Chapter 16: The Trouble Caused by Buying Cloth at 16016

Twenty pounds of sugar-roasted chestnuts at eighty wen per pound totaled one thousand six hundred wen; another fifteen pounds of sugar-roasted chestnuts at sixty wen per pound also brought in nine hundred wen. Together, these two amounted to two thousand five hundred wen. In the Yunliang Kingdom, the exchange rate was one tael of silver for one thousand wen; that meant... Li Menglan had a total of over two taels of silver in her hands.

Heh... never mind Li Dazhu, even Li Menglan herself had never dreamed of such a thing. Even long after they had walked far away from the 'Xianke Residence,' Li Dazhu still felt his head spinning. "Daughter, your father wasn't dreaming just now, was he? How about you pinch me to see if it hurts?" Li Dazhu felt that the scene he had witnessed not long ago was not real at all.

"Dad." Li Menglan gave her father a reproachful glare. "Dad, it's broad daylight; you're already talking nonsense." However, such a father was still quite lovely.

"Hehe... Daughter, don't be angry with your father; isn't your father just too happy?" A wide smile filled Li Dazhu's honest face.

"Dad, don't worry; our family's life will definitely get better and better from now on." Li Menglan was truly happy; with this money, she could buy many things the family needed, and she wouldn't have to worry about how to get through this winter.

"Mm." Li Dazhu reached out affectionately to pat Li Menglan on the head. "I believe my daughter's words; our family's life will get better and better." It had to be said that Li Dazhu was truly a good father.

"Dad, it's still early; how about we go wander around the market?" Li Menglan fully utilized the advantages of this body, affectionately clinging to Li Dazhu's arm and acting spoiled. "I want to buy some things."

"Oh... Daughter, what do you want to buy?" Li Dazhu found it a bit strange; how did his daughter end up having so many ideas?

"Dad, you, Mom, Grandpa, and Grandma should buy some cotton and cloth to make padded clothes; the weather is getting cold." Li Menglan counted on her fingers, carefully tallying the things she wanted to purchase. "Also, Big Brother, Second Brother, and the others; the house should also add a few more quilts; and rice, flour, salt... oh right, I also need to make a trip to the apothecary."

"The apothecary?" Li Menglan's last sentence gave Li Dazhu a sudden fright. "Daughter, are you feeling unwell? You must tell your father; don't hide it from me, understand?" Li Menglan had just recovered from a major illness, and Li Dazhu was currently feeling quite jumpy at every little thing.

"Dad, I'm fine; I want to buy some medicinal herbs to see if I can make the spices I want." Li Menglan smiled sweetly to soothe her father's fragile heart. "Dad, how about we go in and look at that cloth shop?"

Li Menglan's sharp eyes caught sight of a newly opened cloth shop they had just passed, and she pointed toward it. "Dad, look, that cloth shop seems to have opened recently; uh... the goods should be quite complete. Shall we go in and take a look?" Li Menglan handed the initiative over to Li Dazhu.

"Alright, whatever my daughter says goes." Li Dazhu gave an honest smile, and the father and daughter turned a corner and walked into the cloth shop.

"Customers, what would you like? Please, feel free to look around." A large shop was indeed a large shop; the level of service was far beyond what an ordinary small cloth shop could compare to. A hint of admiration flashed in Li Menglan's eyes.

A shop assistant dressed in green ignored the Li family's humble attire and introduced them with a beaming, enthusiastic smile. "You two customers, please come over here and take a look." The assistant led Li Menglan and Li Dazhu toward the left counter.

"Customers, this is a new batch of fabrics that our shop has just received." The green-clad assistant pointed to the fabrics on the counter and began to introduce them in detail to Li Menglan and Li Dazhu. "Although the colors of these blue and cyan fabrics are ordinary, the material is good and very wear-resistant."

Li Menglan blinked her eyes and pointed curiously to the right. "Big Brother, what about those over there?" Although the distance was a bit further, Li Menglan could still see clearly; the right-hand counter was filled with brightly colored silks and satins.

Heh... good heavens, it turns out that even in this ancient era, there were already shopping assistants. Li Menglan couldn't help but marvel inwardly at the wisdom of the ancients. Hmm... it seemed the owner of this cloth shop was quite extraordinary; the left side followed a mass-market commoner route, while the right side was an elite, high-end luxury route. This cloth shop was truly interesting.

"Customers, the right side is filled with silks and satins; they probably won't be very practical for you," the green-clad assistant said truthfully.

"Mm, thank you, Big Brother!" Li Menglan nodded with a smile and offered a casual word of thanks.

"Big Brother, how much is this blue cloth?" Li Menglan touched both the blue and cyan fabrics; the texture felt quite good, somewhat similar to the coarse cloth she had seen when she was a child. Just as the green-clad assistant had said, this kind of cloth seemed to be very wear-resistant.

"Customers, our shop opened today; plain coarse cloth is ten wen per foot, and patterned coarse cloth is two wen more expensive per foot than the plain ones." Hah... good heavens, Li Menglan really hadn't expected it; it really was just coarse cloth.

Li Menglan did some mental calculations. Her father, grandfather, grandmother, big brother, and second brother—each person would need at least one set of clothes. Uh... that was the bare minimum, and the cutting methods of the ancients generally didn't involve much waste. Even so, one set of clothes for her father would require at least seven or eight feet of cloth, not to mention her grandfather and her two brothers...

"Big Brother, if I buy a larger amount, can you give me a discount?" Li Menglan began to haggle with the green-clad assistant.

Uh... the green-clad assistant frowned with some difficulty. "Then how much do you want to buy, customer? Actually, ten wen per foot is already very cheap; you won't find another shop in all of Qingshui Town that offers such a low price."

Uh... alright! Li Menglan had to admit that what the man said was likely the truth. However... as soon as Li Menglan thought about how many other things she needed to buy, her once-wavering heart became firm again.

"Big Brother, if I not only buy cloth here but also buy cotton from you, could you give me a discount?" Li Menglan saw the cotton by the counter, and an idea flashed in her mind.

"This..." The green-clad assistant was extremely conflicted. He was just a lowly assistant; how could he make such a decision? "Customer, why don't you wait here for a moment? I will go inside and ask the manager to come out and speak with you personally."

"No need. Just do as this young lady says; give her the original price for everything she wants to buy." A clear voice drifted in from the entrance of the cloth shop. The white-clad youth walking in against the light from the doorway could be no one other than Zhao Qingyun from the 'Xianke Residence.'

"Brother Zhao."

"Young Master!"

The voices of Li Menglan and the green-clad assistant rang out almost simultaneously.

"Young Master?" Li Menglan was full of surprise. "Brother Zhao, is this cloth shop also owned by your family?" Good heavens, Li Menglan marveled inwardly; could this guy be some kind of 'rich second generation' and 'official second generation' combined? Looking at the white-clad youth before her, Li Menglan thought of the famous wealthy and politically connected heirs of the modern era.

*Can I say you've hit the nail on the head?*

Actually, you know, Zhao Qingyun's identity really was very similar to those modern heirs; even if it wasn't an eighty percent match, it was at least seventy percent.

"Lan'er, what a coincidence. I didn't expect to see you again so soon," Zhao Qingyun said with a smile. Originally, Zhao Qingyun had only intended to stop by his family's newly opened cloth shop on his way back to the manor; he truly hadn't expected that a surprise was waiting for him here.