Goldfield
Chapter 140: Shopping Around

Yu Xiaocao waited until the young girl went far away. Only then did he sprinkle the remaining water from his water bag onto the food. He placed the upgraded animal feed into a feed tub in front of Little Grey. The little donkey licked his hand and then cheerfully began to eat. The other three horses were apparently able to tell that the food in front of Little Grey was different and stuck out their necks. If they hadn't pulled the leash, they would have started fighting over food with Little Grey.

Xiaocao shook his water bag, indicating that it was completely empty. He stroked the little red horse of Third Young Master Zhou and softly said, “Thank you the less than ideal circumstances for tonight, I'll make sure to give you guys something nice to eat tomorrow!”

Little Grey somehow knew that his own food was being envied by the other three horses, so he quickly inhaled all the food until the trough was cleared. Satisfied, he opened his mouth and jerked a few times. The other three horses had nothing to fight for so they had no choice but to eat what was left in their own food place.

Zhao Han had finished moving their items into the room and came over. He noticed Xiaocao in the backyard and asked, “Xiaocao, do you want to rest for a while?”

“I'm not tired, let's take a walk around!” Although riding a donkey for long distances was difficult and exhausting, Xiaocao had a cheat item: mystical stone water. Drinking a single sip was enough to give him energy and relieve fatigue.

The small inn was at the location where the commoners lived in the prefectural city. Nearby were shops selling small items that cost about the same as the items in Tanggu City. However, they do have the kind of fabric materials and jewelry designs that cannot be found in a small town.

In one of the surrounding shops, Xiaocao immediately noticed a thin cotton cloth that caught his attention. It was colored with an elegant pattern that reminded one of the branches of the tree. If Madam Liu had a piece of clothing made from this cloth, she would definitely look very stylish. Fabrics sold in Tanggu City are colored in simple colors or above with bright colors and patterns that look tacky to some people. He needed to buy more of these types of simple yet elegant materials to take home.

Xiaocao was never too frugal with his own expenses. In addition, the price of the fabric is also not expensive, almost the same as the price found in Tanggu City. But there is more variety. He asked the store owner to cut every cloth he liked. Behind him, Zhao Han immediately found his hand filled with bundles of cloth.

Not far from them, there was a small silver shop. Xiaocao recalled that when her mother styled her hair, she complained of not having any hair ornaments. They could only use the remains from sewing clothes to tie the ribbon to her hair.

All girls liked to dress up, so Xiaocao stepped into the silver shop without hesitation. Inside the shop, there was a twelve to thirteen year old girl at the counter. Even though he looked average, he had a business-like attitude.

When he saw a customer enter, the girl did not judge the person by his appearance and still greeted him warmly, “Sister, you want jewelry? Where's your parents?”

This was the first time Yu Xiaocao had walked into a silver shop. His eyes looked around excitedly and were caught by the glittering and shining jewelry in the shop. With his family's current financial situation, buying gold jewelry would become too conspicuous and not in line with Xiaocao's desire to remain under the radar. He still needs time to implement more money making schemes.

He smiled at the shopkeeper girl and went to the display counter that had silver ornaments. The display has a dark-colored layer of fabric on the bottom, which makes the silver jewelry inside appear brighter and shiny.

At this point, the shopkeeper girl looked at Zhao Han, who had just entered the shop. Although Zhao Han was only around twelve to thirteen years old, he had a sturdy and tall body from practicing martial arts all year round. In the young girl's eyes, Zhao Han had become Xiaocao's elder brother who was taking his younger sister shopping.

The two of them only wore clothes made from the most ordinary type of cotton cloth, but the workmanship was excellent, especially the set in Xiaocao. It emphasized Xiaocao's delicate and slender figure, making her look like a slender and elegant flower. She really had the aura of a beautiful girl born from a simple family.

The girl attentively recommended Xiaocao some jewelry in the box, “Daughter, this pair of earrings is shaped like a lilac. The design is quite lively and is perfect for women your age. Do you want to try..”.

He took out a pair of silver lilac earrings and pointed at Xiaocao's ears. It was then that he realized that the little girl's ears had not been pierced, so he smiled apologizing to Xiaocao. He put down the silver earrings and took out a set of jewels decorated with pearls.

Xiaocao noticed that the pair of purple earrings had good workmanship. The little lilac flower looked lively and lively and gleamed softly under the last sunset rays. Since she had a weak constitution since she was young, Madam Liu was unwilling to pierce her ears. However, Xiaolian had sharp ears. This pair of purple earrings perfectly matched Xiaocao's taste, and he asked the girl about the price. It was only twenty copper coins, so he immediately bought it.

After that, he chose a pair of silver bracelets wrapped around for Madame Liu as well as a Yulan magnolia hairpin made of silver. She had heard Xiaolian mention that their mother originally had a Yulan magnolia hairpin like this one brought as her dowry. However, when Xiaocao fell ill as a child, they sold him to get money to pay for his medicine. This silver hairpin will help calm Madam Liu's previous regrets!

Naturally, Xiaocao did not forget to buy things for himself and took out a pair of pearl and coral bracelets. He also chose a similar style for Xiaolian, only with different colored pearls. Finally, he also bought some headbands embroidered with gold thread. He wanted to give this to the sister of the Zhou Family as well as the younger sister of Qian Wu.

