"Is thаt sо!" Оld Маdаm Guо respоndеd саsuаlly, picking uр thе diamonds tо exаminе thеm сlоsеly. "Which еlderly lady doesn't hаvе a fеw heirlооm trеаsures? It wоuldn't bе аnуthing sрeсial if I wore thеm оut. But mу three granddаughters, two grаndsons, and twо dаughtеrs-in-lаw... wеll, mу уoungest sоn isn't mаrried уеt, but hе shouldn't bе left оut еither. Don't уоu think that's rеasonablе, Si Lang?" As she sроkе, Old Мadam Guo lооkеd up, оnlу tо find thаt Сhеng Chi, whо hаd beеn sitting besidе her, was nоwherе tо bе seеn.
Неr hеart skippеd a beat, and she сraned her nеck to lоok аrоund, spоtting Cheng Chi standing next to Zhou Shaojin.
Old Madam Guo smiled faintly as she watched Cheng Chi pick up a beaded flower from among the glass hairpins Zhou Shaojin had selected. After examining it for a moment, he said, "These beads are a clear, translucent green. Anyone who didn't know better might mistake them for jadeite. You have a good eye."
Zhou Shaojin's cheeks flushed slightly. "I just thought they looked nice."
Cheng Chi nodded with a smile and turned to the attendant nearby. "Are all the better-quality glass hairpins in your shop here?"
Thinking Cheng Chi was dissatisfied with the quality, the attendant hurriedly replied, "Although glass is a Western import, the imperial workshops can produce it now. Many ladies wear it just for novelty—they might wear it today and give it away tomorrow. Our shop focuses more on style. For larger pieces, we mainly deal in gemstones. A few days ago, we acquired a piece of red coral. Since its shape wasn't suitable for a bonsai, we invited a master craftsman from Yongfusheng to carve two pairs of hairpins, four pairs of beaded flowers, four pairs of earrings, an eighteen-bead Buddhist rosary, and a one hundred eight-bead rosary. As payment, Yongfusheng took two pairs of beaded flowers, two pairs of earrings, and the eighteen-bead rosary. Would you like to see the remaining pieces, sir? The one hundred eight-bead rosary has beads each the size of a soybean..."
Cheng Chi interrupted the attendant with a smile. "So, the eighteen-bead rosary Yongfusheng took must have beads at least the size of lotus seeds?"
The attendant chuckled awkwardly. "You're very sharp, sir. I barely hinted at it, and you guessed right. However, the one hundred eight-bead rosary we kept has beads of uniform size, without a single flaw..."
Cheng Chi interrupted him again. "Then bring out all the red coral jewelry for me to see."
The attendant quickly instructed his apprentice to relay the message to the assistant manager in charge of the storeroom.
Soon after, the apprentice returned, carrying a black lacquer tray lined with white Zhang velvet. On it were two pairs of hairpins, two pairs of beaded flowers, two pairs of earrings, and the one hundred eight-bead rosary.
Zhou Shaojin's gaze was immediately drawn to the one hundred eight-bead rosary.
Though not large, the rosary had a brilliant luster and a smooth, pleasing texture that made one want to touch it.
She couldn't help but wonder if the legendary "lovesick beans" looked like this.
Seeing her interest, Cheng Chi said to Zhou Shaojin, "This rosary is beautiful. However, Old Madam Guo is advanced in years, and although the rosary is fine, the beads are too small for her. Miss Zhou, I think it would suit you perfectly... Why don't you buy it? Such quality at this price is rare. It wouldn't be out of place as a family heirloom."
Zhou Shaojin, a devout Buddhist, already had a fondness for rosaries. Moreover, this one was carved from such rare red coral.She smiled and said, "From the tone of Uncle Chi's words, are these kinds of beads much cheaper to buy here than in Jinling?"
Are women naturally gifted at speaking?
Look at this approach—not directly asking how much the beads cost, which would seem petty, nor asking if the beads are very cheap, which would make the shop assistant think you're an easy target and quote a high price. Instead, she compared the prices here with those in Jinling, setting a benchmark. If the assistant wanted to sell the beads, he could only lower the price according to Jinling's standards.
But before Cheng Chi could speak, the assistant eagerly replied, "Whether it's Jinling or Hangzhou, most of the goods are supplied by us. Naturally, they're much cheaper than in Jinling."
Zhou Shaojin didn't ask for the price either, just smiled at the assistant, waiting for him to finish.
The assistant then said, "For beads of such quality, they would sell for at least two hundred taels of silver per string in Jinling. Here, at most, they go for one hundred and twenty taels..."
Good thing I brought two hundred taels of silver.
Zhou Shaojin calculated in her mind.
One hundred and twenty taels for a string of prayer beads, leaving eighty taels—enough to buy some glass hairpins and hairpieces to take back.
She asked with a smile, "I brought silver notes. Does your shop accept them?"
"Of course we do!" the assistant replied eagerly, as if afraid the silver notes would fly away. "We can even help customers exchange them for gold."
Zhou Shaojin felt relieved, only to see Cheng Chi sweep aside the glass hairpins and hairpieces on the tray beside him, mixing up all the ones she had painstakingly selected for half the day.
"Uncle Chi!" Zhou Shaojin exclaimed in annoyance.
Cheng Chi didn't even glance at her and said to the assistant, "Ask your head shopkeeper for a few lucky bags and pack up all these glass hairpins and hairpieces. We'll take them all."
How could this be?
If she paid for them herself, she couldn't afford it for now. If Uncle Chi paid for her... Old Madam Guo and Uncle Chi had already been very kind to her. She couldn't overstep her bounds.
Zhou Shaojin jumped up.
