Qi Zhenzhen turned her head and saw a long-faced woman, who was now staring at Qi Zhenzhen with an angry expression.
Although the extra fabric pieces were given by the shop assistant, this woman glared at Qi Zhenzhen ferociously, as if Qi Zhenzhen had stolen something from her.
This woman knew she couldn't contend with the people at the fabric shop, so she wanted to bully Qi Zhenzhen, asking her to give up those extra pieces?
Qi Zhenzhen unconsciously touched her face. Did her face say, 'I'm easy to bully'?
The shop assistant was a bit impatient, "Sister, you've been browsing for half an hour, picked out a total of two feet of cloth, and it's the cheapest cotton. You want me to give you a bag of fabric scraps. Don't say I'm not the shopkeeper, even if I were, I wouldn't do such a losing business. The scraps you want are worth more than this cotton cloth."
The assistant's disdainful tone made the woman somewhat embarrassed. Logically, after being cornered like this, she should have left dejectedly, but this woman did not. She didn't argue with the assistant, but rushed to Qi Zhenzhen and said in a commanding tone, "Little girl, you can't use so many fabric scraps, give me some."
Qi Zhenzhen found it amusing. Where did this woman get her audacity?
"Auntie, you're really something. These scraps were given to Zhenzhen by the assistant. If you want them, just buy them with money. If you can't afford it, don't covet them." Song Mingyue pulled Qi Zhenzhen and shielded her.
"And who are you, another little girl?" The woman reached out to push Song Mingyue aside.
They were just two frail girls; she could snatch and leave without anyone being able to stop her.
Just as Song Mingyue's mother was about to speak up to reason with the woman, she saw Qi Zhenzhen step past Song Mingyue and grasp the woman's outstretched arm.
It looked like a gentle pinch, but the woman shrieked as if being slaughtered, her cries piercing everyone's ears.
Qi Zhenzhen smiled, "Auntie, stealing is punishable by jail. It's really not worth it for a few scraps of fabric, is it?"
The piercing pain in her arm made the woman's teeth chatter. Looking at Qi Zhenzhen's smiling face, she felt a surge of fear. This girl was not to be trifled with.
She didn't want the fabric scraps anymore and hurried away.
"She didn't even do anything to her, but she's screaming so loudly, trying to frame us!" Song Mingyue grumbled.
Song Mingyue's mother chided her, "You silly girl, you're always so careless. If Zhenzhen hadn't grabbed that woman just now, you would have taken a solid blow. My heart was in my mouth; that woman used real force."
Song Mingyue linked her arm around her mother's and said with a smile, "Mom, Zhenzhen is so strong. She carried a full basket on her back, and it was easy for her."
Qi Zhenzhen nodded at Song Mingyue's mother. She could see that Song Mingyue's mother had also intended to step forward to protect them.
There was quite a commotion here, and the shopkeeper of the fabric store soon came out.
As a proper businessman, he came out to apologize profusely. In the end, he gave Qi Zhenzhen a discount, reducing the price from nearly three taels of silver to two and a half. He promised the same discount to the women from Xinghua Village.
Despite a minor incident, they received a benefit. The women from Xinghua Village couldn't hide their joy, and their gazes towards Qi Zhenzhen became much friendlier.
After everyone had bought their items, they left the fabric shop, chatting and laughing.
"Aunt Song, I still want to buy some cotton," Qi Zhenzhen said to Song Mingyue's mother.
"Qi family girl, you want cotton? My maternal family grows quite a bit, and it should be ginned by now. It's all new cotton from this year, very warm for making cotton clothes and quilts. It sells for sixty wen a jin in town, but since we're from the same village, I'll sell it to you for fifty-eight wen," a young wife said with a smile.
Song Mingyue's mother nodded at Qi Zhenzhen, and Qi Zhenzhen understood her meaning; she could buy the cotton.
"What should I call you?" Qi Zhenzhen asked with a smile.
"My husband's name is Li Shan, you can call me Sister-in-law Shan," said Li Shan's wife.
"Then thank you, Sister-in-law Shan. I want twenty jin of cotton," Qi Zhenzhen said, calculating and stating the quantity.
Li Shan's wife gasped. She had expected Qi Zhenzhen to want at most three to five jin, but she didn't expect her to want twenty jin at once. That was over an ounce of silver.
"Is there not enough cotton?" Qi Zhenzhen asked, seeing Li Shan's wife's surprised expression.
Li Shan's wife quickly shook her head, "There's enough cotton, but I didn't expect you to want so much."
"It's cold in winter, so we need to make our cotton clothes thicker."
Making cotton clothes with new cotton was a grand gesture. After all, ordinary families would mix old cotton with a bit of new cotton when making clothes; who would be willing to use all new cotton?
The group browsed for a while longer. Qi Zhenzhen was about to buy grain at the grain store when Song Mingyue stopped her. Her family had a lot of land and sold a lot of their annual grain harvest. They hadn't sold this year's yet, so Qi Zhenzhen could buy directly from their home. She guaranteed it was new grain and would be one wen cheaper per jin than at the grain store. Qi Zhenzhen naturally agreed. However, she still went to the grain store. She could buy wheat from the Song family, but she still needed to buy japonica rice and various grains from the grain store. She also needed to buy some white flour and cornmeal for the next few days, as it would take time to mill the grain from the Song family, and there were workers at home waiting to eat.
Fortunately, there were many people, so Qi Zhenzhen could carry all the items she bought.
Thirty jin of japonica rice, ten jin of millet, various beans, and twenty jin of white flour and twenty jin of cornmeal.
Passing by the pork stall, she also bought five jin of streaky pork and a slab of lard. The streaky pork was sixteen wen per jin, and the lard was sixty wen. Qi Zhenzhen's money was reduced by another one hundred and fifty wen. After deducting the cost of the cotton, Qi Zhenzhen was left with only four taels and two hundred wen.
Money really didn't last long.
As she walked away from the pork stall, Qi Zhenzhen glimpsed skinned wild rabbits on another counter. Her heart stirred, and she asked, "Uncle, do you also buy wild game?"
The butcher nodded, "Yes, yes, we do."
She hadn't figured out a way to make money yet. Xinghua Village was near the mountains, so she could consider the wild game.
After everyone had finished their shopping, they walked together towards where the ox cart was parked. Old Master Yu, who was driving the cart, looked displeased when he saw everyone carrying so many items; these items combined would take up the space of one person.
Qi Zhenzhen handed four copper coins to Old Master Yu, "Old Master Yu, all these items are mine. I'll give you extra money."
Old Master Yu took the money, and his expression improved. After signaling everyone to settle in, he gently whipped the old yellow ox, and they headed back the way they came.
Looking at the time, they would be able to cook dinner without delay.
Because Qi Zhenzhen had many items, Old Master Yu voluntarily drove the ox cart to deliver them back. Qi Zhenzhen thanked him gratefully, silently praising the old man with the stern face. Although he was a bit calculative, overall, he was a person with a cold exterior but a warm heart.
The foundation for the Qi family's courtyard wall was almost dug. Zhang Xiaoniu saw Qi Zhenzhen returning from afar, dropped his pickaxe, and ran over.