding suit and rode a tall horse from the government office to pick up his bride. He looks quite the part.
Today, all those in the yamen who were not on duty came along to fetch the bride. The groom was in front, followed by a group of constables and yamen runners dressed in yamen uniforms.
This lineup looks pretty strong.
At first, the nearby residents thought some major case had occurred, and they followed him around hoping to see something exciting.
When they got nearby, they discovered that it was a government official taking a wife, and the wife was a maid from the Zhao family.
Those families who had previously taken a liking to Wang Wen were filled with regret. If they had known that Wang Wen would spend so much money to get married, they would have definitely offered their daughters to him.
After seeing Chunru off, Madam Huang took her female relatives out for a stroll in the streets.
If you come to the county town and don't take a stroll around, wouldn't that be a waste of the long carriage ride?
First stop: the jewelry store.
This time, Huang didn't buy silver jewelry; instead, she led her female relatives straight to the gold counter.
Those glittering gold jewelry pieces are truly beautiful.
A butterfly hairpin poised to take flight, a solid gold bracelet, exquisitely crafted openwork earrings... each piece is sure to catch the eye.
Zhao Qingyan was completely powerless against these gold jewelry pieces.
In my past life, I collected resources. Considering the scenes in my dream, I realized that I might have traveled to ancient times. Therefore, I chose to buy silver over gold, since the price ratio of gold to silver is about 100:1.
The current gold-silver price ratio is 10:1. If we don't buy more, we'll be losing money.
Zhao Qingyan asked the counter clerk for a plate to hold jewelry and put all her favorite pieces into the plate.
Having chosen their own, they looked at Huang and her sisters.
Seeing that Huang was comparing two bracelets, she realized that the first one was a thick, solid bracelet.
The other one is a hollowed-out gold bracelet. The hollowed-out bracelet is obviously much lighter, but the two are priced about the same.
While Huang was hesitating between the beauty and the cost-effectiveness, Zhao Qingyan asked the shop assistant to bring over another gold bracelet that was both beautiful and heavy.
After Huang put it on, she felt that her dry, calloused hands were shining.
Finally, Zhao Qingyan took it upon herself to buy matching earrings, rings, hairpins, and other accessories for Huang.
I noticed that the women in my family were all choosing small items like earrings.
With a wave of her hand, Zhao Qingyan decided to give each person a bracelet and a pair of gold earrings.
In the end, the total amount was over seven hundred taels of silver.
Zhao Qingyan was smiling and about to take out her silver notes when she was interrupted by a sneer from the side.
"I don't know where this country bumpkin came from, all he knows is gold and silver, he's so vulgar."
People with truly refined taste choose pearls, agate, jade, and gemstones; those are the things that truly bring out one's status and make one appear radiant.
After speaking, he didn't forget to raise his chin high and glance sideways at the Zhao family members.
It seems like this proves that they are superior to others.
The Zhao family was very surprised; where did this idiot come from?
Before the rest of the Zhao family could speak, Zhao Qingyan glanced sideways at the girl in pink who had just spoken.
He withdrew his gaze and addressed the shopkeeper.
"Shopkeeper, from now on you need to put up a notice at your door saying that customers with dogs and their dogs are not allowed inside."
Otherwise, if you accidentally bite another customer in the store, do you choose to pay compensation or not?
The shopkeeper naturally understood the hidden meaning in Zhao Qingyan's words. He was also quite annoyed, you know.
This girl in pink is the youngest daughter of the Lan family in the east of the city. Her name is Lan Meihao, and she comes to the jewelry store almost every few days.
He asks all sorts of questions but never buys anything. When he sees someone buying a lot of things, he gives them a fierce look, which is really annoying.
Hearing Zhao Qingyan's words, he nodded in agreement. Zhao Qingyan calmly took out a silver note and paid the bill.
Lan Meihua overheard the conversation between Zhao Qingyan and the shopkeeper and immediately exploded.
"Who are you talking about? Who's the dog?"
One sentence almost made all the guests on the second floor laugh.
The Zhao family laughed so hard they almost fell over.
Zhao Qingyan smiled and said,
"Excuse me, young lady, are you speaking to me? Do I know you? What I say to the shopkeeper is none of your business."
Lan Meihua was furious and wanted to confront them, but then she realized she only had a young girl with her, and was no match for them.
On the other hand, the person didn't actually know her and didn't mention her name in front of her.
If you insist that someone is talking about you, wouldn't that be tantamount to admitting that you are a dog?
She stomped her foot in anger, turned around, and went downstairs.
After Lan Meihua's reminder, Zhao Qingyan did want to take a look at jewelry made of other materials. Anyway, she was just idling around, and besides, she had so much silver in her space that she didn't need to keep it to breed.
The Zhao family was led up to the third floor, where they were personally received by the shopkeeper.
Once upstairs, Zhao Qingyan selected a jade bracelet for each of the women.
As for the smallest Qinghe, we chose a slightly larger size for her, since she still needs to grow, and she can wear it when she's older.
When the group arrived on the first floor, they unexpectedly saw Lan Meihua again. At this moment, she was looking at the Zhao family members with a resentful expression.
The Zhao family members passed by Lan Meihua without even glancing at her, which infuriated Lan Meihua.
The reason Lan Meihua offended the Zhao family today was entirely because the Zhao family members were all wearing fine cotton clothing.
In Lan Meihua's eyes, any family with a certain status would definitely wear fine silk and satin.
Those who wear fine cotton clothes are usually landlords or wealthy people who are living a slightly better life.
His status must not be high.
But it was precisely these people, who she considered to be of low status, who could spend seven or eight hundred taels of silver on jewelry at once, that drove Lan Meihao to the brink of insane jealousy.
The Lan family also came from a farming background. Before Lan Diqing passed the imperial examination, the family made a living by farming, and their lives were incomparable to those of the Zhao family.
They often don't know where their next meal will come from.
As the youngest daughter in the family, Lan Meihua started cutting pig feed and feeding chickens and ducks when she was three or four years old. When she was six or seven, she also had to help with farm work.
Life only improved after their father, Lan Diqing, passed the imperial examination and became a scholar.
After his father passed the imperial examination, the family moved from the countryside to the county town.
They thought the family could finally enjoy a life of luxury, but life in the county was far from easy; even a single piece of firewood cost money.
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