Ancient Foodie Survival Guide Chapter 21
Translated by Serena Love
Edited by Azure and unsaltedfish
Chapter 21: Buying Clothes
Jiang Shuyao secretly glanced at Xie Xun's face, fearing that he would blame her.
She secretly regretted it. Who would have thought that she would meet a man who had been entangled by the original owner as soon as she went out?
Xie Xun felt a tightness in his chest.
He knew about the absurd things Jiang Shuyao did before she got married. Since he married her, he wouldn't pay attention to her previous affairs. Besides, the marriage had been nothing more than a way to evade the Empress’s marriage edict, a matter of expedience; there was no reason to grow angry over it now.
He was sulking, and Jiang Shuyao was also a little embarrassed, but she was quickly attracted by the dazzling array of gold ornaments.
She was dazzled by the exquisite and gorgeous handmade jewelry on display. The hairpins, hair sticks, and back combs were extremely luxurious, with hooks inlaid with beads and complex craftsmanship.
The shopkeeper knew that she had an extraordinary background when he saw her. He approached her and politely asked, "Madam, do you want to buy some jewelry? Why don't you go up to the second floor and look at the store's collections?"
Jiang Shuyao nodded and agreed. Having money feels so good.
The shopkeeper led her up to the second floor, and her maid naturally followed behind. Xie Xun paused and followed.
Ordinary people couldn't step on the second floor. There were guards outside the door. After opening the door, several sets of wooden cabinets could be seen.
The shopkeeper led Jiang Shuyao to sit down, opened one of the wooden cabinets with the key, brought it over, and placed it on the table to show Jiang Shuyao.
Xie Xun was standing aside and bored. He wanted to leave to go to the teahouse and wait for her. Before he could speak, Jiang Shuyao suddenly stood up and walked towards him.
This room was different from the liveliness on the first floor. It was very quiet, and there was no sound when people stepped on the Persian carpet.
Jiang Shuyao stood still in front of him, Xie Xun turned his head and met her intense eyes.
Her skin was white and tender, and her eyebrows were dazzling. As the distance between the two got closer, he discovered that she had a thin layer of rouge on her face today. Her facial features were delicate and beautiful, and her eyes were full of warmth.
Suddenly, his heartbeat slowed by half a beat.
It was the first time that he looked at Jiang-shi like this. The obsession in her eyes was amazing and had no restraint.
It should be so. She wanted to marry him at the risk of her life. How could she not like him?
He thought this way, and a flush quietly rose at the back of his neck.
As for the rights and wrongs in the past, it was nothing more than a little girl's ignorance. There was nothing about those people that could be compared to him—
As he was still thinking about it, Jiang Shuyao pushed him away.
Then, she bypassed him and cast her obsessive gaze on the beaded headgear of a golden qilin and phoenix pattern behind him.
Xie Xun: ...?????????
"Shopkeeper, I want this set of headgear." Jiang Shuyao's eyes were glued to the luxurious and exquisite hair accessories in earnest surprise.
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A group of people was walking out of the jewelry shop. Jiang Shuyao bought the beaded hair jewelry she liked. The maids also feasted their eyes. Their faces were happy and cheerful, but Xie Xun looked strange.
Jiang Shuyao was about to step into the cloth shop, but Xie Xun suddenly stood still, and said to her calmly, "I'm going to that bookstore to find a book. If you have something, ask someone to call me." After he said that, he fled.
Jiang Shuyao watched him leave without thinking about anything. After all, men didn’t like shopping, especially for jewelry and clothes.
She was wealthy and could spend money like dirt. She started buying left and right as soon as she entered the cloth shop. No matter the price, she got people to wrap it up. The shopkeepers were prancing around following her everywhere.
Jiang Shuyao had bought enough cloth and jewelry, so she thought about going to the spice shop to see if there were any spices that could be used as ingredients for cooking.
As soon as she walked towards the door of the cloth shop, she was stopped.
Jiang Shuyao looked for the voice and saw a young girl staring at her.
Bai Zhi saw that Jiang Shuyao was confused and whispered, "This is the Tao family's young miss. Young lady quarreled with her because of Master that day. Did you forget?" Bai Zhi said tactfully. That day was not a simple argument, it was pulling each other's hair while fighting on the floor.
Jiang Shuyao was speechless. This trip was too difficult. She met the original owner's rotten peach blossom on the front foot and Xie Xun's admirer on the back foot. From now on, she should stay home to raise her tummy.
Jiang Shuyao nodded to Tao Junyu, turned around to leave, but was stopped, "Wait!"
"You..." When rivals meet, their eyes burn all the fiercer. When Tao Junyu's gaze swept over Jiang Shuyao’s lotus-like face, she grew even more resentful, "Shouldn’t you be staying quietly at home instead of coming out here to cause trouble? Do you believe Young Master Xie has not suffered enough because of you, or is it that, now that you’ve married Xie Lang, you’ve grown so pleased with yourself that you’ve come out to flaunt it in public?”
Jiang Shuyao didn't want to entangle with a stranger and didn't answer as she led her maids out.
Tao Junyu was even more annoyed when she saw her like this. She stepped in front of her and was about to speak, but she was berated by a man behind her, "Little girl, don't be rude."
The man didn't know Jiang Shuyao, and only saw that his little sister was being rude. He hurriedly stepped forward to apologize to Jiang Shuyao, "My little sister is spoiled, I hope Madam will forgive me."
