Even a penny or a small item can be a matter of concern; the young lady is going to exces

Neither Liang Shanbo nor Zhu Yingtai bought any books at the bookstore Hanmolin.

The library's collection was far richer than this, more than enough for them to read. Moreover, scrolls were valuable; a single scroll often cost two or three hundred coins, and finely written scrolls could even cost around a thousand coins, which Liang Shanbo couldn't afford.

Besides selling books, Hanmolin also sells stationery such as paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones.

Zhu Yingtai's gaze swept over the paper, ink, brush, and inkstone.

She picked up a ream of rattan paper. This rattan paper was simple and unadorned, yet its texture was soft and resilient, and it absorbed ink as well as lacquer. It was a common material used by impoverished scholars for copying scriptures.

"Where is this paper from?" she asked.

The shopkeeper said, "This is rattan paper from Shanxi in Kuaiji. This is top-grade paper, finer and cleaner than ordinary rattan paper. One hundred coins per ream."

Zhu Yingtai nodded: "Two dollars."

After speaking, she put down the paper and picked up an ink stick. The ink stick was small, weighing about three ounces, and was completely black. She brought the ink stick close to her nose and smelled it. It was pine soot ink, with a deep and warm color and a clear and refreshing smell, without the strong, sticky smell of lacquer soot ink.

"How much is this pine soot ink?" she asked again.

"Ninety coins."

Zhu Yingtai said, "I'll buy it."

She put down the ink and picked up a rabbit hair brush. The handle was made of thin bamboo, without carvings or lacquer, just polished smooth and easy to handle. The brush head was made of rabbit hair, with sharp tips and full, plump bristles.

"Where's this pen?"

Thirty coins.

Zhu Yingtai said, "I'll buy it."

The shopkeeper placed two reams of Shanxi rattan paper, a stick of pine soot ink, and a rabbit hair brush on the counter.

Zhu Yingtai subconsciously called out, "Yinxin—" but as soon as she said it, she was startled and quickly corrected herself, "Sijiu will pay the bill."

She glanced at Liang Shanbo and saw that he didn't seem to notice.

She would occasionally accidentally call out "Yin Xin" instead of "Si Jiu" in front of Liang Shanbo. Fortunately, Liang Shanbo didn't suspect anything because of this.

Yin Xin took out a money pouch from her bag, counted out three hundred and twenty coins, and handed it over.

The shopkeeper wrapped the paper, ink, and brush in hemp paper.

Zhu Yingtai picked up the things, turned around, and said to Liang Shanbo, "Brother Liang, these are for you. Put them in my luggage and I'll give them to you when we get back to the school."

Liang Shanbo was slightly taken aback and looked at her.

Her eyes were bright, and a smile played on her lips.

Liang Shanbo hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Thank you, my brother."

Yin Xin then packed the items into her bag.

After leaving Hanmolin, the three continued walking along the street.

Zhu Yingtai stopped in front of a silk shop.

This silk shop had a larger storefront than Hanmolin. Above the door hung an old wooden plaque with rounded edges, bearing only four characters filled with malachite green: "Pan's Silk Shop".

Zhu Yingtai went inside.

Liang Shanbo followed behind her.

As you lift the coarse cloth curtain, a unique, fresh scent of kudzu and hemp wafts out.

On the left side of the shop, layers upon layers of fine linen and white linen cloth were stacked on a wooden shelf. On the right side of the counter, a piece of blue cloth was half-opened, and several stacks of neatly hemmed items were visible under the corners: a linen belt rolled into a ruyi knot, and a blue stone paperweight on a neatly folded fine linen cloth...

The shopkeeper noticed Zhu Yingtai's gaze fixed on the blue cloth and came over to greet her, "If you want a ready-made handkerchief or belt, it's right under this piece of cloth. They're all made from fine linen from Kuaiji and white hemp from Shan County. The edges have been finished so they won't rub against your neck or snag your robe."

