Opening an antique shop and getting rich through all the worlds

Chapter 108

Dawn was breaking faintly, frost had formed a layer on the ground, and the exile convoy at the post station was about to depart.

Knife-like cold wind scraped across faces, everyone huddling their bodies together. If they walked too slowly, they’d definitely get a few lashes of the whip.

Behind them, the capital grew ever more distant, while the road ahead became increasingly desolate and cold.

The He family members clutched tightly the things they’d received yesterday, trying to minimize their presence in the crowd.

To avoid being discovered, they were all wearing warm clothing and had been given a small piece of dried beef. Compared to the others, their situation was much better.

On the other side.

Everyone was rushing to enter the city to sell their goods, because once it got colder, there wouldn’t be many people left on the streets.

In the most bustling district of the capital, the shops selling wonton and hot soup along the street were lively with activity, the smoky atmosphere and hawking cries mixing with the cold wind of early winter.

But Liu Erniang was holding something, walking toward the quiet road on the other side.

The general store on Bluestone Alley was open, and the shopkeeper inside, seeing her standing nearby, first sized her up with a glance before speaking in an unperturbed manner,

“Miss, are you looking for someone?”

Liu Erniang was stunned for a moment, thinking of the general store that Miss Shen had mentioned before. This should be the one, so she spoke carefully,

“I’m here to deliver goods to Miss Shen.”

The general store shopkeeper’s wariness relaxed a few notches, and he said kindly,

“Miss Shen’s shop is right in the back. If it’s not open, you can leave the things with me first, and I’ll pay you the silver in advance.”

“Thank you very much.”

Liu Erniang smiled and nodded, carrying her things inside.

When she saw the familiar wooden door, the stone that had been hanging in her heart finally settled down.

This morning when she left home, she had deliberately changed into her most respectable outfit. Although it was also coarse cloth, it was sewn stitch by stitch by her own hands, made according to the most generous measurements, so it wouldn’t be too tight or too loose.

She usually couldn’t bear to wear it, but thinking of delivering fabric today and wanting to leave a good impression on Miss Shen, she had taken it out.

On the way here, she had been worrying about the delivery, knowing after all that this antique shop was not ordinary.

The wooden door in front of her wasn’t open, with a sign hanging on it: ‘Please press the bell here.’

Liu Erniang had never seen such a thing before, and hesitantly reached out to press it.

There seemed to be no response.

After hesitating for a while, just as she was about to press again, unexpectedly the door opened automatically. This turn of events nearly gave her a fright.

Shen You had just gotten up, wearing a floral housecoat, and hurried downstairs, just in time to see Liu Erniang holding two bolts of brocade, standing nervously in the courtyard.

“Come in.” She called out.

“Yes.” Liu Erniang looked somewhat bewildered at Shen You’s loose hair and the slippers on her feet.

She knew about wooden clogs. Wealthy families would wear them.

But this fluffy kind with two rabbit ears on top, she had never seen before.

They looked very soft and warm, and the soles didn’t look hard like wooden clogs at all. The nobles in the capital would definitely like them.

“Miss Shen, this is the fabric you ordered. Please inspect it.” Liu Erniang withdrew her gaze and handed over the material with both hands.

“Just put it on the chair.” Shen You smiled. “Sit for a while first.”

Liu Erniang looked up with pleasant surprise, and after a long moment answered in an extremely soft voice.

She had delivered handkerchiefs to wealthy merchants’ homes in town before, where even the servants looked down on ordinary people. In their houses, you couldn’t let your eyes wander, and if you made a mistake, you definitely wouldn’t be allowed to work there again.

Much less sitting down. That was treatment reserved for the master’s guests.

Here with Miss Shen, she felt that the other person was treating her as an equal.

How could this respect not move her to gratitude?

Shen You casually took a fish-tail shaped wooden hairpin from the counter, wound up her hair, then began examining the fabric Liu Erniang had brought.

