Li Xia thought of helping Xia Zhi with some money, such as buying these paper and pens and books for him. But he instinctively felt that if he did so, he would probably be disliked immediately, and from then on, he would no longer be able to be good friends with Xia Zhi and Xiao Hei Yu without any distance.

  Still, he wanted to help.

  "Sixteen, if you like this kind of book, I have a few more at home." Li Xia returned the book to Xia Zhi and accompanied her to the counter to pay.

  "Oh?" Xia Zhi looked at Li Xia.

  "I still have many county annals and prefectural gazetteers that you can't buy in the shops outside. Hmm, if you want to read them, I can lend them to you." Looking at Xia Zhi's face, Li Xia had originally wanted to say give them to her, but ended up saying lend instead.

  "Really?" Xia Zhi's eyes widened slightly, "Li Xia, you must keep your promises!"

  "Of course." Li felt relieved and also became happy. "However, you can't get the book dirty or torn."

  "Need you ask? If you're willing to lend me the book, I'll definitely treasure it." Xia Zhi replied happily, then turned back to pay the shopkeeper.

  An old local gazette, plus paper and pen, together cost nine silver coins and eight cents. It's really expensive! She chose the cheapest one! At this moment, Xia Zhi truly understood why many families couldn't afford to support a scholar. Not to mention tuition fees, even these daily expenses were difficult for ordinary families to provide.

  However, Xia Zhihua didn't mind spending this money at all. Although it was expensive, it was worth the value, and these things were enough for her to use for a while.

  She didn't have to buy so many at once, but she was worried that if the Tian family came back, even if she had money in her hands, she might not be able to buy them so freely.

  They had all paid their money, and the shop assistant helped Xia Zhi pack things up. It was only then that Xia Zhi discovered another problem.

  These things are quite heavy!

  However, when she put it in a basket, she could still lift it. After years of hard work, Xia Zhi was quite strong despite being thin.

  A big hand stretched over, taking the basket from Xia Zhi's hands. Li Xia smiled and took the basket for Xia Zhi. Xia Zhi was still worried about him: "Li Xia, can you carry it? Don't force yourself."

  Li Xia may be dressed in a low-key manner, but he won't be taken for a poor man by Xia Zhi. Not only is he not poor, he should be quite wealthy. A rich second-generation, with no need to carry baskets or shoulder burdens, would he be able to lift these things?

  Li Xia carried a basket with a relaxed expression. "Don't look down on me, this little thing is nothing, I think it's quite light."

  Xia looked at him carefully, seeing that he didn't look strained, and only then did she slightly put her mind at ease. "Li Xia, if you're tired, just say so. I'll take over for a while." She no longer considered Li Xia an outsider.

  Li Xia was delighted and happily accompanied her uncle and cousin out of the stationery store. Summer entered a fabric store again. With the money she had left, buying cloth by the meter was barely enough, but Li Xia was very calculating.

  There are big and small pieces of cloth for sale in fabric stores. If you can make good use of them, they are quite economical. As soon as Xia Zhi enters the store, she rushes to the remnants.

  A piece of large red gauze should be just enough to make a bellyband for Little Black Fish. In addition, there is a piece of bright blue fine silk and a piece of old blue brocade, which should be enough for her to make a handkerchief for herself and Old Lady Xia each. She also picked out three pieces of plain Songjiang fine silk, which should be enough for her and Lanzi's sister to each make a close-fitting little dress. Adding three more pieces of large green cloth, carefully cut, should be enough to make five or six pairs of shoe uppers, just right for Old Master Xia, Old Lady Xia, Little Black Fish, Daqiao and Xiao Shu each to have one pair, with some left over...

  "Li Xia, I'll make a pair of shoes for you too." Xia Zhi suddenly said to Li Xia.

  Because he had been with Xia Zhi all along, Xia Zhi's soft words were all heard by him. It turned out that Xia Zhi still had his share. Li Xia paused for a moment.

  "But I only make canvas shoes." Xia Zhi said again.

  "Good." Li Xia smiled and nodded, "Canvas shoes are comfortable, I like canvas shoes. Are they thousand-layer soles?"

  He's so refreshing, not only does Little Black Fish think he's got a great personality, but Xia Zhi likes him too.

  "Definitely at the bottom of the thousand layers, I won't deceive you."

  Xia Zhi discussed the price with the shopkeeper and finally paid three hundred fifty cents. The shopkeeper also brought out a lot of palm-sized pieces of cloth, all of which were given to Xia Zhi for free.

  With a happy heart, Xia Zhi walked out of the fabric store and pinched the money in her purse. She turned into the market and bought two roasted chickens, a bag of sugar cubes, a bag of mixed snacks... Xia Zhi made small purchases here and there, eventually spending all the money in her hand, including the ten big coins given by Old Man Xia. The basket was also filled to the brim. To reduce Li Xia's burden, Xia Zhi and Xiao Hei Yu each carried something in their hands, and several packages were hung from Da Qing's neck.

  "You're quite good at buying things, aren't you?" Li Xia said with a deliberate sigh, using an exaggerated tone.

  "It's all the money that I and Sixteen earned today." Little Black said with a smile, then asked Xia Zhi, "Sixteen, did you spend all the money?"

  "It's all spent." Xia Zhi shook her empty money bag. Today, she sold flowers and cherries, earning a total of five mace of silver and 978 copper coins, which added up to almost one and a half taels of silver. After buying things, not a single coin was left in her hands. She couldn't keep any money on hand now, even though she actually had a strong sense of saving and thriftiness.

  The sun had gradually shifted to the west, and the people in the market were also gradually decreasing. Xia Zhi knew that they should go back. Li Xia knew that their car was waiting at the east end of the market, so he said he would send them over.

  "Li Xia, maybe you shouldn't see us off after all." Xia Zhi glanced back at Li Xia.

  Li Xia accompanied them for half a day, and his family sent two groups of young servants to find him, all of whom were dismissed by Li Xia. Finally, another group came, although they didn't call Li Xia away, but they didn't leave either. Because Li Xia wouldn't let them get close, they followed behind at a distance.

  "It's okay, I'll send you off and then go back, I can still make it. I'm too lazy to go back, a group of women chattering nonstop, so annoying."

  Finally, Li Xia still carried a basket and took Xia Zhi and Xiao Hei all the way to the east end of the market.

  Xia Lao Liu and his wife had sold all their baskets, and the two were now packing up their cart, loading on the things they had bought. Li Xia saw that these were two children from the same village as him, and only then did he feel at ease to leave.

  Xia Laoliu and his daughter-in-law had already gotten into the car when Old Man Xia finally arrived.

  Seeing that Xia Zhi and Xiao Hei were both there, Old Man Xia was delighted. When he saw the big bags of things they had bought, the corners of Old Man Xia's mouth twitched.

  "Are these all things you bought?" Old Man Xia asked hesitantly.

  "Uh-huh." Xia Zhi and Xiao Hei Yu both nodded, and Xia Zhi also said to Old Man Xia, "It's all the money we made from selling flowers and cherries. Grandpa, I even spent the ten coins you gave me."

  Old Man Xia didn't know what to say.

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