Chapter 86 Two Kinds of Buttons

Seeking monthly tickets——

At noon, they arrived outside the city gate of the prefectural city. Wang gave Uncle Gao two hundred coins for the carriage fare, and the family got off the carriage. Uncle Gao fed the donkey in the teahouse here, and after resting for a while, he walked back. He wanted to return to Xiangluo Village before dark.

Several people said goodbye to Uncle Gao, rented another mule cart, and entered the prefectural city.

The prefectural city is much more magnificent than the county town. The main road in the city is paved with bluestone slabs and is very wide. There are many shops on both sides. Most of the shops are small buildings with several floors, blue walls and black tiles, red doors and windows, which are extremely gorgeous. Some large shops are decorated even more fancy, and many colorful lights are hung outside. There are many canopied carriages running in the middle of the road, and people are bustling on both sides.

Seeing this, Dabao's mouth was so open that he could fit an egg. Huihui and Qiqi also stretched their little heads out of the cloth and looked around.

Chen Afu smiled and pinched the little boy's face. He would take him out to see the world more often in the future.

After leaving the main street, we passed several streets and lanes. The roads became narrower and narrower, and the houses were not as grand and spacious as before. The houses here were of varying quality, some were newly built blue brick and tile houses, and some were low old houses.

Wang said that Chen Shi's family lived in this lane.

There was a shop selling sesame cakes at the entrance of the lane, and Chen Afu got off the car and bought ten. It was already late noon, and Chen Shi and his wife were busy, so it was not good to let them busy cooking lunch.

The mule cart stopped in front of a small shop, and Wang said it was there.

This was a small shop selling dry goods, and the shop was called Chen San Dry Goods. The red paint on the folding door and the doorposts had faded, and some places were even mottled and peeled off. There was also a small shop next door, which sold oil. This was Chen Shi's shop divided into two and rented out.

As soon as they moved the things down, a man came out of the shop and laughed loudly, "Sister-in-law, I thought you would come in the next few days, and I have been looking forward to it."

This man looked a bit like Chen Ming and Chen Ye. He was wearing a half-worn silk gown, in his early thirties, of medium height, fair and handsome, with a short beard. It was Chen Shi. Among the three brothers of the Chen family, Chen Shi was the most handsome.

He looked at Chen Afu and said, "Afu is getting more and more handsome. Do you still recognize Uncle San?" He greeted A Lu and Da Bao.

Looking at his sincere smile, the fatigue of the few people riding the car was also relieved. Chen Afu and his brother called "Uncle San" and Da Bao called "Grandpa San".

At this time, a woman and a girl in her thirties came out of the shop.

The woman was Zhang, and the girl was Chen Shi's daughter Chen Aman. Zhang looked average and had a kind face. Chen Aman looked like her father, a very pretty girl.

Chen Ming and Zhang had three children. The eldest son Chen Ayu was fourteen years old, the second daughter Chen Amman was twelve years old, and the youngest son Chen Atang was nine years old.

Several people walked through the shop into the backyard. The backyard was not big. Opposite the shop were two side rooms with two side rooms. There were three low houses on the left, a kitchen, a warehouse, and a toilet. There was only a chicken coop on the right, sharing a wall with the next door.

Chen Shi invited them into the right side room. There was a kang next to the window in the room, and a pair of old boxes next to the kang. There was also a small stove made of earth bricks at the back, probably used for heating in winter.

This was the room of the two brothers Chen Ayu and Chen Atang. Now they let their family of four live there, and the two brothers moved to the living room.

Zhang was about to go to the kitchen to roll noodles for them, but was stopped by Wang, who said that they bought sesame cakes and just needed to drink boiled water and eat the cakes. Zhang still went to boil a pot of white cabbage and egg soup for them.

After the meal, Dabao and Alu lay on the kang to rest, while Chen Afu and her daughter took out the gifts.

In addition to the two baskets of fresh vegetables and two packs of snacks sent by the eldest wife and the old lady, the second wife sent a few pieces of satin. Chen Shi's was a bright blue, Zhang's was a brown-yellow, Chen Ayu and Chen Aman's was a moon-white, and Chen Aman's was a scarlet. In addition, two pens, two ink sticks, two knives of fine rice paper, two flowers and a few ribbons were given to the two brothers.

Chen Shi knew the goods, and when he saw these things, he was shocked and said, "Oh, this material is produced in Jiangnan, and these two pens are from Wenshangzhai in Beijing. How can you give us such precious things?"

Wang smiled and said, "There are more at home." She also briefly talked about her family making things for the young master of Tangyuan and Dabao playing with her. She also mentioned that the eldest wife made a fuss because of the satin, and asked them not to wear these satins to the countryside.

Then she said, "… We are not unwilling to give things to the eldest wife. I, the head of the family, have always said that I want to repay my uncle. But my sister-in-law, hey… we dare not give more."

Zhang sneered, "That Hu is really shameless. She dared to do this in front of my uncle and mother-in-law. You are right to do this. If you get used to it, she will definitely scrape off several layers of your land." Zhang was very angry with Hu.

Chen Shi sighed, "My eldest brother is a good head of the family. When we were a family, he protected us brothers. Now that we have separated, he protects his wife and children. Hey, it's just that I didn't find a good wife, and my sister-in-law did too much."

Chen Aman smiled with curved eyebrows while holding the piece of satin, gesturing to see what was good. He also said that there are two kinds of buttons in fashion in the city now, one is called the chrysanthemum big button, and the other is called the plum blossom small button, which are very beautiful. Many rich families go to the Nishang Embroidery Workshop to buy clothes or make clothes. The clothes there use these two kinds of buttons. They also sell buttons separately, but they are too expensive.

Finally, he wrinkled his nose and said, "It's a pity that the buttons sold by Nishang Embroidery Workshop are too expensive. We can't afford them. A few days ago, Sister Qiu and I went there to see how the buttons were made. Even if ours are not as beautiful as the ones sold, they can still fit the occasion. As a result, we were chased out before we could take a closer look. If this dress is matched with chrysanthemum buttons or plum blossom buttons, oh, I don't know how beautiful it will be."

Chen Afu laughed. Chrysanthemum buttons have become popular, and a plum blossom button has also been created. The young lady of the rich family is really capable. I heard from Jin Yanzi that her family seems to be in Shizhou Prefecture, the provincial capital, and her business has come to Dingzhou Prefecture, more than 200 miles away. Thinking about it again, Jin Yanzi also said that her family seems to be related to Chu Hanyan. The Chu family is in Dingzhou Prefecture, maybe they have business dealings.

My own dolls can also try their luck at the Nishang Embroidery Workshop. If the cooperation is good, I will have some good ideas that I will never allow...

Wang listened and laughed, "The chrysanthemum button was made by Ah Fu and sold to the young lady of a wealthy family. Otherwise, how could we have the money to treat Ah Lu's illness at that time." Seeing Chen Aman's surprised eyes, she said, "It's a pity that we agreed with them at that time that we can't make this kind of button within a year, nor can we sell it for money. We can't afford to offend those nobles. We have to listen to what they say."

Chen Aman pouted regretfully.

Zhang smiled and said, "This satin is tender and suitable for making spring clothes. When the deadline is next year, let your second aunt and sister Afu tell you how to make it."

This article was originally published on Qidian Women's Channel. Please support me with monthly tickets, first orders, and relatives.