Chapter 31: Living together as a classmate? Not as good as sharing a room!
The third day of every month is the busiest market day in Huaicheng. Vendors prepare their stalls with goods in advance and sell them at low prices during the market. People who need to supplement their family income will also buy supplies on this day. In other words, today is a good time to sell or buy things. The streets and alleys are full of noise and shouts.
A few days ago, Zhu Hao bought a luxury car and hired a middle-aged driver named "Qiu Er" to drive it. Zhu Hao cleared out a side room in her house for him to live in, so that if she went out, Qiu Er would be there to wait for her.
Fu Yunshang was located on Beiwei Street. It took Zhu Hao less than half an hour to get there from the South Lane. As the horses neighed, the carriage stopped. Zhu Hao lifted the curtain and saw that Beiwei Street was crowded with people. Before she even stepped into the inner street, the place was already blocked by traffic.
Since it is a market town, it is normal to have a lot of people, but Beiwei Street is more crowded than other streets and alleys.
Since it was difficult for the carriage to approach, she decided to walk a few steps by herself. She wished everyone good luck in coming here today and focusing on investigating the people's livelihood in this street.
Qiu Er led the colt to one side and stood outside the street waiting for Zhu to give him the task.
Zhu Hao looked at the houses lined up on both sides. He saw that the houses were of the same size and type, as if they were built in a unified manner. Although he could not see the inside through the wall, the flat bricks and stones piled up against the outer wall occupied a decent area. It seemed that each household also had a small courtyard. The people who stopped here to shop were dressed differently. Some wore short jackets, while others wore fashionable skirts. Although they were not rich, they were not shabby either.
Fu Yunshang's selling price is relatively high, naturally it focuses on buyers from wealthy families. Even if they are not from a wealthy family, they still need to make a living. The people here belong to the latter. If we only look at housing and clothing, they are even better off than the latter. It is for this reason that Zhu Hao did not notice the disadvantages when he opened a new clothing store.
When Fu Yunshang had not yet reopened, Zhu Hao came here to check it out. She found that there were no clothing stores or cloth shops on Beiwei Street. Although Zhu Hao was puzzled at first, she did not take it to heart. She just felt that if she opened a store here alone, it would definitely attract the attention of the nearby people and the business flow would definitely be good. But now, Zhu Hao vaguely realized something.
She cannot make a final conclusion easily; she needs further confirmation.
According to Li Yuan, her home is also on Beiwei Street, but since her family is not well off, her residence is no different from that of the middle and upper class people.
Zhu Hao casually asked the old man selling polished rice, "How much is a dou?"
The master saw that the visitor had a beautiful figure and wore a dress made of the finest fabric, but she looked a little sick. Although he didn't understand why such a delicate young lady needed to buy her own food, he still quickly replied, "Thirty cents!"
Zhu Hao walked to a tea stall on the side. He saw tea packed in sacks. It was yellow and dry, with a hint of hay. Zhu Hao figured it wasn't top-quality tea. "Grandma, how much is the tea?"
"Five cents a plant! What a great price! What a great price! Little girl, don't just look at the appearance. Even if it doesn't look good, it will make you salivate!"
Zhu Hao stood in the crowd, not far away was Fu Yunshang. Both sides of the street were mostly shops selling firewood, rice, oil and salt. A few food shops on the side were steaming. If there was anything related to clothes, it was the stalls selling coarse linen at a low price during the market.
Zhu Hao turned around and looked for Qiu Er, "Go to Yishui Street."
Fu Yucai is located on Yishui Street, which faces east and is adjacent to the prosperous Nanxiang. Yishui Street has a good scenery and scenery, so it is not only home to ordinary people, but also to wealthy families.
When Zhu Haofang got off the carriage, he saw a long straight street. Although this street was wider than Beiwei, the vendors were not as noisy as in Beiwei. However, there were many clothing stores on both sides of the street.
Like Zhu Hao and Jiang Cai, they first went to a stall to inquire about the price of polished japonica rice. A dou of polished japonica rice, nearly as good as that from Beiwei, was going for eighty wen! And tea, no longer wrapped in hemp, was now individually packaged in porcelain jars. A jar no bigger than the palm of one's hand had already soared to a price of one tael of silver!
Before this, whether Zhu Hao was working for Zhu Lanxiang or setting up her own business, she seldom went out to buy things by herself. It was not until today that Zhu Hao realized that the prices of goods sold in different places could vary so dramatically.
