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

Chapter 8: Looks Awkward
As soon as the mother and daughter finished their meal, Shen Ang returned home with a group of people.

Shen Zhao quickly spread two more straw mats in the hall and brought in a ceramic stove to cook Luoye tea to entertain the guests.

Mother Zhang Shanyue was busy putting the dishes into large ceramic bowls and bringing them to the hall together with bean rice and flour pancakes.

The guests this time included two neighboring village lords, several neighborhood leaders, and two guards. They often came to eat here and were not restrained, so they picked up the earthenware bowls and served themselves rice.

"Thank you, sister-in-law." Someone bowed to Zhang Shanyue to express his gratitude.

Zhang Shanyue smiled and said, "You are all my husband's brothers, why should you be polite? It's just an ordinary meal, and I am sorry for neglecting it."

"No way! The dishes cooked by sister-in-law are the most delicious. We are so happy that we can't express it all." Everyone smiled and flattered her, then picked up their bowls and started to eat.

After exiting the hall, Shen Zhao took his mother into the side room.

She would definitely not be able to hide the fact that she was selling winter clothes from her family, so she might as well tell them the truth. Maybe her family could cover up for her.

"Mother, let me show you something." Shen Zhao uncovered the linen mattress covering the bundle and picked up a shirt from it.

Zhang Shanyue was surprised and quickly took it and stroked it: "Huh? So many winter clothes, where did you get them from?"

She knew exactly how many tree sticks she had at home, so how could she not know that such a big package of winter clothes was hidden in her daughter's room?

Shen Zhao hissed and signaled his mother to speak softly: "Mother, please keep your voice down. Don't let outsiders hear you."

Zhang Shanyue nodded frantically, and suddenly became a little sneaky, and asked in a low voice: "Where did it come from? Could it be compensation from the Xue and Qin families?"

Although the Xue and Qin families were criminals, they actually had some money, at least richer than ordinary civilians.

Zhang Shanyue would not be surprised if the two families came up with something out of the ordinary.

"No." Shen Zhao whispered, "I got it from a foreign country."

Zhang Shanyue blinked, a little unbelieving: "When did you bring it back? How come I didn't know?" And she didn't see any camel caravans from Western Region merchants entering the neighborhood?
Shen Zhao started to act like a rogue: "I always have a way, mother, don't interrupt, let's talk about other things."

"You talk, mother is listening." Zhang Shanyue lowered her head to check the big package, gasping for air.

Shen Zhao asked: "Mother, how much do you think these winter clothes are worth?"

Zhang Shanyue stared blankly at the rooftop, his fingers moving rapidly, calculating for a while and saying, "One piece can be sold for at least three hundred coins. No! There will be people willing to buy it for four hundred."

He had never seen such soft and warm winter clothes before. He estimated that the nobles in Xiaogu County would be willing to pay for them.

Shen Zhao was delighted when he heard this: "Well, let's sell them all and use the money to pay the salary for my eldest brother."

"What? Sell them all?" Zhang Shanyue's eyes turned red: "Azhao, don't you keep two pieces for yourself?" After all, winter is coming soon, and with such thick winter clothes, it will be more comfortable to go out in winter.

Shen Zhao nodded: "Sell them all! Mother, don't be reluctant. I can still get more. I will leave a few more sets for you, father and brother to use for the winter."

Zhang Shanyue was stunned for a long time before sniffing and saying, "Good boy, you are thoughtful."

He paused and lowered his voice and said, "I'll talk to your father later. He knows a lot of people. We can ask him to take us to sell it then."

After all, this is a considerable fortune. If two women, myself and my daughter, were to go out and sell it, it might be robbed.

"Yeah." Shen Zhao smiled and said softly, "Let's wait until the guests leave and say that these were obtained from the Hu merchants in the Western Regions."

Zhang Shanyue looked at his daughter deeply and nodded.

Soon everyone finished their meal and got up to leave.

Shen Ang also wanted to take the guard back to the posthouse, but he saw his wife waving at him stealthily. He followed his wife back to the house, hugged her and said with a smile: "Can't bear to leave your husband? Then I won't leave today."

Zhang Shanyue pretended to spit and pushed him away: "Stop messing around, I have something serious to do."

Shen Ang saw his wife's serious expression and also became solemn. He asked, "What's the matter?"

Zhang Shanyue looked outside and saw two guards standing outside the yard talking to his son. He whispered, "A Zhao got some winter clothes from a Hu merchant from the Western Regions. The materials are good. You should think of a way to sell them."

Shen Ang frowned: "What kind of winter clothes? How much did Ah Zhao spend on it?"

Zhang Shanyue glared at her husband and said angrily, "No matter how much it costs, it's Ah Zhao's own money. Why are you asking so many questions? Just tell me the truth, are you willing to help?"

Shen Ang opened his eyes wide: "Look at what you said, my daughter's business is our family's business, didn't I say I won't help? But let me see what the things look like, right?"

"Well, come with me!" Zhang Shanyue pulled her husband to her daughter's room and pointed at the bag of clothes and said, "These are them. Give me an estimate and see how much they can be sold for."

Shen Ang picked up the cotton coat and looked at it carefully, frowning even more tightly: "This style is indeed strange, but it is very thick."

After thinking for a while, he said, "At least I can sell them for three or four hundred coins. Why don't I take a few pieces back to the posthouse and ask the thieves to take a look? Their clothes are thin and they have been wanting to buy some winter clothes for a long time."

Zhang Shanyue was delighted when she heard this and urged, "Then take it back quickly and remember to return the money in full. It's all Ah Zhao's private money, you can't use it to socialize with bad friends."

"Got it." Shen Ang took out a bright red cotton coat, put it on himself, turned it around to show his wife, and asked, "Does it fit well?"

Zhang Shanyue covered her mouth and chuckled: "It does fit, but why does it look so awkward to me?"

Shen Ang's face darkened. He took off his clothes and stuffed them into a big bag, picked them up and left: "Since they look awkward, I'll sell them all to others."

After saying this, he walked out of the yard and asked the two guards to leave.

After they walked away, Shen Zhao poked his head out of the kitchen and asked his mother in a low voice, "Did Dad take them all?"

"Yes." Zhang Shanyue went to the kitchen to take a look and saw that everything was ready. He said, "I have told your father to return the money from the sale of the clothes in full, so that he won't be so rich and generous and take a bunch of people to eat and drink without restraint."

The reason why our family is so poor is that we have too many guests to entertain. Most of the grain harvested from our farmland is used for these purposes.

Alas, it's really a bottomless pit.

Shen Zhao also knew that A Niang had no money, so he didn't ask her for money to buy old clothes again.

Moreover, she didn't know whether those clothes would be popular or not. After all, the styles were too weird and not everyone might accept them.

Clothes are meant to be worn outside to show off to others. If you can’t wear them outside to show off to others, people will definitely not like it.

Now I can only wait for news from my father. If he brings the money back soon, I will buy more and store them.

Thinking of this, Shen Zhao calmed down and went to the neighborhood canal with his mother to fetch water.

There was only a small water tank at home, which had to be refilled when it was used up, otherwise there would be no water for washing at night.

The mother and daughter came to the canal, squatted down and scooped water into the pitcher.

The clear canal water has become a little shallower, and it is estimated that it will dry up in winter.

At this time, Xue Lingyao's mother Wang also came with a pitcher to fetch water. When she saw Shen Zhao, there was resentment in her eyes.

(End of this chapter)