Zhao Ce heard the little girl's words and remembered what she had said in the cart earlier, about her shoes getting the ox cart dirty. He couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her. The little girl had always been very self-conscious due to her body and family situation, and Zhao Ce had no intention of forcing her to become confident all at once.
He spoke gently, "Shall we go in together, and then you wait for me by the door?" The nearby shopkeeper also warmly said, "It's fine to wait by the door." "We've recently received a lot of new goods in our store. The young lady can take a look too." Su Cai'er was a bit intrigued and glanced at her husband. Zhao Ce then took her inside and said, "Isn't our home missing a lot of things? Let's buy what we need here first." The little girl suppressed her nervousness and agreed.
After entering the store, Zhao Ce pointed to the counter and said, "I'll be over there. Just call me if you need anything." Su Cai'er nodded obediently and said, "I'll wait for my husband here. You go ahead and do your business." Zhao Ce patted her little head before walking away with the items. Su Cai'er looked around cautiously, and the nearby shopkeeper was about to serve her when the little girl suddenly lowered her head. The shopkeeper stopped in his tracks and said, "If you need anything, just call me."
Afterward, he went outside to wait for other customers. The shopkeeper was overjoyed when he saw Zhao Ce and his face lit up. "Young master Zhao, didn't you say that it would take a while for the goods to arrive?" "Why did they come out so early this time?" Zhao Ce bowed and said, "Hello, shopkeeper. My relative brought over some new white sugar, and I wanted to show it to you."
When the shopkeeper heard that it was new, he quickly said, "New? Let me take a look." Zhao Ce handed over the cloth bag he was carrying. The shopkeeper opened it and saw that it was still white sugar, but it was whiter and of better quality than before. Although it wasn't particularly fresh, the shopkeeper was still very happy. "The quality of Mr. Su's sugar is even better this time." Zhao Ce also said proudly, "Of course. If it wasn't good, I wouldn't have come all the way here to show it to you." The shopkeeper chuckled and said, "You young people are always good talkers."
After speaking, the shopkeeper didn't hesitate and immediately picked up the scales to weigh the sugar. This batch of sugar was worth a full ten taels of silver. The shopkeeper then said, "You mentioned before that you're from Su Family Village, right?"
Su Family Village? Zhao Ce was momentarily stunned. He had forgotten that he had bragged to this shopkeeper before about being from Su Family Village. He put on a bold face and nodded, "Yes."
The shopkeeper quickly waved his hand and said, "I didn't mean to pry into your personal affairs. It's just that there's a family in Xiahe Village who specializes in making sugar, and our store's sugar is mostly supplied by them. We were just wondering if you were related to them."
Zhao Ce shook his head and said, "No, we're not related. Our family doesn't have many relatives left in the village, and most of them are distant relatives."
After speaking, he didn't want to say anything more. After all, if this shopkeeper really went to inquire about him, he would soon find out that he had lied. In the villages outside the city, gossip was common, and his identity was always at risk of being exposed.
Thinking this way, Zhao Ce thought that he should go and ask Zhao Wenhua about the sugar matter today. He needed to find a reliable intermediary first. If Zhao Wenhua's restaurant would buy his white sugar, it would save him a lot of trouble.
After the transaction was completed, the shopkeeper asked one of his assistants to take them to pick out the things they wanted to buy. Zhao Ce walked to the door and saw the little girl standing awkwardly by the side, looking like a small door god. But her eyes occasionally glanced towards a certain item on the nearby shelf.
When she saw Zhao Ce coming over, the little girl visibly relaxed. Following her gaze, Zhao Ce looked towards the shelf where she was looking. On the top shelf were various small fans made from sunflower leaves, while the bottom shelf had new umbrellas and other items.
Seeing the small round umbrellas with their varying colors and newness, Zhao Ce thought of the ancient beauties in the dramas he had watched before.
Everyone held various beautiful round fans in their hands or carried red umbrellas and the like. Zhao Ce thought to himself, "Everyone has a desire to be beautiful." He wondered if the little girl also liked these beautiful little things. So he asked her directly, "Which one do you want?"
The little girl shook her head and said, "I don't want anything."
Zhao Ce touched the ten taels of silver he had just earned and said generously, "It's okay, I'll buy you whatever you like." Without waiting for the little girl to refuse, he called the shopkeeper over and asked how much the round fans cost. The shopkeeper enthusiastically introduced the product, "This type of fan is made of silk and woven with silk and cotton. It's very popular among the ladies and young ladies in the city."
After finishing his explanation, he held up his fingers and made a gesture. "It's only Eighty coins per fan!"
Eighty coins for a fan! Su Caier widened her eyes, somewhat incredulous. With twenty more coins, she could use the money to pay for her marriage...
She quickly pulled her husband over and whispered, "Husband, I don't want these fans. They're too expensive."
"Eighty coins can buy a lot of food."
The little girl was a little anxious and pointed to the sunflower fans next to them.
"I, I originally wanted it because it's too hot now."
"If we had a sunflower fan at home, I could cool you off."
Every time her husband came home, he was sweating profusely from the heat. Even if she wanted to cool him off, she didn't have any tools on hand. She had thought about making a fan herself before, but she didn't have the materials to make this type of whole-leaf sunflower fan. However, the woven reed fans could be made at home. But she had just recently married into Shuiqiao Village and didn't know where to find the right materials. So she hadn't started yet.
Just now, when she saw the fans here, she had wanted to take a sneak peek and learn from them so she could make her own, and make them even more beautiful. After all, her husband was a literate person, and they ate white rice. So she wanted to make everything look better so that her husband would be more comfortable using them. But her husband wanted to buy the round fans next to them for eighty coins each. Did he want to use such a good fan to match his old clothes?