She still has a lot to learn, like things that even children understand, but she is completely ignorant of them. Judging her only from the surface is far from enough.
Zhu Hao passed by the outer door of Fu Yucai and saw the young ladies who were buying clothes today walking into the inner room. Her pretty shadows fell through the window and she breathed a sigh of relief. Zhu Hao saw that the young ladies were particularly cute when comparing their dresses. She stood there thinking for a moment and then turned and left.
She returned to Beiwei Street, but did not go directly to Fu Yunshang. Instead, she asked nearby residents about Li Yuan's specific address.
Zhu Hao knocked on Li Yuan's door. She must be pounding clothes. Her sleeves were wet and her fingers were white from being soaked in soapy water for a long time.
Li Yuan was very surprised to see that the visitor was Zhu Hao. She hurriedly opened the door wide. Li Yuan wiped the low stool in the yard several times with the corner of her sleeve before inviting Zhu Hao to sit down.
Li Yuan seemed a little embarrassed. She gritted her teeth and brought a basket of hot sweet potatoes from the kitchen. "Manager Zhu, I don't have any snacks to serve at home, but we have sweet potatoes all year round. Although they don't look good, they taste sweet and sticky. If you don't mind, you can try them."
Zhu Hao took it with a smile. She broke the sweet potato in half and immediately a glutinous fragrance filled her nose. She took a bite and said, "It's really delicious."
Li Yuan pinched the corner of his sleeve and asked, "Manager Zhu, since you are visiting my humble abode today, will you allow me to pay in installments? As for the interest, I'm thinking of twenty cents a month, although it's not much..."
Zhu Hao slowly peeled the sweet potato skin. She recalled what Li Yuan had said to her at Fu Yunshang a few days ago.
The wedding dress was not worn by Li Yuan, but was made for his mother, Liu.
Li Yuan's father, Li, worked as a porter, specializing in transporting goods for merchants. His parents were childhood sweethearts and had been engaged since they were young. However, when they were about to get married, Li was hit by a falling rock while transporting goods. Although he was still alive, from then on, he could only lie on the bed and be served by others. He was not allowed to speak or go to the toilet, and had to be fed. His eyes were just bright and glazed, and other than that, he had no other reaction, just like a dead body.
And that piece of crimson satin was what Liu had originally intended to cut to make a wedding dress. But who would have thought that before she could pick up the scissors or put on the wedding dress, Li collapsed first.
Before Li's accident, her mother was already pregnant with Li Yuan. At first, Liu could barely support her daughter. However, as time went by, Liu suffered physically and mentally, and gradually became insane. She usually looked dazed, and just snuggled up to the crimson satin and muttered to herself all year round.
That day, Fuyunshang was newly opened, and Li Yuan happened to pass by with his mother. When Liu saw the red skirt embroidered with peach blossoms displayed in front of the door for visitors to admire, her eyes, which had been covered with gray for many years, suddenly lit up with light.
So, Li Yuan came to the clothing store with the only ten taels of silver he had, and the peach blossoms embroidered on his skirt were the work of Zhu Hao.
The cloth was over twenty years old, and Liu had been holding it while sleeping for years, so Li Yuan used lemongrass and other spices to remove the smell.
Zhu Hao came to his senses and asked, "I still have something to ask Miss Li. If Miss Li can answer my question, I can waive the interest as a reward."
She could have simply refused to take a cent from Li Yuan. After all, she was a poor woman, and a newly tailored wedding dress was nothing to worry about. However, doing so might have made Zhu Hao look down on her. Waiving the interest was just the right thing to do.
"May the shopkeeper ask anything you want! I will tell you everything I know."
"Miss Li, you should know that besides Fu Yunshang, I also own a tailor shop on Yishui Street called Fu Yucai. Business is pretty good, so I thought of opening Fu Yunshang. Unexpectedly, after just a few days, the business hasn't improved. Before opening the shop, I had already explored Beiwei Street. Although it's not as prosperous as Nanxiang, judging by the houses and the clothes people wear, it's not bad either."
"Until..." Zhu Hao paused. "Today at the market, I compared the prices in Beiwei and Yishui. Beiwei Street is much busier than Yishui Street, and the prices are cheaper. Beiwei, on the other hand, doesn't sell any expensive items. For example, tea leaves are mostly old and thick-stalked. But in Yishui, it's very different. Each tea plant sells for one or two taels of silver. For another example, there are no clothing or cloth shops in Beiwei. There are only vendors selling coarse linen cloth during the market, but the people here live in decent houses and dress decently."
