Chapter 29 Returning with a Full Load

After parting ways with Steward Ren, Qin Ruo, accompanied by Qin Zimu and Zhou Dazhu, first went to the tailor shop.

The tailor shops in Datong Township all sold clothes with similar styles and colors.

Winter clothes for warmth were mainly made of wool and cotton.

Some shops also had a few fur winter coats, but they were not the target of ordinary people’s consumption and were basically ignored.

After walking around, Qin Ruo chose a tailor shop that looked decent and went inside.

At this time, there were no other customers in the shop, and the shopkeeper was sitting behind the counter, drowsy.

Seeing a customer enter, he immediately stood up and greeted them enthusiastically, “Welcome, young guests. What kind of clothes are you looking for? The price is negotiable.”

He didn’t treat Qin Ruo and the others poorly because they were not well-dressed. After all, in these times, the harvest was not good, and the common people were struggling.

The more they could sell, the better. If they couldn’t clear their inventory before the new year, they would have to wait until next year.

“How much is that cotton-padded jacket?” Qin Ruo pointed to a blue cotton-padded jacket for men hanging on the rack.

“Good eye, guest. This cotton-padded jacket is made of fine cotton. It’s filled with real cotton for warmth and cold protection, only two hundred and sixteen wen.” The shopkeeper replied with a smile.

“Sister…”

Qin Zimu was startled when he heard the shopkeeper’s price of two hundred and sixty wen and quickly tugged at Qin Ruo’s sleeve.

People in Changhe Village generally didn’t buy ready-made clothes, mainly because they thought they were expensive and not worth it.

A piece of ordinary cloth cost about two to three hundred wen. It could be used to make two sets of adult clothes, including tops and bottoms.

Most villagers bought cloth and sewed their own clothes, filling them with willow fluff, reeds, or hemp fibers for warmth.

The original owner could also do some simple needlework, but making clothes was a struggle.

Qin Ruo couldn’t and didn’t want to do it. Money could be spent and earned back.

Qin Ruo didn’t want to be someone who was stingy about food and clothing.

The shopkeeper was a good judge of character and immediately took another garment from the rack, recommending it to Qin Ruo.

“This quilted jacket is also good, young guest. It’s filled with cotton batting, but it’s affordable at only one hundred and twenty wen.”

Even one hundred and twenty wen was an astronomical figure in Qin Zimu’s eyes.

Qin Zimu took a few steps back, his face flushed red, and he kept waving his hands at the shopkeeper.

Although the small pouch given by the old lady contained more than one tael of silver, Qin Ruo had given him the freedom to spend it.

He still felt it was a waste of money to spend one hundred and twenty wen on a winter coat.

Since Qin Huaizheng left, Qin Zimu hadn’t bought new clothes for three years. He usually wore Qin Ziyan’s old clothes.

“Just that one you mentioned, can you lower the price a bit. And this set, that set, I’ll take them all.” Qin Ruo made the decision, quickly pointing to several sets of clothes.

The shopkeeper had almost given up hope, but when Qin Ruo ordered several sets at once, he was overjoyed.

Indeed, you can’t judge a book by its cover. The shopkeeper’s attitude became even more enthusiastic.

After some bargaining, the cotton-padded jacket was finally sold for 180 wen.

Qin Ruo chose two sets of winter clothes and two pairs of cotton shoes for herself and Qin Zimu. Outerwear, middlewear, and underwear, everything was complete.

In a blink of an eye, she had spent more than one tael of silver. Facing such a generous “big customer,” the shopkeeper was overjoyed and generously rounded down the price.

Leaving the tailor shop, the smile on Qin Zimu’s face never faded.

He had said he didn’t want them earlier because he was reluctant to spend money.

But who doesn’t like new clothes? Especially a young boy who hadn’t bought new clothes for three years.

In the past, he could only secretly envy Qin Ziyan when he bought new clothes. He never thought he would be able to wear new clothes so soon.

Qin Zimu was both happy and sad, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Qin Ruo didn’t notice Qin Zimu’s emotions. She only had one thought: to get things done quickly.

So, after leaving the tailor shop, she went straight to the cloth shop and bought two new quilts.

Qin Ruo had already made arrangements. She would have one quilt, Qin Zimu would have one, and as for Old Lady Qin and Qin Ziyan, she didn’t care about them.

After buying the quilts, she went to the grocery store and picked out an iron pot.

She was tired of the steamed and boiled food made in the clay pot at home these days.

Iron pots were really expensive in the Great Sheng Dynasty, costing a full six hundred wen.

Qin Zimu had gone from being shocked to numb by Qin Ruo’s big spending at the tailor shop.

Although Zhou Dazhu had a large sum of money from the Xie family, he didn’t dare to spend it freely.

He only bought a few daily necessities and helped Qin Ruo carry things.

At the last stop, the grain and oil shop, Qin Ruo bought a stone of fine rice, a stone of coarse rice, fifty jin of coarse flour, and fifty jin of fine flour.

In addition, there were ten jin of oil, five jin of salt, two jin of sugar, and some soy sauce-based seasonings.

Seeing that the weather was getting colder and snow was about to fall, it wouldn’t hurt to stock up on some grain and oil.

If there was a snow disaster, prices would surely skyrocket.

Qin Ruo’s big spending made the shopkeeper of the grain and oil shop grin from ear to ear.

He politely asked the shop assistant to drive a carriage to deliver Qin Ruo’s purchases to Changhe Village for free.

After all, most of the people who came to the shop to buy grain and oil from the surrounding villages bought coarse rice and miscellaneous grains.

In these times, it was good enough to fill their stomachs. Fine rice and white flour were only bought in small quantities, a dou at most.

Someone like Qin Ruo was rare. By the time Qin Ruo had finished buying everything, half an hour had passed.

The three of them rode in the carriage driven by the grain and oil shop assistant back to Changhe Village. When they reached the village entrance, smoke was already rising from the chimneys.

There were still some people sitting at the village entrance chatting. When they saw Qin Ruo and the others passing by in a carriage full of goods, their eyes widened.

Their eyes revealed a complex emotion, a mixture of envy and jealousy.

After Qin Huaizheng and his wife were gone, everyone in the village had witnessed the kind of life the Qin family lived.

Now, this carriage was pulling a large load of goods into the village, it was hard not to attract attention.

Most people felt a pang of jealousy in their hearts. Had the Qin family become rich? They bought so many things at once.

Considering the incident in the morning when Zhang Dahua was kicked off the donkey cart by Qin Ruo and then had her hair pulled and slapped by Old Lady Qin,

Those people, though jealous, only watched from afar. No one dared to approach and look for trouble.

They watched the carriage pass by in front of them from a distance, whispering to each other.

Qin Ruo ignored the various looks.

This was just the beginning. Why bother hiding?

Since she dared to be so high-profile, she was prepared to be envied.

Since she had some free time these days, she might as well clean up everything at once.

Consider it… a warning to others.

Speaking of which, Zhu Shi and Wang Jiaojiao, it was time to deal with them.

These people had been jumping around under her nose, it was really annoying.

Qin Ruo was really tired of being caught up in petty matters all day long.