Chapter 115: Business Opportunity Arrives
Li Jinzhu and Li Yuzhu saw Mrs. Wu off and entered the main hall. Mei Jie followed closely.
“It’s Yinzhu’s mother-in-law, she’s here to…”
“I know, I know, I was just outside and heard it,” Mei Jie interrupted Li Jinzhu, her face tense.
“Mm, Mei Jie, please sit, let’s discuss this,” Li Jinzhu frowned.
“Eldest Sister wants to persuade Third Sister, she’ll definitely be able to,” Li Xiaonan looked at Li Jinzhu.
“Should we persuade her or not?” Li Yuzhu also looked at Li Jinzhu.
“What would be good for Yinzhu?” Li Jinzhu looked at Li Xiaonan.
“She ran to our house to complain, asking Eldest Sister to persuade Third Sister,” Li Xiaonan chuckled.
Li Jinzhu hummed, her upper body relaxing.
“So Old Master Hong doesn’t listen to her, and Hong Er doesn’t listen to her either, so she had to come to our house,” Li Yuzhu smiled.
“In the first lunar month, we went to the Hong family to appreciate flowers and watch opera. In front of us, she asked about the curtains and window screens in the new house courtyard. The stewardess didn’t answer how the curtains or window screens were, she just replied, ‘Please rest assured, Madam.'”
“She can’t even manage the matter of curtains and window screens.
“The Wu family isn’t poor or ruined, they’re doing fine. She’s been married into the Hong family for so many years, and she doesn’t even have the authority to point out curtains and window screens. If Third Sister learns from her, what will she become?” Li Xiaonan looked at Eldest Sister.
Li Yuzhu laughed and lightly patted Li Xiaonan’s head, “A Nan, don’t speak so directly, it’s not good.”
“This little girl is very sharp,” Li Jinzhu said, both angry and amused, pointing her finger at Li Xiaonan’s forehead.
“That’s what’s being said, but Old Master Hong will always go first. What will happen then? She’s the mother-in-law!” Mei Jie frowned, worried.
“There’s no perfect solution. Let’s look at the present. When that time comes, who knows what the situation will be,” Li Jinzhu said after thinking.
Li Yuzhu nodded repeatedly.
This time last year, the five of them, siblings, were in deep despair. At that time, she thought they had reached the gate of hell. Who could have imagined they would have such a life today?
The next morning, as Li Xiaonan was pondering what to do today, a clean and neat servant in green clothes and a green hat delivered a small food box to Li Xiaonan.
The small food box had two layers. The top layer contained the books Li Xiaonan had asked the library to copy yesterday.
The book covers were made of indigo matte silk. When she picked them up, she saw faint hidden patterns. Li Xiaonan looked at them against the light; the hidden patterns were the emblem of their Prince Rui’s Mansion.
Opening them, the paper quality was excellent. The small characters in official script were very small, each stroke clear and beautiful. At the end, the back cover was stamped with a large red seal, bearing the two characters “Run He.”
Li Xiaonan picked up a book and couldn’t help but sigh, “How much silver would a book like this cost?”
Fortunately, their Prince’s Mansion gave them for free.
Li Xiaonan picked up the books. The layer below contained a large bag of pine nut candy and a small bag of dried meat.
Seeing the quantity, Li Xiaonan knew it was from Wan Jing. She took two pine nut candies, popped one into Mei Jie’s mouth, and ate one herself. She repacked the rest and put them in a basket, then sat under the corridor to read the books.
In the evening, Li Xuedong went to the Hong family. Mrs. Wu had already left for Kunshan County that morning. Hong Zhenye had not yet arrived. Li Xuedong left a message, asking that as soon as Hong Zhenye arrived, he be informed and sent to the prefectural school.
The next day was A Wu’s turn to patrol the town. In less than an hour, A Wu rushed back in a hurry.
“It seems like business is coming!” A Wu whispered.
“Someone is selling cloth again?” Li Xiaonan’s heart tightened.
“No, it’s a woman who says she has cloth and wants to talk to the shopkeeper in person, and it’s in Guo Lane.”
“Isn’t that still selling cloth?” Li Xiaonan retorted first, “I’ll tell Mei Jie.”
A Wu watched Li Xiaonan, who had run inside to brief Mei Jie, and thought with a frown.
Yes, indeed, someone was selling cloth!
This grocery store was on the same street as the one where Li Xiaonan was given medicine last time, one at this end, the other at that end.
