Check out our advanced chapters
Please kindly turn off your Adblock
Chapter 24
Her mother had said that it cost ten taels when purchased, but after all these years, shops definitely wouldn’t buy it at original price. Luo Ziya had hoped to sell it for five taels.
However, the pawn shops she visited offered at most one tael. The clerk said that was pawn shop policy, and that she should take it or leave it.
Only here did the shopkeeper speak politely without any arrogance, and was willing to pay such a high price for her hairpin.
Thinking of this, Luo Ziya looked at Shen You gratefully.
“Thank you, shopkeeper. When I reach my grandfather’s house, I will definitely return the remaining silver to you!”
Shen You reminded her, “You may not be able to enter this shop next time, so think carefully. Items my shop buys cannot be redeemed.”
Hearing this, Luo Ziya was stunned for a moment, not understanding what “may not be able to enter next time” meant.
She looked at the hairpin in her hands with reluctance, but finally placed it on the tray and nodded solemnly.
This wasn’t a pawn shop, so not being able to redeem it was expected.
Surely mother wouldn’t blame her. The previous wife of that widower had been beaten to death. If she didn’t flee, she would also die.
Her maternal grandfather was a doctor with a medicine shop. He often provided free medical care locally and had some reputation. She wanted to learn medicine from him and could survive there.
Shen You exchanged ten taels from the fifty taels of silver in the payment system.
And since it was all Great Qi currency, there were no handling fees.
A single silver ingot would be too conspicuous, so she specifically exchanged it for loose silver pieces to give to her.
Luo Ziya left the shop with the silver. When she turned back to look, she could no longer find the door or that particularly beautiful shop.
She quickly opened her money pouch to confirm the silver was still there.
So this was what that lady meant. Luo Ziya stood by the street, taking a long time to recover.
Had she met an immortal?
Shen You got up at 11 AM. Half of the ordered water purification tablets had been delivered, with the remainder scheduled to arrive around 7 PM.
After receiving the goods, she immediately paid half the payment. Everything was now stored in the garage.
Since setting up the garage, receiving deliveries had become extremely convenient.
She didn’t need to carry things through the main door into the shop, worrying about bumping into items inside. She could directly open the side garage’s rolling door for quick unloading.
The shop renovation was also entering its final phase. Most everything was completed. It was just left with some solid wood shelves to install and some decorative items to arrange.
For complex furniture like beds, she found suppliers that included installation. For simpler items, she found source manufacturers to save money, but they definitely didn’t include installation.
Hiring someone was expensive, enough for a good meal. So she went out and bought a screwdriver to do it herself following online videos.
She finished everything in one afternoon. After arranging the fake antiques and real handicrafts she had found online, it was complete!
**
Li Heng and Zhong Jing arrived dusty from travel to pay the final payment.
Such a box of good items – small-leaf rosewood and agarwood, including porcelain fired in imperial kilns, jade hairpins and jade carvings.
There was also one item that she couldn’t walk away from when she saw it in the museum.
A Tang Dynasty silver openwork incense ball that could hang at the waist. No matter how it turned, nothing inside would spill out. The intricate patterns created fragrance with every step, who wouldn’t want it?
The inkstone Li Heng brought was also made of Hetian jade, carved with three-dimensional branch patterns on the entire jade block. The brush was matching. Together they could sell for over a million yuan.
Yet she had bought those two solar lights for just over three hundred yuan.
And Zhong Jing’s painting would be master-level even in modern times, starting at over a hundred thousand yuan if hung in an exhibition.
“Half of the water purification tablets you ordered haven’t arrived yet, but they should be here soon.” Shen You checked the time. “Why don’t you come back later? I’ll prepare some food for you to take back.”
“Is it the barbecue we had last time?” Li Heng’s eyes brightened.
“Different from last time. This is already cooked.” Shen You smiled.
Barbecue takeout was suitable for sitting and eating slowly. Great Qi had no electricity, so taking pre-cooked barbecue was quite convenient.
She planned to go to the barbecue restaurant near her home.
“How much silver for the food?” Li Heng asked.
He was, after all, the crown prince of Great Qi. He couldn’t eat a young lady’s food for free.
Shen You waved generously, “No need. The items you brought are enough to cover several meals.”
Making such a large profit margin, treating big customers to meals. How could she ask them to pay?
“Is the gold ingot from last time enough to buy so many water purification tablets?” Li Heng asked again.
Shen You nodded, “More than enough.”
After Li Heng and the other left with the solar lights, the other batch of water purification tablets arrived shortly after.
Shen You had become quite efficient at receiving and checking goods. With everything handled and payment settled, she grabbed her phone and headed straight to the barbecue restaurant.
Actually, she wanted to eat their lamb skewers herself, which was why she arranged it for her customers too.
“Boss, forty lamb skewers and forty beef skewers.”
Shen You stood in front of the freezer, picked some other skewers to put in the basket, and also ordered a dozen grilled oysters and two large portions of fried rice noodles.
She came early, just as they opened, so there was no waiting in line.
There were no milk tea shops nearby. Ordering delivery was cheaper. Estimating her time to get home, she ordered in advance so it would arrive just as she got back.
When packing, Shen You specifically asked the boss to divide it into several portions. Hers should be normally spicy, the rest mildly spicy.
Then she found several biodegradable paper bags left from previous takeout orders at home, packed everything separately, and the food for her big customers was ready.
After waiting about ten minutes, Li Heng and the others arrived.
The other half of the water purification tablets was transmitted over, then she gave them the two paper bags.
“This portion is for you and Liu Zheng.” Shen You said to Zhong Jing.
“Thank you, Shopkeeper Shen!”
Zhong Jing looked at the plastic bags inside the paper bag. Despite being tightly wrapped, they couldn’t hide the rich aroma of spices.
He finally understood why His Highness, who never showed preferences for food, had been obsessing over milk tea after returning that day.
The cooks had made something that he and Liu Zheng both thought tasted good, but His Highness said it was different.
Just this aroma alone made one hungry. Shopkeeper Shen’s food was indeed extraordinary!
“By the way, my shop can now be accessed from your capital city too. It’s in Qingshi Alley below Hongguang Temple outside the North Gate, opening once every three days.”
Her business value was now sufficient to open another entrance to [Great Qi].
So she chose the capital without hesitation. She was very interested in the real living conditions of ancient people, even though this wasn’t a dynasty that existed in real history.
Moreover, big customers definitely wouldn’t stay long in Yunzhou. Choosing the capital meant more money-making opportunities.
“Excellent.” Li Heng nodded with a smile.
He had been thinking that he might not have many opportunities to visit the shop in the future, unexpectedly it was also accessible from the capital.
This way, seeing Shopkeeper Shen would be much easier in the future.
After the two customers left, Shen You closed the shop and went upstairs to eat barbecue skewers at her desk.
She also ordered the tools for restoring that hairpin online.
Meanwhile, Li Heng and Zhong Jing, having left the alley, sat in their carriage heading to the government office. Along the way, smelling the wisps of fragrance drifting from the bags, they felt that today’s carriage was moving particularly slowly.
They wanted to return quickly to taste these foods.
Everything was skewered on bamboo sticks – it would be unseemly to eat them in the carriage.
This was ancient times, after all. In modern times, never mind eating in a car, one could eat sitting on the roadside wearing flip-flops and shorts without any problem.
The carriage finally arrived. The guard driving looked puzzled. Why were His Highness and Master Zhong walking so urgently? Had some major incident occurred that required urgent discussion?