Zhou Shuren pointed at the silver and money, "The rent was 55 taels, and the jewelry was 250 taels. The pearl necklace and bracelet this time were better than the last time, and the pearls in the north are more expensive than those in the south, so I pawned an extra 50 taels. I directly exchanged them for 200 silver notes, 10 taels of gold, 5 taels of silver coins, and small change."
Zhulan was not confident about the silver note, she preferred the real thing, "Change it for another 100 taels of gold, and keep the silver note for 100 taels for your convenience in the future."
Zhou Shuren, "Let's go out and change it back tomorrow."
Zhulan spent 950 taels to buy the shop and 10 taels to hold the banquet. She still had more than 150 taels left. Adding the more than 300 taels of silver she used as rent, she had a total of more than 450 taels. It was a pity that she couldn't buy another shop. If they didn't have the background to buy more, they would get into trouble. "I went out and brought back a lot of silver."
Zhou Shuren took out fifty taels and said, "Give this money to Brother Zhao when you leave and ask him to help buy furniture. The rest is a thank you fee."
Zhulan was not afraid that Zhao Bo would cheat them. Zhao Bo would not do that for the sake of his family and his own reputation. Besides, Zhao Bo had helped the family a lot and he was optimistic about Zhou Shuren. He would not lose the big picture by investing in the early stage.
In ancient times, some noble families liked to help students from poor families. This was considered an initial investment. If they were promising in the future, they would give them back and protect them. For the sake of reputation, there were very few ungrateful families.
It took five days to get everything from home to Pingzhou, so Zhulan and Zhou Shuren planned to spend two days sightseeing.
Pingzhou is the largest provincial capital in the north. The provincial capitals further north are not as prosperous as Pingzhou. Further north are the garrisons stationed there. There are exile areas nearby and the county town is full of the families of the garrisons. It is not prosperous at all.
The next morning, Zhulan packed up the silver and money, and finally saw her own house with her bag. There were more than a dozen rooms in the two courtyards, two kitchens, one in the backyard and one in the front yard. Zhulan was most happy because there was a well in the yard. After looking at it carefully, Zhulan was very satisfied.
After looking at the houses, they took a carriage to see the shops. Because there were many shops in the south city, Zhulan took her daughter to visit many shops. Pingzhou's leather was very famous, and Zhulan couldn't help but go in to have a look.
There were a lot of people coming and going in the shop, and the waiter was very busy. Zhulan didn't ask, but listened to the waiter introducing to other customers that the best fire fox skin was thirty taels per piece, the rare white fox skin was eighty taels, and bear skin was even more expensive, costing over a hundred taels. The inferior mink skin was more than ten taels, and the best one was twenty taels or more.
Zhulan felt around but didn't buy anything. She returned to the carriage and said to Zhou Shuren, "The leather in Pingzhou is cheaper than in the capital, and the leather in the northern border is even cheaper. I will definitely buy more when I have the chance, to give as gifts or for my own use. It will be both respectable and prestigious."
Zhou Shuren's trip gave him a deeper understanding of ancient times. "Don't even think about going to the north to collect leather. There are fixed people collecting leather in the north. No one will sell it to you if you go there. No matter how much money you offer, they won't dare to sell it. You can buy it in Pingzhou or buy it from someone near your home in the future!"
Zhu Lan said, "What a pity, the price difference is quite big!"
Zhou Shuren said dimly, "You are not the only one who is smart. Everyone knows that the price difference is huge, but no one is jealous and dares to take advantage of it. Every profit is protected by royal relatives and nobles."
Zhulan didn't talk about it anymore. It's better to be careful outside.
The carriage arrived at a jewelry shop. Zhulan liked jewelry very much in modern times, and she liked ancient jewelry even more. She had less money in the past, but now she has more spare money, so she must visit a jewelry shop when she goes shopping.
The jewelry shops in the provincial capital were much more upscale than those in the county. The first floor sold not only gold and silver jewelry, but also some agate and gemstone-inlaid red hairpins.
Zhulan's eyes lit up. The gold earrings with crushed rubies, the hollow silver hairpin inlaid with agate, and the bracelet were all very beautiful.