Tao Junyu was a little afraid of her elder brother, and she didn't dare let him know that she was jealous because of Xie Xun. She glanced at the cloth shopkeepers, who took the cloth and wrapped them up one by one, and said aggrievedly, "How can there be such a domineering person? She picked all the nicest bolts in this cloth shop."
Young Master Tao was also surprised at Jiang Shuyao's magnanimity, and when his younger sister complained, he couldn't laugh or cry, "What's the matter with you? We can't force people to buy or sell. If this shop is not what you want, let's change shops."
Tao Junyu didn't dare whine anymore, and just pouted, "No need. Today I was picking cloth and tailoring clothes for my elder brother." After that, she added sourly, "Some people just care about themselves but don't buy anything for their husband. It's ridiculous. Is it great just to have a little money?"
"Little girl!" Young Master Tao's face turned dark and he couldn't believe that his sister was acting so rudely. He was about to apologize to Jiang Shuyao again, but suddenly heard Jiang Shuyao say, "Ha, you reminded me."
She turned and walked towards a wall where the most expensive men's cloths were hung. "I really should buy some clothes for my husband."
She raised her hand, and her sleeves fell, revealing a slender wrist with a jade ring. She tapped her finger lightly, "This one, this one... and this one."
It seemed like she ordered a few pieces of cloth at random, but Tao Junyu took a closer look and found that these clothes were all of slightly lower quality.
Heh, so that was all she amounted to.
The sneer on her face was not hidden, but she heard Jiang Shuyao continue to say, "Except for those few, I want the rest."
Tao Junyu's face suddenly stiffened, and her expression was distorted and extremely funny.
The shopkeeper was also shocked and looked at Jiang Shuyao in surprise.
Bai Zhi remained unfazed. "What are you stalling for? Our young lady's family is from the Lin family. Do you think we can't afford this?"
The Lin family was the richest merchant family in the world and was rumored to have endless wealth.
The shopkeeper sighed with relief and hurriedly asked people to take down the cloth covering the wall.
Tao Junyu was dumbfounded, and said to Jiang Shuyao, "A–Are you crazy?"
Jiang Shuyao smiled, "Sorry, it seems that Miss Tao and Young Master Tao can only find another cloth shop, or perhaps you can purchase the cloth I hadn’t chosen."
Her blatant reliance on wealth made Tao Junyu seethe. “You think a handful of stinking silver lets you act high and mighty?”
Jiang Shuyao carelessly corrected her, "I don't just have a handful, I have a lot of stinky money. Besides, whether money is stinky or vulgar doesn’t matter. What matters is that it works.”
Tao Junyu was choked. After a while, she said, "How can you buy so much? Why bother wasting money in order to beat me?"
“Listen to yourself, when did I ever say I was doing this for you? I did it for my husband. To please him, why would spending some money matter? "Jiang Shuyao played the speech from a lovestruck woman effortlessly, "What if these bolts are not used? As long as I’m willing, I could even have them cut up to line his shoes or stitch the soles, so long as my husband is pleased.”
Everyone was stunned by what she said.
"Cough..." Hearing from a maid that someone was bullying Jiang Shuyao, Xie Xun hurried over. The moment he stepped into the cloth shop and caught sight of the scene, he was so taken aback that he started coughing.
He suppressed the itching in his throat, desperately pretending to be calm.
Young Master Tao stood aside and looked at Jiang Shuyao's beautiful and charming face. There was a feeling of envy in his heart. He didn't know who the husband of this woman was, but he really married a good wife.
As he was thinking about it, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Xie Xun and was quite pleasantly surprised, "Master Xie." Young Master Tao had always admired Xie Xun's talent, he wanted to make friends but didn't have the chance to meet Xie Xun. He hurriedly walked forward to talk to him.
Jiang Shuyao was taken aback when she heard this voice and looked up, only to find that Xie Xun had actually appeared at the door.
Thinking of what she said just now, she was so embarrassed that she didn't know how to place her hands and feet.
Xie Xun didn't know Young Master Tao, so he just gave a nod and then strode to Jiang Shuyao, pretending to be natural, "Just pick it and go."
"Oh." Jiang Shuyao nodded obediently. Seeing that Xie Xun's face was stiff, she assured herself that he wasn't still angry about that scholar, right? Or did he feel uncomfortable after hearing what she said just now?
She pondered to herself, ignoring Xie Xun's blood red ears.
The two left the cloth shop one after the other. Jiang Shuyao didn't dare to go shopping anymore, so they went home.
She remained in the carriage, secretly raising the curtain to look at Xie Xun, and couldn't help but be discouraged when she saw that he was still stiff and cold.
She had only just managed to ease their relationship, how had she gone and displeased him again? Though there was no true affection between her and Xie Xun as husband and wife, her easy, unrestrained life in the Duke Xie's Mansion owed no small part to his indulgence.
Perhaps if she cooked him something delicious, she might regain some of his favor. Alas.
Jiang Shuyao lost herself in these idle thoughts, unaware that Xie Xun, mounted on his horse, could only curse the spring breeze for not being cool enough to dispel the heat blazing across his face and in his heart.
He looked up at the sky, feeling that the ever-shifting clouds and Jiang Shuyao were exactly the same, unfathomable and impossible to read.
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