allendalepharm Chapter 172: This Father and Son Are Weird
Chapter 172: This Father and Son Are Weird
"Okay! I'll give you the money for copying the three books." The shopkeeper said as he was about to take the copper coins.
"No need! I can settle the bill later, so let me pick the four treasures of the study first!"
Wen Ruyu looked at Jiang Youzhen as she spoke, and happened to meet Jiang Youzhen's clear eyes. There was no contempt in those eyes, only curiosity, and more of a calm and peaceful expression.
Jiang Youzhen didn't look down on him, and he never looked down on himself. But for some reason, for the first time in his life, he felt a little inferior.
He immediately retracted his gaze and suppressed this absurd feeling. Why should he feel inferior? He always thought that he made money by copying books and never cared about these things.
"Brother, please do the calculation first." Jiang Youzhen quickly gave way.
"You choose first!" Wen Ruyu stepped aside.
Jiang Youzhen smiled at him, then looked at the shopkeeper, "Take it out and let me see it!"
"Oh!" The shopkeeper responded, and then opened a mahogany box engraved with orchids. Jiang Youzhen then discovered the secret inside.
There are three layers of shelves inside. The first layer holds three pens for writing big characters and small characters. These three are enough.
The second layer is a clay stone inkstone with bamboo leaves carved on it, which looks quite exquisite.
The bottom layer was an ink stick. Jiang Youzhen just glanced at it and found that it was pine soot ink, but it was not as good as the one she bought in the capital last time.
"How much silver is this set?" Jiang Youzhen didn't take it. Since he was planning to give it to someone, he couldn't give something too bad.
When the shopkeeper heard this, he almost broke into laughter.
"Sir, since you are Mr. Wen's classmate, I will definitely give you a discount. These three brushes are made of rat whisker hair, and the brush body is made of bamboo, which is also a good material. And the inkstone, the clay inkstone, I don't need to say much, right? With your eyesight, you must know the goods. What's more, the pine soot ink stick is all top-quality..."
The shopkeeper talked incessantly, praising the set of four treasures of the study in his hand to the utmost. Even the thin mahogany box was praised as the best of the best.
Wen Ruyu was a little envious. He had seen this set of four treasures of the study several times, but it was too expensive. He naturally couldn't afford it. Huang Xue Ning wanted to give it to him before, and he was tempted, but still refused.
However, he saw Jiang Youzhen just picked up a brush and looked at it casually, as if he didn't care. He glanced at Jiang Fugui and was a little confused. Looking at Jiang Youzhen's demeanor, it would not be an exaggeration to praise him as a son of a royal family.
But looking at Jiang Fugui's appearance, it seems that he comes from a peasant family, which is too contradictory. Is he really a young master pretending to be from a wealthy family?
"So how much do you plan to sell it for?" Jiang Youzhen was too impatient to listen any longer. He just wanted to ask for more because she was dressed richly.
"A total of four taels of silver." The shopkeeper said and looked at Jiang Youzhen expectantly.
Jiang Fugui's eyes widened immediately. Such a small thing costs four taels of silver. It's so expensive? No wonder they say that studying costs money!
"It's just rat whiskers, which are only slightly better than pig hair. These three sticks are worth at most five hundred coins. The quality of pine smoke ink is not very good, and even one or three coins is a high price. Only the inkstone is worth looking at, but it's not worth two or two coins."
Jiang Youzhen put down the inkstone in his hand and smiled. "Don't bluff me, boss. It's not that I don't know the price. In addition to this mahogany box with a clever design but made of very little material, I will give you at most three taels of silver."
She had also been enlightened in the city before. Did the shopkeeper want to cheat her? She had money, but she couldn't be a sucker.
The shopkeeper smiled bitterly and cupped his hands, "You are really an expert, but if you give me three taels, I won't make much money. I am just running a small business, so please be gracious, young master."
I thought it was a fat sheep, but it turned out to be as cunning as a monkey.
That's right! You can tell he's from a noble family, so he has a high standard. These things are not in the eyes of this young master at all, maybe he bought them as gifts.
"I'll give you an extra fifty cents, that's all!"
The shopkeeper sighed, "Okay! Young Master, you really have great insight. Alas! If this set of four precious study items were not so valuable in our town, I would not be willing to sell it at such a low price."
Jiang Youzhen certainly knew that the other party could make money and was just pretending.
"Buy two of those book boxes over there, and also the paper I mentioned." Jiang Youzhen had just seen the book boxes placed at the door. He didn't expect that this small shop had such exquisite book boxes.
The book bag is not bad, but it is small! It can't hold too many books. She bought two to give one to Jiang Jiawang. She could see that Jiang Jiawang was actually quite smart. This kid might really be able to rise to prominence in the future, so of course she had to build a good relationship with him now.
"Hey! I'll prepare it for you right away." The shopkeeper was happy again.
Jiang Fugui touched his chest. Damn! He had brought five taels of silver when he came out. Wouldn't that be enough? He hadn't thought that the four treasures of the study would be so expensive before he came. He had miscalculated!
In the end, the total cost was two taels and six cents of silver. Although the bookcase was exquisite, it was made of rattan, so it was not too expensive and was lightweight.
But just doing this would cost five taels, six hundred and ten coins, which was more than all the silver Jiang Fugui had.
Seeing Jiang Fugui hesitated when he took out the money, Jiang Youzhen smiled and said, "Dad! I plan to buy the four treasures of the study for Jiawang myself, so that it will be more sincere. You can buy the rest for me."
As Jiang Youzhen spoke, he took out three taels of silver from his purse and handed it over. Jiang Fugui immediately breathed a sigh of relief, but was also a little embarrassed. He had just made a big promise, but in the end, his daughter still had to pay.
Wen Ruyu who was standing by always felt that this father and son pair were strange. The father was obviously a little embarrassed, and it was obvious that he looked distressed when he took out the money.
But this son took out the money very readily, looking more like a rich young man who was ignorant of the ways of the world and didn't know how expensive firewood and rice were.
If Jiang Youzhen is really a farm boy, why does she pretend to be a rich boy? It's really weird, which makes Wen Ruyu very interested.
He felt that the father and son in front of him did not look like father and son, but rather had a sense of disconnection.
"Brother Wen, it's getting late. My father and I will go back now. We'll see you tomorrow." Jiang Youzhen bowed to Wen Ruyu and said goodbye.
"See you tomorrow!" Wen Ruyu nodded.
After the two men left, the shopkeeper muttered, "That man turned out to be his father? They don't look like father and son. The son is dressed so luxuriously, but the father is ordinary. Even their appearance and demeanor are not like his. It's just pretending! But he doesn't feel sorry at all when he takes out the money. It's really strange!"
Wen Ruyu raised his eyebrows. Are this father and son really father and son?
Jiang Youzhen, who was climbing onto the carriage, didn't think so much. Jiang Fugui had to farm, so it was impossible for her to wear silk clothes. This fine cotton dress was changed because she was going to pick her up. She had been wearing coarse cloth clothes while doing housework these days!