Reborn in Dunhuang, I am farming and doing business in the desert

Chapter 19 Buying Wedding Items
Qin Yi was stunned for a moment, then slowly put away his expression and returned to his cold look.

"A Zhao, please stop making trouble, okay? I know you are afraid of Lingyao, but there is really nothing wrong between us. My family and her family came from Jingyi together. We have supported each other along the way. We have an extraordinary relationship. You really don't need to be jealous about this."

Shen Zhao almost vomited when he heard this: "I'm jealous? Qin Yi, are you mentally ill?"

Qin Yi frowned, looking unhappy, but thinking of his mother's instructions, he still patiently said:
"You don't have to refute it. Didn't you refuse the last time Aunt Hua came to your house to propose marriage? I know you still have me in your heart, and I, I am not an ungrateful person. Why don't we just make peace with each other?"

Shen Zhao raised his eyebrows: "How did you know that Aunt Hua went to my house?"

"Of course I know it." Qin Yi said confidently.

In fact, it was Xue Lingyao who told him that someone went to the Shen family to propose marriage, because Aunt Hua went to the Xue family first and then went to the Shen family.

When Aunt Hua returned empty-handed, she and Xue Lingyao and her brother were watching from a distance.

Shen Zhao's face darkened. He didn't want to waste any more time talking to this kind of person, so he turned around and went home.

Qin Yi watched the girl walk away, his brows furrowed even tighter.

He didn't understand why the person who had been full of admiration for him not long ago would change his mind just because of one sentence?
Moreover, he clearly did nothing that day. He even took her to pick dates with good intentions. But she ended up beating Lingyao first and then went home to complain first.

The wild women from the northwest are really unreasonable!

But her mother asked her to come and show her goodwill to her, and even her sister Lingyao spoke for her, saying that Shen Zhao still liked her very much, but was just too shy to admit his guilt.

He also said that as long as he gave her a way out, she would definitely change her mind.

But I have already given her face and a way out. Does this mean she wants to change her mind?

The more Qin Yi thought about it, the more annoyed he became, and he hated Shen Zhao even more.

An illiterate girl from the northwest, who only took a second look at Lingyao because she looked a bit like her. I didn't expect her to be so ungrateful. How despicable!
He returned home in a hurry and saw his mother and younger sister sitting under the eaves sewing clothes. Qin Yi ignored them and went into his room.

Just as I picked up the knife to cut the wooden tablets, my mother came in.

"Yier, what did Shen Zhao say?" she asked tentatively.

Qin Yi's face became more and more ashamed and angry, and he said sullenly, "Mother, why do you insist that I choose the Shen family? Sister Xue is the same age as her, and Uncle Xue is also a minor official in Xuanquanzhi. Wouldn't it be better for you to go to the Xue family to propose marriage?"

Yang sighed, "The Xue family is good, but Wang refused to agree to my daughter's marriage and even said she would wait a few years before arranging a marriage for Lingyao."

Qin Yi raised his head and looked at his mother: "Then my son can wait a few years before talking about marriage."

Yang was silent for a moment, then said calmly, "You can indeed wait a few years before talking about marriage, but the head of the village has already sent the list of corvée labor to our family. You will have to serve at the border in winter at the latest."

"If he wants to serve, then he can serve. Didn't the eldest son of the Shen family go to the border? So can my son." Qin Yi said firmly as he whittled the wood, "Maybe my son can be a minor official at the border."

Yang frowned and said softly, "Yier, you think too simply. Border officials are all assigned their own positions. Even if you can read and write, you can't compare to the connections that Chief Shen has."

"Besides, the border is a harsh place. Even if your service is over after one year, you still can't go home if there is no one to replace you."

Yang patted her son on the shoulder and said, "Do you remember Mr. Dong's son? He died of illness at the border. In a place like that, who cares about who lives or dies?"

"So, you must marry Shen Zhao in order to get the care of Chief Shen."

Yang said earnestly, "Our family is not as wealthy as the Xue family, and your uncle and aunt are of no use. Now we can only place our hopes on the Shen family. Alas, if the Qin family had not encountered such a disaster, my son would have been a great man. Why would he have to cling to a petty official at the post station?"

Qin Yi was heartbroken when he heard this, and accidentally cut his finger, causing blood to flow. "Ouch! How could you be so careless?" When Yang saw her son's bleeding finger, she quickly went to the stove and wiped a handful of stove ash and pressed it on Qin Yi's hand: "Stop cutting it, the pens and ink at home are almost gone, what's the point of cutting so much?"

"It's for Uncle Xue." Qin Yi stared at his fingers for a while, and suddenly many images flashed through his mind.

Sister Lingyao with a sweet smile, Shen Zhao carrying a sheepskin bag through the market, the swords raised by the warriors, and the blood-red fetus that has not yet been born.
The pictures spin rapidly like running wheels.

Qin Yi felt a black screen before his eyes, and he fell headfirst.
******
Back to Shen Zhao, who was leisurely lying on the wooden couch and brushing the bronze mirror.

Her mother gave her a thousand coins, and she had to use the money to buy wedding supplies for her eldest brother.

First select eight pairs of red candles with dragon and phoenix patterns, then two cotton quilts and two large red lacquered wooden boxes.

As for washbasins and bathtubs, you can just buy the ceramic ones locally. You can buy several for twenty coins. Ceramic products in the bronze mirror world are very valuable, so you won't waste money buying these.

Shen Zhao also selected a red satin quilt cover and a green satin quilt cover, and used white cotton cloth for the quilt lining. After all, it was most cost-effective to buy the cloth and make it yourself.

As for the newlyweds' clothes, Shen Zhao also bought cloth with nice colors, and also bought a lot of cotton. He and A Niang worked hard to make them in a few days.

The last step is to buy jewelry for the bride.

There is no need to think about gold and silver. My family is not yet rich enough to afford real gold and silver jewelry. However, I can buy a few beautiful pearl flowers and cheap jade hairpins, bracelets and necklaces.

She also bought some gifts for her in-laws, all of which were fabrics of various patterns and colors. Shen Zhao chose the cheapest kind, called defective cloth, which cost only two or three cents per meter. She bought about ten meters of each.

Because cloth is hard currency here, it is not only the best item for gift giving, but can also be used as currency.

Of course, not all of the cloth was sent to the in-laws; half of it had to be kept for oneself.

After selecting the goods, I had already spent a thousand yuan without realizing it, and the bill was more than a hundred yuan over the limit.

Shen Zhao didn't care. After all, the extra cotton and cloth could be used to make clothes for his parents and second brother.

In a short while, a large pile of scattered goods appeared in the compartment.

Shen Zhao counted everything and found that nothing was missing, so he moved all the things to his parents' room.

"So many?" Zhang Shanyue was stunned.

Unexpectedly, my daughter not only bought wedding candles, bedding, boxes and cages, but also bought a lot of cloth and jewelry.

"Is this cotton?" What Zhang Shanyue was most excited about were those large bundles of snow-white cotton, which felt warmer than silk.

Shen Zhao smiled and nodded: "Yes, these are the most valuable things." He spent almost several hundred dollars.

"Oh, kid, you spend money lavishly!" Although Zhang Shanyue said this, he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

Shen Zhao brought the cloth over and said, "We bought a lot of this cloth. Mother, you can tear it up and fold it into pieces. The rest will be used to make clothes and bedding for you."

Although those old cotton-padded clothes can keep you warm, you can’t wear them outside.

Our family is going to have a wedding soon, and our parents and brother cannot wear strange clothes to entertain the guests.

(End of this chapter)