Beiwei Street is busiest during market hours, indicating a strong demand for inexpensive goods among local residents, while the low prices reflect the local residents' spending habits.
Zhu Hao glanced at the Li family's house. She stared at Li Yuan suspiciously and asked, "And, Miss Li, although you say your family is poor, your house is not poor. Why is that?"
Li Yuan suddenly realized, "So, Shopkeeper Zhu doesn't really understand the local market. I've always found it strange that a clothing store selling such high-priced goods is located where ordinary people live. Shopkeeper Zhu, the people on this street migrated here from West Village on the outskirts of the city. Ten years ago, West Village was devastated by a flood, and all the people's houses collapsed."
"Because there is a man from Xicun serving in Kyoto, he is very favored by Your Majesty. He misses his old home very much, so he petitioned Your Majesty to relocate all the surviving people of Xicun to Beiwei to build new housing to relieve the suffering. Therefore, the houses here should be uniform in size and layout. As for clothing...most of it is sewn by the wives of the families. Xicun is a remote place, and few people buy clothes from the city. Over time, sewing and embroidery are the specialties of the women in each family. It is not uncommon for them to make a few new fashionable clothes for themselves in their spare time."
Li Yuan said this with shame, "It's a pity that I'm clumsy and don't know how to do this."
After hearing Zhu Hao's words, she stopped peeling the sweet potatoes and blamed herself for not understanding them carefully enough and not exploring them enough, thus wasting the money for the newly opened shop.
She was obsessed with redeeming and reopening the shop left by her parents. Subconsciously, she ignored the details of all parties involved and just blindly opened the shop.
Zhu Hao held Li Yuan's hand and said, "Thank you, Miss Li. There's no need to discuss interest. The wedding dress will take a long time to make, probably about a month."
Before Li Yuan could react to what she was thanking him for, he saw the young lady running away with her skirt lifted up and staggering steps. He could only hear a few dry coughs in the distance.
She wanted to chase after her, but there was a sharp sound of something falling to the ground in the house. Li Yuan hurried forward to open the door, only to see a haggard white-haired woman sitting on the ground. Liu was only in her forties, but she looked so old.
Li Yuan smiled with her lips curved. She held her mother close to her chest, completely oblivious to Liu's kicks and punches. "Mother, you are going to marry Daddy."
…
Nine Heavens.
Song Xieqing sat across from Chi Xing. He raised a cup of jade liquid and asked, "Can we find her within two days?"
Chi Xing answered truthfully, "It's hard to say."
Song Xieqing drank the jade liquid in the cup in one gulp, along with the blood that was about to ooze out. "If you find her within two days, please inform me in the human world. If you don't find her within two days, you don't need to look for me anymore."
Seeing Song Xieqing's pale face, Chi Xing asked in surprise, "Mr. Xieqing, why is the time it takes for the Heavenly Punishment to take effect getting shorter and shorter? It's clearly been less than half an hour since you returned to the Heavenly Realm."
Song Xieqing supported his chin with his hand and said, "I need to stay with Zhu Hao to delay this curse. If there is nothing else in the Nine Heavens, I won't be back for the next two days."
Chi Xing raised an eyebrow. "Living together?" He bravely said, "It's better to share a room."
He was caught in a glare from Song Xieqing.
Chi Xing suddenly realized why two days? It was because Zhu Hao only had two years left to live! One day in heaven was one year on earth! Song Xieqing didn't plan to consummate his marriage with Zhu Hao today. If they didn't consummate their marriage tomorrow, wouldn't Zhu Hao be dead by the third day in the Ninth Heaven?
If he and Zhu Hao had already become husband and wife, the heavenly punishment would have been relieved. In that case, Zhu Hao could have died. If they had not yet had physical contact with each other until Zhu Hao's death, who would relieve the heavenly punishment? If Zhu Hao died, Song Xieqing would have no other choice but to die!
It seems he wants to be buried with Zhu Hao?!
Chi Xing wanted to advise him as an elder brother, but when he looked up, there was no trace of Song Xieqing.
He has such a stubborn temper!
Song Xieqing doesn't look like the Father God, and even less like him. Could it be that she only looks like the woman the Father God married on earth?
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The author has something to say: You have to pursue your career, and you have to have love.
Next chapter is about love~
Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided me with nutrient solution between 2024-08-05 23:18:56 and 2024-08-07 23:21:00~
Thanks to the little angel who cast the mine: Spring is not allowed to be 1;
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
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