The three quickly chose the clothes they liked.
Qi Zhenzhen always preferred simple and elegant colors, Li Nuan liked delicate colors, and Li Rou preferred pure colors. Both of their chosen dresses were white, but with different embroidered patterns. One was adorned with auspicious cloud patterns embroidered in silver thread, sparkling like starlight, while the other had silver thread as trim. Big Wind Novel
"Miss Er and Miss Rou, the dresses you've chosen are too plain. This is the best time for you; this old servant thinks wearing some bright and delicate colors would look better," suggested Nanny Fang.
Both of them shook their heads simultaneously, "We just like these colors."
Nanny Fang was helpless. After all, at her age, she enjoyed seeing young ladies wear delicate colors.
After choosing, someone came to record the measurements and addresses of the three, arranging a time for delivery. They could then leave after paying a deposit.
However, the deposit was astonishingly high. For six dresses, the two-tenths deposit amounted to one hundred and twenty taels. This meant each dress cost a full hundred taels.
Li Nuan and Li Rou looked at Nanny Fang with some helplessness and unease.
"The dresses you chose are considered cheap. Dresses at Jinxiu Workshop can cost three to four hundred taels, and some even a thousand taels!" Nanny Fang said with a smile. "When we return, the Old Madam will surely say you've saved her money."
Li Nuan only knew that when they were at home, a dress costing thirty to forty taels was considered expensive. She and Li Rou only had two outfits per season, eight in total for the year, with an extra one made for the New Year. Of course, Li Qing, as the legitimate daughter, was different from them; she had four outfits per season and four for the New Year.
Therefore, what Nanny Fang called saving money was still a luxury for them.
Qi Zhenzhen held their hands and blinked her eyes, "My sister and I are the same. We haven't worn such expensive clothes before."
Hearing her say this, the unease on Li Nuan and Li Rou's faces lessened slightly.
Li Nuan had already started planning to make more calming incense for the Old Madam when they returned. Li Rou, on the other hand, was thinking of transcribing two scrolls of Buddhist scriptures to give to the Old Madam as thanks.
"Miss Er, two cousin ladies, next we will go to Linlang Pavilion. There are many novelties there! They are all imported goods, said to come from across the vast ocean," Nanny Fang said, having been instructed by the Old Madam to guide them well. Besides clothes and jewelry, girls liked exquisite small items.
Qian's family's general store also had a small amount of imported goods, but they were mainly seeds and raw materials, not delicate items.
Since Linlang Pavilion and Jinxiu Workshop were on the same street, the group did not take a carriage but chose to walk, allowing them to look at the items sold by the small vendors along the way.
After walking for only about fifteen minutes, Nanny Fang, who was leading the way, stopped.
The plaque bore three gilded characters, shining brightly in the sunlight.
It was quite imposing.
As she walked inside, Qi Zhenzhen gasped. The counters inside were made of glass?! Something used in every household in her previous life, but not in her memory. Seeing it now, how could she not be shocked?
Upon closer inspection, the transparency of the glass was not very high, but it was enough to see. Moreover, each piece of glass had a different color.
"Does Miss like our colored glass?" a young shop assistant eagerly greeted them. "This is a good thing. If you make a storage box with colored glass inlaid on the lid, you can see whatever is inside clearly. If it's inlaid on a window, it won't let in drafts, and you can clearly see the scenery outside, and the room won't be dim."
So it was colored glass.
"How much is this colored glass?" Qi Zhenzhen asked.
"Thirty taels for a piece like this," the young shop assistant quoted.
Good heavens, something the size of a handkerchief cost thirty taels. If an entire window were inlaid, it would likely cost over a thousand taels. It seemed this item was not affordable for ordinary people.
The young shop assistant, being clever, seemed to have guessed Qi Zhenzhen's thoughts and immediately added, "You don't need to inlay the entire window. Just two pieces like this on one window will suffice. Many families do it this way!"
Ancient windows were very large. Inlaying just two pieces would look incongruous and lack aesthetic appeal. Those who did so probably thought colored glass was rare and precious, hence their actions.
Qi Zhenzhen politely nodded to the young shop assistant, "Let's look at other things first."
The young shop assistant's smile did not disappear because Qi Zhenzhen didn't buy the colored glass; on the contrary, his smile became even more pronounced.
"Ladies, please come this way. Linlang Pavilion has many exquisite and rare items."
There were music boxes, small nesting dolls, and even pocket watches inlaid with gemstones, and half-human-tall grandfather clocks.
Besides these, there were also various gemstones, of much better quality than those the Old Madam had given her. Qi Zhenzhen had thought those gemstones were produced in Da Feng, but it turned out they were also imported goods.
"This is really fun," Li Nuan and Li Rou were captivated by the music box.
The wooden box had two lifelike carved figures. There was a winding mechanism on the side. When wound up, it produced a crisp tinkling sound. The tune was peculiar, and amusingly, the two figures began to rotate, looking as if they were dancing gracefully.
"This is a music box. If Miss likes it, I can pack it up for you. You can keep it for yourself or give it as a gift," the young shop assistant introduced enthusiastically. "This small item is not expensive, only ten taels of silver."
"Young man, how many of these music boxes do you have?" Qi Zhenzhen asked.
"Pack this music box for me," a soft voice said. Qi Zhenzhen followed the sound and saw a familiar face.
Strictly speaking, not familiar, just seen before.
Yingying, the young lady residing at the Shen Mansion.
Unlike the frail appearance she had shown at the mansion, her expression was somewhat arrogant.
"Young man, we were looking at this first, weren't we?" Qi Zhenzhen asked the shop assistant.
The young shop assistant nodded.
"Then there should be a matter of first come, first served, right?" Qi Zhenzhen asked.
"What does it matter that you were looking at it? You didn't say you wanted it! Are you saying that others can't buy what you look at? Shop assistant, how much is this? I'll pay double the price and have it packed for me," Yingying said haughtily.
Double the price…
The young shop assistant glanced apologetically at Qi Zhenzhen, "Ladies…"
Qi Zhenzhen waved her hand, "Since this lady is so wealthy and overbearing, we naturally won't compete with her. We'll go look at other things."
The young shop assistant looked grateful, feeling that these ladies were reasonable. If they had insisted, he, the shop assistant, would have been the one to suffer from the dispute.
Yingying seemed taken aback by Qi Zhenzhen's easy concession.
However, Qi Zhenzhen ignored her and moved on with Li Nuan and Li Rou to look at other items.
"Miss Er, isn't that…?" Nanny Fang whispered.
"Nanny is correct, it's that little white flower from the Shen Mansion," Qi Zhenzhen confirmed that Nanny Fang had identified the person correctly.
"Why does she seem like a different person?" Nanny Fang asked in surprise.
"Acting is very tiring. People always have moments when their true colors show," Qi Zhenzhen said with a smile.