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The next morning, the whole family arrived at Ping’an’s maternal grandfather’s house in He Village.
Wan Changsheng explained the situation to his father-in-law and brother-in-law in the main hall.
Both men became excited upon hearing that their daughter’s family had encountered such a beneficial opportunity.
“Father-in-law, Brother, Meiniang and I will go to confirm things with the young master today. We also plan to trade the horse cart for a mule cart; otherwise, we won’t be able to transport our belongings.”
Ping’an, knowing quite a few medicinal herbs, would accompany his uncle into the mountains to identify them. Normally, they could earn at least two taels a month. If they found something valuable, their earnings could be even higher. To be honest, Wan Changsheng and Ping’an had made quite a bit over the past month.
However, he needed to mention one thing upfront: neither of them had any skills, so they could only collect herbs in the foothills. They absolutely couldn’t venture into the deeper mountains.
With spring came snakes and insects; they had to ensure their pants were tightly secured. He brought all the snake and insect medicine from home, and there was quite a lot of it.
In autumn, he and Meiniang would return to check on the herbs, and he would teach them to identify those of the season.
He Zilin was overjoyed. “Then we’ll be grateful for this opportunity. If we can earn an extra tael a month, that’s wonderful. None of us have any skills, so this is like being skilled.”
Old He nodded in agreement. “You can head to the county now. The sooner you leave, the better. You can pick out a mule first. Don’t worry; I won’t mention this outside.”
That was also Wan Changsheng’s intention. He quickly called for his wife and carefully instructed Ping’an a few more times. No matter how sensible the child was, he still felt uneasy not being with him.
Once Wan Changsheng and Meiniang left the house, He Zilin and his sons quickly finished a bowl of rice, each carrying a basket while taking little Ping’an to the back mountain.
Ping’an could only teach for two days, and time was truly limited.
About an hour and a half later, Wan Changsheng arrived at the county town, heading straight to the market to trade their horse cart for a mule cart.
Meiniang didn’t want to accompany him; she had many things to prepare. So, they agreed that whoever finished first would wait at the market entrance, trying to keep it within an hour. They still needed to visit Baicaotang.
The couple hurriedly parted ways, with Meiniang heading directly to the clothing shop. Her son had two brand new summer shirts made, but he only had one good spring and autumn shirt—a gift from her for their wedding—so now she was in need of another. It was too late to make one herself, so at least she wanted to buy another for him to wear in rotation.
She didn’t plan to buy a cotton coat; once they reached the pharmacy, aside from growing vegetables, she’d have no other responsibilities. She intended to make autumn and winter clothes for their family of three.
Now that she was free of debt and had her husband to support her, they were no longer living in the hardship of just a widow and child. She didn’t want her family to appear shabby; after all, many people judge others by their clothing. She didn’t want to lose face.
Most importantly, her husband had entrusted all the silver to her, repeatedly instructing her not to be overly frugal. Counting her son’s silver separately, they had about eighty taels in savings.
But today, she might have to spend around fifteen taels.
As she stepped into the clothing shop, Meiniang felt a little thrill.
The shop was quite large, with three storefronts. One side was for finished clothing, while the other dealt in fabric, much larger than the fabric shop in the town.
The female shopkeeper, seeing someone enter, quickly greeted her warmly, feeling anxious as business had been slow since opening.
“Are you looking to buy fabric, sister?”
Meiniang responded confidently, “Yes, I want to buy a set of spring clothes for my son. He’s about to turn eight. Do you have any? What’s the price for thick winter fabric? If it’s cheaper, I’ll buy two bolts to prepare for making clothes slowly. If it’s too expensive, I’ll hold off for now.”
Thick fabric was generally more expensive than thin fabric in winter. By the end of April, stores would typically clear out their inventory.
The shopkeeper smiled. “Sister, these are all boys’ spring clothes. I’ll be taking them down for autumn sales in a few days. For a boy his age, it takes half a bolt to make one set, plus the labor cost, it’s two hundred and forty wen per set. I can give you a discount of twenty wen, which makes it two hundred and twenty wen. How does that sound?”
Meiniang carefully felt the fabric. Two hundred and twenty wen was indeed a good price. A good quality cotton fabric was three hundred wen a bolt, and for children, half a bolt was usually enough, but spring clothes required two layers of fabric, which used up more material.
Thinking it over, she decided to buy two sets—one for autumn and one larger set for winter, which could be worn over a cotton coat since winters here were quite cold.
After selecting the clothing, she also requested two pairs of shoes, as her child would be running around following his teacher, and it wouldn’t do to let the teacher buy them.
After making her selections, she inquired about the price of thick fabric.
The shopkeeper smiled before speaking. “The thick fabric is over here. I used to sell it for four hundred wen a bolt, but for you, I’ll let it go for three hundred and fifty wen. This price is really at a loss for me.”
Meiniang smiled but didn’t respond. She knew the shopkeeper wouldn’t actually take a loss; she was simply trying to make a sale. Previously, when she bought thick fabric, it was generally around three hundred and eighty wen a bolt.
If it was three hundred and fifty wen, she would buy two bolts.
At this time, cotton prices had also dropped a bit. By August, new cotton would be harvested. The Great Zhou didn’t produce much cotton, and cotton could cost nearly two hundred wen per jin. Therefore, most families tried to buy as little as possible, often repurposing old cotton clothes. However, these weren’t as warm.
Today, cotton was one hundred and fifty wen per jin, so she decided to buy twenty jin for their family’s cotton clothes, and she would also make a set for her parents.
The shopkeeper’s smile became even more genuine when she realized that this seemingly simple country woman was quite willing to spend.
“I’ll calculate it for you. The clothing costs four hundred and forty wen, the shoes eighty wen, the fabric seven hundred wen, and the cotton three taels. Altogether, that’s four taels and two hundred and twenty wen. If I sell these scraps, they’ll be worth about twenty wen, so I’ll give them to you for free. You can use them to patch your clothes.”
As Meiniang selected her items, the shopkeeper pulled out a bag of fabric scraps from under the counter. For someone willing to spend this much, she could afford to give a little extra.
Seeing the large bag of scraps made Meiniang very happy; she could do quite a lot with it.
Her embroidery skills weren’t great, but she was quite good at sewing, so she could make clothes and shoes easily.
After paying and thanking the shopkeeper, she left the shop, carrying her items. She didn’t plan to buy anything else, as she had already spent quite a bit.
Four taels and more was a significant amount; many families couldn’t save that much in a year. Back in Changjia Village, she and her son could only repay two taels of debt in a year.
Shopping took a considerable amount of time, so she decided to head to the market entrance.
Meanwhile, Wan Changsheng had just finished his trade, selling the horse and cart for ten taels, which was a decent price. He then selected a three-year-old mule.
The mule was just old enough and would be useful for at least ten years. He was satisfied in all aspects, but he was unhappy that the mule cost twenty-two taels. A better cart would cost twenty-five taels.
They had brought twenty taels with them today, and Meiniang had five taels, while he had fifteen taels, leaving them with no money to spare.
Wan Changsheng managed to negotiate a whip as part of the deal, even though a whip normally costs less than a hundred wen.
He didn’t feel comfortable not getting a better deal, but time was running out. They had to take care of all their affairs before they left.
A little over a quarter of an hour later, Wan Changsheng drove the new mule cart out of the market, where Meiniang had already been waiting for a while.