Chapter 61 Buying Fabric

Chapter 61: Buying Cloth

It took two days to teach Lu Chunfang how to fry the dough fritters; there was no great technical difficulty, just practice makes perfect.

With two more people in the shop, Meng Wan and Chang Jinhua had a much easier time. Among them, Meng Wan had the least work—just busy in the front for a while in the morning, then he could return to his room to write his storybook.

This way, his writing progressed quickly, and the second volume was already taking shape.

After Lu Chunfang settled into the shop, she asked Song Tingzhou to deliver a letter to Feng Jinzhang. Who would have thought Feng Jinzhang would be cold and indifferent, almost implying that Song Tingzhou was meddling.

Song Tingzhou was not a man without a temper, but after nearly a year of learning from Meng Wan's way of dealing with people, he had become gentler with others. Since Feng Jinzhang was like this, he saw no need to be so eager to keep up the relationship. He just watched coldly from the sidelines as Feng Jinzhang enjoyed himself with those young masters and gentlemen.

By early June in Changping Prefecture, the weather was already dry and hot. The family wasn't so strapped for cash anymore, and the old clothes they had worn for rough work in the village—the neat ones were set aside for continued use, while the patched ones had been turned by Chang Jinhua into stiffener for shoe soles.

"Take Chunfang to the cloth shop and see what colors she likes—buy whatever suits her, so she won't complain that my choices are not to her taste."

As soon as the shop closed, Chang Jinhua ordered Meng Wan to take Lu Chunfang to a cloth shop to buy fabric for new clothes. Lu Chunfang, a young woman in her twenties, was dressing even more somberly than Chang Jinhua, a widow—it just didn't look right.

Lu Chunfang was tidying away the used utensils when she heard this and quickly waved her hands. "No, no, I don't have much money on me, I won't buy any. Aunt Song, let Wan Geer go by himself."

Meng Wan had already fetched a pouch of copper coins from the room—a small, heavy bag—and handed it to Lu Chunfang. "You've worked for half a month now, so I'll settle your wages for the half month you've worked. Use this for your expenses."

With 450 wen in wages, she could buy half a bolt of cloth and make two sets of clothes.

What woman doesn't love to dress up? Lu Chunfang was tempted, and hesitantly let Meng Wan pull her out the door.

"Let's go!"

"Wait!"

Li Yaqin, who was washing bowls, chopsticks, and spoons in the courtyard, overheard their conversation and chimed in, "I'd like to go too. Why don't we all go together?"

This was unusual. She had always worked quietly, unwilling to engage in small talk with Chang Jinhua and Lu Chunfang, but today she took the initiative to speak.

Meng Wan didn't mind. "Sure, let's go together."

The three of them went to a reasonably priced cloth shop nearby.

Lu Chunfang stared at the colorful fabrics but didn't dare to touch them. "I... I'll just buy a few yards of the cheapest rough cloth."

As soon as she said that, Li Yaqin was already waving her handkerchief and picking through the cloth on the display stand.

"Shopkeeper, these are last year's patterns. Are you trying to fool us? Bring out some new designs for me to see."

"Oh, it's Miss Li! You haven't been here for a while. You may not know, but the Zhu family is having a celebration soon, and all our fashionable fabrics have been bought up by their servants. The new cloth hasn't been woven yet. Would you mind waiting a few more days? Besides, last year's patterns aren't bad. How about I bring out a few more bolts from the storeroom for you to choose from?"

Li Yaqin was not satisfied. "Hmph, fine, but don't charge me the new fabric price for old fabric."

The shopkeeper understood. "Of course. I can give you these patterned brocades at 750 wen per bolt? For anyone else, I wouldn't go below 800 wen."

Although Li Yaqin's family was fairly well-off, she had only worn a dress made of patterned cotton once, on her coming-of-age ceremony. In two days, she had to go for a marriage interview, and her mother had secretly given her a small piece of silver to make a new dress. Even though she knew the price, hearing 750 wen still made her wince.

Li Yaqin glanced at Meng Wan. Everyone in the neighborhood knew that the Song family's breakfast shop was doing brisk business and must be making good money. Since she worked at the Song shop, she knew that Meng Wan handled the finances. If Meng Wan bought patterned brocade, they could share a bolt.

Meng Wan did touch the patterned fabrics. "It's 50% more expensive than fine cotton, but it feels firm and comfortable." The breathability seemed good. Even if it wasn't for clothes, a few yards to make a bedsheet would be cool and comfortable for sleeping.

"Wrap up this bolt of navy blue for me," Meng Wan said, pointing to a fabric.

The shopkeeper was delighted. He hadn't expected that, despite their plain clothes, Meng Wan would actually buy a whole bolt of patterned brocade. But he still reminded him, "If you don't mind me saying, young master, this navy blue fabric has a phoenix-and-magpie pattern. Animal patterns are a bit more complex to weave than plant patterns, so the price is a little higher—800 wen for this bolt."

