Chapter 28 Procurement
Wang Shuqin also breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appeared on her face again, and she suddenly clapped her hands in surprise: "Deming, wash your face and body quickly, change your clothes and go to the village to borrow a donkey cart to go to Changping County to buy meat."

"Well, although your Aunt Qin said that she doesn't want a dowry or new clothes, our family can't be so unceremonious. We can't let Xiaoru suffer in this matter."

"When you get to Changping County, go to Xiecheng Raw Cloth Shop and buy some more cloth. Buy a few more feet."

Wang Shuqin looked at her godson in front of her with great satisfaction. Although he was only 16 years old, apart from being a little thin, he was tall and straight, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, sweat stains on his forehead and temples, and a heroic and masculine face.

From today on, my son is considered to be married and an adult!

Get married and start a career. Get married first, then start a career. My son has also become an apprentice of the former palace physician in the capital, so he will be able to start a career soon. What a double happiness!
Then he took out a blue coarse cloth wallet embroidered with lotus flowers from his underwear pocket, took out a stack of money, carefully counted out 20 yuan from it, thought for a while and counted out 10 yuan more, handed it to Wang Deming, and said with a double meaning: "Deming, don't be reluctant to spend money."

"Women, this only happens once in a lifetime. We already owe Xiaoru, so we can't owe her anything else!"

Wang Deming agreed with his godmother very much. Since he owed Qin Huairu money in other areas, he should not owe her money.

Wang Deming slowly stretched out his hand and suddenly felt a little annoyed. He was used to being cautious, so why didn't he think of exchanging more money before coming back?

The old lady had saved up money for such a long time, and now 1/5 of it is gone. The house is still being built here, and the old lady might be very angry.
Wang Shuqin grabbed her son's hand, stuffed the money into Wang Deming's palm and closed it for him, "Here!"

Wang Deming looked at the money in his hand, then at his mother. His eyes suddenly became a little moist, and he nodded solemnly: "Mom, don't worry."

After taking a look inside the house, Wang Deming took Wang Shuqin's sleeve and walked a few steps toward the door, whispering in her ear: "Mom, I'll give you 100 yuan when I come back next time."

Facing Wang Shuqin's refusal, Wang Deming spread out the money in his hand and whispered: "Mom, don't worry, there must be more money in the bottom of your son's box than you think!"

Aunt Qin had been listening to Wang Deming and his wife's conversation with her ears perked up. When she heard that they had to wipe their bodies and change clothes before going out, the corners of her mouth turned down unconsciously. How poor and clean! Who doesn't just dust? If you wash so frequently, won't the clothes be ruined?
When she heard Wang Shuqin say that she wanted to buy new cloth for Qin Huairu to make clothes, she felt a lot better and her lips curled up. Widow Yan was still a kind person. But when she saw Wang Deming pulling Widow Yan aside to talk in private, her heart ached again. Could it be that Wang Deming was worried that there was not enough money to build a house and refused to buy it?
Alas, my poor daughter.
Wang Shuqin's eyes lit up, and a smile appeared in the corners of her eyes. She patted Wang Deming lightly and urged him to wash himself and change clothes. Then she turned back and went into the house to continue to warmly entertain Aunt Qin: "Xiao Ru's mother, are you going to come back at noon? Let's have a bite here for lunch."

"Help me prepare in the afternoon. Let's kill a chicken first!"

Wang Deming drove the donkey cart and reached Changping County in just half an hour.

The commercial center of Changping County is on both sides of the Drum Tower, with a row of shops on each side.

The first thing to do is to look for the pork stall. It is very eye-catching. There is a long pole standing at the door of the shop, and a string of blown round pig urinals are hung on the pole.

Wang Deming parked the donkey cart in front of the door of "Bao Huachun (the signature pork shop)", jumped off and took a look at the raw meat cabinet. Under the bamboo cage woven with thin bamboo strips, there was a pile of cleanly shaved pig bones, leg bones, pig trotters, and a few pieces of pure lean meat: tenderloin, pork belly, etc.

On the other side of the cooked meat stall, the pig heads were gone, leaving only some braised pig stomachs and large intestines.
Wang Deming clasped his fists towards the boss and said, "Boss, can you give me a piece of the pork belly with skin on?"

"There is a happy event at home today!"

The fat boss sat on a small stool, wearing a half-length jacket that could no longer cover his belly, and fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan. Although the autumnal equinox had passed, the scorching hot weather still made the pork stall owner sweat profusely.

Hearing this, the fat boss glanced lazily at Wang Deming and continued to fan himself nonchalantly: "Sir, don't you see what time it is? How could there still be fatty pork belly?"

"Here, these are all that's left on the cabinet. How much do you want to weigh? I can give you a leg bone."

Wang Deming didn't take the fat boss' words seriously. Instead, he smiled and pointed at the lean meat and bones left on the raw meat cabinet. He clasped his fists again and said, "Boss, I'll take care of the rest!"

"Today is my big day, boss, please help me."

"Oh!" The fat boss jumped up from the stool at a speed that was totally inconsistent with his size, and a bright and sincere smile appeared on his fat round face: "Brother, you should have said it earlier!"

"It's your big day, so we can't be vague about this. I must help you with this!"

He reached under the cabinet and pulled out a piece of pork belly with skin tied with straw, with a look of regret on his face, "I originally reserved it for a long-time customer. Well, I'll give it to you now!"

"Boss, you are so righteous!"

"Haha, as I should. I weighed it high for you. The pork belly with skin is 3 jin (pounds), 8 jin (pound). I'll give you a small change, 9 yuan, and 8 cents will be fine."

