Song Mingyue's explanation was much more detailed than what Aunt Mo had said that day, and Qi Zhenzhen felt more confident.
The two went to the general store together and asked the shop assistant, quickly finding the seeds.
An entire counter was filled with various seeds, and Qi Zhenzhen even saw wolf peaches. She knew this was what the ancients called tomatoes. The ancients generally believed that brightly colored things were poisonous, so this item was considered an ornamental plant for a long time.
But now, wolf peach seeds were placed alongside agricultural crop seeds. Did this mean that people in the Great Feng Dynasty had accepted wolf peaches as edible?
"Young man, may I ask what these wolf peaches are? Are they peaches?" Qi Zhenzhen asked, feigning curiosity.
"You can read, girl?" The young man was a bit surprised. Judging by her attire, she looked like a village girl, yet she could read.
"I learned to read at home from my elders. I don't know many characters, and I'm not sure if I'm reading these two correctly," Qi Zhenzhen said sheepishly.
"You're not reading them wrong. These wolf peaches are unique to our North-South General Store. Our owner brought them from foreign lands. They say they can be eaten as fruit and also used as vegetables," the assistant explained. "However, no one here recognizes them, so the wolf peach seeds have never been sold."
It always took time for new things to be accepted. The owner of the general store probably only brought back seeds, not the grown plants, or perhaps the plants were brought back but were treated as ornamental items by others.
"Young man, are these seeds expensive?" Qi Zhenzhen asked again.
"They should be expensive. If you buy other things, we can give you these seeds as a bonus," the assistant said with a smile. "These things don't sell, and new ones will come next year. The weather has already turned cold, and besides radishes and cabbage, nothing else can be planted. These will soon be disposed of."
Qi Zhenzhen was delighted and nodded, "Then thank you, young man. I've never seen these before and am very curious. Perhaps I can grow them."
The assistant took it as a joke and didn't pay much attention to her words.
She chose a packet of cabbage seeds and a packet of radish seeds, spending forty copper coins. As promised, the assistant also gave Qi Zhenzhen a packet of wolf peach seeds.
After they left the seed counter, Song Mingyue said excitedly, "Zhenzhen, you're amazing."
Qi Zhenzhen was puzzled, not knowing what Song Mingyue meant by "amazing."
"Only my eldest brother in our family went to school and can read. Few people in the village can read. I've never heard of a woman who can read," Song Mingyue said, holding Qi Zhenzhen's hand happily.
In the countryside, it was indeed remarkable for a woman to be literate.
Qi Zhenzhen pursed her lips and smiled, "My mother is literate, and my younger brother and I learned from her since we were young."
Song Mingyue praised her again, her eyes shining as she looked at Qi Zhenzhen.
After browsing, Qi Zhenzhen also bought malt candy and cane sugar, as well as various seasonings. She bought a large jar of sorghum wine. She bought everything she could think of that was available in the general store.
She spent a lot of money, at least in Song Mingyue's eyes.
Everyone said that the Qi family's mother and daughters lived in poverty, but seeing how Qi Zhenzhen spent money, she didn't seem poor at all.
Thinking of what her grandfather had said about their unusual status, Song Mingyue guessed that someone must have sent them money.
When they came out of the general store, Qi Zhenzhen's carrying basket was almost full.
Song Mingyue looked at Qi Zhenzhen worriedly, "Can you carry so many things? Shall I help you carry them?"
Qi Zhenzhen tugged at the straps of her backpack with both hands and said with a smile, "These things aren't heavy, I can carry them."
Seeing that she looked genuinely relaxed, Song Mingyue didn't press the issue, but she marveled at Qi Zhenzhen's strength. She herself definitely couldn't carry so many things.
The two then went to the cloth shop. Song Mingyue's mother, aunt, and other female relatives were there, as well as several women from Xinghua Village.
Song Mingyue happily pulled Qi Zhenzhen to stand in front of a round-faced woman. "Mother, I met Zhenzhen at the general store, and we browsed together. Zhenzhen wants to buy some cotton cloth. Mother, could you help her pick some out?"
The round-faced woman smiled and agreed, beckoning Qi Zhenzhen forward to look at the cotton cloth. "Zhenzhen, what are you buying cotton cloth for?"
"To make clothes and bedding."
"For quilts, use dark gray cotton cloth; it's more resistant to dirt. For the quilt lining, white fine cotton cloth will do. For the quilt cover, choose a color you like," Song Mingyue's mother said. "Everyone likes to use these printed cotton cloths for quilt covers."
There were patterns of a hundred children bringing blessings, butterflies loving flowers...
Most of them were auspicious patterns.
Qi Zhenzhen looked around and chose indigo cotton cloth printed with small floral patterns.
Tiny, delicate flowers, a pastoral style.
Perhaps it was rare for someone to choose this pattern for a quilt cover, as the shop assistant confirmed it several times before cutting the cotton cloth for Qi Zhenzhen.
For the cotton cloth to make clothes, Qi Zhenzhen first chose lake blue, smoky gray, and ochre, which were for Yun Shi's clothes.
She also chose moon white and royal blue, which were for Qi Yi's clothes.
For herself, Qi Zhenzhen chose ginger yellow and smoky gray.
For the inner garments, she bought white fine cotton cloth, the most comfortable kind.
The shop assistant's eyes narrowed into slits with a smile. This girl was decisive. In such a short time, she had chosen everything. Unlike those women who had been here for a quarter of an hour and still hadn't decided what they wanted.
The assistant nimbly cut the cloth for Qi Zhenzhen and asked, "Miss, is there anything else you need?"
"What kind of brocade do you have for embroidery?" Qi Zhenzhen asked thoughtfully. Before leaving, her mother had instructed her to buy some suitable brocade for embroidery.
The assistant's smile widened, and he brought out several bolts of cloth. "Miss, these are our best-selling items. They are not expensive, of good quality, and perfect for embroidery."
They were all light-colored, pale white, pale yellow, and one bolt was bright red.
Qi Zhenzhen was unsure and asked the assistant a few more questions, then took three feet of each.
In the assistant's words, three feet were enough to embroider a fairly large item. If it was too big, she could cut it herself for embroidery handkerchiefs or the like.
With embroidery cloth, embroidery threads also needed to be bought. On the assistant's recommendation, Qi Zhenzhen chose the best embroidery threads in the shop.
Ordinary embroidery threads would fade when washed, but these best embroidery threads could withstand washing and long-term storage.
In Qi Zhenzhen's opinion, Yun Shi worked hard at embroidery, likely intending to sell her work for a good price. Using good materials and threads would naturally result in superior products.
The cotton cloth, embroidery cloth, and threads cost as much as three taels of silver.
Nine feet of embroidery cloth and embroidery threads alone cost nearly two taels of silver.
After packing Qi Zhenzhen's purchases, the assistant also gave her some scraps of brocade and cotton cloth as a bonus. Qi Zhenzhen thanked him profusely, delighted.
"Shop assistant, what do you mean by this? You said you couldn't give me any scraps earlier, but you're so generous with this girl now?" an indignant voice rang out.