After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 1133 Clothing
Ma was persuaded by Fang and was really worried that if she missed this opportunity, she would never have the chance again. So she decided to go to Jiyuan's cloth shop immediately to look at the fine Jiangnan fabric so that she could buy some of it as a dowry for her granddaughter.

Haitang was a little amused and tried to dissuade her, "Grandma, my dowry is almost complete. I have no shortage of fabrics for clothes, and they are all top-quality goods. The most fashionable colors and patterns this year are bought from Luo's Business, and they are also fine products from Jiangnan. You have already spent a lot of time and money on the fabrics for my dowry, so why bother buying new ones? There will always be new and good fabrics in the world, and how can our family buy them? What we have already prepared is enough. There is really no need for you to waste money!"

In this day and age, fabrics are time-limited. Even if she brings a lot of good fabrics to her husband's house as a dowry, the patterns and colors will gradually fade after a few years and will no longer be as bright as when they were first woven. How much fabric can she use? How many clothes can she make? The amount of fabrics in her dowry alone is enough for her to wear for ten years, and she can never use it up. Moreover, the colors and patterns that are popular this year will probably not be popular next year. It would be a pity to buy too much fabric, which is easy to waste, because they are all high-quality fabrics worth a lot of money.

Haitang tried to persuade her grandmother, but Ma had something to say: "Silly child, do you think the fabrics in your dowry can only be used to make clothes for you? You can also use them as gifts or as favors! When you marry into the Jin family in the future, in addition to making clothes for yourself and your husband, you will also have to pay tribute to the Empress Dowager in the palace, give gifts during festivals, and make one or two sets of clothes for the Empress Dowager's birthday. Are you still worried that you will have nowhere to use the fabrics for your dowry? I'm afraid that in less than two or three years, the good fabrics you gave as a gift will be used up, and you will have to buy more! If it's not good fabric, you can't show it off. Since you will use these high-quality fabrics sooner or later, and now that you have met Qiao Zong'er, Jiyuan is familiar with your family and the price he offers is reasonable, why don't you take advantage of this good opportunity to buy more good fabrics to keep in your closet? Are you going to wait until you need them in the future and then spend a high price to buy them from shops outside?!"

This reason... is actually reasonable.

Haitang hesitated for a moment. Fang smiled and comforted her, "Good girl, don't worry. If you are worried about your grandmother spending money recklessly, I will keep an eye on her for you. Clothes are something you buy and they won't go bad after a few years. You can just use them slowly. You won't suffer any loss anyway, so don't worry!"

Hai Baozhu also smiled and nodded.

Since they all said so, what else could Haitang do? She had to let her grandmother do what she wanted.

Ma was very excited and asked her granddaughter-in-law Zhuang Minyi, who was practicing calligraphy in her room, to help her with the appraisal. She took Fang and Hai Baozhu to visit the cloth shop in Jiyuan. The shop was not far from Zhengyangmen Street. Ma brought enough people and arrived in a short time by car. Haitang did not go with them, but stayed at home with Xiangcao to organize the warehouse.

Now the storeroom at home was filled with dowry items prepared for her. There were already two full shelves of top-quality fabrics. If Grandmother Ma wanted to buy another batch of new fabrics, there would be no room in the storeroom. She had to clean up in advance and squeeze out some space to accommodate the fruits of her grandmother's shopping spree today.

Fortunately, Haitang had learned some storage techniques. She worked with Xiangcao and used a few wooden shelves to finally free up a small space in the warehouse.

After the master and servant finished this important task, they looked at each other. Seeing that each other's heads and faces were covered with dust and sweat, and looked quite disheveled, they couldn't help but laugh.

They went back to the yard, washed up, and changed their clothes, then they heard that Ma and others had returned.

