Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 139 Betrothal Gift
After Chen Yunhan's hard work, he finally guessed a puzzle and received a set of four treasures of the study from the store.

Now, the four of them were very happy. After thanking the store owner, they continued to shop elsewhere.

The four of them strolled outside until quite late, then Qu Shaoyang sent the three Chen siblings home and returned to the inn himself.

Early in the morning on the 16th day of the first lunar month, Qu Shaoyang and Liu Dongshan left the inn and headed for Yingkou with their men.

After arriving in Yingkou, Qu Shaoyang went to Baoshengtang first, taking bear bile, musk and other things.

Shopkeeper Yu happened to be there, and after checking the quality of the goods, he offered a price that satisfied both parties.

"Manager Yu, I want to ask you which warehouse in Yingkou is good. I have some hides I want to sell."

After selling the medicinal herbs, Qu Shaoyang asked casually.

“Go to Hengsheng Store, it’s also owned by the Niu family.

Well, I'll send my assistant to accompany you, and I guarantee I can give you a reasonable price."

When Manager Yu heard this, he was delighted and quickly called a waiter over to accompany Qu Shaoyang and Liu Dongshan to Hengsheng Store.

The clerk responded and led the master and his disciple out of Baosheng Hall, walked across a street, and came to a warehouse.

“Shopkeeper Cao, these two are our shopkeeper’s friends, and he has some hides he wants to sell.

The shopkeeper asked me to come over and tell him that the price must be fair. The young man was quite smart and he immediately told the shopkeeper what he was here for.

When the other party heard this, he nodded and said, "Please follow me to the back hall to talk."

Since Manager Yu could send his servants here, these two people must be no simple people.

Shopkeeper Cao naturally didn't want to neglect them, so he led the two of them to the back hall to sit down.

This time, Qu Shaoyang brought three sable skins, two raccoon skins, five wolf skins, and five greyhound skins. Among them, the sable skin was the most precious.

Sure enough, when Shopkeeper Cao saw the three sable skins, his eyes immediately lit up.

Mink fur is divided into three grades, with thick, pure black fur being the best, yellow fur being the second best, and the rest being inferior.

The three sable skins that Qu Shaoyang took out were nearly black in color, with thick and soft fur, glossy color, and flexible guard hairs. They were all top quality.

Other skins are also of good quality, but their prices cannot compare with mink skins.

In fact, in the early Qing Dynasty, sable fur was exclusively supplied to the Manchu royal family and was tributed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs by the Buthadasin tribe. It was not allowed to be circulated and sold among the people.

By the late Qing Dynasty, corruption and extravagance were prevalent in the officialdom, and every winter, officials of all ranks wore sable hats and coats.

The governors, governors-general and provincial governors in other provinces are even more powerful than the officials in Beijing.

As a result, the demand for sable fur increased greatly, and it was impossible to rely solely on tribute from the Dashengwula Yamen.

Gradually, restrictions were relaxed and people were able to buy and sell freely.

Therefore, the price of mink fur has been increasing year by year.

Of course, the price of sable fur could not be compared with that of ginseng. In the end, Manager Cao offered thirty taels for each sable fur.

These were given only out of consideration for the shopkeeper's face. If an ordinary person came, it would probably only be twenty or so taels.

In addition to mink fur, Manager Cao also gave very reasonable prices for other furs.

The master and the disciple didn't hesitate and nodded in agreement immediately, and the deal was done.

Then Manager Cao called someone over and handed over 150 or 60 taels of silver to Qu Shaoyang and the other man, and recorded it in the account at the same time.

"If you have any more mountain hides, just send them to me. I will give you the most reasonable price."

Because of Yu's face, Cao was also very polite to Qu Shaoyang and Liu Dongshan. Qu Shaoyang had the same intention, so he chatted with Cao for a few more words before leaving Hengsheng Store.

"Master, do we need to go to the foreign company? Didn't you say before that you wanted to buy two more guns?"

After coming out of the Hengsheng store, Qu Shaoyang remembered this and asked.

"Well, let's go over and ask. If the price is too high, we won't buy it this time. We'll buy some for our son to bounce back first.

We don't have much money this time, and your engagement will cost a lot of money." Liu Dongshan hesitated and said.

There are four guns at home now, which is already very good and basically enough. In Liu Dongshan's opinion, it doesn't matter whether to buy one or not for the time being.

Expenses are high in early spring, so it’s better to save money and buy other things first and wait until autumn and winter.

Qu Shaoyang thought about it and it made sense. Their business wasn't that big yet, so they didn't need to buy too many guns.

To be honest, he was not very confident about letting someone else use such a good gun.

So the two of them went to the foreign company and bought a lot of bullets before returning to the inn.

The next day, the master and his disciple walked around Yingkou City again and bought a lot of things needed for the engagement. After that, they set out to return to Kuandian.

The 22nd day of the first lunar month is the day when Qu Shaoyang and Chen Xiuyun get engaged.

One day in advance, the matchmaker went to Chen's house to discuss the details of the engagement.

On the morning of the 22nd, Qu Shaoyang, dressed in new clothes, accompanied by Liu Dongshan and the matchmaker, led the porters and drummers hired in advance, carried the engagement gifts, and came to the Chen family with music and drums.

On the Chen family's side, they cleaned the yard inside and outside early. Brothers Chen Yunhan and Chen Yunzhe, along with their young relatives of the same generation, were waiting outside the gate in advance.

Seeing Qu Shaoyang and his group coming over, they quickly set off a string of firecrackers and then welcomed Qu Shaoyang and his group into the house.

The eight-loaded engagement gift was placed in the middle of the yard, including a pair of geese, two jars of wine, four-color wedding cakes, four kinds of fruits, four boxes of tea, etc.

In addition, there are clothes, cloth, gold and silver jewelry, and a certain amount of silver and money for the woman.

Because it is winter and there are no fresh fruits, the four-color fruits are all dried fruits, such as dates, longans, peanuts, and chestnuts, which symbolize the early birth of a son and are auspicious.

The Chen family was mainly attracted by Qu Shaoyang as a person, so they didn't care about the amount of the betrothal gift. They just wanted it to be not too shabby, as long as it was acceptable.

But Liu Dongshan wouldn't agree to that. He only had this one disciple, and he finally got him a wife. How could it look good if the betrothal gift was too little?
So the father and son purchased a lot of clothes, fabrics, gold and silver jewelry and other things.

In addition, he also prepared sixty-six taels of silver to show his appreciation for Chen Xiuyun.

When the engagement gift was delivered, the relatives from the Chen family who came to watch the ceremony were all a little surprised.

Doctor Chen’s parents and relatives have long passed away, and he has no contact with most of his relatives in his hometown in Shandong.

As for Li, he has several cousins ​​here, all in Kuandian and Huairen counties.

This time Chen Xiuyun was getting engaged, and Li had specially sent her two sons to invite her. So many of Li's relatives came today.

Most of Li's relatives live in the countryside.

So they didn't understand. Since the Chen family had moved to the city, why didn't they arrange a marriage for Chen Xiuyun in the county, but instead wanted to marry Chen Xiuyun to such a faraway place as Maoer Mountain.

It was not until they saw the betrothal gift that everyone seemed to understand why.

Nowadays, even for city dwellers, it is not easy to come up with such a betrothal gift. One has to have a very wealthy family.

Not to mention other amounts, the sixty-six taels of silver alone would be enough for an average family to save for several years without eating or drinking.

(End of this chapter)