Chapter 265: Chapter 265

"Third Brother, I bought clay figurines. Look, this is Guoguo, and this is Jingjing. Aren’t they cute?" Li Yuzhu took out two little clay dolls from her cloth bag and held them in her palm for Li Xing’an to see.

The clay figurines, as big as a palm, were grinning with adorable expressions.

Li Xing’an laughed and said, "They’re quite amusing."

"Look at this nose, doesn’t it look just like it?" Li Yuzhu chuckled. "I described it, and the old man sculpted it according to my description."

"Amazing, to sculpt it just from a description." Li Xing’an praised.

The siblings admired the clay figurines as they walked.

Mu Yuanxiu followed behind them, unable to squeeze in or join the conversation.

He had a sullen look on his face, watching Li Yuzhu. He cleared his throat lightly, reminding her that there was someone else not being attended to.

Li Xing’an turned and saw Mu Yuanxiu following behind them. He immediately said, "Hey, Mu Yuanxiu, why are you still following? It’s not really appropriate for you to tag along while we siblings are talking, is it?"

Mu Yuanxiu, "..." He’s the third wheel? No, you are! He glanced at Li Yuzhu and said, "Third Brother Li, Yuzhu just looked at a shop but hasn’t asked about the price. I want to ask her whether I should discuss the price, or will Yuzhu do it."

Li Xing’an quickly replied, "My younger sister wants to rent a shop. Of course, I’m the one to discuss the price. Where’s the shop? I’ll go ask about the price."

"Walk back along this road; an antique store wants to sublet." Mu Yuanxiu pointed to the road they had just walked past.

Li Xing’an said, "I’ll go take a look."

He strode back along the path.

Li Yuzhu had no choice but to follow him back.

But Mu Yuanxiu grabbed her arm and steered her in another direction, "I want to buy fabric; help me choose some."

"Why are you buying fabric?" Li Yuzhu curiously asked.

Mu Yuanxiu gave her a glance, "To make clothes."

Li Yuzhu smiled sweetly, "Teach me how to make clothes, will you?"

Mu Yuanxiu sneered, "Do you have time to make clothes now?"

Li Yuzhu thought for a moment, "Seems I don’t have time."

"Then don’t learn it. Making clothes is far more complex than your medical practice." Mu Yuanxiu said, looking at her.

Li Yuzhu pondered again, realizing Mu Yuanxiu was absolutely right.

In her past life, she had started learning about herbal medicine very early and had studied modern medicine in medical school for over ten years, useful in this life directly.

But as for tailoring skills, she could only make simple pouches and sachets, and mend socks. She couldn’t make clothes at all, and learning from scratch would take at least a year or two.

To master it, it would take at least three years.

The time required was too long.

Li Yuzhu heeded Mu Yuanxiu’s advice and gave up learning tailoring.

"You’re right. I don’t have time to learn it; I won’t learn it. I have other important things to do now." Li Yuzhu said.

"Yes, you have other things to do." Mu Yuanxiu smiled.

Soon, they saw a fabric shop by the roadside.

Mu Yuanxiu pulled her into the shop.

The variety of fabrics in the county town was much greater than those at the rural market.

Rural families were poor, and because they mostly did manual labor, cotton and linen were comfortable and durable. The fabrics there were mostly linen or coarse cotton.

City folks, relatively wealthier, performed less manual labor.

In the shop, the fabrics were mostly fine cloth and silk, with less coarse cotton and linen.

The colors were more varied, bright and colorful, making it hard to choose.

When Li Yuzhu entered the shop now, she no longer only looked for the cheapest as she did the first time in a fabric shop. She now had some money at hand, daring to buy all fine cotton fabric.

After looking at the fine cloth, she asked Mu Yuanxiu, "Mu Yuanxiu, what color fabric do you want to buy?"

Mu Yuanxiu said, "You choose."

Li Yuzhu laughed, "Alright, I’ll make the decision then."

The shopkeeper’s wife looked at Li Yuzhu and then at Mu Yuanxiu, smiling, "Oh, the young lady is buying fabric for her husband."

Li Yuzhu blinked, staring blankly at the shopkeeper’s wife. What kind of address is that?

The shopkeeper’s wife found Li Yuzhu charming and clueless, laughing, "Young lady, you’re buying fabric for your husband-to-be, aren’t you?"

Husband-to-be? Li Yuzhu nearly burst out laughing!

What nonsense is this!

"No, shopkeeper’s wife, you’ve got it wrong." Li Yuzhu shook her head, focusing on picking the fabric seriously.

These older women love to gossip and matchmake randomly!

The shopkeeper’s wife thought she was too shy to admit it and laughed again, "Oh, still shy? There’s no need to be shy. Everyone goes through this. Just snuggle more in the same quilt, and you won’t be embarrassed."

Li Yuzhu, "..." Such shameless words! "Shopkeeper’s wife, are you planning to keep doing business or not?"

So much nonsense, be careful she might not buy it.

