For a brief moment, Yun Erman wasn't entirely sure.
Perhaps he missed his sister too much recently, seeing illusions.
"After you deliver the letter to the Prefect's mansion, you should get some good rest..." Sister Hua jumped off the horse and patted the dirt off Yun Erman's trouser legs.
Anyone seeing this scene would have assumed they were a couple.
If this had happened before, Yun Erman would have surely blushed and stammered, feeling embarrassed.
Because before he divorced Liu Cuirong, that spendthrift woman had never shown him any care or concern...
Sometimes, a small detail could reveal whether someone truly loved you.
Sister Hua had never been to the prefectural city. Peddlers on the street carried their poles, shouting loudly.
The shops on both sides were dazzling, selling everything imaginable.
Jewelry shops, grain stores, blacksmiths, banks, restaurants, inns, gambling houses, and brothels – they had it all...
"This street is so wide, and there are so many carriages!~" Sister Hua looked around, curious about everything.
Yun Erman, leading the horse, smiled with pursed lips.
He had been here once before, so he wasn't as excited as Sister Hua.
Just then, a hawker selling candied haws approached. He carried a round straw bundle on his shoulder, walking and shouting at the top of his lungs, "Candied haws! Three copper coins a skewer, sweet and crisp!..."
Yun Erman patted his money pouch, wanting to buy Sister Hua a skewer of candied haws.
"I don't eat them!~" Sister Hua squinted and smiled.
She wasn't a little girl anymore.
Yun Erman insisted on buying, stopping the hawker. "Two skewers, with hawthorn berries..."
The hawker plucked two skewers from the straw bundle and handed them to Yun Erman, then glanced at Sister Hua and said with a smile, "Your wife?"
Yun Erman's face turned red, and he huffily shoved the candied haws into Sister Hua's hand. "Eat them quickly, or they'll melt!~"
Sister Hua couldn't help but laugh, looking at his silly behavior.
The hawker added, "Your wife is really beautiful. If you dress her up, she'll be even more stunning. Look at her clothes, what are they? Full of patches and so dirty..."
"No!" Yun Erman was taken aback. "Are you sick? Who are you calling dirty?"
"Look, look, you're getting angry. Fine, I won't say anything else!~" The hawker pocketed the copper coins and walked away, shaking his head.
He brought his wife out looking so grubby, and he wasn't even embarrassed.
Sister Hua chuckled, tugging Yun Erman's sleeve. "Why are you arguing with him? My clothes are indeed very dirty, and I haven't had time to wash them. He's just telling the truth..."
"Don't you have any spare dresses or anything? This is the prefectural city!~" Yun Erman looked around, trying to find a clothing shop.
Sister Hua sighed. "I'm almost starving to death, so having clothes to wear is good enough!"
During times of famine, which village didn't have wives and children starve to death?
Clothes were just for covering oneself...
"No, we have to buy at least a skirt!~" Yun Erman found a clothing shop, tied up the horse, and pulled Sister Hua inside.
After all, they had finally come to the prefectural city; buying a piece of clothing was not too much to ask.
He didn't know why, but when he went out before, he never thought of buying clothes or jewelry for Liu Cuirong.
It wasn't that Yun Erman didn't care about her, but that woman would brighten up with just a little smile...
No matter what he bought her, she would show it off to the villagers, almost knocking on every door.
Just as they entered the clothing shop, a magnificent carriage arrived outside.
A moment later, Madam Xue, leading Qin Yiyi and Qin Fenglan, alighted from the carriage and entered the clothing shop.
"We can't go empty-handed. I don't know if their son Jinshan has grown any taller. Picking out clothes is quite difficult..."
Madam Xue babbled as she walked in.
"Mother, this pink robe is beautiful!~" Qin Fenglan said.
Madam Xue twitched her lips. "Is it proper for a boy to wear such a bright pink?"
This silly girl was just causing her trouble.
Yun Erman was looking up at the skirts, thinking ordinary customers had entered, so he didn't turn around to look...
Sister Hua, however, glanced in their direction, thinking to herself, how wonderful it would be if she could one day wear gold and silver, like this lady.
Madam Xue paused slightly, feeling someone was staring at her, and turned to glance at Sister Hua.
Sister Hua quickly turned her back and tugged Yun Erman. "Let's go, aren't we in a hurry to deliver the letter?"
"It won't take long. Shopkeeper, please take down that black skirt for me to see..."
It was a black and white patterned horse-face skirt, with a beautiful style and gold trim on the hem, making it very attractive.
Sister Hua would look so beautiful wearing it.
The shopkeeper took down the skirt with a pole and said with a smile, "Your wife isn't ugly; she really should be dressed up properly!~"
Yun Erman glared at him and pushed the skirt to Sister Hua. "Go and try it on inside..."
Sister Hua didn't move and asked the shopkeeper, "How much is this skirt?"
"Since you two are buying clothes at my shop for the first time, I'll give you a discounted price, five taels of silver. Otherwise, a horse-face skirt of this style would sell for seven or eight taels in other shops!~"
The shopkeeper spat with his words, as if he were suffering a great loss.
Yun Erman's mouth twitched. Five taels of silver?
That was too expensive.
In their Dashui Village, five taels of silver could buy more than a dozen piglets...
"Shopkeeper, we don't want it anymore. Please put it back!" Sister Hua returned the skirt.
Who would be so extravagant as to spend five taels of silver on a skirt?
If they bought coarse cloth skirts, they could get ten sacks.
The shopkeeper blinked. "Are you finding it too expensive? How about this, seeing your sincerity in buying, I'll give you another discount of five hundred copper coins, making it four and a half taels in total, how about that?"
Four and a half taels? Yun Erman didn't even have three and a half taels...
When he left home, his mother only gave him two taels of silver, which was enough for food and lodging along the way.
Who would have thought he would pick up a wife halfway and have to buy her a skirt?
"Shopkeeper, do you have any cheaper clothes in your shop?" Yun Erman asked with difficulty.
The shopkeeper saw they were poor, unlike the lady at the door, who had already bought seven or eight items in a short while. She didn't ask for prices and bought whatever she liked without the shopkeeper's recommendation...
Now that was a rich person.
"What price range are you looking for?" The shopkeeper was gradually losing patience.
Yun Erman made a scissor gesture with his fingers.
"Around two taels of silver?" The shopkeeper frowned.
"No, around twenty copper coins." Yun Erman said.
The shopkeeper stumbled, almost fainting.
His ready-made clothes didn't even cost twenty copper coins to make, not even covering the labor cost...
Was this poor fellow crazy?
"You two, turn right outside. There's a cloth shop. Go ask there, maybe you can get a piece of coarse cloth for twenty copper coins!~"
The shopkeeper rolled his eyes and went to attend to Madam Xue.