Chapter 157:
“Speak, what do you want?” Young Master Jiang sat at the head seat, coldly looking at Luo Zhi’er.
He originally thought this person of hers was still acceptable, different from other women.
No more than that. Since she was unwilling to say it in front of everyone, it meant the thing she wanted couldn’t be known by others.
Nothing more than those two things.
He was very rich, silver was not an issue, it just depended on whether she was worth it.
Could it be that she had ideas about him?
Hehe! Deep in his heart he felt contempt. He had thought too highly of her. Women were all like this, regardless of beauty or ugliness, fat or thin, false affection, hypocritical.
Bei Yao valued her so much. He didn’t know if it was his illusion, but he felt Bei Yao treated her differently from other women.
He must help his friend recognize her hypocritical face.
“What, too embarrassed to speak?”
Luo Zhi’er bit her lips.
“Heh, I, Young Master Jiang, have plenty of silver, and haven’t married yet. As for looks, not bad either, on par with Bei Yao.”
The man tugged at his collar, gradually approaching. His breath hit her chubby face, carrying a faint tipsy scent. “How about it, want to give it a try?”
The exhaled breath even blew up the stray hairs on her forehead.
So close, she could even feel his vaguely defined pecs!
Li Xi’er thought to herself, what the heck is this situation?
I’m so fat, and you can still make a move?
No wonder this man had a bad reputation. Rumors said he kept a mistress in a golden house, reveled every night, loved beauties but not the cloth workshop.
So his true face was really like this?
Luo Zhi’er retreated eight meters away like a gust of wind, hands on hips, rolling her eyes at him.
“Young Master Jiang, please have some self-respect!”
The man was stunned, looking at the fat woman huffing not far away, suddenly bursting into laughter: “Interesting.”
Luo Zhi’er took a deep breath, her face flushed with anger. “Young Master Jiang, you misunderstood. This little one is already married, has a daughter, and a husband. Her husband is Li Sanmao, a man of precious character, and very handsome.”
You have no chance.
The man paused. “You’re really already married?”
Luo Zhi’er quickly nodded like a chick pecking rice.
Young Master Jiang suddenly felt a bit awkward. Then what was he doing just now? “Cough, well, this young master was rude.”
He had misunderstood Bei Yao.
Luo Zhi’er quickly knelt down. “Young Master Jiang, actually I came today to beg something of you.”
“Oh?”
The man went back to his seat, looking at her with some interest, lazily saying: “What is it?”
“My husband”
“What relationship does he have with this young master?”
“Li Sanmao!”
Young Master Jiang thought to himself this Li Sanmao name seemed familiar, like he’d heard it somewhere. Her man?
“Your husband? Li Sanmao?”
“Cough, he’s in the big prison, locked up by you.”
“What?”
The man immediately stood up.
He locked him up? When did he lock up Li Sanmao?
No, recently the only ones locked up were from Chen Ji Shop. What relationship did Li Sanmao have with him?
Oh, he seemed to remember. Chen Pi’s second son-in-law was surnamed Li. Their Chen Shi people insisted it was Li Lei who did it, claiming they were all innocent.
This Li Lei was surnamed Li, Li Sanmao also surnamed Li. Could they be family?
“What relation are you to Chen Ji?”
“Reporting to the young master, this little woman’s man is Li Lei’s younger brother, ranked third, Li Lei is San Mao’s second brother.”
Young Master Jiang sneered.
“Hehe, so that’s it. You’d better go back on this matter, no chance!”
Luo Zhi’er hadn’t even said it and he already knew what it was about.
So she was that woman Bei Yao asked him to let go?
Truly ungrateful, ambitions higher than the sky, life thinner than paper. Let her go, and now she wanted him to release another person?
On what basis?
After all that cooking and making cake, it turned out she had ulterior motives.
Not small skill, able to get Bei Yao to plead for her, and release her.
“Impossible! You think just because you made a few dishes to please the old madam, I would release your man? What wishful thinking!”
Doesn’t even look at who she is.
“Men, see the guest out!”
“No!” Luo Zhi’er knew she could see Young Master Jiang today thanks to Ye Beiyao’s great help. She couldn’t cause trouble for Ye Beiyao.
