A Good Country Wife

During this time, she had come to a rough understanding of the local prices, a tael of silver could be exchanged for a thousand copper coins, roughly equivalent to five hundred modern yuan. Given the material standards here, two sets of clothes would cost three taels of silver, which is quite expensive!

"Brother Erhu, these clothes are too expensive, and I don't really like them, let's not buy them," Lin Yue genuinely felt that spending so much silver on two sets of clothes wasn't worth it.

Lin Yue's consideration for the family's finances comforted Zhao Erhu immensely, and he was even less willing to make his young wife suffer. He also didn't want her to feel that living with him was difficult. His former wife from the Li Family had been dazzled by wealth and despised their poverty, which led to her disgraceful actions. His current young wife didn't seem to share the Li Family woman's frivolous and shallow nature, but if he could afford it, he wanted her to have a better life. Moreover, this time, Doctor Zheng waived their consultation fee and the cost of medicine, saving them a significant sum. Combined with the higher than expected price they got for the furs, the costs were approximately what he had originally budgeted.

"How do you know you don't like it if you haven't even tried it on? Niuniu, don't worry, Brother Erhu has money. Just go try it on. If it fits, Brother Erhu will buy it for you," Zhao Erhu said grandly. Had Lin Yue not known the state of their home, she might have thought he was a wealthy man—it's a pity he wasn't.

Even though their family was so poor they were nearly unable to make ends meet, this man was still willing to spend the money on her, showing that he really cherished her. Lin Yue felt warm inside and considered Zhao Erhu's finances even more. She was someone who couldn't bear kindness from others lightly. If someone did her a favor, she would repay it double.

"Still, let's not buy them, Brother Erhu. Two sets of clothes for three taels of silver are too extravagant for us. We're not a wealthy family, after all, we need to be frugal. Even if I bought such expensive clothes, I wouldn't feel at ease wearing them. Why don't we just buy some fabric and I'll make two outfits myself when we get back? It'll save money, and I'll like them better if I make them myself."

Having heard Lin Yue, Zhao Erhu too felt that three taels of silver was a bit much for two sets of clothes. Seeing his young wife insist on not buying them, he glanced at the meticulous and neat stitching on his own patched-up sleeve, realizing that his young wife's sewing skills were quite good. So, he went along with Lin Yue's suggestion and had Manager Wang bring out some fabrics for her to choose from.

Despite the close distance and her attempt to lower her voice, Lin Yue and Zhao Erhu's conversation was overheard word for word by Manager Wang. However, he wasn't impatient at all and instead felt a fondness for the frail young lady, jokingly looking at Zhao Erhu, "Your wife is quite thrifty, Brother Zhao, you're a lucky man. You must treat her well in the future."

Zhao Erhu didn't demur, "There's no need for you to say that, Manager. I naturally will treat her well since she's such a good woman."

"Heh, I can see that," said Manager Wang while he had already picked a few pieces of fabric from the shelves and placed them on the counter, "Young lady, these fabrics sell well here. They're reasonably priced and durable. Take a look and see if you like any?"

"Ah!" Lin Yue responded and immediately began to choose seriously. Manager Wang also stood beside her, quoting prices, and she thought of Zhao Erhu and the children's worn and thin clothes. Instead of choosing the pink fine cotton fabric priced at five hundred coins per piece that Zhao Erhu suggested, she opted for two pieces of coarse cotton fabric, one in green and the other in blue, plus one piece of grey linen, all together costing only two hundred sixty coins.

Lin Yue chose her fabric, and the clerk sent to Qian Residence by Shopkeeper Wang had returned, his face still wearing a clear look of joy as he reported back to Shopkeeper Wang. Knowing that Erhu was not one to be greedy, Shopkeeper Wang didn't exclude them but let the clerk speak openly.

"Shopkeeper, Miss Qian was very satisfied with the furs and wanted all of them; she also commended you for your efficiency, saying that the Qian Residence will place all their fabric orders for this year's clothing with our shop. She instructed you to be prepared, as she will send someone to discuss this matter at a later time. Here is the silver Miss Qian gave for the furs and as a reward, in total twenty taels,"

said the clerk with a beaming smile. This was indeed a good errand; Miss Qian seemed to have an urgent need for the furs. Apart from the twenty taels he handed to the shopkeeper, he had also received a tip. Miss Qian was truly a generous mistress. He had always envied others for their good fortune, but now it was finally his turn.

Having been in business for so many years, Shopkeeper Wang was shrewd and experienced, and seeing the clerk's cheerful demeanor, he knew the man must have gotten a separate reward. Nonetheless, Wang wasn't the stingy type of boss who would insist on the clerks handing over any tips; after all, it was the clerk's rightful earning. People under him would also work with more enthusiasm if they had some extra income.

"Brother Erhu, you heard what the clerk said. Although Miss Qian gave twenty taels of silver, it's also because of our shop's connection. I, Wang, am not someone who doesn't understand gratitude. Brother Erhu, you truly helped me a great deal this time. I acknowledge your favor, so I am giving you half of the silver. Do you have any objections?" Shopkeeper Wang, without any reservations and laying it all out, had actually given Erhu considerable face. Even if Erhu disagreed, what could a poor hunter do to him? The fact that he bought the furs at market price without shortchanging Erhu was already benevolent, not to mention giving double the amount of silver.

Erhu was not ignorant of social relations and clearly understood this principle. Naturally, he thanked him repeatedly and joyfully accepted the ten taels of silver. Selling the furs for this much silver was already an unexpected joy for him. After paying for the fabric with the coins he had on him, Erhu was ready to take Lin Yue elsewhere, but she stopped him.

Lin Yue, who casually glanced at the clerk throwing away the leftover fabric scraps from tailoring into a large sack by the counter, noticed that due to the busy season, the shop had not yet dealt with these scraps, which had filled a whole sack. Lin Yue, always keen-minded, had an idea.

"Shopkeeper Wang, can I buy these fabric scraps?" Lin Yue looked at the scraps in the hemp bag—there was a variety of fabrics of varying qualities and sizes. Although they couldn't be used for larger items, they were perfect for mending clothes or crafting small items like embroidered pouches.

Ever since arriving here and unexpectedly acquiring excellent embroidery skills, Lin Yue was keenly interested in crafting. Selling some embroidered pouches to the Embroidery Store could also earn her some spare change. Regardless of the era, it was always good for a woman to have her own secret stash of money. Even though her generous husband seemed quite open-handed with her currently, he was actually very cautious with money and unwilling to leave the silver in her hands. For any purchase, she had to get the money from him and right now, she hadn't a single copper on her.

Lin Yue wasn't angered by this; she knew that although Erhu seemed to dote on her, he didn't truly trust her in his heart. After all, they hadn't known each other for long, and the previous Lin Yue, Niuniu, had a history of misconduct. Of course, there could be other reasons as well, so she couldn't blame Erhu for behaving this way,