The woman was in her thirties, neat and capable, sitting on a small bamboo chair by the entrance of the grocery store, rapidly embroidering a shoe upper.
“This is our young shopkeeper,” A Wu jumped off his horse and, before he could even stand steady, pointed at Li Xiaonan and introduced her.
The woman slowly put down her embroidery work, stood up, and carefully examined Li Xiaonan, who had tumbled off the horse.
“My surname is Li, you can call me Miss Li. Do you have cloth to sell?” Li Xiaonan stood firm, brushing her clothing placket, and asked the woman.
“My maiden name is Lu, and my husband’s family name is He. I heard about you collecting fine cloth the other day,” the woman said, looking somewhat disappointed.
This little girl is really young, and her coarse cloth clothes don’t look like those of a wealthy person.
Li Xiaonan looked at her without speaking.
“In the backyard, you didn’t give many instructions to each household,” Sister-in-law Lu continued.
“We are collecting home-woven fine cloth. Home-woven fine cloth is different from fine cloth produced in a weaving workshop. In a weaving workshop, all the masters teach the same way, so their hand strength is similar. Home-woven fine cloth will inevitably have loose and tight sections.
“This is the first point. The second is that it’s hard to distinguish whether the fine cloth has been stored for one or two years, or three or five years,” Li Xiaonan paused, “The kind of incident that happened the day before yesterday is extremely rare. How many families would store fine cloth until it becomes brittle and turns to dust?”
“Young shopkeeper, you are young, but you are indeed knowledgeable. Let’s sit over there and talk. I’ll treat you to a cup of tea,” Sister-in-law Lu became noticeably more enthusiastic, pointing to the tea house opposite.
“Okay.”
Li Xiaonan and Sister-in-law Lu entered the tea house. Sister-in-law Lu only ordered a pot of tea and poured a cup for Li Xiaonan first.
“How do you plan to run this business, young shopkeeper? How much capital do you have?” Sister-in-law Lu asked with a smile.
“I don’t have much capital, but it’s enough to do this small business. As for how you plan to run it, Sister-in-law, I don’t know how to answer,” Li Xiaonan took a sip of tea.
Sister-in-law Lu looked at Li Xiaonan’s coarse cloth clothes, “If this business of collecting fine cloth really takes off, the capital won’t be small.”
“Mm, what are your plans, Sister-in-law?”
“Young shopkeeper, are you collecting this fine cloth for your own use? How much do you plan to collect? How many years can you collect it?” Sister-in-law Lu stared intently at Li Xiaonan.
“The fine cloth collected will be sold to families who need fine cloth. We will collect as much as there is. As long as this business can be done, we will continue to do it.”
“Does anyone really want to buy this home-woven fine cloth? Does the young shopkeeper have buyers?” Sister-in-law Lu pressed.
“Mm,” Li Xiaonan replied with some reluctance.
“I shouldn’t ask about the buyer,” Sister-in-law Lu quickly amended, “Our Hejia Village is only a little over a mile from Guo Lane. It’s a large village. In our village, including myself, there are six people who can weave fine cloth. If you can truly collect fine cloth long-term, we plan to pool money to buy a dobby loom.”
“Six people using one loom?” Li Xiaonan asked.
“Dobby looms are very expensive, and besides,” Sister-in-law Lu stopped her next words and smiled at Li Xiaonan.
Li Xiaonan understood her meaning: investing too much, and if she stopped collecting fine cloth, the loss would be too great.
“How about this: you buy one loom, and I’ll give you another three-harness loom. You can use fine cloth to offset the cost of the looms, how about that?” Li Xiaonan smiled.
“New machine or old machine?” Sister-in-law Lu’s eyes lit up.
“Brand new. Goods from the Ma Family Loom Shop in the city,” Li Xiaonan paused, then continued with a smile, “Also, the current price is the bottom price. If the fine cloth you weave is fine and even, and the patterns are novel and attractive, the price will increase.”
“That’s great! If we really have two looms, we can weave quite quickly. With one loom, it takes two or three days for a bolt of cloth. With two looms, if we hurry, it will be about one bolt a day,” Sister-in-law Lu reminded her.
“Only one bolt of cloth a day,” Li Xiaonan’s mouth turned down.
Sister-in-law Lu laughed, “Alright, we’ll go take a look at the looms first. If there’s anything, we’ll leave a message at the grocery store opposite?”
“Mm,” Li Xiaonan stood up with her, watching Sister-in-law Lu pay for the tea, and they came out together.
