The Eighteenth Century of Xuyang in the Red Chamber

Dongguan Street was really lively, so Xu Yang got off his horse and asked the boy to lead him.I wandered into the stationery shop that sold Western stationery where he bought charcoal pencils.

The shopkeeper smiled when he saw him: "It's Mr. Xu! Is the charcoal pencil I took last time still usable? The fan I just asked to sell is going back to China, and sold many things he didn't use. I see him It was sold cheaply, so I collected all his oil paints, canvases and brushes. There is also a big box of good charcoal pencils... By the way, there is also a box of Fanren's books. He said they were novels, and I couldn't understand them. But he said that what he brought was for entertainment on the way here, and they were not rare books. He was not interested in reading it again on the way back, so he simply gave me 30 taels of silver. If you can understand, I will not increase the price. , 30 taels, why don't you just take it?" He said as he brought a rattan box over.

Xu Yang didn't believe his lies, and opened the rattan box. There were twenty or thirty books in it, most of them were English books, and a few were French. It seemed that the owner of this book should be an Englishman.Looking at the quality of the books again, the top few books are not bad, just a little yellowed, but when you turn the bottom, there are a few worn-out books with hairy edges, and the bottom five or six books are barely worth a book. It looked like half of the pages of the book were missing, apparently eaten by mice or insects.Then he laughed and scolded unceremoniously: "Could it be that the shopkeeper treats me as a child and coaxes me to play? A few printed novels, which are the most worthless pastime in Europa, can be bought by even a little educated sailor. A book like this is the hype that those people said, would you pay 30 taels for it? Thirty taels is about the same!"

The shopkeeper's old face blushed, but after all, he was used to doing business, and it was clear that no one could understand this thing, so he accepted it for this young master Xu who knew a little about all kinds of messy things, so naturally he refused to let him The business ran away: "No matter how you say it, it's tens of thousands of miles away..."

"Even if the little piggy has traveled tens of thousands of miles, he will only become an old pig! I won't make it difficult for you. You obviously collected this thing for me, and I won't let you lose money, five taels of silver! Three Two taels of money, and I will give you two taels of hard-earned money!"

The shopkeeper had a bitter face and bargained with him for a long time, but he was very happy in his heart. In fact, where is the cost?These books are simply an addition to those people who sold his brushes and paints!It turned out that the businessman’s wife had used these books to relieve boredom. His wife stayed with him in China for a year, and because it was difficult to adapt to the life here, she returned to China first. The important things were taken away long ago, and the rest of the books she had read I threw it to my husband.The businessman had no interest in these books at all, and he didn't bother to take them with him when he returned home, so he simply gave them away when he disposed of the goods.

Of course, this businessman is not in the stationery business. He has traveled thousands of miles to China to make Western painting equipment, so he has to pay for it?He brought Western clocks and mirrors in exchange for Chinese silk and porcelain... He brought Western pens, inks and painting tools to China, and then brought Chinese pens, inks, papers and inkstones to Europe. Sell ​​some more.Of course, the more important reason is still that his wife likes to paint, so she simply brought a lot of them, sold them, and used them conveniently...

But it was cheaper for Xu Yang. Xu Yang cheerfully picked and picked among the piles of gadgets that the shopkeeper had collected from the Europa merchant. He swept away more than half of the things in the room: a rattan box of old books, A large camphor wood box is full of charcoal pens and oil paint brushes - you must know that professional brushes are very expensive to use in sets. Even in Yangzhou, western brushes are not easy to buy. Buy more at least ten. There is no need to look for it in eight years.Then there are four bundles of oil canvas wrapped in oilcloth, which can only be lifted by a few people... The canvas is indeed very good, much better than the production line that Xu Yang used in modern times.There are also paints in various large and small bottles and cans, and even several barrels of unopened linseed oil, several jars of wax for oil paints and other types of oils, and a complete set of tools, palette, Oil cans, painting sticks, sandpaper, pumice boards, brushes, scrapers, pestles, rulers, scissors, pliers, tape, clamps, scales, mortars...

