The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 488 - 477 Buy Down

Chapter 488: Chapter 477 Buy Down

The shopkeeper chuckled upon hearing this and explained, "Young madam, look at the craftsmanship on this bracelet. This was carved by master artisans, stroke by individual stroke, and the gold dust that comes off during the process is a loss. So, this minor wastage and the labor cost are actually not expensive. If you look around other states and counties, the prices at other silver shops would only be higher than ours, never lower."

Manbao put down the gold bracelet and asked, "I’d like to see the silver bracelets as well."

The shopkeeper didn’t mind, thinking she wanted to exchange gold for silver, and had the shop assistant bring over two trays of silver bracelets.

Manbao and her companions started to carefully examine them. She felt that each sister-in-law should have a unique bracelet, otherwise how would they tell them apart if they got mixed up?

Considering she had to buy four, including for the eldest sister, it would be all too easy to mix them up if they weren’t careful.

So she chose with great care.

Erya, Sanya, and Daya suddenly felt quite entitled to voice their opinions, as the bracelets were for their mother. They pushed past Daya, who had already given advice on picking bracelets, and crowded close around their little aunt.

Zhou Silang also came over to have a look. He was the first to pick out a bracelet with a plum blossom design, handing it to Manbao and saying, "Your fourth sister-in-law likes this one, truly, I’m not lying to you."

Since it was for his wife, Manbao decided to trust him, so she took it and set it aside, then proceeded to choose for the second and third sister-in-law.

The silver bracelets were much cheaper. Manbao found out upon asking that the four bracelets she had chosen cost only a little over two taels of silver.

Curiously, she said, "Last time my father also bought a bracelet here, but he paid three taels and seven hundred wen for it. Why is that?"

"Your father?"

Manbao nodded.

The shopkeeper’s gaze lingered on Manbao’s face for a moment, then shifted to Zhou Si and Zhou Wu, finally slipping over the faces of their children, and he seemed to remember something. "Around Dragon Boat Festival, we did sell a bracelet for three taels and seven hundred wen. I remember, it was bought by an old man who had looked at it several times..."

Almost without thinking, Manbao nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, yes, that’s my father."

The shopkeeper looked at them and grew anxious, saying, "That bracelet was a bit more expensive because it’s heavier..."

"But it looks so dainty."

The shopkeeper replied, "That’s where the craft gets tricky, so its labor cost is a bit higher than other silver bracelets."

The Zhou Family couldn’t help but ponder. Did their father (grandfather) know this? Did he choose the finer-looking bracelet because he subconsciously thought it would be the cheapest?

Seeing them grow oddly quiet, the shopkeeper became even more nervous. They weren’t considering...

Just as he thought this, Zhou Silang looked at Manbao and asked, "Have you made your choice?"

Manbao nodded.

Zhou Silang stepped forward with a beaming smile, taking Manbao’s place, and said cheerfully to the shopkeeper, "We are buying so much stuff, can you give us a discount?"

The shopkeeper: ... He just knew it!

That’s exactly how their father bargained when buying a bracelet, haggling for three days straight.

Taking a deep breath and forcing a smile, the shopkeeper said, "Young master, young madam, these prices are fixed. If I could go lower, I certainly would, but..."

Seeing Zhou Silang’s expression change, he quickly added, "I may not be able to reduce the price, but I can give you some extra items."

Out of curiosity, Manbao asked, "What items?"

Zhou Silang, eager to continue haggling.

The shopkeeper immediately instructed the shop assistant to bring a small tray with many attractive small items, such as pearl flowers that could be worn in the hair or small earrings.

The earrings were mainly silver, but for beauty, the pearl flowers won the day. Besides, the girls in their family didn’t have pierced ears.

So, everyone’s attention was drawn to the pearl flowers.

Zhou Silang asked, "How many pairs are you giving away? Does everyone present get one?"

The shopkeeper: "...Young master, you jest. There are four young madams here, so I’ll just give away four pairs of earrings or pearl flowers."

Daya and the others’ eyes gleamed at the prospect.

Seeing them so pleased, Manbao waved her hand and declared, "We’ll take it!"

The three younger aunts cheered softly and crowded forward to choose.

No girl is immune to the allure of beauty. Even Manbao tried on several pearl flowers in her hair, then asked if they looked nice.

Of course, the Zhou Family nodded and said they looked lovely, while the shopkeeper stood smiling at the scene.

Though the young ladies were excited, they showed good manners and didn’t scatter the items from the tray. Instead, they tried on one pair after another.

The shopkeeper, therefore, smiled throughout the process.

They made their selections quickly; soon, all four had chosen their favorite pearl flowers, with each other’s approval. So Manbao didn’t bargain any further and gestured with a wave, "Let’s settle the bill."

The assistant, who had been watching, was stunned, thinking how sharp the shopkeeper was to recognize a wealth spender.

Although this place was a silver shop, Luojiang County wasn’t that big, and the daily clientele was limited.

It wasn’t that clients like Manbao who bought numerous items at once were non-existent; he had seen those who spent even more lavishly, but he had never seen such free spenders dressed in washed-out cotton and linen, with brothers and nephews in homespun, patch-covered clothes.

It wasn’t until Manbao pulled out three silver ingots from her cloth bag, along with three strings of copper coins, that he was sure they truly were wealthy.

The shopkeeper accepted the money with a beaming smile and packed the gold and silver bracelets, which they had inspected, into individual boxes.

Because of her straightforwardness, the shopkeeper even gave her an extra pair of pearl flowers.

The total came to twenty-five taels and three hundred wen. The day’s sales were enough for him to close up shop and go home for dinner, and he was indeed very happy.

Zhou Silang wrapped the boxes in a cloth and tied them around his chest, beaming with joy, and declared, "Let’s go to the cloth shop!"

"Big Brother, are you buying cloth for your sister-in-law?"

"No, I’m not buying for your sister-in-law anymore. I’m buying for your nephew," Zhou Silang said. "Your nephew needs to prepare for winter clothes. We’ll get him something thick and soft."

Manbao: "...I really want to tell the fourth sister-in-law."

Zhou Silang: "Don’t you go tattling, or if we end up arguing later, it’s all on you."

They laughed and joked on their way to the cloth shop, but they hadn’t gone far before they saw a crowd ahead and heard raised voices.

Before Zhou Silang could speak, Zhou Liulang and several youngsters squeezed in to watch the excitement.

Zhou Silang murmured, clutching tightly the bundles in his arms and holding Manbao’s hand, then instructed Five to take good care of Daya and Sanya before pushing through the crowd himself.

They were gathered around a general store, one Zhou Silang recognized, as they had often bought things there. The store’s goods were quite decent, but its prices were higher than at other general stores.

So the Zhou Family, who favored bargains, rarely shopped there except for some specific items.

They saw a group of very familiar-looking strong men banging their wooden sticks on the counter, and the leader announced, "I’m not going to make it difficult for you. Your young master has lost this shop to our gambling house, so you have to move either way."