Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 86 - 85: Two Types of Disk Buttons

Chapter 86: Chapter 85: Two Types of Disk Buttons

Asking for monthly votes—

They arrived outside the gates of the capital city by noon. Mrs. Wang gave Uncle Gao 200 cents for the carriage fare, and the family got off. Uncle Gao fed his donkey at a teahouse here and rested for a while before he set off back, as he wanted to return to Xiangluo Village before nightfall.

After saying goodbye to Uncle Gao, they rented a mule cart and entered the capital city.

The capital city was much more imposing than the county town. The main road in the city was paved with blue stone slabs and was very wide, with shops lining both sides in close succession. Most of the shops were several stories high, with green walls, dark tiles, red doors, and decorative windows, all very magnificent. Some of the larger shops were even more lavishly decorated, with many colorful lanterns hanging outside. In the middle of the road ran many horse-drawn carriages with canopies, while the people on both sides bustled about.

Dabao’s mouth gaped wide enough to fit an egg. Hui Hui and Qi Qi also poked their little heads out of the cloth, looking around in all directions.

Afu chuckled and pinched the boy’s cheek, thinking he should take him out more often to see the world.

After leaving the main street and passing through several streets and alleys, the roads became narrower and the houses were not as grand and spacious as before. The houses here were of mixed quality, some were new blue brick and tile houses, and others were low and old.

Mrs. Wang said that Chen Shi’s home was located in this alley.

At the entrance of the alley, there was a shop selling baked sesame seed cakes. Afu got off the cart and bought ten. It was already the end of noon by then, and Chen Shi and his wife were busy, so it would be improper to trouble them to prepare lunch.

The mule cart stopped in front of a small shop, and Mrs. Wang announced their arrival.

This was a small grocery shop called Chen San’s Grocery. The paint on the folding doors and doorposts had faded, and in some places, it was even peeling and patchy. Next door there was another small shop, an oil vendor. This was because Chen Shi had divided his own shop in two and rented half of it out.

Just as they began unloading their things, a man came out from the shop, laughing loudly, "Sister-in-law, I’ve been counting the days, expecting you’d come these past few days. I’ve really been looking forward to it."

This man resembled Chen Ming and Chen Ye faintly, wearing a semi-old satin changshan. He was in his early thirties, of average height, fair-skinned and delicate-looking with a short beard; it was indeed Chen Shi. Of the three Chen brothers, Chen Shi was the most handsome.

He then looked at Afu and said, "Afu really gets more and more handsome, do you still recognize your third uncle?" He also called over Alu and Dabao.

Seeing his sincere smiling face, the exhaustion from the journey seemed to fade away for the family, as Afu and her siblings called out "Third Uncle," while Dabao called him "Third Grandpa."

At this time, a woman around thirty and a young girl emerged from the shop.

The woman was Mrs. Zhang, and the girl was Chen Shi’s daughter, Chen Aman. Mrs. Zhang had an ordinary appearance but a kind face. Chen Aman, like her father, was a very delicate-looking young girl.

Chen Ming and Mrs. Zhang had three children; their eldest son, Chen Ayu, was fourteen, the second daughter, Chen Aman, was twelve, and their youngest son, Chen Atang, was nine.

Several people walked through the shop and entered the backyard. The backyard wasn’t large; right across from the shop were two side rooms with two "ear rooms". To the left lay three low buildings: a kitchen, a storeroom, and a parlor. To the right was just a chicken coop, sharing a wall with the neighbor.

Chen Shi led them into the right ear room, where a heated brick bed by the window and a pair of old chests by the bedstead caught the eye. Deeper inside, there was also a small stove built with clay bricks, likely for heating in the winter.

This room belonged to Chen Ayu and his brother Chen Atang, but now it was given to the family of four to live in, while the two brothers moved to the main room.

Mrs. Zhang insisted on making noodles for them in the kitchen but was stopped by Mrs. Wang, who mentioned they had bought baked rolls and that drinking hot water and eating the rolls would suffice. Mrs. Zhang still went on to make a pot of cabbage and egg soup for them.

