Chapter Forty-One: Rouge and Powder

In the evening, Village Chief He arrived at Xiao Ding’s house. After exchanging pleasantries, the chief asked Tian Dabao about Xiao Ding’s intention to purchase land.

Actually, after Xiao Ding returned from the chief’s house, he had already discussed his plan to buy land with his family. According to Tian Dabao, it would suffice to just buy the plot where their own yard stood; it would cost no more than ten or twenty taels of silver.

But Xiao Ding disagreed. He said the land inside the yard was too small; if it wasn’t enough in the future, they would have to buy more, which would be a hassle. It would be better to buy a larger area at once, which would be convenient for any future plans.

Tian Dabao had no idea that Xiao Ding still had money from selling ginseng. He thought that, with only a little over thirty taels of silver, after purchasing the yard, there wouldn’t be much left, and besides, the money in Xiao Ding’s hands had been earned at great personal risk. He said no more.

Li, as usual, had little opinion of her own; as long as Tian Dabao didn’t object, she wouldn’t either. The children had always looked forward to buying land and building a house; they didn’t care how much it cost.

So when the chief asked Tian Dabao, he simply nodded to show he was already aware of it. This time, the chief said no more, chatted about other matters for a while, and then took his leave.

That night, Er Niu again took off her outer clothes and slipped into Xiao Ding’s bedding.

Xiao Ding had actually bought two more quilts in town during the day to keep as spares. Last time, he had bought enough for everyone, but then Tang Yunzhi arrived, leaving them one short. This time, Xiao Ding had deliberately bought extra, hoping Er Niu would sleep in her own bed.

But Er Niu stubbornly refused, accusing Xiao Ding of disliking her and wanting to cast her aside.

Xiao Ding was speechless. Looking around at the cramped hut, he realized it would actually be a bit tight for two people to sleep apart. Then, seeing Er Niu’s aggrieved little face, he decided to let it go for now. They would make do until they bought land and built a proper house; then they could sleep separately.

Seeing that Xiao Ding had agreed, Er Niu was overjoyed. She lifted his quilt and slipped in. Suddenly, she remembered something, jumped back out, and crawled into a corner of the hut to rummage for something.

Xiao Ding couldn’t help but feel awkward as he watched Er Niu, dressed only in a dudou and open-crotch trousers. Although she was still young and undeveloped, she was half-grown, and it was rather unseemly to be so exposed.

He suddenly thought of the women’s underwear styles from his previous world—garments that both preserved modesty and highlighted a woman’s figure, and were easy to wear.

Er Niu and Xiao E had learned needlework from a young age; sewing clothes and embroidering handkerchiefs were well within their abilities. Xiao Ding resolved that, when he had time, he would buy some paper and ink, draw up some designs for undergarments, and have Er Niu and the others make themselves a few sets.

Er Niu soon returned from the corner with a cloth pouch—the very one Xiao Ding had used to carry silver during the day. When he came back, he had handed it to Er Niu for safekeeping in the hut.

There were over two hundred taels of silver—four ingots of fifty taels each, three of ten taels, plus some loose silver. The pouch bulged with it. Xiao Ding couldn’t carry it around all the time.

“Husband, how much silver is in here? It’s so heavy!” Er Niu cradled the pouch, her hand rummaging inside, her expression one of utter delight.

“Altogether, a little over two hundred and thirty taels,” Xiao Ding answered honestly.

“So much? Was it all from selling ginseng?” Er Niu had never seen so much silver in her life and was even more reluctant to let go of the pouch.

“Yes, that ginseng was over a hundred years old. The apothecary’s manager immediately offered me two hundred taels for it,” Xiao Ding replied.

“How much will tomorrow’s land purchase cost?” Er Niu asked.

“I can’t say for sure—maybe a few dozen taels, but if it’s a lot, we might spend it all…” Xiao Ding guessed.

“Ah…” Hearing they might have to spend it all, Er Niu was deeply reluctant.

She fretted for a long while, then whispered, “Husband, may I ask you something…”

Xiao Ding was taken aback. “What is it?”

