Chapter 140 (1/2)

Chapter 140

Chapter 140 - Shopping Around

Yu Xiaocao waited until the young girl walked far away . Only then did she sprinkle the remaining water from her water pouch onto the fodder . She placed the improved fodder into the feed trough in front of Little Gray . The little donkey licked her hand and then cheerfully started eating . The other three horses apparently could tell that the fodder in front of Little Gray was different and stretched out their necks . If they didn’t have their lead ropes pulling them back, they would have long started fighting over the food with Little Gray .

Xiaocao shook her water pouch, showing that it was completely empty . She stroked Third Young Master Zhou’s little red horse and softly said, “Just accept these less than ideal circ.u.mstances for tonight, I’ll make sure to give you guys something good to eat tomorrow!”

Little Gray somehow knew that its own food was being eyed with jealousy by the other three horses, so it rapidly inhaled all of the fodder until the trough was swept clean . Satisfied, it opened its mouth and nickered a few times . The other three horses had nothing to fight for so they had no choice but to eat what was left in their own food bins .

Zhao Han had finished moving their items into the room and came over . He noticed Xiaocao in the back courtyard and asked, “Xiaocao, do you want to rest a bit?”

“I’m not tired, let’s stroll around the vicinity!” Although riding a donkey for a long distance was hard and tiring, Xiaocao had her cheat item: mystic-stone water . Just drinking a mouthful was enough to energize her and eliminate fatigue .

The small inn was in a location where the commoners of the prefectural city lived . Nearby, there were shops that sold small goods that were almost the same price as the same goods in Tanggu Town . However, they had varieties of cloth material and designs of jewelry that could not be found in the smaller town .

At one of the shops in the vicinity, Xiaocao immediately noticed a thin cotton cloth that caught her eye . It was dyed with an elegant pattern that reminded one of tree branches . If Madam Liu had a piece of clothing made from this cloth, she would definitely look very stylish . The cloth sold in Tanggu Town were either dyed a simple color or over-the-top with bright colors and patterns that could seem garish on some people . She needed to buy more of this type of simple yet elegant material to bring back home .

Xiaocao was never extremely frugal with her own spending . In addition, the price for the cloth was not expensive, as it was about the same as those found in Tanggu Town . But, there was more variety . She asked the shopkeeper to cut her ten feet of each cloth that she liked . Behind her, Zhao Han soon found his hands full of cloth bundles .

Not far from them, there was a small silverware store . Xiaocao remembered that when her mother was doing her hair she had lamented that they didn’t have any hair ornaments . They could only use leftover sc.r.a.ps from sewing clothes to tie a bow onto her hair .

All girls loved to dress up, so Xiaocao stepped into the silverware store without any hesitation . Inside the store, there was a twelve to thirteen year old girl at the counter . Although she was average looking, she had a business-like demeanor .

When she saw a customer step in, the girl didn’t judge the person by the way she looked and still warmly greeted her, “Little sister, do you want some jewelry? Where are your parents?”

This was the first time that Yu Xiaocao had entered into a silverware store . Her eyes looked avidly around and were caught by the glittering and s.h.i.+ning pieces of jewelry in the store . With her family’s current financial situation, buying gold ornaments would be a bit too ostentatious and inconsistent with Xiaocao’s desire to stay under the radar . She still needed time to implement more money-making schemes .

She smiled at the shopkeeper girl and went to the display counter that had silver ornaments . The display had a layer of dark colored cloth at the bottom, which made the silver jewelry inside seem more bright and s.h.i.+ny .

At this point, the shopkeeper girl saw Zhao Han, who had just entered the store . Although Zhao Han was only around twelve to thirteen years of age, he had a st.u.r.dy and tall body from practicing martial arts all year round . In the young girl’s eyes, Zhao Han had become Xiaocao’s older brother who was taking his younger sister around shopping .

The two of them were only wearing clothes made of the most ordinary type of cotton cloth, but the workmans.h.i.+p was very fine, especially the set on Xiaocao . It emphasized Xiaocao’s fine and slim figure, making her look like a slender and elegant flower . She really had the air of a beautiful girl born from a humble family .

The girl attentively recommended Xiaocao some pieces of jewelry in the case, “Little sister, this is a pair of earrings shaped like lilacs . The design is quite lively and really suits girls around your age . Do you want to try…”

She picked up the pair of silver lilac earrings and gestured towards Xiaocao’s ears . Only then did she notice that the little girl’s ears had not been pierced yet, so she smiled apologetically at Xiaocao . She placed the silver earrings down and picked up a set of jewelry decorated with pearls .

Xiaocao noticed that the pair of lilac earrings had fine workmans.h.i.+p . The tiny lilac flowers seemed vivid and lifelike and glimmered gently in the last rays of the setting sun . Because she had a weak const.i.tution since she was young, Madam Liu wasn’t willing to pierce her ears . However, Xiaolian had pierced ears . This pair of lilac earrings really fit Xiaocao’s tastes, and she asked the girl about the price . They were only twenty copper coins, so she immediately bought them .

Following that, she picked out a pair of twining silver bracelets for Madam Liu as well as a Yulan magnolia [1] hairpin made of silver . She had heard Xiaolian mention that their mother had originally had a Yulan magnolia hairpin just like this one that was brought over as her dowry . However, when Xiaocao had fallen ill as a child, they had sold it to get the money to pay for her medicine . This silver hairpin should help soothe Madam Liu’s previous regrets!

Naturally, Xiaocao didn’t forget to buy things for herself and picked up a pair of pearl and coral bracelets . She also chose a similar style for Xiaolian, just with different colored pearls . Finally, she also bought a few headbands that were embroidered with gold thread . She wanted to gift these to the sisters of the Zhou Family as well as Qian Wu’s younger sister .