activa-t Chapter 68 Going to town
Chapter 68 Going to town
Zhou Mingshu put the chalk in her hand and took out a wooden board for her to draw on. At first, Mrs. Zhou didn't understand what she was doing. Encouraged by her grandchildren, she lightly drew on the board, leaving white marks on it.
Old Mrs. Zhou was secretly shocked. It turned out that this was the chalk that San Ya mentioned.
Now with this chalk, everyone can write on the wooden board. The old lady slapped her thigh excitedly. She had to ask her eldest son to make the wooden board quickly, a big and flat one.
The three Zhou brothers did not come back until it was getting dark, but they had already had dinner at their uncle's house, so the family did not busy themselves any more.
Old Mrs. Zhou called Old Man Zhou into the house and personally instructed him to make the wooden board as soon as possible. Old Man Zhou didn't understand at first until he saw the chalk in Old Mrs. Zhou's hand.
His tired face was broken by joy, and he said he had to make the board as soon as possible because the children at home were waiting for it.
The next morning, Old Mrs. Zhou woke up Zhou Mingshu. Zhou Laoer was also in the yard. The three of them took their backpacks and went to the town.
They first went to Baicaotang and exchanged the Gastrodia elata in their backpacks for money. They also left some mushrooms picked from the mountains and gave them to Doctor Chen to eat.
As soon as they entered the door, Mr. Chen praised Zhou Mingshu highly. Zhou Mingshu felt embarrassed to stay here, so she chatted with Chen Banxia for a while while the adults were talking.
Due to the busy farming season, Zhou Mingshu planned to come back in two days. Chen Banxia was reluctant to let him go. "Sister Mingshu, I feel so bored when you are not here. You must come here as soon as you finish your housework. Also, the gardenia ointment you made is selling very well. Many aunties and grandmas came to buy it early in the morning after hearing about it. The young ladies from wealthy families also like it very much. Auntie even left a bottle for me. Can you smell the fragrance on me? Is it nice?"
Chen Banxia circled in front of Zhou Mingshu as if presenting a treasure, her eyes filled with stars. This was the gift she had pestered her mother for most of the day before convincing her to leave for her.
Zhou Mingshu naturally smelled it and praised Chen Banxia a lot. The little girl couldn't help but praise him and her face turned red.
They didn't stay in Baicaotang for long. After selling the Gastrodia elata, they talked for a while and then went to the market.
Zhou Mingshu wanted to buy a lot of things. She persuaded Old Mrs. Zhou to buy two jugs of wine for her uncle. This was agreed before, so Old Mrs. Zhou naturally had no objection.
Then he persuaded her to go to the cloth shop to buy some cloth for everyone to make clothes. The clothes worn by both adults and children in the family were all tattered and patched up. The eldest and second sisters were as beautiful as flowers, but they looked old, like old ladies. No one liked them, so how could they be married?
Old Mrs. Zhou knew all this in her heart, and after Zhou Mingshu's repeated requests, she gave in and let her choose several brightly colored fabrics.
Zhou Mingshu was very bold. She chose cyan and light yellow. The eldest and second sisters have fair skin, so they will look good in these colors.
The eldest sister's embroidery work was pretty good, so she selected some silk threads and asked her to make a few handkerchiefs.
Old Mrs. Zhou chose some dark-colored fabrics, mostly blue and black, to make clothes for the men in the family.
The remaining fabrics are some light-colored floral patterns, which would look great as lining jackets for the three daughters-in-law.
After all this, several hundred coins were spent. Although Mrs. Zhou felt distressed, it was all worth it.
The owner of the cloth shop hadn't had such a big business for a long time and said he wanted to give them some scraps of cloth.
Old Mrs. Zhou didn't hesitate and took Zhou Mingshu to pick out a lot of scraps of cloth from the rag basket, rolled them into a ball and stuffed them into the backpack.
The shopkeeper was not unhappy at all. He gave Zhou Mingshu some silk for hair tying and asked them to come again next time.
Zhou Laoer followed behind his mother and daughter, with a smile on his face.
A few people passed by a dim sum shop. Zhou Mingshu said he wanted to buy some dim sum for his family. Old Mrs. Zhou counted out the money and gave it to her, asking her to buy it.
Zhou Mingshu picked some mung bean cakes. Their light green color and leaf-like shape made them look very delicious.
Watching her put the paper bag into the backpack, Old Mrs. Zhou took her hand and walked towards the vegetable market.
They came to Yang the butcher's meat stall and picked up two pounds of pork belly and one pound of fat, a total of three pounds of meat, enough for the family to have a hearty lunch.
Butcher Yang was delighted with his booming business. He spoke politely to Old Lady Zhou and even gave them two bones before leaving.
After strolling around the street, Zhou Mingshu had bought everything she wanted. There was nothing she wanted, so she was waiting for her grandmother and father to prepare things for her.
Now it is early summer and most of the wild vegetables in the mountains are a little old, so they have to make plans in advance.
They went to the grocery store and bought some mung beans, saying they wanted to grow them into sprouts because the vegetables at home had not grown yet and could not be eaten yet.
Then he went to the iron shop and ordered a hoe.
When they got here, Zhou Mingshu suddenly remembered that he wanted to order some porcelain vases, so the three of them went to the porcelain shop again.
This time, everything was done and they went home.
Because of Zhou Laoer, the coolie who carried the things, they did not choose to take a bus and walked directly back.
If they were to take the oxcart from Lijiagou, they didn't know whether they would have to wait until mid-afternoon. They were in a hurry to go home and didn't have the energy to wait.
"Grandma, our Lianglin Village is so far from the town, and we will have to harvest wheat in a while, so why don't we buy an ox cart?"
"No, ox carts are very expensive. We can't afford one. An ox and a cart cost at least twenty or thirty taels of silver."
What Old Mrs. Zhou said was that even if she didn't use the money to pay off foreign debts, it would not be enough to buy a cow.
Zhou Mingshu did not give up, because she had not intended to buy a cow in the first place.
"Grandma, if we can't afford a cow, can we buy a donkey? I heard that a baby donkey can run very fast."
Mrs. Zhou smiled and said, "It costs money to buy a donkey. Although donkeys are cheaper than cows, they still cost a lot of money. You know our family's situation. We have to pay off these debts first. Everything else has to wait until we pay off the foreign debts."
Seeing that Grandma Zhou was willing to give in, Zhou Mingshu stopped talking. As long as grandma didn't stick to the idea of saving money, she would be able to buy her little donkey soon.
Because they were very efficient and had thought about what they wanted to buy and what they wanted to do in advance, when they got home, Mrs. Liu had not yet started preparing lunch.
Boss Zhou took the children to peel tree bark in the wasteland. When they saw that everyone who had gone to the market had returned, they packed up their things and went home.
"Okay, put down everything you're doing and come over here. We bought a lot of things this time."
Old Mrs. Zhou called out to everyone in every corner of the house, and everyone wiped their hands and came to the main room.
Lifting the apron on her backpack that was used to block the light, Old Mrs. Zhou first took out the mung bean cake wrapped in oil paper.
As soon as he saw the packaging, Zhou Mingqi knew what it was.