The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 496 - 494 Jewelry

Chapter 496: Chapter 494 Jewelry

On the other side, Song Chongjin was led by the young man into a slightly smaller room next door.

After inviting Song Chongjin to sit down, the young man carefully took out a key and retrieved a small box from the cabinet.

He opened the box, which was wrapped in red silk, and gently lifted the silk to reveal a set of silver gilt jewelry.

A pair of shrimp-whisker bracelets inlaid with tiny, finely cut gemstones, a pair of gourd earrings, two stylized cordyceps hairpins, one in the shape of a dragonfly and the other a butterfly.

Their wings and antennae were so lifelike that with a gentle breath, the butterfly seemed to quiver, ready to take flight, exquisitely crafted and perfect for young ladies to wear.

Even though Song Chongjin was not versed in jewelry, he found this set attractive and thought that the hairpins would look nice on Yongzhu’s head.

The sharp-eyed young man could tell from Song Chongjin’s expression that he was very satisfied, and he explained carefully, "This set is a new design from our family, learned from the provincial city, and I can’t guarantee it’s unique in the whole Jing County, but it’s the only set in Shiqiao Town. The silver used is top-quality Snowflake Silver. Although the gems on the bracelets are small, they are of high quality and have the right color. If you like it, the whole set is only fifteen taels of silver, and you won’t find a more reasonable price than this."

Song Chongjin’s mouth twitched into a smile, "Hold this set for me. I’ll make a down payment now and come to pick it up tomorrow." Fifteen taels of silver was not an issue, but today was not the day to give this as a present.

He couldn’t upstage his future mother-in-law. He’d wait a few more days.

The young man was overjoyed.

This set of jewelry was a new design from his grand-uncle’s shop in the provincial city, which was extremely popular with customers. When he visited the provincial city a few days ago, he was instantly captivated by this series and bought a set with his own money, intending to bring it back for his own family to learn from.

To his surprise, his younger sister took a liking to it as soon as he got back and pestered him until he gave her two hairpins.

He had been displaying the rest of the set in his shop for several months, asking for twenty taels of silver, and although many looked at it, no one was willing to spend the money to buy it.

This jewelry was suitable for young girls, but who in the town was willing to spend twenty taels of silver to please their daughter with jewelry?

Those who could afford it were older and didn’t find it suitable to wear, so the set remained unsold and no one inquired about it.

His family teased him for making a poor choice, and he also felt frustrated about it.

So today, when he saw two young customers entering the shop, he didn’t harbor much hope. The female customer had already said she wanted to order a silver bracelet, and judging by their attire, they didn’t seem to have extra silver for this jewelry set.

Unexpectedly, the young male customer quietly asked if there was any jewelry suitable for young ladies. He had taken him to the smaller room on a whim, since Song Chongjin seemed to be dressed plainly and because the jewelry hadn’t sold for so many days, he hadn’t quoted a price but offered a fair one instead.

He thought if all else failed, he could dismantle the set and sell the pieces, at least recovering some of his private money.

To his surprise, this unassuming young man wanted the whole set!

The young man was thrilled, hastily agreed, wrapped the jewelry back up as it was, took a one tael silver deposit from Song Chongjin, and gave him a receipt so he could pick it up the next day.

When they left the private room, Wang Yongzhu had also chosen a design and selected a twisted silk pattern for her bracelet.

All these styles were in stock at the shop, as they were commonly required for weddings. Zhou Ji had the inventory and directly took out three pairs of bracelets to weigh them in front of them.

After adding the labor charge and rounding down, the three bracelets cost a total of eight and a half taels of silver.

The young man even decided to give Wang Yongzhu a pair of delicate silver lilac ear studs as a bonus.

When worn on Wang Yongzhu’s wrist, the twisted silk bracelet made her wrist look even more like jade, her skin as smooth as cream.

The young girl serving earlier wrapped up two other pairs of bracelets while complimenting Wang Yongzhu on her good taste and skin, saying the bracelets looked beautiful on her.

Wang Yongzhu smiled, giving the hairpin in the girl’s hair an extra glance. The caterpillar fungus hairpin from her previous era could probably only be seen in museums, akin to a piece of craftwork.

She hadn’t expected that in this era, ordinary girls could wear something like this, and she felt a sense of wonder.

However, her glance caught Song Chongjin’s eye, who secretly guessed that Yongzhu must also like these beautiful pieces of jewelry, right?

Unfortunately, most of the Wang Family’s silver needed to be saved for the turnover in the mountain goods trade, and given the family’s current circumstances, even if she wanted to buy them, she had to consider the feelings of her brother and sister-in-law at home.

He couldn’t help but silently blame himself for not having paid more attention in the past.

Yongzhu might seem to live a life of splendor, but in reality, she had to be more restrained because of all the things she had to consider for the family’s peace and stability.

Otherwise, with Yongzhu’s own abilities, what’s stopping her from buying as many beautiful pieces of jewelry as she wished?

Why would she envy a young girl from the Silver Building?

Song Chongjin’s eyes darkened, and he conceived a plan in his heart, but his face betrayed nothing.

After leaving the Silver Building, Wang Yongzhu looked at the sky; it was time to head back.

Song Chongjin spoke up, "Yongzhu, I won’t accompany you back today. Boss Ma and his crowd are still in that residence; I need to check on them and make some plans. You’re going to bring over the Yellow Pine Mushrooms the day after tomorrow, aren’t you? I’ll come back with you then."

Wang Yongzhu nodded, understanding that Song Chongjin couldn’t always stay in Qilidun, he had his own matters to attend to. She only cautioned him, "Be careful in all matters, and don’t be rash. With Boss Ma and their issues, you must be very cautious."

Song Chongjin nodded, squeezing Wang Yongzhu’s hand, "I know, you should head back! Be careful on your way."

Watching Wang Yongzhu’s horse-drawn cart disappear at the end of the street, the gentleness around Song Chongjin abruptly vanished, leaving his face expressionless. He nodded at a man by the street, and one after the other, they turned into a side alley...

※※※

When Wang Yongzhu returned home, she first recorded and stored the day’s earnings from selling mountain goods.

She then went to the main house to hand over the gifts and silver bracelets clearly and precisely.

Old Granny Zhang looked at the pair of silver bracelets on Wang Yongzhu’s wrist and, feeling her wrist, heaped praise upon her, "These bracelets are good-looking; my daughter would look even more beautiful wearing them."

Internally, she felt it was a pity. The Wang Family’s rise had been too swift and drew too much envy; they really had to keep a low profile.

Otherwise, with her daughter’s looks, dressed in fine silks and wearing gold bracelets bestowed by the empress, she might not fall short of the young ladies from wealthy noblemen’s households.

Now she could only wear two simple silver bracelets.

Seeing that Song Chongjin hadn’t returned with her, Old Granny Zhang didn’t ask further, knowing that Chongjin had his own matters to handle.

The Wang Family members all gathered around to look at the two brightly colored pieces of cloth; Lady Lin and Lady Jiang had never worn such vivid colors and could only look on with envy.

Brown sugar, fruits, and pastries, as well as tea leaves, were all wrapped up tightly.