Thinking for a moment, she immediately said, “Young Master Jiang, I know selling fake goods is very important to you, but I can help you make up for it elsewhere. I’m actually not here to beg you to release San Mao for free. I’m here to talk cooperation with you. What if I can take Hong Futai’s business to the next level?”
“What?”
“I mean, release San Mao as the condition I offer you!”
“Hehe, such big talk. You can take Hong Futai to the next level?”
Young Master Jiang seemed to hear the funniest joke in the world. A rural woman, never seen the world. Even he, Young Master Jiang raised in Jiang Mansion since childhood, knew nothing about cloth dyeing, let alone operations and sales.
Luo Zhi’er boldly met his distrustful gaze. “I’m not asking you to release him for nothing. What if the benefits I give you far outweigh locking up Li Sanmao?”
Young Master Jiang’s gaze was sharp, eyes gleaming as he looked at her. She showed no sign of panic.
“How about it, want to hear it?”
The woman looked serious, her round eyes rolling.
“Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! For Bei Yao’s sake, you’d better leave quickly!”
Don’t humiliate yourself!
Luo Zhi’er cleared her throat, confidently speaking at length.
“Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple, called the seven colors.”
“Blue, yellow, red, white, black called the five colors. These brilliant multicolored hues all come from herbs and ore. Our Jiangnan Hong Futai’s printing and dyeing is also divided into herb dyeing and ore dyeing.”
“What? How do you know?”
There was a trace of astonishment in Young Master Jiang’s eyes, somewhat shocked. This was cloth dyeing secret information. How did she know?
But thinking back, she must have learned some things to dare come find him.
He gestured for her to continue.
“Take blue as an example. There are five dyes for blue alone: pine, Liao, horse, wood, amaranth. Dyes made from them can dye cloth blue. This is the origin of the student surpasses the master.
During dyeing, different times and numbers of dips produce different colors and shades. The longer the soaking, the deeper the cloth’s color. The more times, the richer the color layers.
During dyeing, the cloth is green in the vat. When taken out and exposed to air for a while, it turns into simple, serene, elegant indigo blue.”
“Tree bark, tree roots, leaves, fruit, fruit shells, fruit; fresh flowers, flower leaves, dried flowers, flower fruit from flowers; fruit peels, fruit, fruit juice from fruits, as well as herbaceous plants, traditional Chinese medicine, tea leaves can all be used for dyeing. Mineral dyes like cinnabar, ochre, malachite; animal dyes like cochineal, purple shell insects, squid ink.”
“You just”
Light shone in Young Master Jiang’s eyes as he held back from agreeing, entranced. Some things she said he didn’t even know.
The mysteries of cloth dyeing were too complex; he hadn’t fully grasped them. The dyes she mentioned, and multiple dyeing, the cloth workshop didn’t have them actually. Some things she knew more about than he did. After all, he had never entered the cloth dyeing operation site.
This matter was handled by Second Uncle, and only Jiang Xuan could participate.
Moreover, the dyes she mentioned, like for blue, he had heard his father mention. Their family used indigo grass, and his father always worried about insufficient raw materials.
Turns out there were others. This way, when raw materials were short, they could find substitutes.
Could this amaranth be grown themselves? Or cooperate with large planters?
Young Master Jiang’s mind was already starting to turn with thoughts.
Luo Zhi’er was still speaking.
“As for our Hong Futai Cloth Workshop’s proud blue printed cloth, using indigo grass as dye, soybean powder and lime paste as printing paste, carving hollow flower boards, then scraping paste, dyeing, drying, washing.”
The more she spoke, the more shocked Young Master Jiang’s eyes became, even stern. He, an insider, didn’t know their family’s cloth dyeing techniques in such detail. How did she?
“But our cloth dyeing has many shortcomings: single colors, not sun-resistant, prone to fading, uneven colors, each time the shades differ.”
Young Master Jiang’s eyes flickered.
“Exactly. Because it doesn’t meet merchants’ standards, each time lots of effort to rework, or waste large amounts of cloth, material losses and labor.”
To the point of having to explain to sales merchants, delaying. Last time he didn’t communicate well, nearly losing a major client in Jiangnan area.
“This is also the reason cloth is expensive.”
Luo Zhi’er followed up.
Young Master Jiang nodded.
“Could it be you have some method?”
