174: Chapter 174 Second Brother 174: Chapter 174 Second Brother The shopkeeper’s wife lost face upon hearing this; after all, her store’s fabric selection was the most complete and of the highest quality in town.

If she didn’t have it, one might as well not bother looking anywhere else in town.

Swallowing her dissatisfaction, the shopkeeper’s wife asked, “May I know what kind of fabric the lady speaks of?

Tell me about it, and perhaps I can help the lady find it.

If the lady only says it’s not here, nobody knows what kind of fabric she is after.”

That lady smiled lazily, leaning against the counter, “How could this remote place possibly know?

It’s a kind of fabric that has become all the rage from the Capital City to the province capital, and then to the county towns.

It’s called Twilight Brocade.

I hear even the noble ladies in the palace are extremely fond of it.

It’s said the brocade is like the morning twilight, with colors of red and purple and a faint touch of gold across it.

Clothes made from it are like being enveloped in twilight, unimaginably beautiful.

A length of Twilight Brocade sells for at least twenty taels of silver.

Shopkeeper’s wife, your little store probably hasn’t even heard of it, have you?

Silly me for asking.

Our entire county doesn’t have two lengths of it; how could there possibly be any in a town like this?”

With that, she swayed out of the store.

The shopkeeper’s wife’s face turned indescribably sour, filled with both longing for the legendary Twilight Brocade and the embarrassment of being belittled by the customer right to her face.

But as a businessperson, she had a strong heart, and after a while, the shopkeeper’s wife composed herself.

With a forced smile, she approached again: “Miss, what would you like to buy today?”

Wang Yongzhu smiled, “I need to purchase some fabric to make clothes for my parents.”

Seeing a genuine customer, the shopkeeper’s wife’s smile became more sincere.

As she assisted Wang Yongzhu in selecting fabric, she couldn’t help but complain, “I don’t mean to boast, but in Shiqiao Town, my store has the most complete fabric selection, the most colors, and the fairest prices.

Everyone in town knows it.

But that lady, after a single trip to the county town, comes here to show off.

Twilight Brocade, indeed!

Even if my store had it, I wonder if she could afford it.

It’s a waste even thinking about it—a single fabric bearing three or four colors is something I haven’t even seen in all my years.”

“Is it difficult to have a fabric with several colors?” Wang Yongzhu inquired cautiously.

You little girl, your talk betrays your lack of exposure to the world.

You don’t know that while dyeing fabric is easy, the colors tend to run and become muddied after a few washes.

It’s easy to dip a fabric in one color, but to simultaneously dye three different colors is nothing short of divine skill, unprecedented.

Otherwise, why would a piece of silk sell for twenty taels of silver?” the shopkeeper’s wife sighed.

Wang Yongzhu also clicked her tongue in amazement.

Indeed, no matter the era, having a skill meant never starving!

Living in this era without a skill, how could one ever reach the pinnacle of farming?

A shame she hadn’t lit up a fabric-dyeing skill; that would have been a significant avenue for wealth!

Should Xiao Tiantian level up, she considered looking into such skills, and Wang Yongzhu filed this thought away.

In the end, Wang Yongzhu picked out fabric for two outfits, giving rough measurements.

Having learned these past days with Lady Jiang, she had an idea of how much fabric was generally needed.

Fearing that she might mess up on her first attempt, she reported slightly more than necessary.

She ended up with two sections of greenish-greyish-blueish fabric — not ideal, but it couldn’t be helped.

After half a day of haggling with the shopkeeper’s wife, Wang Yongzhu bought around ten pieces of plain white cloth, along with an embroidery frame, threads, and various other items, amounting to a hundred large coins in total.

The shopkeeper’s wife was overjoyed, showing a grin from ear to ear.

She hadn’t expected this girl, dressed slightly better than a country bumpkin, to be so generous.

Her family must have money; she didn’t grow up to be such a well-nurtured girl for nothing.

To retain this customer, the shopkeeper’s wife even generously gave away some scrap pieces of fabric, “Little sister, I’ll give these to you.

They’re not worth much, but they’re perfect for patching up shoe bottoms or the like.

Just a little token from me.

If you ever want to buy more fabric, come to my store, I’ll absolutely give you the best price!”

Having bought those items, the shopkeeper’s wife took the initiative to change her address from ‘Miss’ to ‘Little Sister.’

Wang Yongzhu readily agreed, gathered her items into the small bamboo basket, and glanced at the sky.

Although her estimate might not be very precise, she reckoned it was getting late.

After thanking the proprietress, Wang Yongzhu left the Cloth Store; she coincidentally met Song Chongjin exiting the bookstore across the street.

Both were momentarily startled.

Wang Yongzhu scrutinized Song Chongjin without showing any sign of doing so; aside from the two packages of medicine in his hands, she saw no books.

So what was he doing in the bookstore?

Nevertheless, her expression remained unchanged, “Brother Song, I’ve finished my shopping.

How about you?”

Song Chongjin nodded as well, and together they headed towards the herbal tea stall.

At the herbal tea stall, Wang Yongping was chatting away with the owner, animated in his conversation.

Wang Yongzhu straightforwardly dragged him away.

Hurrying along the path, they took the shortcut home, and by the time they arrived, the sun had just set.

As they entered the courtyard, they happened to run into Wang Yongan and Wang Laozhu coming out of the inner room, both wearing smiles, especially Wang Laozhu, who looked much more relaxed.

Seeing Wang Yongzhu and Wang Yongping return, Wang Laozhu said with a smile, “Today’s timing is unfortunate; not long after you left, your second brother brought your oldest brother back.

How did you miss each other on the way and get back so late?”

Wang Yongzhu smiled lightly, “We were worried about delaying matters, so we took a shortcut, not realizing that we would actually miss running into older and second brother.

We should have taken the main road from the beginning.”

Wang Yongan’s gaze sharpened as he took a few more looks at Wang Yongzhu.

Last time, he had been impatient and preoccupied, not paying much attention to his younger sister.

Now, seeing her after barely more than ten days, he noticed she seemed to have slimmed down further, revealing the gracefulness of a young lady.

Although her skin wasn’t very fair, when she smiled just now, he faintly saw a hint of beauty.

Especially the way she spoke, naturally and confidently, nowhere near the unsophisticated demeanor she had before.

With something on her mind, Wang Yongzhu greeted Wang Yongan and then asked, “Father, where’s mother?

And older brother too?

Didn’t second brother bring him back?

Why haven’t I seen him?”

Wang Laozhu cheerfully pointed to the main room, “Your mother is busy in the vegetable garden out back.

Your oldest brother had acupuncture from the Divine Doctor who came from the Capital City, and was given a prescription—it is time, he’s sleeping in the room.”

“Did the Divine Doctor say if older brother will be able to stand up?” asked Wang Yongping, clearly concerned about this detail.

Wang Laozhu opened his mouth, thought for a moment, and then pointed at Wang Yongan, “Second son, you tell them.

That Divine Doctor used such fancy words, I couldn’t understand.”

Wang Yongan explained, “That Divine Doctor said that although older brother’s injury is serious, because he was rescued in time and the injury is recent, if he follows the prescription and takes his medicine regularly, there’s still a chance he can stand up.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Yongping, who had been feeling guilty, finally relaxed a bit, murmuring to himself, “That’s good, that’s good—” finding himself unable to say anything else.