Chapter 65: Chapter 63 Buying Jewelry
Mr. Gu thought it was expensive, but Gu Chengyu found it reasonable. Estimating it this way, a Wen in the Dayan Dynasty is equivalent to a modern dollar. Heâd seen the pork his mother bought, twelve Wen per pound! And thatâs already cooked, so thirteen Wen isnât too pricey.
Gu Chengyu pulled Mr. Gu towards the stalls with more women, guessing that they probably sold cosmetics or jewelry. Mr. Gu felt awkward squeezing into a crowd of women, so he could only watch as Gu Chengyu pushed his way in and waited outside. He didnât understand why his little son liked these things. Was he being raised to have a girlâs temperament by his mother? Thinking of Xiao Bao, who liked to act cutesy too, Mr. Gu felt a bit horrified. No way! He needed to have a serious talk with Jin Niang; Xiao Bao couldnât continue like this, staying indoors all day and not playing with the boys. Thatâs not how it should be! Arrangements for studying had to be made soon. Once he went to school, surrounded by reading kids, it would surely fix him.
While Gu Chengyu was selecting jewelry, he was unaware his father was grumbling inside. It wasnât that he liked these things; he wanted to pick something nice for his mother and second sister. Although there was nothing particularly good at these small stalls, their family wasnât wealthy yet, merely slightly well-off. For now, they could buy these things to wear, and when the family had more profitable businesses, they wouldnât have to spend money so cautiously.
The stall owner was an older woman. Gu Chengyu listened as she introduced the items on the stall while collecting silver coins deftly. She boasted about the jewelry as if they turned maidens and young brides into celestial beings. Gu Chengyu was really quite impressed.
"Oh my! Whose little child is this? So handsome! Why are you at a cosmetics stall? At such a young age, you already know how to buy jewelry to please a girl?" The stall owner teased, seeing the adorable and charming young Gu Chengyu.
"Oh~ isnât it so! This child is really good-looking, did you come with your mother?" Around them, the young women giggled, and a straightforward one took up the stall ownerâs jest.
Gu Chengyu blushed with embarrassment at the stall ownerâs words, then seriously looked at the jewelry and cosmetics on the stall. "I want to buy jewelry for my mother and sister."
"Wow! What a filial child. Alright, you go ahead and pick, and Iâll give you a discount. But you need to have money! Do you have money to buy? If not, become a live-in son-in-law for my granddaughter! Hahaha..." The stall owner teased, touched by Gu Chengyuâs filial and smart demeanor, finding the child utterly adorable.
Gu Chengyu was somewhat speechless. Who told him ancient women were reserved? He had no reply and could only glance over the stall, picking a couple of nice pieces before leaving. With a sweeping look, he saw that most were crude silver and golden hairpins, pearl flowers made with rice-sized pearls, golden bracelets, silver bracelets, hairpins, and rings. The rouge was packed in coarse ceramics. Only the pearl flowers were a bit unique. Gu Chengyu casually picked up a silver hairpin and weighed it in his hand; something felt off about the weight. On close inspection, it seemed to be coated with a layer of silver. After checking the shine of other gold and silver jewelry, he figured out that these were likely silver-plated and gold-plated, with the thin hairpins being of real gold and silver. The jewelry here was quite crude, and Gu Chengyu wasnât keen on them.
Glancing casually to the side, oh? A pair of shrimp饻bracelets beside a pile of rouge caught Gu Chengyuâs attention. As he reached for the bracelets, a pair of big hands stopped him, "This little boy, youâve laid eyes on my shrimp饻bracelets as soon as you arrived? These are truly pure silver!" The stall owner suspected the little boy couldnât afford them, as no adults were accompanying him. Who carries so much silver around with a child? Judging by his attire, he didnât seem like a son of a wealthy family.
Gu Chengyu knew what the stall owner suspected; of course, he had silver on him. However, by etiquette, he should ask his father first before making a decision.
"Granny, how much are these bracelets?" These shrimp饻bracelets were different from the other crude jewelry; they were slightly more refined, made with silver threads instead of just silver-plated.
"My father is over there. I think these bracelets suit my second sister well. Granny, name a price. If itâs reasonable, Iâll pick a hairpin as well. Do you have any good hairpins? I want to give one to my mother." Gu Chengyu noticed that even though the jewelry at this stall wasnât exquisite, since there were shrimp饻bracelets, the stall owner might have better items, just not displayed.
"Are you sure you really want to buy? Whereâs your father? You need someone to make the decision, right? Good hairpins arenât cheap!" The stall owner said while pulling a cloth-wrapped box from under the table at the neighboring stall. Inside were two silver hairpins. Gu Chengyu immediately took a liking to one with hollowed-out floral carvings, finding it exquisitely elegant. It seemed it would suit his mother well.
"How much for this hairpin and the bracelets?" Gu Chengyu inquired, pointing at the captivating hairpin. Having been out so early, he was feeling a bit hungry. He thought about buying quickly and then getting something to eat before heading home, since his elder brother was probably waiting impatiently as well.
"The bracelets are three taels of silver, but this hairpin is very expensive, costing five taels!" The stall owner was delighted that Gu Chengyu had a genuine intention to buy, yet worried his family might disagree.
"Dad, come over here," Gu Chengyu called to Mr. Gu.
"Whatâs up?" Mr. Gu shouted back, heading towards them.
The women surrounding them saw they genuinely intended to purchase jewelry and cleared the way.
"You brat, coming over here to buy things? Come on out," Mr. Gu said awkwardly, walking to the stall. The stall owner gave Mr. Gu a once-over, thinking he didnât look like someone whoâd spend on jewelry.
"Dad, letâs buy a hairpin for mom! Iâve picked it out, eight taels of silver," Gu Chengyu whispered, slipping a ten-tael silver ingot into his sleeve.
"What? Eight taels? Thatâs way too expensive!" Mr. Gu exclaimed, shocked that a brief moment unsupervised, and his son would dare spend money unscrupulously.
"Dad, donât you want to buy mom a hairpin?" Gu Chengyu looked at his father with a sidelong glance, confident that bringing up his mother would sway him.
"Buy, buy, of course we should," Mr. Gu relented instantly, hearing it was for Mrs. Lv and forgetting his stinginess entirely.
"Granny, since Iâm buying two expensive items, can you give me a discount? Iâll pick four pearl flowers, and you let me have them for less?"
"Oh dear, thatâs really not expensive at all. You know, my stall doesnât fetch high prices. If you went to the Guangqing Silver Building upfront, itâd be much more than this!" said the stall owner, dramatically slapping her thighs and proclaiming her goods as the most affordable.