“Is there anything you want to buy?” Xiao Zheng asked Su He.
They had been frugal and bought everything the family needed, and their family’s current situation could not support buying anything too large. Although there were still two or three taels of silver left in the family’s savings, the whole family still had to live after the wedding banquet. It was impossible to spend all the silver on the feast, especially since they needed to keep some for emergencies. Life on the border was becoming increasingly unpredictable these days; disaster could strike at any moment.
“I know the town well. Whatever you want to buy, I’ll take you there.”
Su He thought about it, and there really were quite a few things that needed to be added. She wanted to buy some more vegetable seeds; after all, if she wanted to continue making money in the long run, she had to plant more vegetables and grain. Then, she also wanted to buy some tools that would make it easier to process medicinal herbs, and…
“There’s quite a lot I want to buy, and it’s a bit miscellaneous.”
“It’s fine, we can take our time shopping,” Xiao Zheng said patiently.
And so, they walked side by side into the marketplace.
The street was bustling and noisy. The shouts of vendors selling buns, fabrics, and candied hawthorns rose and fell. Looking at all of this, Su He was in a very good mood.
The two went to the blacksmith shop first. Su He bought a small herb shovel and picked out a handy little knife to use for trimming the roots and stems of medicinal herbs. Next, they went to the sundries shop and picked up a few coarse pottery jars, hemp ropes, cloth bags, dried fruits, and candies…
However, when it came to buying vegetable seeds, Su He frowned slightly.
There weren’t many seeds displayed in the shop, just the usual common varieties: cabbage, radish, green onions, garlic, and some drought-resistant wild vegetable seeds. She looked around, feeling a bit disappointed.
“Is this all?”
The shopkeeper nodded. “Only these kinds survive well on the border. Other seeds aren’t easy to grow here.”
Su He fell silent for a moment. According to her current memories, this world did have corn. However, it wasn’t planted much in the border regions, and the yield was on the lower side. But she guessed that the problem probably wasn’t the seeds themselves, but rather the nature of the soil on the border. Meanwhile, high-yield crops like sweet potatoes and potatoes, which she was really looking for, were nowhere to be seen.
Did they not exist? Or did simply no one plant them?
Su He felt a faint glimmer of anticipation. If she could find those crops, that would be the true path to wealth.
At this moment, Xiao Zheng explained from the side, “Today isn’t a market day. If you want to buy some novel seeds, you’ll have to wait until the market day, which happens once every ten days.”
Su He didn’t quite understand. “Is there any difference on market day?”
Xiao Zheng said, “Our place is where three countries meet, so we hold a market every ten days. Traveling merchants will come over and bring things from other countries, like seeds, spices, and even rare, exotic goods.”
Hearing this, Su He’s eyes lit up instantly. “Then when is the next market day?”
“In five days!”
“Great.”
Su He quietly resolved that she must come and check it out in five days to see if she could forage some novel things from the traveling merchants.
After this round of shopping, both of their backpacks were nearly full. Meanwhile, the silver Su He had just obtained was already more than half gone.
For their last stop, Su He came to a clothing shop in town.
The shop wasn’t large, but a few brightly colored garments were hanging up. Red, pink, blue. In the drab, dusty environment of the border, they looked exceptionally eye-catching.
“Let’s go in and take a look,” Su He said, glancing at the entrance and signaling to the man beside her.
Xiao Zheng nodded and followed silently.
Just as the two stepped through the door, they heard a familiar voice.
“Can you make this bridal veil a bit cheaper?”
Su He paused in her tracks and looked up.
Sure enough, it was Shen Feng and Su Lan!
What a coincidence that these two had also come to the clothing shop. Could it be that they were also preparing for their wedding banquet?
The shopkeeper shook his head. “Young lady, this is already the cheapest it goes. Any lower and I’ll be taking a loss.”
On the counter lay a red bridal veil; the fabric looked ordinary, plain and without any embroidery.
Standing to the side, Su Lan wore an unnatural smile, but her heart was filled with intense resentment and grievance!
She was still wearing Shen Zhu’s new clothes. Calling them “new” was a stretch, as they had been made two years ago, though Shen Zhu had been reluctant to wear them on regular days, leaving them about seventy to eighty percent new. However, Shen Zhu was several years younger than her; even though the seams had been intentionally let out back then, the clothes were still too small on Su Lan. Especially around the chest, it was stretched rather tight, making her feel unnatural even when just raising her hand.
“We’ll take this one.”
Being able to buy anything from the clothing shop today was only because she had said a lot of sweet talk in front of Shen Feng. Only then did he agree to buy her a red bridal veil. She didn’t dare ask for anything more; after all, she had just entered the household and didn’t truly hold the family’s purse strings yet.
Su Lan felt wronged, but she could only endure it.
Right at that moment, she caught sight of Su He out of the corner of her eye, and her expression instantly changed.
“Sister A-He? You’ve come too?”
Shen Feng looked over as well, momentarily dazed.
Standing by Su He’s side, Xiao Zheng calmly swept a glance over the two of them without saying a word.
Su He, on the other hand, looked perfectly natural. “Yes, to look at some clothes.”
Her simple reply lacked any excessive pleasantries, making the atmosphere instantly a bit subtle.
Su Lan quickly recovered her smile. “Yes, getting married always requires adding a bit of festive cheer.”
As she spoke, she instinctively straightened her back, as if that single red bridal veil was respectable enough.
“Then go ahead and pick something out.”
Su Lan also wanted to see what the Xiao family could afford to buy for Su He.
Su He nodded slightly and began browsing around the shop, picking items while inquiring about the prices.
After making a few comparisons, she had a clear picture in her mind. Acquiring those miscellaneous items earlier had cost her one tael and nine mace. Now she had one tael and seven mace left in her hand, which was one thousand seven hundred copper coins.
She planned to directly buy two bolts of summer cloth to make a summer garment for Wang Guixiang and each of the Xiao siblings. Fortunately, it was currently the hot season of August; otherwise, the money in her hand wouldn’t even be enough.
Marriage was a grand joyous event. It shouldn’t just be her and Xiao Zheng wearing new clothes as the newlyweds; the whole family should be neat and uniform, everyone wearing new clothes together.
She first pointed at the summer cloth display rack. “How much silver are these navy blue and light gray fabrics?”
“Two hundred copper coins per bolt.”
“Alright, wrap these two bolts up.” Su He placed her order decisively.
Although this summer cloth was also a type of coarse fabric, it was relatively light, thin, and breathable, making it very suitable for spring, summer, and autumn wear. One bolt was about three Zhang long, which could be cut and made into one to two garments. Two bolts of fabric were plenty for Wang Guixiang and the Xiao siblings to each have a new outfit made.
“Ah, alright,” the shopkeeper responded cheerfully.
Following that, Su He selected a date-red wedding dress from among the ready-made clothes.
“I want this set.”
The shopkeeper smiled happily and immediately took it down.
He had truly misjudged them today! He hadn’t expected this young woman, whose dress and adornments looked very ordinary, to be so generous, decisive, and straightforward with her spending. Why couldn’t he get more customers like this?
His gaze swept toward the other newlywed couple standing on the side, who had bickered with him for a long time over even the cheapest red bridal veil.
As expected, you truly couldn’t compare one person to another!