It's just for sleeping on, why pay an extra 50 wen for the pattern? Meng Wan asked, "Do you have a dark-colored fabric with a plant pattern?"

The shopkeeper hastened to answer, "Yes, yes! In the back storeroom, we have two more bolts of navy blue, but with a falling-flowers-and-flowing-water pattern."

He hurriedly instructed a shop assistant to fetch the cloth from the back, "And bring over those light-colored ones as well, for Miss Li and this lady to choose from."

Lu Chunfang blushed and declined, "I'll just look at the fine cotton here. I don't need the patterned brocade."

At twenty-something, this was the first time she had seen fabric with woven flowers and birds. Hearing the price, she had already dismissed the thought. But she no longer mentioned buying coarse cloth and began to carefully examine the colorful fine cottons on the counter.

"Wan Geer, help me figure out what color suits me?"

What did Meng Wan know about colors and patterns? As long as Chang Jinhua wasn't there, he would only buy blue or green.

In the end, it was Li Yaqin, who had always looked down on Lu Chunfang's clumsy ways, who picked out half a bolt of light purple fine cotton—a sort of lilac purple, a pale purple mixed with a bit of rose red.

Because it was blended with other colors, it cost a bit more than ordinary fine cotton: 450 wen per bolt.

The shopkeeper was decent and charged 220 wen.

Meng Wan bought a bolt of navy blue patterned brocade, then asked Li Yaqin to help him pick half a bolt of light ochre for Chang Jinhua's summer clothes. He also chose a bolt of moon-white fine cotton for the family's inner garments, and a bolt of iris blue for summer clothes for himself and Song Tingzhou. The last two together cost 850 wen. Added to the 750 wen for the patterned brocade, the total came to 1,600 wen.

Since the family had many copper coins, Meng Wan had brought two strings of cash, but after this spending, he was left with just a few hundred wen.

As for Li Yaqin, who had been so eager to buy patterned brocade, she finally settled on half a bolt of crabapple-red fine cotton.

Because Meng Wan had bought so much, the shopkeeper had one of his workers deliver the cloth to their house, and also gave them three small bundles of leftover fabric scraps.

Each holding a small bundle of scraps, the three returned to Liuti Lane. They spotted Song Tingzhou waiting at the gate, holding two oil-paper packages.

"Did the monthly exam results come out?" Meng Wan hurried ahead of the others to reach Song Tingzhou.

The prefectural school held monthly exams on the tenth of each month, followed by two days off. Song Tingzhou had taken the exam yesterday, and this morning the results were announced—which counted as his day off.

Song Tingzhou took the small bundle of scraps from his left hand naturally. "Yes, first in Class Yizi."

A smile spread across Meng Wan's lips. Song Tingzhou's hard work had paid off. Still, he complained to him, "You didn't even let me guess—no suspense at all."

Song Tingzhou raised the pastries in his right hand for him to see. "Next month I'll give you a chance to guess. Will this layered cake be enough to make it up to you?"

The two chatted and laughed as they entered the courtyard. Behind them, both Lu Chunfang and Li Yaqin couldn't help but be envious.

But Lu Chunfang's envy was pure, while Li Yaqin's held a tinge of resentment.

She had grown up in Changping Prefecture, and ever since her coming-of-age, she'd only ever been matched with butchers and merchants—never a man like Song Tingzhou, handsome and tall, refined in manner and elegant in speech.

If only he weren't already married—and if Li Yaqin weren't too proud to take a secondary role—she might have asked a matchmaker to try her luck.

Thinking of how her parents' latest matchmaker had found her a butcher from the meat stall, Li Yaqin felt a surge of frustration. If he were handsome, she might have just accepted it, but deep down, she still resented the situation.

When Lu Chunfang said goodbye to her, she completely ignored her and walked straight home. On the way, she passed by Aunt Zhou from next door, and they both let out a cold snort, ignoring each other.

Inside the house, Song Tingzhou and Meng Wan entered to find Chang Jinhua stroking the patterned brocade on the kang. Seeing Meng Wan, she immediately started scolding him, "You're always the one spending money! Why buy such fine fabric? This bolt must cost at least six or seven hundred wen! Now that you've bought it, why didn't you choose a lighter one? How can you wear such a dark color outside?"

Meng Wan mumbled, "It's not for clothes—it's for a bedsheet."

Chang Jinhua raised her voice: "What! Such fine fabric for the bedding!"

Meng Wan explained, "Not for covering the kang—it's for sewing into the mattress as lining."

Chang Jinhua fumed. "Old Liu's family, whose land we rent, don't even have mattresses—they sleep on straw mats. And you, you're too good for plain coarse cotton? Now you need fancy patterned fabric?"

