Chapter 127 [VIP]
Lord Liu's words were originally just a casual remark, but Madam Liu took them to heart and took the opportunity to ask her son, "Does the Chen family have any girls or boys among their children?"
Liu Changyi blushed as his mother asked him, "How would I know?"
"Go ahead and ask!"
"This is a rather impolite question, isn't it?"
"You child!" It's just like the saying goes, the emperor isn't worried, but the eunuch is. The couple had been anxious about their son's marriage for a long time, but he acted like nothing was wrong.
It wasn't that there weren't any suitable girls in the prefectural city, but rather that he disagreed with several women they had previously introduced to him, and his wife and son were unwilling for their son to marry a woman they didn't like, so the marriage was delayed indefinitely.
"If you delay a few more years, you'll be an old bachelor. Let's see which girl or boy will be interested in you then!"
"Then I'll become a monk."
Madam Liu grabbed a feather duster from the side and lashed it at him, shouting, "You've gone too far! You want to be a monk? I'll whip you into a wooden fish!"
Liu Changyi took off running and locked the door in the study to escape the disaster, but he did take his mother's words to heart.
Qingyan's child is already two years old, and I am only three years younger than him, so I am also at the age to get married.
However, he really didn't like the young ladies from prominent families that the matchmaker introduced to him. He wouldn't even let them see them, and could only exchange a few words with them through a screen.
He could talk to her, but she would only reply with one sentence out of ten he said, and she would often get shy and stop talking, which annoyed him so much that he simply refused to talk to her at all. He felt more comfortable staying at home reading.
*
On the other side, Wang's vegetable shop also reopened. Before dawn, Wang Ying and Chen Qingyan got up and carried the vegetables from the experimental field onto the cart. Uncle Chen drove the cart around outside the city and brought them back.
Because she hadn't sold any vegetables for a long time, many of the vegetables in the experimental field had become too old. Wang Ying even exchanged some of the vegetables that were about to expire for experience points, losing a lot of money.
Now that they're back, they've taken out all the vegetables stored in the experimental fields. They're selling what they can, eating the ones that don't look good themselves, and giving away the rest to their neighbors to try.
The vegetable shop had just opened in the morning when many regular customers came after hearing the news.
The husband of the Yang family merchant across the street came over and bought three strings of cash worth of vegetables.
Wang Ying smiled and said, "Don't worry, my lord, we'll be open again tomorrow."
Young Master Yang said, "No, I'll feel more at ease if you buy more. You've been eating cabbage and radishes every day for the past two months, and you must be craving some fresh vegetables."
After he paid, Wang Ying gave him four extra tomatoes. "They're all fresh, just a little bruised on the skin. Don't mind them."
"Who would complain about something so good? I was just worried about not being able to buy it." The young master Yang left happily with his servants.
Lin Sui quickly rearranged the messy vegetables that the customers had picked out, placing the fresh ones on top and setting aside the less appealing ones. Her sister-in-law said she would take them home to eat later.
Before long, another regular customer arrived. Wang Ying greeted her with a smile, "Madam, you've arrived."
The person who came was none other than Liu Changyi's mother. Although she always brought servants to buy groceries before, she had never really talked to Wang Ying.
Ever since she learned that the vegetable shop was owned by Chen Qingyan's husband, Mrs. Liu became more curious. "I heard the vegetable shop is open, so I came over to buy some vegetables."
Wang Ying explained with a smile why the store had been closed for so long.
Madam Liu said, "I know. Your husband and several of your younger brothers told me about it when they came to my house yesterday."
Wang Ying was taken aback for a moment, then quickly said, "Are you Qingyan's mother?"
Mrs. Liu smiled and nodded, "It's me."
"Your fried glutinous rice balls are so delicious! We took so many home yesterday and ate them all!"
Mrs. Liu had no other hobbies but enjoyed studying food. When she heard Wang Ying say it was delicious, she immediately smiled and said, "Next time they come, I'll make more."
"How could I possibly accept that?" Wang Ying quickly filled the basket of vegetables for the old woman behind her, picking out the freshest ones and filling it with a variety of vegetables.
When Madam Liu tried to give money, Wang Ying quickly stopped her, saying, "If you give money, Madam, that would be too formal. Qingyan said he and your young master hit it off immediately, like brothers. How can we spend money on a few dishes?"
"No, that won't do. This is a business transaction, and there's no reason to take it for free." After much back and forth, Madam Liu insisted that her servants leave two strings of cash behind.
Wang Ying had no choice but to add more vegetables to the dish, chatted for a few more minutes, and then saw the person to the door.
Just as they were leaving, Qingyun came over to deliver lunch. Chen Qingyun looked so much like her two brothers that you could tell at a glance that she was related to them.
Madam Liu couldn't help but scrutinize her closely. Chen Qingyun noticed that her gaze wasn't shy, but rather she smiled and nodded generously before going inside to serve the food to her sister-in-law and cousin.
"Aunt Chen stewed soybeans and pig's feet today, and Yuanbao ate more than half a bowl of rice."
Wang Ying took two cucumbers, washed them clean, and ate them with her food while saying, "Aunt Chen's stewed pig's feet are delicious. They're tender, flavorful, and not fishy or greasy at all. Sui Di, you should try some too."
"Why."
After having dinner at home, Chen Qingyun took out her money box and began skillfully counting the money in strings.
Wang Ying asked, "Did you see that lady just now?"
"That plump noblewoman?"
Wang Ying nodded, "The fried sugar balls we ate yesterday were made by her, Liu Changyi's mother."
"Wow, that's quite a coincidence. I remember she came to our shop to buy vegetables before."
