Chapter 21: One Hundred Taels!

“One hundred taels! I’ll take it!”

Hearing such a bold and generous offer, Xiang He carefully sized up the man. He was dressed in luxurious robes and wore a jade crown on his head—clearly a man of wealth!

However…

Xiang He suddenly let out a laugh. The man looked slightly surprised. “What is it, young lady? You still think the price is too low?”

“No, no,” Xiang He cleared her throat, stifling the amusement bubbling up inside, and put on a refined expression. “Although I’m still not entirely satisfied, a hundred taels it is. Saves me the trouble of looking for another buyer.”

“You’re quite the smooth talker, young lady.”

The man flicked open his folding fan, and the servant next to him quickly stepped forward and handed over a money pouch. “Please count, miss—one hundred taels, not a coin short.”

Xiang He’s eyes sparkled as she took the pouch and weighed it in her hand. Then she untied the cord and counted. Although the taels were a bit mismatched in size, they were a beautiful sight to behold!

The shopkeeper looked a little regretful. “Young Master Wang got ahead of me after all. Young Master Wang, how about you leave the knife work to me? It’s been a long time since I’ve handled genuine mountain goods—my hands are itching.”

“Sounds perfect!”

Xiang He had just finished counting too and tucked the money pouch into her chest. “May I ask which family this Young Master belongs to? I really should express my thanks properly.”

Young Master Wang blinked, then pointed his fan at himself. “You don’t know who I am?”

“I’m just a country girl—how could I have the honor of knowing a young master?”

By humbling herself and elevating him, she clearly pleased him. He lifted his chin high, proud and pleased. “This young master is Wang Rongxing, eldest son of the Fragrant Dye Workshop in Shuiyun City!”

With his self-important introduction, Xiang He immediately clapped her hands and gave him full face. “A pleasure to meet you! Many thanks for your generosity today, Young Master Wang—I’m deeply grateful.”

“Hah, it’s your big cat that caught my eye. It pleased me, that’s all.”

“Of course, of course.” Xiang He looked up at the sky. “Young Master Wang, it’s already noon. I’m getting a bit hungry. Since the money and goods have been exchanged, I’ll be on my way?”

“Go on, go on. If you come across more fine mountain goods, feel free to find me at Fragrant Dye Workshop.”

“I truly can’t thank you enough!”

As she pushed her cart away, she kept showering him with gratitude, praising Young Master Wang Rongxing to the point that his nose was practically in the air, absolutely beaming with pride.

But inwardly, Xiang He was holding back laughter as she quickly pushed the cart along. The moment she realized who Wang Rongxing was, she knew she’d hit the jackpot.

So he was the very man fooling around with Xiang Lianhua—Wang Rongxing.

She didn’t expect to actually cross paths with a wealthy man like him. But just looking at his face, it was obvious he was a walking pile of bad romances. Who knows how many women he had outside? With that, there was no way Xiang Lianhua would ever marry into the Wang family. Now that would be fun to watch!

—

Chuckling to herself, she made her way to the west market to find Mrs. Su and Fourth Aunt. The goods in the west market were much cheaper than in the east, and today she needed to buy quite a few things, so she had to be quick.

She jogged along, cart wheels spinning fast, and stopped when she passed a money house. Patting the silver hidden in her chest, she parked the cart and walked into the shop named “Wande Money House.”

“Shopkeeper, I’d like to deposit some money—uh, I mean silver?”

A head popped up behind the tall counter. The shopkeeper had a goatee and some gray at the temples. When he saw a young lady before him, his wrinkled eyes narrowed slightly.

“Is this the young lady’s first time depositing silver?”

“Yes.” Xiang He took out the money pouch from her chest and set aside ten taels for spending. “There’s ninety taels here—please help me deposit them.”

Noticing she didn’t have a formal deposit pouch, the shopkeeper poured the silver out onto the scale and carefully adjusted the weights. “There’s a little extra. Would the young lady like it exchanged for copper coins?”

