Chapter 115 Disappointment

Zhou Shuren pointed at the silver and said, "The rent was 55 taels, and the jewelry was 250 taels pawned. The pearl necklace and bracelet this time were better than the last time, and the pearls in the north are more expensive than those in the south, so I pawned them for 50 taels more. I directly exchanged them for 200 silver notes, 10 taels of gold, 5 taels of silver coins, and small change."

Zhulan was worried about the banknotes, she preferred the real thing, "Change it for 100 taels of gold, and keep the banknotes for 100 taels for your travel later."

Zhou Shuren, "Let's go out and change it together tomorrow."

Zhulan spent 950 taels to buy the shop and 10 taels to hold the banquet. She had more than 150 taels left, plus the 300 taels she pawned as rent. She had a total of more than 450 taels. Unfortunately, she couldn't buy more shops. If they didn't have the background to buy more, they would get into trouble. "I went out and brought back a lot of money."

Zhou Shuren took out fifty taels and said, "Give this money to Brother Zhao when you leave, and let him help you buy furniture. The rest is a thank you fee."

Zhulan was not afraid that Zhao Bo would deceive them. Zhao Bo would not do such a thing for the sake of his family and his own reputation. Moreover, Zhao Bo had helped the family a lot. He was optimistic about Zhou Shuren and would not lose out on the big picture after making an initial investment.

In ancient times, some noble families liked to help poor students. After all, it was an initial investment. If they were really promising in the future, they would definitely give back and protect them. For the sake of reputation, there were very few ungrateful people.

It took five days to get everything from home to Pingzhou, and Zhulan and Zhou Shuren planned to take a good trip for two days.

Pingzhou is the largest provincial capital in the north. The provincial capitals further north are not as prosperous as Pingzhou. Further north are the garrisons stationed there. The areas nearby are all places of exile, and the county towns are full of the families stationed there, so it is not prosperous.

The next morning, Zhulan packed up the money and finally saw her own house with her bag. There were more than a dozen rooms in the two courtyards, two kitchens, one in the backyard and one in the front yard. Zhulan was most happy because there was a well in the yard. After taking a closer look, Zhulan was very satisfied.

After looking at the houses, they took a carriage to look at the shops. Since there were many shops in the south city, Zhulan took her daughter to visit many shops. Pingzhou's leather was very famous, and Zhulan couldn't help but go in and have a look.

There were a lot of people coming and going in the store, and the waiter was very busy. Zhulan didn't ask, but listened to the waiter introducing to other customers that the best fire fox skin was thirty taels each, the rare white fox skin was eighty taels, and bear skin was even more expensive, costing over a hundred taels. The inferior mink skin cost more than ten taels, and the best ones started at twenty taels.

Zhulan felt around but didn't buy anything. She returned to the carriage and said to Zhou Shuren, "Leather in Pingzhou is cheaper than in the capital, and leather in the northern border is even cheaper. I will definitely buy more when I get a chance. I will give them as gifts or for my own use. It will be both respectable and prestigious."

Zhou Shuren went on a trip and learned more about ancient times, "Don't even think about going to the north to collect leather. There are regular people in the north to collect leather. No one sold you in the past. No matter how much money you paid, you didn't dare to sell it. You can buy it in the future." Let’s buy it from someone in Pingzhou or near home!”

Zhulan said, "What a pity! The price difference is quite big!"

Zhou Shuren said dimly, "You're not the only one who's smart. Everyone knows the price difference is huge, but no one is jealous and dares to take advantage of it. Every profit is protected by royal relatives and nobles."

Zhulan didn't say anything more. It's better to be careful outside.

The carriage arrived at a jewelry shop. Zhulan likes jewelry very much in modern times, and she likes ancient jewelry even more. She used to have little money, but now she has more spare money, so she must visit a jewelry shop when she has the rare opportunity to go shopping.

The jewelry shops in the state capital were much more high-end than those in the county. The first floor was filled with not only gold and silver jewelry, but also some agate and gemstone-inlaid red hairpins.

Zhulan's eyes lit up. The gold earrings with crushed rubies, the hollow silver hairpin inlaid with agate, and the bracelet were all very beautiful.

