Chapter 62 Money is for spending
The shopkeeper fiddled with his abacus and said with a smile, "Miss, the total is four taels and one qian of silver."
Li Wanyue bargained: "Boss, can you give me a discount?"
The shopkeeper looked embarrassed: "This... is too cheap."
"Forget it, let's go somewhere else next time."
The shopkeeper gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll give you a discount of one penny. Even if the boss wants to blame me in the end, I can pay this penny myself. It's okay since the girl is happy to buy things. The total is four taels of silver."
Li Wanyue smiled: "Thank you, shopkeeper."
He turned his head and whispered to Li Sandong: "Did you hear what the shopkeeper said? Learn from him."
Li Sandong nodded. They should be able to make a lot of money with so much cloth, but he insisted on expressing his feeling that he was losing money and the customer was getting a great bargain, and he also praised the customer.
Li Wanyue paid the silver and saw some scraps of cloth in the corner. She asked, "Boss, I see there are quite a few scraps of cloth in the corner. Can you give me some?"
"Okay, young lady, go and choose whatever you want." The shopkeeper agreed readily.
Those fabrics are useless. They were originally given as gifts. Giving some away can help retain customers. Seeing how happy this girl is in buying things, if we give her something nice, she will definitely come back again in the future and become a long-term customer.
"Thank you very much."
Silk, satin, brocade, and gauze, although these materials are not allowed to be worn outside by ordinary people, wealthy families buy them to make inner clothes, pajamas, bedding, and interior decoration. Therefore, there are a lot of scraps of good material left over, which can be taken home to make hairbands or flowers, and can also be used as shoe uppers.
Li Wanyue was not polite at all. She took the backpack and picked out the good cloths, filling the big backpack full.
By this time the servant had also finished cutting the cloth and was helping to move the items onto the ox cart.
Li Wanyue wanted to buy a few more pairs of cloth shoes, but Li Sandong said that the remaining cloth from making clothes was enough for making shoes, so she didn't buy any more.
He also bought some medicinal herbs, a small bag of maltose, pork fat, three pounds of spare ribs, two bones, ten pounds of chili peppers, a few jars, etc., and then he went back.
There are only a few dozen copper coins left in my pocket.
The light in Li Sandong's eyes disappeared. The twelve taels of silver he earned from selling the ink plus the money his sister had should be thirteen or fourteen taels, but he spent it all before he could even warm it up in his hands.
Not only did I spend all the money I earned today, I also lost a lot of money.
The two men went back in a ox cart.
The old locust tree at the entrance of the village is hung with clusters of milky white locust flower buds, emitting a sweet locust flower fragrance. Every year when the locust flowers are in full bloom, the whole village is filled with the fragrance.
Everyone in the village was having a great time picking locust flowers with their tools.
A villager stared at Li Xiaotao and her children for a while and asked curiously, "Tao girl, how did you wash your hair? Why is it so smooth and moist?"
Others also looked over and it was true. His hair used to be like dead grass, how come it is so good now?
Li Xiaotao smiled as she plucked the flowers from the locust tree and replied, "Second Aunt, the shampoo my aunt bought when she went to the county town is really good. Look at my hair, it's very different now."
"Really? Which store did you buy it from? It must have cost a lot of money, right?"
"I don't know either. If Second Aunt wants to know, you can ask my aunt."
"Is your aunt home?"
"She went to the city and will be back later." After saying that, Xiaotao continued to pick the locust flowers.
Soon, the sound of a cow mooing was heard. Li Xiaotao looked over and shouted happily, "Aunt and Third Uncle are back."
After the ox cart stopped, several children quickly gathered around, and so did the villagers.
This ox cart was full and covered with a layer of hay. I wonder what they bought.
"Yueyue must be tired, come and sit under the tree and have a rest." An aunt said while staring at her hair.
Another woman also came forward to see: "Yue girl is back. Wow, she bought a lot of things. It seems that she has made some money."
Li Wanyue was stunned by the sudden enthusiasm. Hearing this, she smiled and replied: "Auntie, you are joking. I just bought a few jars to pickle vegetables and some brown rice and coarse noodles. That's why it seems like a lot, but in fact, most of them are empty."
The people who were gathered around naturally saw the three jars sticking out from the side of the car, so they didn't ask any more questions.
Li Sandong, who was outside the crowd, was also confused. When he saw his sister making a gesture to him, he immediately had someone drive the ox cart to the door of his house. Firstly, it was difficult to move too many things, and secondly, he was afraid that it would attract attention.
The harvest was poor last year and every family was living in poverty, so his family couldn't be too high-profile.
Li Wanyue smiled and greeted: "Aunties, are you picking locust flowers here?"
"Yes, let's go back and steam the Sophora japonica flowers. Yue girl, I heard from Xiaolan that the shampoo you bought is very useful. How much is it? Which store did you buy it from?"
Li Wanyue finally understood the sudden enthusiasm of these people, and she replied: "Aunts, I bought this a long time ago, and I have forgotten which store it was from. I don't remember how much it cost at that time. I will take a look next time I go there and tell you then.
If you really want to use it, I still have some. We are all neighbors. I will share some with you when I get back. Aunts, please don’t think it’s too little. The quantity is limited, and I can’t send it to every family. First come, first served. I hope you will understand. "
"Thank you, Yue girl. Don't worry, we are not the kind of people who don't know what's good for them. You have already spent money to buy these. Let's try them first. If they work well, we will also buy some. I always feel that the wood ash and soapberry used to wash my hair are not clean at all. They are not as smooth as your hair."
"Then you aunts can just come to my house later to get it. I'll go home first to prepare the things."
"Hey, go back quickly."
Li Wanyue left quickly.
Liu Jinhua, who was standing behind the crowd, was staring at the direction of the ox cart. There was definitely more than just the brown rice and coarse noodles that the girl had mentioned. There must be other good things as well. It was a pity that the first wife had divided it up, otherwise the second wife would have had a share of them.
As soon as Li Wanyue pushed the door and walked into the yard, she heard Zhao Suying talking about Li Sandong: "Why don't you persuade your sister? One set of coarse cloth is enough for each person. This cloth is too much, and it's not as cost-effective as buying a whole piece."
"She can buy whatever she wants with the money I earn."
Zhao Suying patted his arm and said, "It's not easy for your sister to earn money, why don't you advise her to save money?"
Li Wanyue walked in quickly and said, "Mom, money is earned to be spent. Besides, look at our clothes. Can we wear them out of the village? You and Dad haven't made new clothes for three or four years. And my eldest brother and his family also have patches on their clothes. We just wear what we need. We have income every day, so there's no need to worry."
Zhao Suying: "Even if you buy, buy darker ones that are more resistant to dirt. How can you wear light-colored ones to work?"
"Mother, these light-colored ones are all fine cotton, which are worn when visiting relatives or on important occasions. Aren't the coarse cloths all dark in color?
Those bright pieces of coarse cloth are for Xiaolan and the others to wear. Girls should wear bright colors. They can’t do heavy work, and those colors are not prone to getting dirty. "
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