Zhu Yingtai picked up a plain linen belt and examined it closely. The belt had no patterns or embroidery on its surface; it was very simple. However, the weaving was much finer than that of ordinary linen. The warp and weft threads were interwoven evenly and neatly, and the surface of the fabric was flat and crisp. It felt neither soft nor sagging to the touch, but rather had a rough yet warm texture.

Zhu Yingtai glanced at Liang Shanbo's belt, a smile playing on her lips: "I see that Brother Liang's belt is a bit old. This belt is plain, and the color is resistant to dirt."

Liang Shanbo looked down at the cloth belt around his waist. It was sewn by his mother, Madam Lu, from the family's coarse linen; the edges were frayed and the color had faded from washing.

He looked up at Zhu Yingtai. Zhu Yingtai was looking at him, her gaze devoid of any condescension or boastfulness, simply clear and bright, as if she were discussing something utterly ordinary.

Before he could speak, Zhu Yingtai turned around and picked up a piece of fine linen cloth to examine it. The linen was dyed a bluish-gray, the color evenly distributed, neither a deep blue nor a pale gray, but a color between blue and gray, like the clouds after a spring rain, when the sky is about to brighten.

She held the gray-blue linen scarf up to Liang Shanbo's head, tilted her head to examine it, and nodded: "This color suits Brother Liang well."

Then, Zhu Yingtai asked the shopkeeper, "How much are this belt and headscarf?"

The shopkeeper said, "A belt costs thirty coins, and a headscarf costs sixty coins."

Zhu Yingtai didn't haggle and nodded: "I'll buy it."

The shopkeeper responded and immediately wrapped the plain linen belt and the gray linen handkerchief in hemp paper and handed them over. Zhu Yingtai accepted them, and Yin Xin paid the money.

Zhu Yingtai held up the paper package and smiled at Liang Shanbo, saying, "Brother Liang, this belt and headscarf are also for you. They're still in my bag. I'll give them to you when we get back to the academy."

This time, Liang Shanbo didn't hesitate and nodded, "Thank you, my brother."

Silverheart packed the items back into her bag.

After leaving Pan's Silk Shop, Zhu Yingtai discovered a clothing shop nearby with the words "Su's Clothing Shop" written on its signboard, the paint of which was already faded and peeling.

Zhu Yingtai paused at the doorway, then lifted the curtain and went inside. Liang Shanbo followed behind her, his brows slightly furrowed, but he remained silent.

There were more than a dozen finished scholar's robes hanging in the shop, made of hemp, linen, and ramie, all in plain gray, tea brown, and off-white colors.

Zhu Yingtai's gaze fell on a light gray linen robe. She examined it closely and then reached out to touch it. The linen robe was finely woven, and it had a rough yet warm texture.

Zhu Yingtai held up the hempen robe to Liang Shanbo, nodded in satisfaction, and then turned to the shopkeeper, asking, "How much is this?"

The shopkeeper was a woman in her forties. She replied, "One thousand two hundred coins."

Liang Shanbo frowned, opened his mouth, and was about to speak when Zhu Yingtai spoke up: "Eight hundred."

The woman said, "Young master, this is fine linen, not coarse hemp. It must be at least 1,100 coins, no less."

Zhu Yingtai turned up the sleeves of her linen robe, revealing the seams inside, and then touched the stitches at the collar. She said to the woman, "It is indeed fine linen, but the color is too light; others will just think it's been washed and worn. The stitching is indeed meticulous." She unfolded the robe and examined it against the light, "Nine hundred."

The woman smiled and said, "Alright. One thousand coins. Not a penny less."

"Nine hundred and fifty."

"one thousand."

Zhu Yingtai remained silent for a moment before nodding and calling out, "Si Jiu, pay the bill."

Yin Xin took out her money bag from her bag and began counting her money.

Liang Shanbo hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not stop her. Instead, a faint smile appeared on his lips, because he was surprised that Zhu Yingtai, a lady from a prominent family, would actually haggle over prices when buying things in a street shop.

In fact, although Zhu Yingtai was wealthy and very generous to Liang Shanbo, she wasn't a spendthrift. Previously, when buying paper, ink, brushes, a belt, and a headscarf, she didn't haggle because she thought these items were inexpensive and didn't want to waste time talking to the two male shopkeepers. But now, this coarse cloth robe was expensive, and since the shopkeeper was a woman, she did haggle.

