Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 63:  Chapter 60: The Proud Laughter

Translator: 549690339

He directly found two cages and locked up the wild rabbit and the pheasant separately, before getting ready to head out for the market.

“Zhang Peng said this morning that he had called over Zhang Yun to look after Xuan’er and YingEr, and there are also two dogs. We should be fine if we go quickly and return quickly.”

While Di Yelei was speaking, he heard Zhang Yun’s voice coming from outside the door.

After giving a series of instructions to Zhang Yun, and repeatedly assuring YingEr, Liu Sisi finally went out the door with her ribbon flowers and Di Yelei.

This time, the two didn’t walk but spent 4 copper coins to take a bull-cart directly to the small town.

The bull-cart bumped along the road and finally arrived at the small town. Liu Sisi felt like her whole body was going to fall apart from the bumpy ride.

As always, the small town was bustling. The two, carrying their ribbon flowers, went directly to the accessory shop. The accessory shop was not far from the entrance of the town, with the Stele Drum Playing Shop and the stone mill shop on either side. Liu Sisi left her ribbon flowers outside for Di Yelei to watch and went into the shop.

Upon entering, she was immediately captivated by the dazzling array of accessories in the store. Seeing so many accessories, she felt more at ease. The more accessories there were, the greater the chance of selling her ribbon flowers.

She walked directly to the counter, where a plump, kind-faced married woman stood.

Seeing Liu Sisi enter, the woman greeted her cheerfully, “What type of accessories would the young wife like to buy? In addition to gold and silver jewelry, we also have many other items for various purposes here. Whatever the customer wants, just say it.”

Liu Sisi smiled lightly, taking out a pair of ribbon flowers from her bag and placing them on the counter, “Shopkeeper, these are ribbon flowers that I made and want to sell in exchange for some silver. Do you accept them here?”

The married woman was startled, and picked up the ribbon flowers to examine them carefully. The cloth used for the ribbon flowers had a strange color, but the craftsmanship was solid and secure. It was clear that they had been made with care.

Most importantly, these ribbon flowers had very unique shapes and it was unknown how they would look when worn.

As if understanding what the shopkeeper was thinking, Liu Sisi casually picked up another ribbon flower, removed the towel wrapped around her long hair, casually pinned the ribbon flower on her head, and quickly braided a hairstyle similar to a fall-back bun.

“Shopkeeper, I don’t have a mirror and can’t see how my hair looks. I wonder if you think it looks good?” Liu Sisi smiled lightly.

Sisi had a delicate face, fair and rosy skin that was delicate enough to break with a touch. Since she was not familiar with ancient hairstyles, she had never dressed up before.

At present, with just a casual grooming, the original seven-point beauty immediately turned into a perfect ten. Her already stunning face was further enhanced by the ribbon flowers, making everyone’s eyes widen in admiration.

“Indeed, it’s quite good. Not only are you skillful, you also look as if you’ve stepped right out of a painting, making my own heart soften!”

The shopkeeper sincerely praised, before looking down at the ribbon flowers in her hand again.

It was the first time she had seen ribbon flowers made from silk garments of such color.

Although the style was novel, she hesitated as the color of the flowers was so strange. If they couldn’t be sold, she would suffer a huge loss!

“How many ribbon flowers do you have like this?”

“Not too many, about 200 pairs.” Liu Sisi didn’t mention more, fearing the shopkeeper would lower the price if she knew the actual quantity.

The shopkeeper lightly tapped on the surface of the counter, finally gritting his teeth: “Fine! I’ll buy these ribbon flowers of yours. I sell the regular ones here for 10 copper coins a pair, and buy them at 6 copper coins. I’ll just give you a direct purchase price of 8 copper coins per pair, what do you think?”

Liu Sisi immediately shook her head: “Shopkeeper, the price cannot be calculated like that. The 10 copper coins per flower you’re talking about are ribbon flowers sold to children. The ribbon flowers I make not only have no repeating patterns but also appeal to ordinary children and married women. If you take them to the county, and the girls at Blossom House and Drunken Moon Restaurant find their special characteristics, to say that these ribbon flowers are worth only eight copper coins is simply an insult to their value. Shopkeeper, don’t you think what I, the young wife, said makes sense?”

After Liu Sisi’s explanation, the shopkeeper’s eyes instantly brightened!

What she said wasn’t wrong; she just saw that the small town couldn’t sell at a high price. But what about the county and provincial cities?

“Then what’s the asking price, young wife?”

Liu Sisi smiled: “Shopkeeper, you also know that the silk alone costs 600 copper coins, plus the silk thread, cotton thread, and labor, I won’t ask for too much. Just price the ribbon flowers at 20 copper coins. If the shopkeeper sells them well and quickly, the next time you want them, I’ll still sell them to you at this price, how about it?”

Liu Sisi had already done the math. A piece of cloth can make about 120 to 150 pairs of ribbon flowers. If made with good silk, the cost is around 8 copper coins per pair without considering labor.

Her asking price of 20 copper coins per pair seemed a bit high, but after deducting the wages, it wouldn’t be too much.

“20 copper coins? That’s too high! No, no! I won’t mention other things, but at most, 15 copper coins per pair. If you still think it doesn’t work, we don’t need to talk about this deal.” The shopkeeper was also unwilling to give in, her understanding of the cost seemed crystal clear in her mind.

“Let’s be frank, the shopkeeper must know the cost of making these silk flowers. Don’t you need to make a living as well, young wife? I will sell them for 18 copper coins per pair if you agree.” Liu Sisi pretended to look pained and wiped her face with a towel.

The shopkeeper looked up and naturally saw Liu Sisi’s fingers, which were almost poked through by the needle’s eye, and her heart softened: “17 copper coins per pair! However, I’ll buy as many as you have now. To be honest, I plan to ship them to the capital to sell, and if the quantity is too small, I won’t make a profit.”

Liu Sisi was naturally overjoyed! After checking, she had spent 1 tael of silver to buy 5 and a half pieces of silk and made 756 pairs of ribbon flowers, selling them for 12 taels and 682 copper coins.

The shopkeeper also laughed happily, gave Liu Sisi 12,700 copper coins directly, which settled the deal concerning both money and goods.

Once they left the accessory shop, Di Yelei and Liu Sisi were both overjoyed!

“Ye Lei! We can finally pay back that huge debt. We’ll be debt-free now, and things are really great!” Liu Sisi was almost jumping for joy.

The most excited was Di Yelei!

“Sisi, I give you all the credit. So many ribbon flowers were made by you, stitch by stitch, and it took nearly twenty days to complete them. Look at your fingers… I’m really, really, too clumsy!”

Di Yelei held Liu Sisi’s hand tightly, his face full of heartache.

“This is the main street, and everyone is watching. Let go of my hand quickly!”

Liu Sisi hurriedly withdrew her hand, her cheeks flushed: “Besides, it’s just a few needle pricks, it’ll be fine in a few days.”

“Sisi, I know how hard you’ve worked for everything. You keep the silver now, and once we sell the game today, our family will have money to work with.”

Di Yelei happily spoke, as he bent down to pick up the weasel, mountain marmot, and wild rabbit. He then walked briskly towards the market, protecting Liu Sisi.