EBE Chapter 30 Buying New Year's Goods
Chapter 30 Buying New Year's Goods
This winter surprised Yun Dan; fine snowflakes began to fall outside, like soft white snow gently landing on Yun Dan's head, face, and body.
Time flies! It's been over a year already. This year, the village's income exceeded my expectations.
She asked the village chief and learned that this year's income was actually 140 taels.
She silently calculated in her mind that, adding the thirty-six taels for the next quarter, it would be around one hundred and eighty taels.
Walking along the road, snowflakes were falling from the sky, but Yun Dan didn't feel cold.
In her past life, she had heard people say that the truly coldest time was after the snow melted.
Now she has finally experienced this feeling firsthand.
Little Slug and the other children didn't seem afraid of the cold at all; in fact, they became even more excited because of the snow.
They ran wildly in the yard, full of energy like a herd of calves.
Because everyone had a bumper harvest this year, every household had money in their pockets, the kitchens were stocked with plenty of food, and the eaves were piled high with firewood.
Moreover, the burning charcoal in the room was warm and cozy, making one feel incredibly cozy.
With only half a month left until the Spring Festival, the village has already begun preparations to welcome this important holiday.
The villagers will make new clothes in advance, after all, their living conditions have improved, and everyone hopes to wear beautiful new clothes in the new year.
Children, in particular, will receive a new set of clothes that are relatively long, because children grow very quickly.
Yundan is about to turn ten years old. Her height has increased from about one meter to about 1.3 meters. Her weight is hard to measure, but she feels it is about 30 kilograms.
Since the beginning of winter, my grandmother, my aunt Zhang, and my mother have been busy making new shoes for the whole family.
They made two pairs of cotton shoes and two pairs of single shoes for everyone in the family.
My aunt Zhang was very meticulous in her work. Whether it was pasting the lining, sewing the soles, twisting hemp thread, cutting the shoe pattern, sewing the shoe strips, or attaching the shoe board, she did everything very neatly and exquisitely.
The snowflakes fell intermittently for several days, and the children had a wonderful time playing. The whole Sujia Village was filled with laughter and joy...
With one week left until the Spring Festival, the sun is rising in the east. Today, Yun Dan and her friends are going to town to buy New Year's goods.
Almost all the young people and children in Sujia Village went together, and Xiaoyue also took Yang Hualing to town.
The adults brought a group of children to the town. The streets were bustling with people, even more so than usual market days. There were so many things to prepare for the New Year, and people from neighboring villages were all there to make their New Year's goods.
As the crowd approached, they saw a group of children from the town running, jumping, and singing around.
"New Year, eating wontons, wearing new clothes, wearing new hats, playing together, laughing and having fun," the children in the town sang nursery rhymes in groups, laughing and playing happily.
Yun Dan went to the pawnshop first and exchanged for more than forty taels of silver. She still had some things in her space that she had harvested from Young Master Chai and hadn't exchanged yet.
Today she plans to buy a set of jewelry for each of the women in her family.
Yun Dan walked into a jewelry shop, where a dazzling array of exquisite jewelry was on display.
The female shopkeeper greeted her warmly: "Welcome, young lady. What kind of jewelry would you like?"
"We just received a new batch of jewelry styles. Do you see anything you like?"
Yun Dan smiled and said, "Shopkeeper, I'd like to choose some jewelry for my grandma, aunt, mother, and sister. Could you recommend some to me?"
The female shopkeeper nodded quickly: "Of course, young lady, you are so filial and kind to your family."
We have jewelry in various materials and styles, and the prices vary.
She picked up a pair of jade earrings and said, "These jade earrings are brightly colored and translucent, making them very suitable for older women. The price is one hundred taels of silver."
Yun Dan was embarrassed when she heard that it was one hundred taels of silver.
"Shopkeeper, do you think I'm the kind of person who can come up with a hundred taels of silver?"
"Could you please bring me something a little cheaper, shopkeeper?"
The female shopkeeper then took out a pair of silver earrings and said, "These earrings are ordinary, but the price is reasonable. They cost fifteen taels of silver."
