Chapter 98
He found it too difficult to sell his goods throughout the various prefectures of Great Qi himself. He lacked people and shops, which meant enormous costs.
So it was better to give the business to them.
However, raising prices was absolutely unacceptable.
Shopkeeper Shen had also mentioned that she had expended considerable effort to obtain so many winter garments. While ordinary people could manage without cosmetics, they would freeze to death without proper winter clothing. This was precisely why she had set low prices to increase sales volume.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Liu Erniang examined the thermal clothing her neighbors had purchased, touching it repeatedly. As an embroiderer, her focus always differed from others.
The fabric was tightly woven, yet it could still return to its original shape after being stretched. Such clothing was really miraculous.
During this period, she had been buried in her work at home, weaving cloth, completely unaware that such excellent garments had appeared outside.
After asking several times to confirm the price was really only five taels, Liu Erniang and Aunt Chen exchanged glances. Both women’s faces brightened with renewed hope.
“Wonderful! In a couple of days, our family can also buy a set. Then I’ll alter the clothes to make them smaller for my daughter to wear. She has a weak constitution and cannot endure the cold winter.”
Aunt Chen spoke with delight while Liu Erniang nodded beside her.
“The person who brought Western Region clothing to Great Qi is really a good person!”
At this price, even families of modest means like theirs could afford to purchase the items with some effort.
“I’ll return to my room to work now.”
Aunt Chen didn’t want to waste a single moment. The sooner she finished her tasks, the sooner she could go to the city to purchase and arrange for the clothing.
At that moment, night fell, and the candles lit throughout the capital resembled a river of stars.
Shen You changed into ancient attire in her bedroom.
The Hanfu she had purchased earlier was designed for aesthetics, with only a circle of rabbit fur around the edges. It wasn’t particularly thick, so she still needed to wear thermal undergarments! The day after tomorrow was the studio exhibition, and she needed to hurry to Great Qi to purchase the necessary items.
Buying experience cards for herself was really expensive. It was sixty thousand yuan, a full six hundred points.
She hoped to find good items today, otherwise she would really feel heartbroken. That money could have paid for so many fine dinners.
When Shen You descended the stairs, Wen Zhi was nearly asleep on the reclining chair. The moment their eyes met, his gaze became slightly stunned.
Wearing ancient costume, she looked extraordinarily stunning, just as she had during their chance encounter at the night market.
He had seen many people in Great Qi, most leaving no particular impression, yet he had noticed her immediately at that time.
He lowered his eyes. “You’re wearing this? The temperature in Great Qi is only five or six degrees now.”
Shen You lifted her ancient costume sleeves, revealing the thick fleece thermal underwear beneath.
“Then let’s go.” There was still a cloak in the carriage anyway.
After closing the door, the two left the alley together. This was Shen You’s first time riding an ancient carriage, and she felt somewhat excited.
As soon as she sat down, she retrieved a flashlight from her portable storage space, adjusted it to the lowest setting, then under Wen Zhi’s indescribable gaze, began examining the carriage’s interior carefully.
Luxurious—it was really luxurious.
The carriage even contained tea sets and refreshments.
The carriage’s internal structure was fascinating to observe. Modern mortise and tenon joints rarely featured such complex construction.
If it weren’t difficult to explain, she would have really wanted to take photographs to share with Professor Li.
Wen Zhi sat nearby, unable to say a word.
After arriving at the night market in the most prosperous district, Shen You headed straight for Great Qi’s jewelry shops, general stores, and antique shops.
This time she had her portable storage space and had brought sufficient silver, so even if she purchased many items, she could store them all.
She was quite curious about what treasures she might find in ancient antique shops.
Even if most items were counterfeit, fakes produced in Great Qi would still be valuable restoration craftsmanship in modern times!
“This wine vessel is really beautiful.” Shen You breathed.
“Madam has excellent taste! This is from the previous dynasty’s palace. Look at this craftsmanship, it’s clearly not an ordinary object. Only fifty taels.” The shopkeeper introduced enthusiastically.