"Pig's trotter is 8 cents, bone is 6 cents, tenderloin is 6 cents, let me do the math, a total of 3 yuan. OK, make it a round number, you give me 5 yuan."

"Then the 1 cents is my gift to you, brother."

"Boss, thank you for your kindness!"

The fat boss had very flexible hands. He tied up several pieces of meat and bones using straw in different ways and repeatedly assured that they would not fall off.

After paying for the goods, Wang Deming carried a large piece of meat and bones, put them in the basket on the donkey cart, and headed to the cloth shop. In just a few steps, he attracted the attention of everyone on the street. Hey, whose little boy is this? He must have never bought pork before, right?

Why did I buy so much lean meat, and a lot of bones and pig's trotters? Is it enough to buy a bone to cook at home?

This boy will definitely be beaten when he gets home for spending money like this!

The storefront of "Xiechenghao" raw cloth shop is the largest in the vicinity of Drum Tower, with a total of 7 storefronts, which is about twice as large as the storefronts of "Dalonghao", "Yuanshengxiang" and "Juxinglong" nearby.

The headquarters of the "Xiechenghao" cloth shop was on Xihuaishi Street outside Chongwenmen. Initially, it sold "Raoyang thread goods (hand-woven flour bags, quilt covers for travel, "horse-carrying" for rural markets)" and "rainy days after rain (undyed)" mattress covers, a large cloth shop for making towels, and hand-woven white cloth.

Later, it gradually developed into a raw cloth store that sells all kinds of fabrics in the country.

Of course, unlike "Ruifengxiang" which mainly sells high-end silk and woolen materials, its main product is cotton cloth, and its target customers are also the poor masses.

When Wang Deming was still a few steps away from the door, he heard the loud speaker of "Xiechenghao" playing a continuous loop: Our store's fabrics are of low price and high quality, and we never cheat anyone!
There is also a colorful archway at the entrance of the store.

A Liaogaoer shop assistant wearing a long white cloth gown came over to greet Wang Deming before he entered the store. He smiled and bowed, "Sir, I can see that there is a happy event in your family! Congratulations to you in advance!"

"Would you like to visit the store? Would you like to choose a few feet of cloth for your family?"

"Let me tell you, our fabrics are very complete: printed fabrics from Shanghai, fine white fabrics from Tianjin, Tangshan and Qingdao, coarse white fabrics from Shijiazhuang, Changzhou and Wuxi, and gingham, freestyle and Korean fabrics from Beijing."

"Homemade cloth and village cloth from Jingdong and Sanhe"

Wang Deming handed the reins in his right hand to the Liaogaoer clerk and said, "Thank you for your help."

"Don't worry, sir. We always have fodder and water in the store. We guarantee that the animals will be well fed and strong when you leave." The tall clerk took over the reins and continued to introduce the service enthusiastically. Then he immediately shouted loudly, "Dear guest, this is the second business office!"

As soon as Wang Deming entered the store, a salesperson waiting at the door immediately greeted him, "Sir, let me help you carry the meat in your hand. Please come this way." He led Wang Deming to the second business room and gently placed the basket at Wang Deming's feet. "Sir, please sit down. I'll make you a cup of jasmine."

"You smoke."

"Sir, have you decided what kind of cloth you want? If not, you look so happy, is there something going on at home? I'll bring you two kinds of cloth, take a look at them first?"

Just as he was thirsty on the way here, Wang Deming sat steadily, picked up the teacup, blew away the foam and took a sip. Hmm, the jasmine flavor was quite strong and quite thirst-quenching.
"Bring out the calico and the fine white cloth, and prepare them for making clothes for you."

"Master, can you tell me your age and height?"

"An 18-year-old girl, about 5 feet tall."

"Okay, sir, please wait a moment."

After a while, the salesman returned to the business office with two pieces of cloth. "Sir, this is printed cloth from Shanghai, and this is fine white cloth from Tianjin. Do you like it?"

Wang Deming touched them one by one and said, "Don't use bright red printed fabrics, but pink ones. Bring me some more fine white fabrics. Oh, and bring me some of the striped fabrics produced locally in Beijing."

"Okay, sir, please wait a moment."

After a while, the salesperson came in with a few more pieces of cloth. "Sir, take a look. If you are not satisfied with the color, I will take you to the shelf where you can choose more conveniently."

"Well, let me take a look first."

"Just these two things, the striped cloth from Beijing and the fine white cloth from Tangshan, each of which needs 8 feet."

"Okay, sir, the striped cloth from Beijing is 2 yuan a foot, and the fine white cloth is 1 cents a foot, a total of 8 yuan. Sir, just wait and see, I'll give you an extra foot!"

The so-called "add one extra ruler" means that when a customer buys one ruler, you will be given one inch extra: when measuring the size, you should add one inch before starting to measure.

In front of Wang Deming, the salesperson took a wooden ruler and measured it, then used a blade embedded in one end of the ruler to cut it, and then tore it with both hands. "Swish", it sounded like a pleasure to cut it in two.
After the salesperson finished cutting the cloth, he did not hand it directly to Wang Deming, but continued to sell it: "Sir, we also have a ready-made clothing department in our store. You can provide the size and we can make it directly in the store. We guarantee that the stitches will be fine. Just set a date to pick it up. How about you?"

"No need!"

After the payment and goods were settled, Wang Deming left the cloth shop with two pieces of cloth, feeling clean and at ease.
I have no money in my pocket!

　The protagonist's godmother's name is Wang Shuqin, her husband's surname is Yan, and outsiders call her Aunt Yan.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)