“That’d be great!” Xiang He added two more taels of small silver pieces. “Please help me exchange these too—I’ll need them later.”

“Since this is your first time depositing silver, would you like a complimentary coin pouch?”

Xiang He lifted her head high. “Thank you, Shopkeeper!”

Her voice was clear and bright, making the old shopkeeper even more pleased. “Please wait a moment, young lady. I’ll write you a deposit slip. From now on, just bring this slip with you to any Wande Money House, and you’ll be able to withdraw your silver.”

“Alright!”

After writing the deposit slip, the shopkeeper returned her original money pouch and even gave her a complimentary coin purse. Xiang He put the copper coins and silver into the money pouch, keeping the coin purse to give to Mrs. Su.

With this sum in hand, she planned to visit the herbal medicine shop later and ask about the cost of building a house. After all, they couldn’t keep sitting outside, exposed to the wind.

Just as she was about to leave, the old shopkeeper called out, “Young lady, make sure to keep a close eye on that money pouch.”

“Will do. Thank you, Shopkeeper.”

With her pouch full of coins tucked safely away, she stepped out and pushed her cart toward the west market to look for Mrs. Su and Fourth Aunt. She headed into the bustling market streets and finally found the two of them in front of a pork stall.

“Mother! Fourth Aunt!”

The heavy weight in Mrs. Su’s heart finally dropped. She had originally wanted to go with her, but Xiang He had insisted on going alone, so she had to give in. Now that she saw her safe and sound, she was finally relieved.

“No one bullied you, right?”

Fourth Aunt shot her a teasing glance and laughed, “How could anyone bully our He girl? It’d be a miracle if she didn’t take advantage of someone else!”

“Fourth Aunt’s right! Mother, guess how much silver I sold it for?”

Mrs. Su shook her head in confusion. Xiang He proudly patted her chest. “A whole hundred taels! And it was from a young master of the Wang family—super generous!”

The two of them gasped, quickly raising their fingers to their lips. Mrs. Su pulled her aside, “Don’t shout about that, you’ll attract trouble!”

“Got it,” Xiang He said as she reached for the cloth bundle in her mother’s hands and placed it onto the cart. “Why did you buy so little? Did you get bowls? We still need a big water jar at home, and also…”

Xiang He listed out everything the household was lacking, one by one. Fourth Aunt chuckled, “Your house really does need everything. If you’re going to shop all the way down this street, you’ll be buying a ton of things. Good thing you’ve got a cart.”

“Exactly. Let’s get the big water jar first—it’ll be handy for storing things.”

The three of them looked around and finally spotted a large general store not far away, with all sorts of everyday furniture displayed outside. Xiang He quickly pushed the cart over. It was just like a modern-day general goods store—lots of variety. She figured they’d probably do most of their shopping right there.

After parking the cart, Xiang He walked in. “Shopkeeper, do you have big water jars?”

“Right there in the corner! Pick the one you like and call someone over to move it!”

“Got it!” Xiang He headed straight inside, not forgetting to call back to Mrs. Su, “Mother, go check out the bowls and chopsticks, and big cooking pots too—we need all of those!”

The shopkeeper heard her from a distance and immediately put down his writing brush, walking over to Mrs. Su with a beaming smile. “Ladies, come this way and have a look. Everything’s affordable—I guarantee you’ll be satisfied!”

Mrs. Su nodded slightly. This time, she didn’t have the awkwardness she’d felt when they first came in. Graciously, she followed him deeper into the store. A whole shelf full of bowls and chopsticks lay before her, and she was practically overwhelmed by the choices.

“Just the cheapest ones—we still have other things to buy later. No need for anything too expensive.”

The shopkeeper nodded quickly and led the two of them further inside. Just ahead, someone else was already looking at the bowls, closely inspecting the carved patterns. He turned around, just about to call for the shopkeeper—when he caught sight of Mrs. Su and her companion.

His expression shifted from surprise to a friendly smile. “Oh! What a coincidence, dear sister-in-law!”