Yun Dan thought the silver earrings were nice too, so she nodded.
Next, the female shopkeeper introduced some necklaces, bracelets, and rings. Yun Dan selected several suitable pieces of jewelry based on her family's preferences and budget.
Finally, Yun Dan paid over sixty taels of silver, took the jewelry, and left the shop, muttering something as she walked away.
But she thought to herself that although the gifts were ordinary, her family would definitely like them.
Yun Dan left the jewelry shop and walked halfway before seeing the Treasure Appraisal Hall, so she went inside.
There weren't many people in the appraisal hall, only three or five. A young man in the shop saw Yun Dan, a child, walk in. He was suspicious, but he still greeted her.
"Young lady, are you here to have an item appraised?"
"Young man, I just came in to take a look, can't I come in here?"
"No, no, you can come in. Just be careful, the shop contains valuable items, so don't accidentally bump into them, otherwise we can't compensate you."
"Okay, I understand. I'll go in and take a look."
Yun Dan made her way around, and her younger brother followed beside her, afraid that she might accidentally offend someone.
After taking a stroll around, Yun Dan spoke to the waiter.
"Hey bro, I have a spare part here, do you want me to take a look at it?"
Waiter: "Oh? You're so young and you have antiques to appraise? What are they?"
Yun Dan: "It's an antique accessory. I think it's very special, but I don't know what era it's from or whether it's valuable."
Waiter: "Okay, could you take it out and let me see it?"
Yun Dan carefully took out an antique-looking accessory from her pocket and handed it to the waiter.
The waiter took the accessory and examined it carefully. He discovered that the accessory was made of bronze and had some strange patterns and characters engraved on it.
Waiter: "Young lady, this accessory of yours is very interesting. It looks like an ancient bronze artifact."
But I'm not sure what era it's from. Where did you get it from?
Yun Dan: "I once saved an older brother who said this was his family heirloom, and he gave it to me as a token of his gratitude."
Waiter: "Oh, I see. Did he mention any information about this accessory?"
Yun Dan: "No, he just said it was a very precious thing and told me to take good care of it."
Waiter: "Okay, young lady, I can go and ask our master to come and take a look. Can you wait here for a while?"
Yun Dan: "Okay, bro, I can wait."
Waiter: "Then please sit here for a while, I'll go and ask the chef to come over."
After the waiter finished speaking, he turned and went into the inner room. After a while, he came out with an old master craftsman.
Master craftsman: "Young lady, I heard you have an antique you want appraised?"
Yun Dan: "Yes, sir, it's this part."
The experienced mechanic took the parts and examined them carefully. After looking at them for a while, he nodded.
The master craftsman said, "Young lady, this piece of yours is an ancient bronze artifact, dating back to around the Warring States period."
The patterns and characters engraved on it are in an ancient script called seal script.
Yun Dan: "Seal script? What does that mean?"
The master craftsman said, "Seal script is a script that has been around for over a thousand years. It developed from oracle bone script and oracle bone script."
The characteristics of seal script are neat strokes, rigorous structure, and smooth lines.
The seal script engraved on your accessory is likely a script used in sacrificial rites; it may have been an ancient sacrificial item.
Yun Dan: "Sacrificial items? Are they valuable?"
The master craftsman said, "Haha... you little girl, the value of an antique depends not only on its age and material, but also on its historical and cultural value."
Your accessory may be old, but its historical and cultural value isn't very high, so its price won't be very high either.
Yun Dan: "Oh, I see! Then I'll keep it safe."
Master craftsman: "Good, little girl, that's the right way to think."
Antiques are a form of historical and cultural heritage; we should respect and protect them.
Yun Dan: "Thank you, sir. I understand."
The experienced craftsman said, "You're welcome, young lady. If you have any other antiques that need appraising in the future, you can come back to us."
Yun Dan: "Okay, sir, I will definitely come again."
After Yun Dan finished speaking, she bid farewell to the master craftsman and the waiter, and left the appraisal hall.
Yun Dan stopped shopping and went straight to the east of the city to find her parents with a bag of jewelry.