Shen You was about to correct his form of address when Wen Zhi smiled and reached for a gold ingot, but Shen You quickly intercepted his foolish display of wealth.
“Five taels.” She made an offer hurriedly. “It was made at most last year. I’ll give you five taels because the craftsman’s work is good.”
It wasn’t a previous dynasty antique, just contemporary Great Qi craftsmanship. Five taels was actually a reasonable price.
Clearly, throughout history, antique dealers had always priced items so arbitrarily.
The shopkeeper realized that this customer was knowledgeable, and so stopped raising the price, although he still feigned reluctance before finally agreeing.
“Alright, five taels it is.”
Shen You paid the money and contentedly stuffed the item into her cloth bag. “Let’s go, let’s look elsewhere.”
The shopkeeper watched their departing figures and shook his head with a smile.
He hadn’t expected this stunningly handsome young master to be afraid of his wife.
If that young master had really paid with that gold ingot earlier, he would have probably had to sleep in the study after returning home.
He really hoped that all future customers to his shop would be like that young master, wealthy and easily deceived.
“You weren’t about to say ‘keep the change’ next just now, were you?” Shen You looked up at Wen Zhi.
This person was definitely not foolish, so she wondered what had happened just then.
“How did you know?” Wen Zhi’s eyes curved with laughter.
“…” Shen You took a deep breath. “If you have so much money that you don’t know where to spend it, why don’t you throw it in my direction?”
“Alright.”
Wen Zhi agreed so quickly that before Shen You could react, he had already handed over a seal.
“Take this to the money house and my residence to collect funds.”
Shen You: ??? Was this a money-scattering celestial being descended to earth?
“I was just saying it casually. I couldn’t possibly accept this.” Shen You pushed his hand back.
“Bargaining for treasures in antique shops is such an interesting activity. Don’t disrupt the market prices.”
After saying this, she took the lead in entering another shop.
There were too many good items in ancient times to take in at once. There were mortise and tenon boxes, porcelain in various glazes,
Then there were also ancient glass flower vase hairpins.
In Great Qi, the glass she sold was more valuable, but in modern times, the situation was exactly reversed.
Traditional glass was difficult to preserve, so this hairpin represented genuine ancient craftsmanship.
The most exquisite aspect of such flower vase hairpins was that the small opening at the front of the vase could actually hold fresh flowers before being worn in one’s hair.
Naturally, glass was also a precious material in ancient times.
This single hairpin cost one hundred taels, but the perfectly rendered color gradation was indeed worth the price.
Shen You bought it without hesitation.
The shop assistants looked at her with some admiration. While others used bank notes, she carried so much silver when going out and didn’t even feel tired.
On the street, they encountered a stall selling fan paintings, and she heard people nearby saying that the stall owner was a poor scholar.
Shen You returned to select two pieces. The fan paintings were quite affordable, two pieces for only one tael of silver, complete with inscriptions.
Such talent would be considered artistic even in modern times.
“Miss, you are the first person today to purchase my paintings.” The stall owner said with a gentle smile. “Thank you, miss.”
“No need to thank me. If your paintings weren’t good, I wouldn’t have bought them.”
She would mount them with better fan frames when she returned. As Shen You was thinking this, she completely failed to notice the stall owner’s amazed gaze.
He thought he had finally encountered a kindred spirit.
“May I ask the young lady’s surname and given name? This humble student—”
Before he could finish his question, he saw Wen Zhi nearby with an expressionless face, causing the stall owner’s expression to pause.
Then he saw Shen You smiling as she asked him, “What do you think?”
Wen Zhi wanted to say it wasn’t much, but meeting her smile, he changed his response. “Not bad.”
In the end, the stall owner didn’t finish asking his question. Only after Shen You and her companion had left did he crane his neck to look after them.
“I write better characters than this.” Wen Zhi suddenly said.
Shen You responded without understanding, “I’m different. I really can’t write well, so I always look twice when I see good calligraphy.”