But then, with a flick of his wrist, Cheng Chi pointed to the remaining coral jewelry and said, "We'll take all of these too."
Zhou Shaojin was left speechless.
Cheng Chi smiled and said, "I know some of those glass hairpins and hairpieces aren't to your liking. You can give the ones of poorer quality to the rough-working maids."
That wasn't the point...
Zhou Shaojin thought dejectedly.
Forget it. Uncle Chi had already said he would buy them all. If she objected, wouldn't she be undermining his authority?
She would let Uncle Chi pay for them first, and when she returned to the bank, she could borrow some silver from Jiying and repay him all at once.
But when Zhou Shaojin saw Qin Ziping pay over four hundred taels of silver for the pile of items in front of her, she felt even worse. After that, she was listless no matter what she did.
Cheng Chi couldn't help but stroke his chin.
He had really upset the girl this time. If she remained unhappy like this, wouldn't their trip to Fuyuan Street be in vain?
He took them to a shop selling Western novelties.
The dazzling gold-foil utensils, vibrant carpets, an array of bead strings, and snuffboxes interspersed among them, painted with golden-haired, blue-eyed bare-shouldered beauties, left Zhou Shaojin and the others spellbound. Soon, they forgot their displeasure at the silver shop. Even Old Madam Guo couldn't resist picking up a Western puppet to examine.
It seems women, regardless of age, love to shop!
Cheng Chi felt relieved.
Two foreign women walked in.Cheng Chi whispered to Zhou Shaojin, who was intently selecting bead bracelets, "Look! Hu dancers."
Zhou Shaojin quickly turned around and saw two women dressed in ornate saris, veiled with only their cat-like green eyes visible, walking toward her.
She was startled and instinctively grabbed Cheng Chi's sleeve tightly, whispering, "Their eyes... they're green!"
Seeing her face pale, Cheng Chi felt a twinge of regret. Not everyone could accept the appearance of foreigners.
"Don't be afraid," he comforted her. "Look at the Western beauties on the snuff boxes—they even have golden hair! People from barbarian lands often look quite strange."
The two women spoke in an unfamiliar language to the shopkeeper in low tones. Their strong perfume made Zhou Shaojin sneeze, but her heart gradually calmed.
Her upbringing, which taught her not to stare, made her glance only briefly before feeling too embarrassed to look further.
She whispered to Cheng Chi, "I’ve seen snuff boxes painted with Western beauties before, but I always thought they were just imaginary... I never imagined such people really existed!"
"More than that!" Cheng Chi laughed. "When I was young, I once went with my father to visit a close friend of his. That friend kept a singing girl who was a Westerner—with red hair and green eyes, quite frightening. But my father’s friend adored her and even praised her as a peerless beauty!"
Zhou Shaojin smiled, only then realizing she was still clutching Uncle Chi’s sleeve.
She quickly let go, pointing at the bead bracelets in embarrassment. "Uncle Chi, what are these made of? Some cost only a few coins, while others cost dozens."
She hoped to divert his attention, hoping he hadn’t noticed her grabbing his sleeve.
Cheng Chi remained composed, glancing at the bracelets before calmly saying, "Some are made of turquoise, others of Miao silver. They’re all quite cheap. You might as well buy some to give as gifts."
Buy more!
Zhou Shaojin grumbled inwardly. If that’s the case, why did Uncle Chi make me buy things at the silver shop earlier?
Compared to the glass hairpins, these foreign bead bracelets were more suitable for her to take back as gifts.
But she had already bought the glass hairpins... and these bracelets were so inexpensive...
Zhou Shaojin found herself in a dilemma!
Cheng Chi watched her frown one moment and bite her lip the next, nearly laughing out loud inside.
But he decided not to tease the young girl any further. He gestured toward the bracelets with a glance at Huaishan and said kindly, "Are you not satisfied with these bracelets? Let’s wait until we reach Hangzhou Prefecture. There are plenty of things there, though imported goods are a bit more expensive than in Ningbo. I’ll take you to Baoshan Bridge—there are many shops there, all smaller than this one, but they have everything. From hair accessories down to shoes and socks, if you can think of it, you can buy it. Didn’t you want to bring gifts for your sister and your eldest aunt? That would be the perfect place."
Zhou Shaojin didn’t know what to say.
Fortunately, Cheng Chi changed the subject. "I see you’re quite devout in your Buddhist faith. When we’re there, you can also visit Qiantang Gate. Behind Wangjiang Tower, there’s Zhaoging Temple, where incense offerings are as plentiful as clouds. In fact, because pilgrims often pass through Qiantang Gate to reach Zhaoging Temple, there’s even a saying: 'Incense baskets outside Qiantang Gate.'"
Zhou Shaojin’s eyes lit up as she listened.What she dreaded most now was hearing about shopping!
"How many days will we be staying in Hangzhou?" Zhou Shaojin asked Cheng Chi. "I heard there's a Lingyin Temple there that's very efficacious. Will we go there to offer incense?"
Cheng Chi smiled and said, "We'll be staying in Hangzhou until the twenty-fourth of the eighth month before setting off. You can discuss with the old lady wherever you'd like to go, and I'll arrange for someone to take you there."
Zhou Shaojin noticed that Cheng Chi said "arrange for someone" rather than "accompany you."
※
Sisters, I've found that the period from one to two in the morning is a real hurdle. I actually fell asleep at my desk while writing and woke up at three...
This is an extra update for Zixiao12.
o(n_n)o~
PS: I've realized that once you join VIP, you have to compete in the monthly votes ranking every month. It's such a painful process.
Please vote with your pink tickets!
※ (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote with your recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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