After the meal, Dabao and Alu lay down on the heated brick bed to rest, and Chen Afu and her daughter brought out the gifts they planned to give.

In addition to the two baskets of fresh vegetables and two packs of snacks sent by the head of the family and the old lady, there were also gifts from the second family. Several pieces of satin; for Chen Shi, a beautiful blue, for Mrs. Zhang, a brownish yellow, for the two brothers Chen Ayu, an off-white, and for Chen Aman, a rosy color. Additionally, they gave the two brothers two brushes, two inksticks, and some excellent Xuan paper, and for Chen Aman, a couple of delicate flowers and a few silk ribbons.

Chen Shi knew good quality when he saw it and was astonished, "Goodness, this fabric is from Jiangnan, and these brushes are from Jingcheng Wenshangzhai. It’s too generous of you to give us such valuable items; how can we accept this?"

Mrs. Wang smiled and said, "We have more at home." She then briefly talked about how their family provided things for the young master of Tang Garden and how Dabao kept him company. She also mentioned the commotion the head family caused over the satin and warned them not to wear the satin to the countryside.

Continuing, she said, "...It’s not that we don’t want to give things to the head family. My husband has always said we should repay our elder uncle. But the elder sister-in-law, well... we dare not take out too much."

Mrs. Zhang scoffed, "That Mrs. Hu really has no shame, daring to act like that even in front of the elder uncle and grandmother. You did the right thing; if she got used to it, she might even try to scrape a few layers off your family’s land." Mrs. Zhang was extremely angry with Mrs. Hu.

Chen Shi sighed and said, "My elder brother is a good family head. When we lived together, he always protected us brothers. Now that families are separated, he protects his own wife and children. Ahh, it’s just that [he] chose a wife poorly; the elder sister-in-law is too excessive."

Chen Aman was holding a piece of the satin, her eyes curving into a smile as she gestured about what would look nice to make from it. She mentioned that in the capital city, two types of disc buttons were fashionable—one called the chrysanthemum large disc button and the other called the plum blossom small disc button, both stunningly beautiful. Many wealthy families were buying clothes or having them made at Nirvana Embroidery Workshop, which used these two types of disc buttons. They also sold the buttons separately, though they were terribly expensive.

Finally, she wrinkled her nose and said, "It’s a pity the disc buttons sold at Nirvana Embroidery Workshop are so expensive that we can’t afford them. Some time ago, I and Sister Qiu went there to see how those buttons were made, hoping that even if ours weren’t as pretty as the ones for sale, we could still follow the trend. But before we could take a good look, we were chased out. If only this set of clothes could be matched with a chrysanthemum or plum blossom disc button, oh, it would be so pretty."

Chen Afu couldn’t help but laugh. Chrysanthemum disc buttons were already becoming popular, and now there was even a plum blossom disc button. That wealthy young mistress was very capable. She remembered Jin Yanzi saying that her family seemed to be from the Provincial City, in Shizhou Mansion, and their business reached all the way to the capital city of Dingzhou. Thinking further, Jin Yanzi also mentioned that her family seemed to be relatives with Chu Hanyan from The Chus in Dingzhou, so perhaps they had business dealings as well.

She might as well try her luck with her dolls at Nirvana Embroidery Workshop. If they worked well together, she had many creative ideas to offer...

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Wang laughed and explained, "That chrysanthemum disc button was devised by Afu and sold to that wealthy young mistress; otherwise, where would we have gotten the silver for Alu’s treatment?" Seeing Chen Aman’s eyes wide with excitement, she added, "Unfortunately, when we made the deal, we agreed that we couldn’t make those disc buttons for a year or sell them for money. Those nobles are not to be trifled with; whatever they say, we have to comply."

Chen Aman pouted in disappointment.

Mrs. Zhang smiled and said, "This satin has a youthful air, fit for making a spring jacket. Once the term is up next year, have your second aunt and Sister Afu teach you how to make it."