To be honest, Xu Yang really spent most of his efforts on brush calligraphy, but he is really more than this one specialty.Calligraphy and painting are not separated, Xu Yang can write, and naturally he can draw a few strokes, but Xu Yang's Chinese painting is really not very good, he is good at Western painting.

Xu Yang's major is Chinese, and he has practiced brush calligraphy for eleven or twelve years since he was a child. His teacher is a master of calligraphy and painting, so although he specializes in brush calligraphy, he can still draw a few strokes of Chinese painting, but although he writes Chinese characters well, Chinese painting In terms of talent, he really lacked some talent, so his teacher didn't force him to paint.But Xu's mother specializes in painting Western paintings, and her job is to teach oil painting at the university. Can a painting professor in a fine arts academy be poor?Xu Yang is also her son after all. Chinese parents always hope that their children can inherit their careers, but Xu Yang prefers brush calligraphy. Xu's mother did not force him to major in this, but taught him since he was a child.

Although Xu Yang's level of oil painting is not as talented as that of brush calligraphy, it is still much better than his ink painting. He is a bit talented in this area, and his mother's university professor is not for nothing... However, even if Xu Yang's oil painting is from a small flower to a big one, the corners of his mouth twitch when he looks at the ancient powder paint, God!This thing is much more complicated to use than grinding ink!But although I know it's very troublesome, but after passing this village, there will be no such shop. If I don't buy it now, who knows where I can find it if I want to buy it all in the future.

So Xu Yang became ruthless, and except for some damaged and really useful things, he insisted on rounding up most of the western painting utensils.

It was really cool when I bought it, but Xu Yang was stupid when he settled the bill, it was too cheating, learning to paint is a waste of money in modern times, let alone ancient times?And these things are shipped across the ocean.What's more important is that there is no father Xu and mother to pay him now, his own pocket money... It's really a lot, but it's really not enough!

Xu Yang and Lin Daiyu have the same monthly pocket money, ten taels of silver.Although the life of Lin's family is simpler than that of Jia's mansion, but because it is simpler than that of Jia's mansion, the expenses are also less.The Lin Mansion had never had the habit of raising old servants, and the servants of the third generation at most must have donated silver and let them go out as good citizens. A few years ago, Jia Min passed away, and more than half of the people in the mansion were dispersed. , So including the dozen or so old family members brought back by Mrs. Xu, the maids and the servants who went out with Lin Ruhai to do errands, there are only more than 40 servants in the back house, and there are only four and a half masters.

Although Lin Ruhai is incorruptible, after all, several generations of the Hou family have an annual income of 4000 to 5000 taels from the manor, and a few shops can also earn three to [-] taels, and they don't have such extravagant habits. Quite affluent, although Mrs. Xu has dispersed her husband’s family’s money, she still keeps all the good-profit shops in her hands. She also has a dowry shop on the farm, and she can still collect [-] taels a year if added together. She is a widow. There is no interpersonal communication, so it is also very rich.

The two young masters in the mansion are both single seedlings, so although it doesn't look as rich as the Jia's mansion from the outside, the pocket money is much more than the quota of the Jia family's young ladies and young masters.Of course, this is also because the two children really don’t spend money indiscriminately, and they always like to go out or send their servants to buy things directly, so they simply give more pocket money, but in this case, they are not allowed to think of anything else. When adults ask for money, they have to learn how to exchange flowers by themselves.For example, although Lin Daiyu has almost all the books in the house, Lin Ruhai often gives her books, but she spends five or six taels every month to buy new books, so she will never ask Aunt Meng for it.Compared with Xu Yang's monthly odds and ends, it's a lot of mess, but it's not a waste of money.

Of course, these ten taels were actually not enough for them to live on, it was really just pocket money.