"Ah, ah, ah, make, make, make. You picked these rolls of cloth, right? How about this, it’s not easy for you two to get married at such a young age, I’ll give you a ten percent discount." The shopkeeper’s wife measured the cloth with a ruler, recording roll after roll.

Li Yuzhu was speechless, marriage even came up!

She clearly wore a girl’s hairstyle! With such poor eyesight, aren’t they afraid of losing money?

After calculating the account, the shopkeeper’s wife smiled and announced the price, "You picked the finest cloth, a total of twenty-five feet, originally one hundred coins per foot, with the discount, it’s ninety coins per foot, so it’s two thousand two hundred and fifty coins in total."

Mu Yuanxiu gave two taels of broken silver and counted out some loose coins.

The shopkeeper’s wife multitasked, calculating and receiving money while teasing Li Yuzhu.

Since the cloth was already chosen, Li Yuzhu felt there was no need to stand in the shop enduring the shopkeeper’s wife’s teasing and turned to walk outside.

"Mu Yuanxiu, I’ll wait for you outside, do hurry up."

Mu Yuanxiu glanced toward her direction and replied, "Coming." He then pointed to a roll of ginger-colored fine cloth on the shelf and said, "Five feet of that roll."

The shopkeeper’s wife understood, "Young master has good taste, ginger red paired with bamboo green is a perfect match. This cloth is the same price as before, ninety coins per foot." The shopkeeper’s wife rolled up the cloth, glanced outside at Li Yuzhu, and whispered, "Young master, is this fabric for your little wife?" Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs noⅴelfire.net

Li Yuzhu chose either blue or indigo fabrics for Mu Yuanxiu, which were usually worn by men.

But some colors of fabric could be used by both genders, only differentiated by the paired fabric colors.

Mu Yuanxiu paid, smiling lightly, "Shopkeeper’s wife has good judgment."

"I thought so, but your little wife is so shy, you have to coax her well, or else she might run away with someone," the shopkeeper’s wife advised Mu Yuanxiu, lowering her voice.

"She definitely won’t." Mu Yuanxiu collected the cloth and turned to leave the shop.

"Ha, a lovely girl like a flower, how could she fancy you, a poor boy? Boy, you better watch over your flower," the shopkeeper’s wife shook her head, worried for Mu Yuanxiu.

Once outside the shop, Mu Yuanxiu found Li Yuzhu had walked ahead to look at something. He smiled faintly and followed.

It turned out to be a pillow shop.

Li Yuzhu fancied a pair of ceramic pillows.

The pair of ceramic pillows were exquisitely made and not cheap.

Mu Yuanxiu worried Li Yuzhu didn’t have enough money and wanted to buy them for her.

Li Yuzhu waved her hand, "You can help buy other things, but not this. It’s a wedding gift for my brother and sister-in-law. I have money, don’t worry."

The mandarin duck ceramic pillows suited the occasion perfectly.

Just right for the Princely Heir and Chai Eying.

Mu Yuanxiu realized and smiled, "Alright, I won’t pay, you buy it yourself."

After bargaining, Li Yuzhu spent one tael eight hundred coins to buy them.

The ceramic pillows were one foot wide, two to three inches high, fragile and prone to break, making two ceramic pillows inconvenient to carry.

Mu Yuanxiu called to the shopkeeper to find some old cloth and oil paper to tie the two ceramic pillows together.

The shopkeeper’s wife helped out, teasing Li Yuzhu with a smile, "Little lady, buying dowry?"

Did her face say she was about to get married?

How blind could everyone on this street be?

"No," Li Yuzhu said with a dark expression, holding the tied ceramic pillows as she turned and left.

"Yuzhu, let me carry it, those ceramic pillows are quite heavy," Mu Yuanxiu called to her.

The shopkeeper’s wife laughed, "Oh, your little wife is shy, go quickly and coax her."

Mu Yuanxiu smiled gently and went after her.

He caught up with Li Yuzhu and restrained his laughter, "The shopkeeper’s wife was just joking, no need to take it seriously."

Li Yuzhu sneered, "Why would I take it seriously! It didn’t bother me at all!"

Mu Yuanxiu looked at her, his smile fading slightly, "Didn’t bother you at all?"

Li Yuzhu glanced back at him, "Mu Yuanxiu, I’m only twelve, not even thirteen, it’s laughable to worry about a dowry at my age, isn’t it?"

In the modern world, at this age, I’m just a student!

Oh, it’s because she felt too young, Mu Yuanxiu nodded solemnly, "Hmm, Yu Zhu is right."

Li Yuzhu looked back at him again, "Mu Yuanxiu, why do I feel you’re being weird?"

"Am I?" Mu Yuanxiu looked at her, laughter in his eyes.

"Ahem, ahem!" Someone suddenly coughed behind them.

They turned back together and saw Li Xing’an approaching.

Li Xing’an pulled Mu Yuanxiu aside, then walked over to Li Yuzhu, "Hey, Third Sister, what did you buy?"

"A wedding gift for Big Brother and Sister Eying, a pair of ceramic pillows." Li Yuzhu handed the items to him, "You came at the right time, help me carry them, wow, they’re so heavy, my arm is about to break."