“Husband, may I keep a little silver for myself?” She fixed her gaze anxiously on his face, afraid of being refused.

“Oh? What do you want to buy?” Xiao Ding asked curiously.

“I want… I want… I’d like to buy some rouge…” Her voice faded, and she dropped her head, not daring to meet his eyes.

“Oh, I see!” Xiao Ding suddenly understood and felt a pang of guilt. Being a man, he knew little of a girl’s needs. Twice he had gone to town and bought many things, yet not once had he brought back any cosmetics or jewelry—those things girls liked most.

All girls love beauty, even those from poor families.

In truth, Er Niu had seen Tang Yunzhi using rouge and face powder, and wearing all kinds of jewelry, and she had been deeply envious. That was why she timidly made her request, only mentioning rouge and not daring to ask for more, not even daring to bring up jewelry.

“If you don’t have enough silver, I don’t need any…” Er Niu hurriedly retracted her request, thinking Xiao Ding’s silence meant he was displeased.

Xiao Ding stroked her cheek, smiling. “Of course I’ll buy it for you. Next time I go to town, I’ll be sure to bring you some rouge and powder, and jewelry too. If I have money to spare, I’ll buy you even more!”

“Really, husband? I’m so happy!” Er Niu was at a loss for words from joy. She suddenly kissed Xiao Ding on the cheek, then, blushing, lay against his chest as she always did, not daring to look at him again.

“All right, time for bed. Tomorrow, let’s settle the business of buying land first,” Xiao Ding said, fondly patting her hair.

“Mm!” Er Niu answered sweetly, set the silver aside, and curled up on Xiao Ding’s chest…

The next morning, Village Chief He brought Xiao Ding, along with his two grandsons He Nian and He Bi, to measure the land.

The method was simple: they found a long rope and measured its length with a ruler, tying knots at every chi, five chi, and one zhang. Then, after tying more knots at five zhang and ten zhang, they could use the rope for measuring.

In this era, length was measured in zhang, chi, and cun. A ten-zhang rope was over thirty meters long, making land measurement much easier.

Once they finished, the area west of the village, together with Xiao Ding’s yard, amounted to about thirty-seven mu; the small hill, calculated by measuring its circumference, came to around sixty-two mu.

After lunch, Village Chief He took Xiao Ding into town to see the headman of Luoxia Town to register the land.

In this era, the headman was equivalent to a town mayor.

Xiao Ding brought the silver, hitched up the donkey cart, and drove Village Chief He to town, chatting along the way.

Through their conversation, Xiao Ding learned that the country they lived in was called the Great Song Kingdom. He had thought it was the Song Dynasty of ancient China, but the chief corrected him: “Song Dynasty? No, it’s the Great Song Kingdom, not the Song Dynasty!”

The emperor of the Great Song Kingdom bore the surname Song, but unlike what Xiao Ding knew, this was not the Zhao family’s Northern or Southern Song, nor the Liu family’s Song that replaced the Eastern Jin during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

The Great Song Kingdom was divided into sixteen provinces, and Luoxia County was part of Yong Province. Xiao Ding had no idea where Yong Province was located, but it was clear that this Great Song Kingdom was not the same as the one he knew from history, and its territorial divisions were different as well.

Village Chief He was not well-educated and had never traveled far. He couldn’t pinpoint where Yong Province was, but he knew it was in the north of the Great Song Kingdom, and he had heard that the Great Xia Kingdom and the Great Huihu Kingdom lay to the west, and the Great Khara Kingdom to the north—all not very far away.

“The Great Song Kingdom, Great Xia Kingdom, Great Huihu Kingdom, Great Khara Kingdom—do all the countries of this era like to use the word ‘Great’ in their names?” Xiao Ding muttered to himself.

“Haha, you’re exactly right! I’ve heard that to the northeast are the Great Mohe Kingdom and the Great Goryeo Kingdom, to the southwest the Great Tubo Kingdom and the Great Dali Kingdom, and to the south the Great Nanman Kingdom…” Village Chief He had picked up this information over a decade ago from an army officer during a conscription.

Xiao Ding: “…”

Some of these country names sounded familiar, others he had never heard before.