After living in the city for half a year, the market has become more and more mature.
The weather is still hot and water is scarce, so anything containing water is a rare commodity.
The most common items in the market are straw sandals, straw mats, straw hats, baskets, etc. woven from various grasses and bamboos. Barter is the main method of buying and selling.
The Jiang's cloth shop opened quietly, like a thunderclap out of nowhere, causing an uproar among the people.
Cloth! It's in such short supply! Forget making clothes that fit the children. Everyone has holes in their clothes now, and there's no way to patch them up.
"Hey, did you hear? A store has opened! Go check out the excitement!"
"What kind of shop? There are shops in the city nowadays. Look, there's a pottery maker at the city gate, there's a straw sandal seller on East Street, there's a dried leather shop on West Street, and there are two charcoal shops on North Street. Business is booming!"
"Oh! What you said is nothing. I heard this is a cloth shop!"
"What? A cloth shop? Who still makes cloth these days? From the south? What kind of cloth do you sell? Is it expensive?"
"Why do you have so many questions? I haven't even seen it, how can I answer you?"
"Hurry up and go! Go check out the situation! Our grandson is crawling around naked. He'll freeze to death in winter!"
In an instant, half of the people in the entire market disappeared, including those selling things at stalls. They all rushed in. They also wanted to see if they could exchange the things they had for cloth.
Jiang Yue had long realized that such a situation would occur, and had mentioned it to the officials in advance, asking them to send someone over to take care of it.
Of course, just because she didn't like the ways of the world didn't mean she didn't know how to deal with it. She got up early in the morning and sent two pieces of cloth and a bag of dried fish to the general's mansion.
The officers had received instructions from their superiors, so they naturally wouldn't sit idly by. When the cloth shop opened, two officers stood guard outside, swords slung across their shoulders.
The people didn't dare go in, so they blocked the door and made a lot of noise, not understanding what this meant. Is this a store run by the government?
At this time, Fan Mo came out with samples.
The noise outside the door became much quieter, and everyone was staring at the tall and pretty young lady in front of them.
Jiang Yue cut some bangs on the side of her hair, which covered the shallow scar on her cheek and could not be seen unless you looked closely.
"We sell three kinds of cloth in Jiang's cloth shop. One kind is old cloth with mold spots." She said as she showed it to the people.
Even this old cloth with mildew on it is better than the cloth they are wearing! This tiny flaw can be seen as a pattern!
"The second type is Chen cloth without any flaws, and the third type is Jiangnan cloth."
“Wow—Jiangnan fabric!”
"Oh my God, these cloths are all more beautiful than the last! What old cloth? The ones we're wearing are all old cloth from years ago. They look like beggar's cloth and they're even stiff after washing!"
"Oh, you dare to wash it? I don't dare to wash it either. Not to mention whether there is water, I'm just afraid that the clothes will be damaged if I pull them!"
“…”
There was a lot of noise for a while, and Fan Mo stopped talking and waited until they quieted down before speaking again.
"The store now exchanges firewood or lumber for us. Once we get it, we'll cut the material."
As she spoke, she took out several pieces of cloth that had been cut to correspond to the different amounts of firewood that Fan Bai had brought out. It was obvious that the most expensive was the Jiangnan cloth, followed by the flawless cloth, and the cheapest was the old cloth with mold spots.
Jiang Yue calculated that the price of these cloths themselves was not low. If compared with the period before the disaster, the prices of cloth and firewood were worlds apart. However, the current measurement of value changes according to living needs.
Moreover, she had already cut the cloth into smaller pieces, so that a bundle of firewood could only be exchanged for a palm-sized piece of old cloth. In other words, one piece of cloth was enough for her to exchange for a whole room of firewood.
For her, it’s really not a loss.
"Bamboo baskets? Or clay pots?"
Fan Mo shook his head. "No. Or maybe charcoal can be exchanged. One pound of charcoal for half a foot of cloth."
The boss has no shortage of other things.
At this time, a steward who heard the news came and shouted, "Can I buy it with silver?"
The common people looked over and saw that the clothes were clean and fitted well, so they must have belonged to a wealthy family. No wonder he could buy things with silver.
Fan Mo nodded, "Okay, one tael of silver for one foot of Jiangnan cloth, and half a tael of silver for one foot of Chen cloth."
The man came up happily and said, "Madam, I want a piece of Jiangnan cloth."
But the other party shook his head and said, "I only sell five feet of cloth at a time."
The housekeeper frowned and said unhappily, "What's the logic behind this? Even if you have money, you can't buy it?"
He received the news that someone was selling cloth, so he rushed over to grab it, fearing that it would be sold out and the owner would still be waiting!
Fan Mo remained expressionless, lacking any awareness of the customer being king. "We have limited fabrics, and once they're sold, they're gone. If one person buys so much, what will happen to the rest of the people?"
The man was about to blurt out "What's it to me?" when he felt like someone had thrown a stone at his back. He quickly changed his words to avoid angering the public.
"Then give me five feet. Can I choose the pattern?"
"Sure, please come in." Fan Mo led his people into the store to choose.
Fan Bairen, a tall and strong man, stood guard at the door. He held a few pieces of cloth samples in his hands and stood them up to show people without saying a word, like a big fool.
He looked fierce and fierce even when he was silent, more intimidating than the police, so no one dared to rob him.
After a while, the housekeeper came out happily holding the cloth, and it was obvious that he was very satisfied with the cloth.
He was afraid of being robbed on the way, so he quickly got on the carriage and rushed home.
He stroked the cloth in his hand. "I didn't expect this little shop to have so much cloth, all in the latest fashion! I only bought five feet today, which isn't even enough to make a dress. I'll just go back tomorrow and buy from someone else!"
Anyway, they have many servants, and one person comes to buy every day, or even several people come to buy separately in one day. Can they still recognize it?
The people outside the door whispered, "This cloth is really good, but we don't have any needle and thread at home!"
"Well, we have some! But we just can't spare the time to go looking for firewood! Everyone's busy in the fields. How about we work together? You chop the wood, and I'll do the sewing?"
"Okay, okay! Let's go! Don't let anyone get there first!"
It's just firewood, it's not a big deal. Besides, winter is coming soon. We've experienced it in the past two years, so we must make preparations in advance this year. The more firewood the better!
One group of people left, and a new group gathered to watch. This time it was Fan Jin's turn to take action. He patiently explained to them how to change properly.
He was small and youthful-looking, and everyone came to him to ask questions. During this period, many people immediately moved firewood they had prepared for the winter from their homes to exchange for two or three feet of cloth.
The charcoal vendors were even more generous, exchanging five feet of cloth for each one. Enough for the family to mend their clothes! Maybe even buy a new set of clothes for the New Year!
Seeing that they were selling cloth in an orderly manner, Jiang Yue took Jiang Nian home. There was no need to show up and save trouble.
Many people know them now, and they hate it most when acquaintances ask them to give them money on credit.
These three have few acquaintances and are aloof enough that scoundrels can't find them.
But the scoundrel couldn't get involved, but the thief took action.
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