Just as Song Tingzhou was about to speak, Meng Wan climbed onto the kang, hugged her arm, and said in a soft, coaxing tone. "Mother~ We've earned some money now, that's true, but I've been taught by you to keep a low profile.

Who among ordinary folks buys this patterned brocade? Only rich merchants and Secretariat Directors wear it. For us, plain fine cotton is more than enough for outer wear.

But I figure the summers here in Changping must be far hotter than in Sanquan Village. See, even with the windows open, the breeze coming in is warm. In the height of summer, it'll probably be unbearable.

Never mind us—Cousin studies hard. Since we can afford it, why not make the mattress more comfortable and breathable for him?"

Chang Jinhua always listened to what he said. Her expression softened. "Since you've bought it, so be it. With so much fabric, don't say it's just for Da Lang—let's make mattresses for all of us. It really is hot here in Changping in summer. We're already behind on making summer clothes. Tomorrow I'll find time to learn city-style tailoring from Sister Zhou. Everyone in the family will get two sets to rotate through, but I won't handle your inner garments—make those yourselves."

After all, there was no way a married couple should still have their mom making their underwear. Meng Wan wiped the sweat from his nose. "Alright."

The prefectural school held monthly exams, grading results into four categories: A, B, C, D. For each grade, only the top three in the entire grade—not per class—got prizes: three taels for first, two for second, one for third.

The school kept records of each monthly exam. Every six months, students were reassigned to classes based on the average of their six exam scores. Competition was fierce—any slacking off would bump you down to a lower class.

Song Tingzhou came home with three taels this time, and the family was thrilled. Combined with the coppers saved from the shop, they exchanged them for a single twenty-tael silver ingot at the money changer's.

The family then went to the meat stall to buy pork trotters, got a fresh fish from the west gate market, and purchased tofu and cucumbers from the vegetable market. Back home, they cooked up a real feast.

They had beans soaking in the side room every day. They grabbed a handful and stewed it with the chopped-up trotters. The fresh fish was cleaned and braised whole in soy sauce. The tofu, not cut with a knife but broken by hand into chunks, was simmered in the fish broth. Cucumbers were stir-fried with eggs, with two left for a cold salad.

The trotters were stewed until tender and falling apart. When the lid was lifted, the fragrance wafted far. The soaked beans absorbed the flavor and, after nearly an hour of simmering with the trotters, you could break it apart with a single chopstick—perfect over rice.

The braised fish and tofu turned red, glossy, and flavorful—Chang Jinhua's favorite.

A few bites of cold cucumber cut through the grease, and a couple of forkfuls of eggs rounded things out.

Lu Chunfang never even lifted her head from her bowl, and even Song Tingzhou quietly went back for rice three times.

After the meal, Lu Chunfang rushed to clean up, while Meng Wan and Song Tingzhou strolled through the alley to digest.

Several neighbors whose names Meng Wan didn't know greeted them warmly; Meng Wan smiled and responded to each.

On their way back, they ran into Aunt Zhou and her husband, walking out with a young couple. The couple had very refined features—the man in particular, fair-skinned, and his eyes and brows looked a lot like Aunt Zhou's.

Meng Wan greeted her. "Aunt Zhou, have you had dinner?"

She replied, "Yes, just finished. Taking our son and daughter-in-law for a stroll. Why isn't Sister Song out with you?"

Meng Wan: "She's at home cutting fabric. She said she'd come to you tomorrow for tailoring tips."

Aunt Zhou covered her mouth and laughed. "Tips? Any time—tell her to come over whenever she's free. And set aside three or five fried dough sticks for me—my daughter-in-law loves them."

The young woman smiled shyly at Meng Wan. "Your fried dough sticks are unique in the city. I hear people from south of the city even line up to buy them."

Meng Wan thought: No wonder we've been selling out so fast lately. Getting too famous isn't always a good thing—I'd better start planning ahead.

The next day, Song Tingzhou helped at the shop. They sold five buckets of tofu pudding and five basins of pounded noodles.

Everyone was exhausted. Once everything was sold out, they stopped making more, closed the shop, and locked up.

"Wan Geer, something came up tomorrow—I might not make it in the morning." Even someone as proud as Li Yaqin spoke with a hint of awkwardness.

She knew how busy the shop was. Asking for time off right now…

"Sure, go ahead. You can come the day after tomorrow, right?" Meng Wan agreed readily.

His shop's work was only half a day, really. When hiring, they hadn't included holidays, but family matters were human nature—he wasn't so strict.

Meng Wan also mentioned to Lu Chunfang, "Sister Chunfang, if you ever have something come up, just let me know in advance. We can sell fewer fried dough sticks that day—we'll manage." "I don't have… well, if something comes up, I'll tell you." Lu Chunfang thought of Feng Jinzhang, whom she hadn't seen in half a month. She did want to visit the prefectural school.