"Yes, we didn't know each other before, but now that we're familiar, I'll give you a discount next time we meet."
"Okay, that saves me the trouble."
After finishing their meal, Qingyun cleaned up the dishes and went home, while Wang Ying continued to watch the shop with Lin Sui.
Around 1 PM, the vegetables in the shop were almost sold out, and the remaining slightly wilted ones were also sold off cheaply. Today, they made a fortune, and their money box was full, conservatively estimated to be more than fifteen strings of cash.
The fresh vegetables from the experimental fields can only be sold for a little over a month. Soon the weather will warm up, and business will be difficult once the vegetables are harvested.
While it was still early, the two tidied up the shop, and Wang Ying locked the door and took Lin Sui out onto the street.
"Sister-in-law, aren't we going home?" Lin Sui asked curiously as she followed behind him.
"Let me take you out for a stroll. We haven't had a proper look around the city yet."
Lin Sui nodded happily. After all, he was still young. In her past life, children his age had just started high school, while Lin Sui had already been divorced once and lost a child...
Zhengyang Street is very lively, with vendors carrying their wares on shoulder poles and hawking their wares everywhere. The shops on both sides of the street are dazzling and overwhelming.
Lin Sui followed Wang Ying nervously until they reached the entrance of a clothing store, where they stopped.
The weather is getting warmer day by day. These days, I can't wear thick coats anymore. At noon, I don't feel cold even wearing just a single layer of clothing.
Wang Ying planned to buy Lin Sui two bright outfits. The one she was wearing was made at the Huang family when she got married. The fabric was rough and the color was old-fashioned, making her look listless.
Her once beautiful face now looks as if it has been ravaged by hail. This won't do. If she wants to live a good life, she must change her mindset, and the first step is to change her appearance.
As soon as they entered the shop, a shop assistant came over to greet them, "Sir, would you like to have clothes made to order or buy ready-made clothes?"
Wang Ying pointed at Lin Sui and said, "Pick out a few brightly colored, fashionable clothes for me based on his figure, and make sure they are made of fine cloth."
"Okay, I'll look for it for you right away."
Lin Sui nervously grabbed Wang Ying's sleeve and said, "Sister-in-law, I have clothes to wear, don't buy any more..."
"It's just a few pieces of clothing, it won't cost much."
Lin Sui shook his head again. His mother had told him before he left not to cause trouble for his aunt, cousin and his wife. Besides, he had clothes to wear, and there were several pieces in his trunk that he hadn't worn much.
Before long, the waiter brought over four brightly colored robes, all of which were the most popular styles among young men at the time: two with slanted plackets and two with round necks.
"There are rooms inside. You can go in and try them on. If they don't fit, the seamstress can easily alter them for you."
Wang Ying handed him the clothes, saying, "Take these and try them on. Don't think too much about it. You're still young. To your sister-in-law, you're like a younger brother, just like Qingsong. It's no trouble for your sister-in-law to spend some money on you."
Lin Sui felt a lump in her throat, hugged her clothes, nodded, and went into the inner room.
After trying on several pieces of clothing, they all fit quite well, and the sleeves were just right, almost like they were custom-made.
The young waiter showered Lin Sui with compliments, making her blush, but her spirits were now completely different from before.
Wang Ying originally planned to buy all of these clothes, but after asking about the price, Lin Sui was so frightened that she quickly refused and ended up only buying two.
One was grass green, and the other was vermilion. Lin Sui's features were handsome and dashing, and both clothes looked very appropriate and dashing on him.
Wang Ying also bought herself two pairs of pants. As for Chen Qingyan and Yuanbao, she never had to worry about their clothes; her mother-in-law would take care of everything.
After leaving the clothing shop, Wang Ying took Lin Sui to a nearby pastry shop and bought two boxes of pastries. There were many kinds of pastries in ancient times, including white-skinned pastries, twisted dough sticks, sugar fried dough twists, mung bean cakes, red bean cakes, pea flour cakes, and so on.
These old-fashioned pastries all have one thing in common: they are very sweet. This is probably because sugar is expensive, and most people can only eat sugar a few times a year. So when buying pastries, people choose the very sweet ones so that they feel they are getting their money's worth.
Wang Ying doesn't really like sweets. The pastries she ate most in her past life were probably the hand-torn bread sold in the school store. It's a pity she doesn't know how to make pastries, otherwise she might have made a fortune by introducing Western-style pastries.
When the two returned home, they saw a carriage in the yard. Wang Ying immediately guessed that it was Liang Lao returning. She hurriedly ran into the house and saw that it was indeed Liang Boqing who had returned. He was holding Yuanbao and teaching him to read the Thousand Character Classic.
"Master, you're back!"
Liang Boqing chuckled and said, "I just got back at noon."
"You must be tired from your journey. Have you eaten yet? I'll have the kitchen cook you a bowl of soup noodles."
"No need to bother, I've already eaten."
Wang Ying waved to Yuanbao, "Go out and play with Chunsheng, you blockhead. Don't bother your Grandpa Liang."
Yuanbao obediently ran out.
Liang Boqing rubbed his neck and said, "I was waiting for you to come back so I could say a few words to you."
Wang Ying quickly stood up straight and waited for him to speak.
Do you still remember the wheat seeds we sent to the capital two years ago?
"Remember."
"News has arrived from the capital. Since they couldn't find your address, the letter was sent to my son's place in Changting County."
Liang Boqing paused for a moment, then said, "The wheat seeds sent to the capital had an extremely high yield. The Ministry of Agriculture is asking if you have any other high-quality grain seeds on hand?"
A note from the author:
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