The coins of the Eastern Jin Dynasty were quite complex.

The coins circulating in the market are mostly old Wuzhu coins left over from the previous dynasty, as well as thin "Shenlang coins" and various small coins with clipped edges. They vary in quality and size, and privately minted inferior coins are everywhere.

The most troublesome thing was "short change". The market was flooded with inferior currency, and merchants had a tacit agreement to use coins less than one hundred coins as one hundred coins, which was called "short change". If you carried a string of coins to buy rice, the shopkeeper would only count out eight hundred coins or even less and consider it the correct amount.

Silk was also a form of hard currency; a bolt of plain silk could be worth several hundred coins, and it was much lighter to carry than heavy copper coins. Gold, on the other hand, only appeared at banquets of the wealthy and for lavish rewards and bribes; one tael could be exchanged for seven or eight thousand coins. As for silver, it was not yet widely circulated among the common people in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

At this moment, Yin Xin counted out a thousand coins, which weighed several kilograms, and placed them heavily on the counter.

Zhu Yingtai said, "Wrap it up."

The woman took a piece of blue cloth, folded her linen robe, wrapped it tightly, and tied it with hemp rope.

Yin Xin put the bundle of clothes into her bag and carried the bag on her back.

Lost in thought, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai walked out of the Su family clothing store.

In total, Zhu Yingtai has spent 1,410 coins on him today, giving him two reams of Shanxi rattan paper, a stick of pine soot ink, a rabbit hair brush, a natural-colored hemp cloth belt, a piece of light gray fine hemp cloth, and a light gray hemp cloth deep robe.

This is equivalent to more than a month's food expenses for a middle-class family, or three months' wages for a page.

For Zhu Yingtai, it meant nothing.

But for a poor scholar like Liang Shanbo, it was a profound and heartfelt gesture.

Moreover, all of these items were for the use of ordinary scholars, and none of them violated regulations or contravened the set of rules on "wearing strange and excessive clothing" that were centered on aristocratic class hierarchy and used "public opinion" as a weapon.

In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, what one wore and used was never a personal matter. Commoners were forbidden from wearing official colors such as purple, scarlet, and vermilion, and were forbidden from wearing gold sable and jade belts, or adorning themselves with dragon, phoenix, and qilin patterns. This was written in the "Jin Code".

But an even heavier constraint came from the invisible "public opinion." The powerful clans ridiculed those from humble backgrounds who dressed in a manner that exceeded their social standing, calling it a strange omen that disrupted the order of rank, and even ruining their reputation and cutting off their path to officialdom through the recommendation system.

A person's social standing, future prospects, and reputation are all worn on their body.

Zhu Yingtai understood this.

Therefore, none of the items she bought for Liang Shanbo were out of order. Yet, each item she bought was extraordinary within the ordinary. She sought purity rather than price, and quality rather than embellishment in each piece.

Zhu Yingtai put a lot of thought into choosing these items.

How could Liang Shanbo not see it?

Thinking of this, Liang Shanbo stopped and turned around to call out, "Brother."

Zhu Yingtai stopped and looked at him.

Liang Shanbo said, "You shouldn't have spent so much money on me."

Zhu Yingtai raised her chin slightly: "Brother Liang, there's no need to worry! I can afford such expenses. We are sworn brothers."

Liang Shanbo felt a warmth in his heart, paused for a moment, and then nodded, saying, "Thank you very much, my brother, for today."

Watching her young lady's cheerful demeanor, Yin Xin glanced at Liang Shanbo and sighed inwardly, "My dear lady, you're buying this and that for Liang Shanbo, spending more money than you're buying for yourself. You're being a bit too devoted to being his 'brother'!"

She didn't say these words aloud, but simply tightened the straps of her luggage.

Liang Shanbo thought to himself, "This money should be returned to Zhu Yingtai. I'm already living off her, and if I accept these gifts today, I'd be hardly a man."

He already had a way to make money in mind...