Zhou Shuren finally understood how his friend felt about spending money on his girlfriend. As long as he likes her, it’s worth spending any amount. “If you like it, buy it. Don’t be reluctant.”
Zhulan's hands were itching, and she grinned, "Okay."
Pointing at the hairpin and bracelet, he asked, "Hey, man, what's the price?"
The shop assistants all have sharp eyes and can guess what customers will buy. When they see a customer who wants to buy, they introduce enthusiastically, "Madam, you have a good eye. These two pieces are a set of jewelry. The hollow design is delicate and light. The rubies add to the luxury. Madam, add the earrings next to it, and the whole set costs fifteen taels of silver."
Zhulan was not fooled by the clerk. Although the jewelry was inlaid with rubies, they were broken gems left over from scraps and the quality was not good. She did not say she wanted to buy it, but instead said, "Show me the jewelry suitable for an eight or nine-year-old girl."
The clerk was not in a hurry. Experience told him that the less bargainable the item, the more likely it was to be bought. He quickly opened the cabinet and took out the children's jewelry. "These bracelets and earrings are suitable for little girls. There are sapphires and agates."
Zhulan liked it at first sight. The adults' jewelry was grand, while the girls' jewelry was more varied and had some broken gemstones. Even if they were worn out to entertain guests, they would not look shabby. Zhulan asked about the price, "How much are these calculated?"
The man said, "Children's are not expensive. A pair of bracelets inlaid with gemstones costs one ounce of silver, and earrings cost half an ounce of silver per pair."
Zhulan picked out four sets of bracelets and earrings, selected the jewelry she had just liked, and then picked out three silver hairpins with gemstones, spending a total of twenty-eight taels.
Zhulan paid the money and had to buy it even though she was reluctant. When Zhou Shuren came to Pingzhou in the future, she would come to entertain the guests, and it would be difficult for her to see any jewelry.
Zhou Shuren didn't know when he went to the second floor. After Zhulan paid, Zhou Shuren returned to the carriage with a small box in his hand. Zhulan asked, "What did you buy?"
Zhou Shuren opened the small box, which contained some broken gemstones. "There are custom-made jewelry upstairs, with a lot of gemstones. I picked out some that looked shiny and bought them. I spent a total of twenty taels."
Zhulan counted the various colored gemstone scraps and found that there were quite a few of them. "Do you want to get the gemstones custom made?"
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "The gold and silver jewelry at home are old, so why not melt them down and make new ones? As for how to make them, I don't know, so I'll leave it to you."
Zhulan took the box and said, "Wait until you have achieved fame, otherwise some jewelry cannot be worn even if it is made."
Just like her rare jewelry pendant, which was not allowed to be worn by ordinary people. She had just seen several wives of officials wearing it in the jewelry shop. They looked extremely arrogant, but extremely beautiful.
It's a pity that the waiter didn't wait for her to speak and directly explained what kind of jewelry can be bought and worn. To put it bluntly, it's a specific sense of superiority among different classes!
Zhou Shuren had no knowledge of jewelry and had no idea that there were so many things to learn about it. He just thought that as long as it didn’t have dragon and phoenix carvings, it would be ok.
Then they went to the ready-made clothing shop. There was no shortage of cloth at home, so Zhulan mainly looked at the styles of clothes. She fell in love with the yellow cloak at first sight, and thought to herself that it was a good thing that the emperor did not wear yellow, and there was no rule in the fictional dynasty that prohibited wearing yellow.
Finally, I bought some Pingzhou-specific cakes and some exquisite wood carvings as gifts for the children. We had lunch outside and returned to the inn after dark.
On the second day, Zhulan went to the temple in Pingzhou. She was expecting to meet an enlightened monk who could give her guidance, but there were many officials' families who came to worship Buddha, and servants were everywhere to stop them. Not to mention an enlightened monk, she didn't even see many monks as they were all called to chant sutras.
There is not much to visit in Pingzhou except the temples. The exquisite gardens are not open to the public like the later generations. In ancient times, only private people could enter. I returned to the inn to pack my luggage and followed the caravan home the next day.
When they returned to Zhoujia Village, it was still dark. Zhulan looked around and asked the eldest brother, "Where is Li?"