"Brother Quan, just ask me whatever you want. If you don't want to ask me, I'm going inside to check the route," Hong Xiaoduo said with a smile.
Quan Jinghuai said with some guilt, "When I rented the house, I didn't even notice that the roof beams were not sturdy. I was too careless."
"Oh, so that's what you were talking about. Brother Quan, don't blame yourself. For people like us who used to travel the world alone, most of the time when it comes to lodging, all we need is a place to shelter from the wind and rain. We don't think about so many things or look so carefully."
It's not that I'm being meticulous; I also had a reason for looking for this because I didn't want to stay here for the New Year.
"Alright, I'll go plan out our route for now." Hong Xiaoduo said, then went to find the map book.
She spoke very casually, but Quan Jinghuai reminded himself in his heart that he couldn't do that anymore. He could manage on his own, but now he had six junior disciples and Feiyan to take care of. He couldn't afford to hurt any of them.
He was frustrated because he was the oldest of the nine people, so how could he have made such a careless mistake?
Moreover, he had personally witnessed houses that had collapsed due to years of disrepair, injuring or killing people—it was a truly tragic sight!
That evening, after dinner, Quan Jinghuai stayed in the yard to keep watch, while the others went to town with Hong Xiaoduo.
We'll buy some ingredients for tomorrow's journey. Now that we have two more carriages, we can store quite a lot of things if we organize them properly.
Before dinner, Tian Shu and his master went to buy fodder together.
Unaware that Hong Xiaoduo had gained several thousand taels of gold notes on her trip to the capital, Tian Shu was overjoyed at having two more large carriages. However, when buying fodder, he realized that the price of fodder would have to double. Feeling a little distressed about the money, he bargained with the fodder seller and then pleaded with him until he finally got two more bundles of fodder.
After Tian Shu and the others left, the hay seller complained to the others that he had never seen such a shrewd young master. If he thought it was too expensive, he should just buy slightly inferior hay. Why did he have to want both good and cheap hay?
Those listening said that perhaps he had squandered money elsewhere and couldn't keep up with the accounts, so he was trying to make up for it here!
Tian Shu didn't care what others said about him; as long as he got two more bundles of grass, that was enough.
Hong Xiaoduo only told everyone that she had gold notes, but she didn't say the exact amount.
Quan Jinghuai also had six younger siblings, and Feiyan had no interest in the exact denominations of the gold notes.
For them, the most important thing is that she's back, back by everyone's side.
As long as I'm by her side, it doesn't matter if I can't eat big meat buns every meal.
Even at night, the town's streets, though bustling with people, cannot compare to the prosperity of the capital. Looking around, very few people are dressed in fine silks and satins; most are wearing the most ordinary homespun clothes.
Hong Xiaoduo held Yao Guang's hand, Fei Yan held Yu Heng's hand, and the other boys followed closely behind.
We passed by a pastry shop and bought some of the kids' favorites, as well as some hazelnuts, pine nuts, melon seeds, and peanuts.
When they passed the tea shop, Feiyan remembered to remind them that the tea was almost gone. Hong Xiaoduo said that there was no need to buy tea, as Kaiyang's family had given them some. She could look for some in the car later when she had time.
Passing by a dried goods shop, seeing that the dried fish, smoked meat, and cured meat looked good, Hong Xiaoduo bought more of each. Not only could she eat them on the road, but she also thought that when she found a place to celebrate the New Year, she might not be able to buy such high-quality dried goods, so she might as well buy some to keep on hand.
She has prepared plenty of New Year's goods this year, since she is much wealthier now than she was last year.
As they passed a music store, Hong Xiaoduo noticed that Feiyan glanced inside a few times, so she beckoned Feiyan to go inside.
The music store owner was actually planning to close up shop, but unexpectedly, customers still came in, so he quickly went out from behind the counter to greet them.
"Please trouble you, shopkeeper, to take her to see the zither." After Hong Xiaoduo finished speaking, she gestured for Feiyan to step forward.
There weren't many music stores along the way, and Feiyan said she didn't find any she liked.
In fact, Hong Xiaoduo knew that Feiyan didn't buy it for two reasons: firstly, the price she liked was a bit too high, and secondly, she felt that having another piano in the car would take up space while traveling.
"Don't worry about the price. Now that we have two more carriages, we don't need to worry about where you'll put your zither." After saying that, Hong Xiaoduo leaned close to Feiyan's ear and whispered, "Even if you choose a pure gold zither, I can afford it."
Upon hearing this, Fei Yan smiled and nodded, setting aside her concerns and following the shopkeeper to choose a zither.
Hong Xiaoduo noticed that among the six children, only Yuheng and Yaoguang followed Feiyan to choose a zither. When the shopkeeper indicated that they could try playing, they enthusiastically imitated Feiyan, pinching the bamboo plectrum and plucking the strings.
When they heard the pleasant voice, the two little girls' eyes lit up, and Hong Xiaoduo smiled.
All products are categorized by grade, and musical instruments are no exception. This music store's zithers are divided into three grades.
Hong Xiaoduo followed behind, listening to Feiyan try out the zithers of all three grades. Even though Hong Xiaoduo couldn't play the zither, she could still hear it. After listening to the highest grade zithers, she couldn't understand the lower grade ones at all; the difference was too great.
Feiyan's gaze lingered on a plain zither for a while before returning to the second-tier zither, seemingly intending to choose one to take away.
"Shopkeeper, we want that one," Hong Xiaoduo said, pointing to the zither that Fei Yan had given up.
Feiyan was startled and quickly went to her side and whispered, "I just asked, and it costs three hundred and twenty taels. That's too expensive."
Hong Xiaoduo smiled upon hearing this: "You don't need to worry about it. Consider it a New Year's gift from me." After saying that, she looked at the shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper, we really want it. If you really want to sell it, give us a fair price."
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