Zhou Shuren finally understood how his friends felt when they spent money on their girlfriends. As long as you like to spend money, it's worth it. "If you like it, buy it. Don't be reluctant."

Zhulan's hands itched, and she grinned, "Okay."

Pointing at the hairpin and bracelet, "Hey, sir, how much is it?"

The staff were all very sharp-eyed. They could guess what kind of customers would buy what. This was the customer who wanted to buy. They introduced enthusiastically, "Madam, you have a really good taste. These two pieces are a set of jewelry. The hollow design is delicate and light. The ruby ​​​​embellishment adds to the luxury. Madam, add the earrings on the side, and the whole set will cost fifteen taels of silver."

Zhulan was not fooled by the clerk. Although the jewelry was inlaid with rubies, they were broken pieces of rubies left over from scraps, and the quality was not good. She did not say she wanted to buy it, but instead said, "Take out the jewelry suitable for girls of eight or nine years old and let me see it."

The clerk was not in a hurry. Experience told him that the less you bargain, the more likely you are to buy. He quickly opened the counter and took out the jewelry for the children. "These bracelets and earrings are suitable for little girls. They have sapphires and agates."

Zhulan liked it at first sight. The adults' jewellery was grand, while the girls' jewellery was more varied and had some precious stones, so it wouldn't look shabby even if she wore it to a guest. Zhulan asked about the price, "How much do you charge?"

Mate, "The baby's stuff is not expensive. A pair of gemstone bracelets costs one tael of silver, and earrings cost half a tael a pair."

Zhulan picked out four sets of bracelets and earrings, picked out the jewelry she had just liked, and then picked out three silver hairpins with gemstones, spending a total of twenty-eight taels.

Zhulan paid the money, even though she was reluctant to buy it. When Zhou Shuren came to Pingzhou in the future, she would come to entertain the guests, and it would be difficult for her to see the jewelry clearly.

Zhou Shuren didn't know when he went to the second floor. After Zhulan paid, Zhou Shuren returned to the carriage with a small box in his hand. Zhulan asked, "What did you buy?"

Zhou Shuren opened the small box, and inside were some leftover gemstones. "There was custom jewelry upstairs, with a lot of gemstones. I picked out some that looked shiny and bought them. I spent a total of twenty taels."

Zhulan counted the various colored gemstone scraps and found that there were quite a few of them. "Do you want to get the gemstones made by someone yourself?"

Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "The gold and silver jewelry at home are old, so why not melt them down and have new ones made to order? As for how to do it, I don't know, so I'll leave it to you."

Zhulan took the box and said, "Wait until you have achieved a certain degree of honor. Otherwise, you won't be able to wear some of the jewelry even if you make it."

Just like her rare jewelry pendant, which was not allowed for ordinary people, she had just seen several wives of officials wearing it in a jewelry shop. They looked extremely proud, but extremely beautiful.

It's a pity that the waiter didn't wait for her to open her mouth and directly explained who can buy and wear some jewelry. To put it bluntly, it's about the specific sense of superiority of the class!

Zhou Shuren had no knowledge of jewelry and had no idea that there were so many cultural connotations behind jewelry. He just thought that as long as there were no dragon or phoenix carvings on jewelry, it would be ok.

Afterwards, they went to the clothing shop. There was no shortage of fabric at home, so Zhulan mainly went to look at the styles of clothes. She fell in love with the yellow cloak at first sight, and thought to herself that it was a good thing that the emperor did not wear yellow, and there was no rule in the fictional dynasty that prohibited wearing yellow.

Finally, I bought some Pingzhou-specific cakes and some exquisite wood carvings as gifts for the children. We had lunch outside and returned to the inn when it was dark.

On the second day, they went to the temple in Pingzhou. Zhulan was expecting to meet an enlightened monk who could give her guidance, but there were many officials' families who came to worship Buddha, and the place was blocked by servants. Not to mention an enlightened monk, there were hardly any monks, as they were all called away to chant sutras.

There was nothing to see in Pingzhou except temples. The exquisite gardens were not open to the public like in later generations. In ancient times, only private individuals were allowed to enter. I returned to the inn, packed my luggage, and followed the convoy home the next day.

When they returned to Zhoujia Village, it was still light outside. Zhulan looked around and asked the eldest brother, "Where is Li?"