Wedding Preparations

Since they have a month before the wedding, Wenmin wanted to prepare early to avoid unnecessary accidents. He kept the 40 taels of silver he got from Jiahao in his space, the remaining 10 taels he kept them in a sachet, tied to his belt.

The next day, Wenmin, Xinyi and Aunt Bao rode the bullock cart to town. They paid 2 copper each and agreed to meet at the town's gate at noon. It was still early when they arrive, the streets aren't busy yet, they took their time to the clothing store.

When the shopkeeper saw them, there wasn't any disgust in his face, it's just that there was a slight disappointment but he quickly greet them. Wenmin saw them but he chose to not bother with them. Everyone wants rich customers so it's understandable.

"Can I have a look at your wedding cloth?" Wenmin asked the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper quickly took them to the wedding cloth section. There were a few types of fabric such as cotton, silk, hemp, and ramie.

Wenmin was already attracted to the red cotton cloth. He wasn't really interested in silk, it was not practical for villagers to wear them. Hence, cotton was his choice. It's durable, easy to wash and it can be used even after it's old and no longer fits.

While he was examining the cotton cloth, Aunt Bao was touching the red silk wedding cloth. It was soft, smooth and of course, expensive. He wanted Wenmin to have the best wedding, he watched Wenmin grew up and finally marrying a good husband.

"Wenmin ah, look here. This silk is soft and smooth, surely you will look great on your wedding day." Said Aunt Bao. She even dragged the bored Xinyi beside her to touch the silk. True, the silk was soft and smooth, it's also cold to touch which is suitable for summer.

"Aunt Bao, it's not that I don't want to buy some silk but you know the people in our families are. I'm afraid they will be red eyes and will cause trouble later." He gently held Aunt Bao's hands while explaining his reasons. The annoying relatives was also one of the reasons he was reluctant to wear nice things on his body.

"Wenmin ah, don't care about those people. You can buy what you want and you can wear what you want, it's your money not theirs." Xinyi really didn't like Wenmin's natal family, even Chen Jiahao's ungrateful family was in his blacklist.

Wenmin settled on the hot red cotton cloth, asked the shopkeeper to cut a few inches extra as Jiahao is really tall. He also asked the shopkeeper to cut a few meters of white silk fabric, he plans to make some, ahem, night gowns.

He felt his cheeks hot, and quickly walked to the counter to settle his bill. The shopkeeper wrapped the fabrics neatly, handed them to Wenmin to be kept in his bamboo basket on his shoulders. They walked out of the store and started walking towards the jewellery shop.

Usually, when a couple has children, the mother would set aside some jewellery for their daughters and gers. But Wenmin's ama was busy with work and taking care of the house, the only jewellery his mother kept for him is a pair or silver bracelet and a jade pendant with a 'Li' carving on it.

Since Wenmin found the hidden jewellery, he felt that it was wasteful not to wear the pendant. He decided to buy a silver chain so he could wear them all the time. The bracelet would be kept for a while. It was not convenient to wear bracelets while doing farm work.

They entered a relatively big jewellery store. The shopkeeper was a matured lady, guessing from the temperament, she must be some rich man's wife. When she saw them entering, she smiled and asked them what would they like to see.

There were different kinds of jewellery in the store, there's also gold and gems. But there was no diamonds, maybe they haven't discovered it yet? Or they only thought diamonds are just some random stone? Who knows.

"Excuse me, would you recommend some silver chains and a few wedding accessories for gers?" Although Aunt Bao has been to the town, she has never stepped in the jewellery store. Wenmin asked the shopkeeper and took Aunt Bao to see some thin silver bracelet.

While they were waiting, the shopkeeper looked at Wenmin. She rarely saw gers who are not timid, usually gers who came from rich families have more confidence but they rarely have a mature and stable temperament such as Wenmin.

She brought the jewellery, recommended some chains and even showed Wenmin some mens jewellery. He has never seen Jiahao wearing any jewellery, but since they were getting married, Wenmin custom ordered matching silver rings for their wedding, with their initials LW and CJ.

It costs 5 taels for the chain, a set of ger's wedding jewellery and the wedding ring. Aunt Bao was shocked when she heard the price, Xinyi didn't dare to even look at the jewellery. How can he, an unmarried ger would have to spend when she will get married in the future?

They walked around when suddenly Aunt Bao slapped her forehead, "Aiya! Wenmin ah, we forgot to buy bedsheets and cotton for the comforters. It's going to be cold during autumn and winter." Aunt Bao quickly pulled Wenmin's and Xinyi's hands to the shop for cottons and bedding sets.

When they gathered at the town's gate, it was already full of people. They got on the cart, each holding full bamboo baskets in front of them, afraid of being stolen. Some villagers were curious, but they couldn't see anything because the baskets were covered.

Wenmin spent the ten taels he set aside, also added another five taels of his own when he bought some pots and pans, extra bowls, cups, chopsticks and such. The wedding banquet money will be given to Aunt Bao, but Wenmin decided to share some wedding recipes with Aunt Bao.

It was late afternoon when they arrived in the village, they paid and thanked the bullock driver. While they were walking to Wenmin's house, they bumped into Jiahao who was clearing his fields. They made a brief eye contact but Wenmin moved his gaze. Shy? yes. Embarrassed? of course, remembering the custom wedding ring he ordered, Wenmin quickly walked away.

Jiahao saw his red ears and cheeks, he chuckled and kept himself busy, lest someone saw him making eye contact with Wenmin. He saw the filled baskets, he was curious about what Wenmin bought. He has never prepared wedding preparations before, when his cousin got married, he was away.

But he was still happy, seeing how full those baskets were, Wenmin and Aunt Bao must have put a lot of thought into buying them. He also knows that Wenmin must have also used his own money. Even though ten taels is enough for a family in their village to live for a year, it still costs a lot during weddings.

Jiahao was distressed for Wenmin, he knew that Wenmin divided the 50 taels he gave him, but only spending ten taels is still tough. During this time, he felt that Wenmin is more thrifty than him, a general who lived through hard times in the battlefield.