Speaking of which, the pen, ink, paper, inkstone, clothes, shoes and hats of these two people really cost money!Needless to say, pens, inks, papers and inkstones, Aunt Meng prepared them for Lin Ruhai when she prepared them. Naturally, inkstones don’t need to be bought often, but they cost a few yuan for ink every month. Pens are sent to their study one by one. , From the high-quality paper with a dozen taels of silver to the ordinary tissue paper used in daily practice, I have always used it casually. The price is really amazingly expensive!No wonder most scholars are poor. Even if they use ordinary paper and pen, if they are not from rich families, wouldn’t it be necessary to empty out their homes to become a scholar? ?

Clothes and shoes are also a big item of money.Xu Yang went out in spring wearing a silk dress with four or five layers inside and out. He asked casually and found that it was worth more than 50 taels. This is because Xu Yang didn’t have many accessories. One hundred taels!Lin Daiyu's clothes are even more frightening. The clothes Chunwei wore on the first day of school were new from the inside to the outside. Although fur is not used in winter, the embroidery on it alone took half a month for the embroiderer to embroider. It cost 130 taels, not counting jewelry.

Of course, this is not because the Lin family is ostentatious, but because the current fashion is such that children always wear their best clothes when they go out.In fact, Lin Daiyu also often wears a fine cotton inner jacket at home, and an ordinary short skirt and jacket without embroidery, and her whole body is only in twos and fives—this is what she wore when exercising with Xu Yang.

Of course, even if sister Lin is exercising, she can't go for a morning run.But wearing short clothes to play Cuju is a very good choice.During the Tang and Song Dynasties, too many women played Cuju, and noble women loved polo and other fitness activities. Unfortunately, since the Ming Dynasty, women have gradually been locked up in deep houses. Fortunately, in recent years, the sea trade has developed, and the Dajiang Dynasty has contact with the outside world. There are also a lot of them, so in the south, especially along the coast and along the Yangtze River, girls gradually began to come out of the courtyard again, and there were more activities, such as women's school.As for women's sports, although women's cuju polo is not as popular as it was in Tang Dynasty, no one will say anything about having fun at home. At this time, medicine is advanced, and it is almost impossible to exercise more to be healthy. A health-preserving statement that has become popular in recent years.

Lin Ruhai, who loves her daughter like her life, even let her daughter ride a horse, so what is cuju?Lin Ruhai is already open-minded, so sister Lin often wears short clothes to play football at home.What's even more deceitful is that sister Lin's physical strength is not very good, but her accuracy is excellent. Xu Yang often secretly sighs: "So the Chinese women's football team has a history!" For pocket money, it is okay for Xu Yang to buy little gadgets for Sister Lin to make her happy, but with so many western painting utensils, his pocket money is too insufficient!

A total of 200 taels of silver was the final price after Xu Yang finished the bargain. In the end, the box of books was added again, and the five taels of silver were squeezed out to round up the price after the bargain.To be honest, it's really not expensive, things sent from thousands of miles away, so a lot of things are probably enough for the family's carriage to finish in one trip, but the money is really not enough!The pocket money for the past few months was really not much spent. The biggest expense was the family wine toy set for Sister Lin, ten taels of silver!But in this way, the pocket money saved is less than 20 taels, which is too far away from 200 taels!

However, Xu Yang still had a huge sum of money that he hadn't used, and that was the lucky money given to him by Lin Ruhai and Mrs. Xu.It is a total of 16 taels of gold, and it is of excellent quality. It can always be exchanged for 80 taels of silver.However, no one would carry such a huge sum of money with them. It was too heavy and unsafe, so they negotiated and took ten taels of silver as a deposit. If so, he will naturally come out to pay the bill.

Xu Yang bought things, although it hurts to spend money, but the education he has received since childhood is like this, spending money is nothing, it is good not to spend money recklessly.My mother is a professional painter, so buying things for painting is certainly not a waste of money for Xu Yang.Although this time it was really bankrupt, but he was in a good mood, so he happily rode back to the Lin Mansion.