The young girl felt somewhat anxious but kept smiling, “Everything, the result was six taels and two hundred copper coins. My store's jewelry is all homemade, so I'll ignore minor changes. Give me a total of six taels! ”

Six taels in total? It's not expensive at all! A pair of silver bracelets and hairpins should have a total weight of almost two ounces. If the shop also had to pay a silver craftsman to make these items, then the shop would not make much profit. Fortunately, this shop made all of its own items, so it saved the blacksmith a little salary.

Xiaocao took out his embroidered money bag and took out a silver hunk worth about ten taels. He then took a small chunk of the dime and put it in a bag. Xiaolian was actually embroidering this pouch, so there was a unique sunflower design outside of it.

The shopkeeper girl was interested in the design on her pocket. After obtaining Xiaocao's permission, he sketched out the pattern. The girl was the daughter of an old silversmith and had a lot of talent in making silver jewelry. The jewelry she made was not only beautiful but also very lively.

The sunflower embroidery on this tiny pouch inspires it indefinitely. Soon enough, sunflower inspired jewelry will become very popular for some time in the prefecture city. This small silver craft shop gradually became more famous. So, the jewelry made by this little girl will also become preferred by many people…

The sky has become dark. After they left the jewelry store, Xiaocao felt bad that Zhao Han brought all these packages while accompanying her to the night market. So, they returned to the inn and stored the newly purchased items. Yu Hai was afraid that it was not safe for the two children to roam around at night, so he also came out with them.

Zhao Han's recommended night market was really quite crowded. It was brightly lit and many people crowded around. Shops and stalls were lined up on both sides of the street and each booth had two lanterns hung in tents. Sometimes, the flames inside the lantern would flash a little and make the lighting in the area dream-like.

The night market not only has people selling all sorts of trinkets and gadgets, but also many hawker stalls that range from the northern to the southern provinces. There was glutinous, dumplings, stuffing sticky rice balls, flaky pastries, vermicelli. The three exclaimed and rubbed their stomachs uncomfortably.

Just when the night market was about to close, Xiaocao reluctantly left. He commented with concern, “Although the food here has a genuine taste, I believe I can make a food that is a hundred times tastier if I live nearby.”

“Eh? What kind of idea do you have? Notify us. If possible, we can also sell it at the dock! ” Zhao Han also tried Xiaocao's food and believed fully in his culinary talent.

Xiaocao smiled somewhat memento, “I want to make a skewer hotpot. Anything that can be put on a bamboo skewer, such as meat, vegetables, eggs, seafood.I also want to boil a pot of spicy and savory soup as a complement, I am starting to feel hungry again! ” Yu Hai looked at his daughter, who seemed to have stars swirling in her eyes, gently patted her head, and chuckled, “There's already someone on the dock measuring the area. Soon, they will start building. Third Young Master once said that in the future the pier will be the largest port in the north. There will be more people there than ever before. Later, we can have a shop there selling boiled food and skewers in the soup you are talking about! ”

“How about... You make it first, and I can help you try it. If they are really good as you say, you can really make money from them! ” Zhao Han felt the voracious monster inside him swerve when he heard Xiaocao's description. Who knew how long it would take the port to complete construction, so didn't that mean he would have to wait an unknown period of time to satisfy his passion for hotpot skewers? The best-case scenario was for Xiaocao to first make some, so he could eat as much.

“Not a problem! Tomorrow, let's buy some spice in town. When we get back home, I'll get you to try! ” Materials for making skewers can be found anywhere. For example: chinese cabbage, green vegetables, romaine lettuce, tofu, mushrooms and other similar vegetables are quite cheap. As long as someone stews a tasty soup, you can boil whatever you want. How fun!

The three people started walking back to the inn while continuing to discuss the skewers boiled in soup. Suddenly, someone blocked their path. This person had a tall and imposing figure, which showed that he had been doing martial arts ever since he was young. He looked at Zhao Han for a while before he asked somewhat emotionally, “Sorry, sister, are you surnamed Zhao?”

Zhao Han stopped smiling and furrowed his brows. He replied carefully, “You, do you recognize me?”

“No no! Little sister, you look very similar to my teacher, and the last name of my revered teacher is Zhao.. ”When the big man did not hear her refute, he became even more excited. His fierce-looking eyes began to hold back tears.

Zhao Han actually did not look like his father and instead took over his grandfather. The Zhao family all seemed to have a natural talent for martial arts. Although Zhao Han was only a preteen, a group of five to six ordinary men would not be his opponent.

Zhao Han carefully sized up the big man in front of him and seemed to make a decision. He hid his suspicious nature and asked in a low voice, “Sorry, but are you surnamed ‘Fang’? ‘Fang’ from home word? ”

“Yes yes! I'm your martial uncle, Fang Zizhen ah! Ah, esteemed teacher... Is your grandfather's health still fine? Where all of you live in hiding, I've been searching for you guys for over twenty years .. ”The big man couldn't help himself and clasped Zhao Han's shoulder. The smile that almost split his face opened wide. Zhao Han naturally knew about Fang Zizhen. His grandfather had adopted an orphan and treated him like a son, teaching him everything he knew. He was taught the martial arts of the Zhao family. It was said that before Fang Zizhen disappeared, his martial arts abilities were on par with his grandfather's. If there was no bitter and desperate battle, it was likely that Martial Uncle Fang would even exceed his grandfather's capabilities.