The shopkeeper was stunned and quickly ran to report to the owner.

The owner of the cloth shop came over personally, and the sound of the abacus beads clicking was sharp.

After a moment, he quoted, “Six rolls of cloth, one roll at 9 qian 500 wen, five rolls at 5 qian 300 wen, totaling 3 liang 6 qian. To give you a discount, I’ll charge you 3 liang 5 qian and throw in a basket of scraps. What do you think?”

Shen Qing naturally agreed and immediately took out four liang of silver to pay.

She realized that buying in bulk has its benefits—no need to haggle, they round down the price for you, and even throw in freebies.

Like the cloth shop’s free scraps, the butcher shop had given several pig bones.

The shopkeeper didn’t feel the reality of the sale until he had received the silver.

Honestly, when he first heard the number of rolls from his assistant and saw Shen Qing’s group, he had thought she was trying to put on a show.

He was afraid that once the price was calculated, she would come up with an excuse to back out.

But unexpectedly, it was him who got the face slap in the end!

It just goes to show, you can’t judge a book by its cover.

Guan Li originally planned to buy scraps to make cloth shoes, and after receiving her wages, she was thinking of buying some hemp cloth for clothes.

But after seeing Shen Qing’s generous purchase, she felt that the scraps and hemp cloth didn’t seem appealing anymore.

She hesitated between hemp cloth and cotton cloth, unsure of what to decide.

Shen Qing stepped forward and suggested, “Your family doesn’t lack clothes. If it’s hemp cloth, there’s no need to buy it now. You don’t have much silver, so you can save a bit and come back later to buy cotton cloth.”

The Guan family was considered well-off in Qili Village.

They lived in a mud-brick house, and although their children’s clothes were made of poor-quality fabric, they had plenty of sets, unlike the Jiang family, who had to wait for one set to dry before changing into another.

In the past, Guan the carpenter was the sole breadwinner, but now all three members of the family could earn money.

The savings were increasing rapidly, and buying cotton cloth was just a matter of time, so there was no need to buy hemp cloth now.

Guan Li thought Shen Qing’s suggestion made a lot of sense!

She said, “Then I’ll buy some scraps for my father to make cloth shoes.”

Shen Qing smiled, “The shopkeeper already gave me a basket of scraps. You can pick some to take home. By the way, the wool that’s been soaked can be used for making brushes, and the leather can be used for shoe uppers or sewn into the inside of straw sandals as insoles. Why don’t you try it?”

She remembered that leather needed to be soaked in limewater, and half of it had already been soaked.

It would remove the smell and oil, and she could try it when she got home.

If it worked, wouldn’t it be a pair of real sheepskin shoes?

Guan Li, who had initially felt shy, was now tempted by the leather material.

She thought about how her aunt would never accept money.

Her aunt’s family lacked a cart, and her father had mentioned making one as a thank-you gift.

She was initially worried her aunt wouldn’t accept it, but now, after receiving her aunt’s materials, using the cart as a thank-you gift seemed perfect.

“Okay, thank you, Aunt.”

Shen Qing didn’t take it seriously and called in the third and fourth sons, who had been watching the scene outside, to help carry the cloth.

The group returned home with their haul.

Along the way, Jiang Xiangnan kept looking back at the cart stacked high with cloth, muttering whether they had spent all their silver.

Sometimes he felt guilty about the money, but then he couldn’t help feeling excited about the cloth.

Jiang Xiangbei didn’t have his brother’s concerns.

He knew how much income the brushes would bring in and estimated that their mother hadn’t spent half of it yet.

Also, aside from soy sauce and vinegar, meat, oil, and cloth were necessities, so they had to buy them.

In the past, the family was too poor, but now that they earned money, wasn’t it for a better life?

Mother’s spending was wise!

It was worth it!

The cart, piled high with cloth, was hard to hide.

As they passed through the village entrance, it drew a lot of attention.

There was no Zhou Chunhua or Sun Xiaomai in the crowd today, and although everyone was shocked, no one said anything sarcastic.

Shen Qing’s group quickened their pace and went through the village entrance, returning home.

Huo Bing, Jiang Xiangdong, and Xiao Hua heard the noise and immediately ran out.

Shen Qing took out the pastries given by Manager Lin of Jiya Shop, squatted down to Little Hua’s level, and handed them all to her. “Hua Hua, take these to eat. Inside, there are osmanthus cakes and date paste cakes, they’re sweet and delicious!”

Xiao Hua didn’t expect her grandmother to bring her such sweet treats.

Her big, dark eyes blinked a few times, and she quickly kissed Shen Qing’s face, sweetly praising, “Grandma is great! Hua Hua likes Grandma~”

She loved the current Grandma.

Shen Qing’s heart melted.

The soft and adorable little girl was simply too cute, and she couldn’t stop loving her!

Jiang Xiangdong saw the cloth on the cart and turned to ask his little sister, “Did Mom buy everything we need for the house?”

They had bought so much at once.

But seeing everyone else’s usual reactions, he didn’t dare to say anything.

Shen Qing, pulled out of her thoughts by her granddaughter’s sweet voice, quickly told Huo Bing how to distribute the cloth.

Finally, she added, “There should be extra cloth for the men’s clothes. Make some more cloth diapers for the children to rotate.”

She hadn’t known that children could go through so many diapers a day—sometimes ten or more—so she often saw Huo Bing and the eldest son drying diapers.

And since adults still wore hemp clothes, what kind of cloth did the children have? Rough and worn.

Since they had bought cloth, it was time to replace the diapers too.

Hearing his mother’s words, Jiang Xiangdong almost burst into tears, wishing he could raise both his hands and feet in agreement. “Mom, you’re so wise! If we run out, I’ll shorten my clothes or make fewer sets. I can wear my old clothes! We need to make more diapers for the kids.”

Huo Bing: … Why is the head of the house even more excited than her?

In the past, when Xiao Hua was young, her husband would have thought it unnecessary—just wash a few diapers, and it’d be fine.

If they weren’t dry, it was her fault for being lazy and not washing them in time.

Shen Qing: … Looks like only the one raising the child understands the struggle.

Huo Bing was the only one who could make clothes, so Shen Qing took over the tasks of cooking and making soap.

Lunch had been prepared by Huo Bing earlier, and everyone had a quick meal.

For dinner, Shen Qing went to the kitchen.

Seeing the large amount of ingredients and the variety of seasonings, her mind automatically began to think of different ways to cook.

Should the pig’s trotters be braised, or should they be made into white jade pig’s feet?

Should they be stewed in soup, or cooked dry?

Should the pork belly be roasted with pickled vegetables or braised with whole eggs?

Should they be roasted until they sizzle, or stewed until tender and flavorful?

Oh, and there were still yellow eels and small fish from the morning…