Ma was gone for only half an hour, but she gained a lot. She bought dozens of pieces of gold-woven brocade of various colors and laid them out in the upper room of the main courtyard. As soon as Haitang entered the room, she felt that she was surrounded by golden brocade and colorful fabrics. It was indeed not comparable to ordinary fabrics. As soon as she entered the room, Ma excitedly waved and called her over: "Tangtang, come and have a look. These are all top-quality gold-woven fabrics. There are bright red gold-woven fabrics, official green gold-woven fabrics, royal blue and eggplant purple... These are the ones left over by others. I saw many other fabrics with different colors and patterns when I went to Jiyuan Shop. They were all reserved by Prince Kang's Mansion and the Wu family. It is not the turn of ordinary families like us. But even if they are the ones left over by others, they are not the patterns that can be bought casually. I have really opened my eyes today!"

Such gold-woven material looked luxurious, but for Haitang, it could only be used to make formal dresses, and it was impossible for her to wear it on weekdays. Fortunately, Ma didn't buy much, only four pieces of each color. With this amount, she used some for her own clothes and gave some as gifts and favors, and then it was all consumed.

Haitang actually liked the other colored fabrics on the side more. There were various shades of red, pink, blue, and green, including several very delicate pinks and a bright and eye-catching rose red, all of which were not easy to see. As for the patterns, there were the common flowing clouds, hundreds of bats, and hundreds of butterflies flying through the flowers, as well as the more elegant broken branches and flowers, and the fresh and unique orchids and bamboo leaves, which were indeed very delicate.

The quality of this batch of materials is even better than what the Hai family bought from the Luo family's business not long ago. The patterns and colors are particularly rare, and there are few silk and satin shops in Beijing. If it weren't for the shopkeeper Xiao Feng of Jiyuan who leaked the news to the Qiao family and asked Fang and Hai Baozhu to inform the Hai family, I'm afraid the Hai family would never have the opportunity to buy such good materials.

Haitang wondered in her heart, could this be Jiyuan's way of returning the favor and intentionally repaying Haijiao and Jin Jiashu?
Haitang said nothing more, but smiled and thanked Fang and Hai Baozhu: "These are indeed rare and good materials. If it weren't for my aunt and cousin coming to tell us, we would have missed this batch of fabrics. Today, I am really grateful to you!"

Fang and Hai Baozhu quickly said modestly that they just said it casually and didn't deserve any thanks. The latter was a little embarrassed and covered her face and said: "My aunt also gave me a few pieces of cloth, all of which are the patterns I like. I was afraid that the price was too expensive and I was reluctant to give them away. I didn't expect my aunt to be so generous and gave them to me just because she said so. I feel embarrassed. I didn't tell my aunt about this batch of cloth for this favor."

Ma said hurriedly, "Good boy, I know what you and your mother mean. But you helped me get something good, so I can't let you go for nothing. These pieces of fabric are nothing, you can keep them to make clothes for yourself. Young people should dress up more. If you are polite to your great aunt, you will be alienated from me!"

Hai Baozhu naturally said she didn't dare. Everyone chatted and laughed again, admiring the newly bought materials. Seeing that it was getting late, Hai Xiya, Hai Chang'an and Hai Jiao were about to return, Fang took her daughter and said goodbye.

Ma wanted to keep the dinner for him, but Fang said, "Son-in-law Qiao has to go home for dinner. If we are not here, he will be alone with nothing to eat. Isn't that unfair?" Ma had no choice but to stop keeping him. She just sent more people and ordered them to send the mother and daughter away in a carriage. Zhuang Minyi then saw them off.

Only the grandfather and grandson were left in the upper room of the main courtyard, so Haitang said, "Grandfather and his family will be back soon. Shall I ask someone to send the materials to the warehouse for storage?"

Ma nodded and sighed, "Although they are leftovers from others' selection, they are all top-quality goods. The Kang Palace is a royal palace of the royal family, so it is naturally noble, and we can't say anything. The Wu family of the Cheng'en Marquis's Palace bought so much material to prepare a dowry for Miss Wu. The new wife of the Cheng'en Marquis is willing to spend money on her sister-in-law. She really doesn't seem like a daughter that the Zhang family can raise."