Living on a Mountain with my Husband

Chapter 18: Shopping

Zimo and Mrs Li entered the fabric store. Zimo was naturally curious and attracted to everything around him. He looked around, enjoying the beautiful sight of the variety of colours.

While Zimo was looking around. Mrs Li quickly walked over to the shopkeeper.

"Hello, I'm looking for some warm thick clothes. Two outfits for the day time, one for at night when he sleeps. The day clothes should have one slightly thinner in case the weather turns is hot, and something very thick in case it rains and the temperature became cool." Mrs Li, was not playing around.

After hearing what the doctor had said about Zimo's body, her maternal instincts kicked in. She had every intention to get Zimo exactly what he needed no matter the cost. She had even planned to return later to buy some fabric and make some clothes for Zimo herself.

The shop keeper looked at Zimo, and then turned and walked around the store gathering the different thicknesses, styles, and sizes suitable for Zimo.

Zimo was thin but tall. He also looked young. Therefore something a little looser would be best for him to grow into.  His complexion was fair, this went best with brighter colours, such as teal, blues and greens.

The shopkeeper placed the different outfits in front of Mrs Li for her to chooses from.

Mrs Ali checked each one carefully. Many of them were far too thin. They would be fine for most, but the doctor had said Zimo could easily become sick, and the mountains were cool even cold at night.

"Do you have anything a little thicker? A set of clothes more appropriate for autumn."

The shopkeeper thought for a moment and remembered he had some stock leftover from early spring. He quickly excused himself and went to the back to go get them.

At this time, Zimo was daydreaming in the corner. "The closest of a princess or the empress must look something like this... I wonder who makes all of these clothes. They are very talented. I wonder if I can learn to make clothes a well. I remember reading a novel once and they mentioned how most families make their own clothes. Buying ready made clothes should be very expensive.
That's it. We don't have much money now, but next time we come I'll ask LongWei if I can buy a sewing kit a learn how to make clothes and shoes myself. This way we can save money and I can make something for LongWei to wear..."

The shopkeeper took out a few more outfits which satisfied Mrs Li's criteria.

"Zimo, come here, please. Take a look and tell me which ones do you prefer?" Mrs Li asked,

Zimo did not notice Mrs Li calling him. He was daydreaming. However Mrs Li did not get angry or impatient. She recalled how Zimo could not hear well, and simply tapped him lightly on the shoulder to get his attention.

Zimo turned towards her a little frightened. Mrs Li's heart sank seeing Zimo immediately curl up and look down.

"XiaoMo, can you come over here? I want you to look at some clothes and choose what you like best." Mrs Li spoke in a gentle voice, loud enough to ensure he could hear her, but not so much he would become more frightened.

Zimo's mood instantly lifted, he smiled towards Mrs Li and followed her over to the table.

After some thought, Zimo chose the light two light blue and one thicker dark teal. He liked the light blue because LongWei wore a dark blue. As for the clothes at night there wasn't much choice. It was simply white.

They originally planned to by another quilt, but they were quite expensive. So Mrs Li decided she would give LongWei and Zimo the quilt her family used in the fall, and make herself a new one later.

"This is the first time I've gone new clothes before." He thought as he looked back on his past life. Although he had been living on his own for quite some time and had some money. He was never "rich", so Zimo would always go to the secondhand store to buy just about everything.

"Mrs Li, thank you for helping me shop. I'm very ignorant about these things." Zimo said as he began to quickly pack the clothes into his bamboo basket.

...

Time went by quickly, and the four people soon met again at the household store. They had spend quite a bit of money and only three silver remained, but it was okay. They had bought the most important items.

LongWei had hoped to give old man Li 8 silver for the mule, cart and a few items, but because of the medical costs, and there trip to town. His funds were running very low, so old man Li made a deal with LongWei. When he recovered, he had to get him a roe deer to eat. At first LongWei wanted to reject it. But giving old man Li only three silver for his mule and cart did not seem like enough.

"I can't predict when I will catch a roe deer next." LongWei said.

"Hahaha, don't worry about it. I trust your skills. Besides a whole roe deer if worth at worst 20 silver. You should be then one upset in this deal. Not because you owe me a debt, but because I ripping you off." Old man Li said as he laughed.

LongWei still wanted to reject the offer but, money was very tight now and there were a few things Zimo had mentioned wanting. If he wanted to buy them they could only use the last three silver. After mulling it over in his head, LongWei finally gave in.

"I promise a roe deer will be brought to you as soon as possible. You have my word." LongWei said, with an expression reminiscent of a man pledging his life to his master.

Old man Li couldn't help but laugh once more

"No need to be so serious. I trust you LongWei."

Just after they had made a deal, Mrs Li and Zimo returned.

"LongWei, I got three new outfits and a new robe to wear at night. Is it okay? They were a bit expensive, but I promise to take very good care of them and make sure they last for the next ten years." Zimo said.

He was very excited about the clothes, but then he remembered how they had only bought him new clothes and he didn't hear the price when Mrs Li paid the shopkeeper, but he couldn't  imagine them being cheap.

"They don't need to last for the next ten years, Zimo. It's true we don't have much money now, but once I have a chance to hunt on the mountain we will make back every coin we spent and more. Don't worry and wear the clothes." LongWei reassured him.

Clap...

"Let's quickly finish up here and head back." Old man Li said as he clapped his hands.

The four of them entered the household store and began looking around. First, Zimo tried to find the pestle. He was t sure if he could find it, but doctors probably used them when making medicine so he had some hope.

"Zimo, will these pots be big enough?" LongWei asked.

The pots weren't very big. About the size of a modern day mason jar. Zimo would have liked something a little bigger for the pickled vegetables and oyster sauce he planned to try making, but it was probably for the best to have something smaller. Just in case it didn't work, he would not feel as bad.

"It should be okay. How many can we buy?"

"It will cost 1 silver for five. Is this enough?" LongWei said.

"Ugh! That so expensive. Are there any that are cheaper?" Zimo said in shock.

"Zimo, don't worry about the cost. Do you think five is enough?"

"Yes, it should be enough, but..."

"Zimo, don't worry." Long Wei interrupted Zimo in a firm voice.

At this time Mrs Li came over holding what looked like a mortar and pestle. It was larger than he imagined, but the idea was the same. It was also a little expensive, but Mrs Li was smart and didn't tell Zimo the price.

While in the shop, they also bought two knives and a second set of dishes for Zimo's use. By the time they had finished, it was already quite late, so the quickly made there way back to the mule and heading back to the Li's home.