She was a layperson, but having handled many good materials, she could still distinguish the feel.

Two bolts of cloth, one with butterfly embroidery that looked quite lively.

Liu Erniang held her breath, nervously observing Shen You’s expression, afraid that the fabric she had woven wouldn’t pass muster.

Only when she heard Shen You say, “The quality is good”, did she breathe a sigh of relief.

“Here’s twenty taels for the final payment.” Shen You took out two portions of silver. “This hundred taels here is the deposit for future orders and advance wages for you.”

She now had sales channels, so ordering several more bolts wouldn’t be a problem.

The better the fabric, the greater the weaving difficulty. Like cloud brocade, which required two people working together to operate the loom, so this time Shen You had given a large sum of money.

The profit margin on fabric was nothing compared to antiques, but it could help clients open up sales channels while earning points and business value.

With points, next time she went to the Great Qi to learn skills, she wouldn’t have to spend money buying time.

Liu Erniang looked at the gleaming hundred taels of silver placed in front of her, and was also stunned.

This much money, even her former mother-in-law couldn’t have produced it easily.

“As long as the goods you deliver are good, there will be no shortage of future orders and final payments.” Shen You said with a smile.

“Miss Shen, please rest assured, I will definitely do your orders well!” Liu Erniang said firmly.

If she did Miss Shen’s work well, her younger brother and sister wouldn’t have to suffer hardship or endure others’ cold looks anymore.

“I want to hire a few more people and get two more looms. After winter sets in, it’s bitterly cold outside, so being able to work at home would be good.”

Liu Erniang spoke of her plans, her eyes bright with spirit.

“That’s good. I’ll give you another hundred taels, that should be enough to set up a small workshop. Consider it my investment.”

This project was good. Even if it lost money, it wouldn’t be much. She, Shen Duoyu, was investing!

Liu Erniang was stunned again.

She didn’t understand the word ‘investment,’ but she understood Shen You’s meaning, and for a moment was too excited to speak.

After several seconds, when her emotions had calmed slightly, just as she was about to ask if it was really true, she saw that Shen You had already taken out the silver.

Liu Erniang then took the initiative to suggest signing a contract, which was the modern equivalent of a contract.

This way, when the workshop was established in the future, Shen You wouldn’t have to worry about her not acknowledging the agreement.

A contract could indeed be signed, but Shen You didn’t know what documents in the Great Qi looked like, and she couldn’t write them either.

So she had Liu Erniang go to the general store to have the shopkeeper write it up, stamp it, and bring it back.

Liu Erniang naturally complied, and when she got the contract, Shen You first read through the contents, confirmed there were no errors, and put it in the system cash register.

Before leaving, Liu Erniang looked at her slippers for a while, silently memorizing the style, then inquired,

“Miss Shen, are the shoes you’re wearing made of rabbit fur?”

“No, no, no.” Shen You immediately waved her hands.

Her only requirement for house slippers was that they be wearable and cheap.

Something that cost just over twenty yuan with free shipping, how could it use such good materials? It was just polyester fiber.

“It’s about the same material as the fleece inside the warm clothing. It’s not real fur.”

Thinking of the warm clothing, Liu Erniang’s eyes instantly brightened. “I understand.”

Carrying over two hundred taels of silver as she left the shop, she first went to the money house to deposit the silver, then headed straight to the best shoe and clothing shops in the city.

After browsing for an hour, she only saw wooden clogs and leather slippers, with the cheap ones being straw-woven and cloth-made.

Their comfort level seemed far inferior to what Miss Shen was wearing.

If she used the material from warm clothing, or found real rabbit fur, to make that kind of slipper, and it was winter time, she thought they would definitely sell well.

With this idea in mind, Liu Erniang immediately went to ‘You Jian Shop’ and bought four sets of the cheapest warm clothing.

She also picked out several shoe soles.

Then she went to look at workshop locations. Choosing somewhere with cheap rent but a good location wasn’t easy.