Chapter 22 - Returning to the Residence (1/2)
The reason why she was able to clearly understand and define the values of gold and silver was due to both of them having market value. If they were exchanged with porcelain or jade, then it would become difficult to bargain. Porcelain was divided into two types–Guan ware[a] and private commercial ware or commoner ware. These two were not the same product thus the price was also not the same. As for jade, that was even more complicated. It was not something she, a female proletariat that had crossed over, would know about.
The woman became gloomy. Spreading her hands, she persuaded: “Then Little Sister also has to let me profit some. It’s not easy to earn capital. Look, I’m just a poor woman with a large household to provide for. That small amount of silver is not enough for my family to eat a few meals with.”
Ruan Zhu faintly smiled: “Older Sister really knows how to tell a joke. My country of Tian Chu is populous and affluent and Lan Zhou is also famous for being the land of fish and rice[b]. While it is not likely that many of the common people are well-off, if one saves well, ten taels of silver is sufficient to pay the expenses of an ordinary family with ten mouths for one whole year. Not to mention, this one terribly admires Older Sister. With one wag of your tongue, Older Sister is able to earn a year’s worth of living expenses. This Little Sister is still worried about surviving in the future!”
Relying on a man to live was not dignified. Wanting to start a business that hasn’t even taken shape yet, one must properly take care of all the checkpoints necessary to start that business. When eating, use some food as an offering to the god of wealth. If one doesn’t pray at the temple properly, unnecessary trouble may come knocking. Being a transmigrator was also not easy, ah!
The woman wailed as she covered her face: “Little Sister, you’ve also seen it. My little shop doesn’t resemble anything. I was planning on using the hard-earned capital from these three chastity belts to improve my storefront. In any case, Little Sister has to leave a way open for me, ah.”
Ruan Zhu deadpanned: “How you want to change the store’s design seems to have nothing to do with me, correct? If I am to buy something, the price must be reasonable and fair. No cheating, no stealing. We are conducting a monetary transaction. If you agree, I’ll buy it. If you don’t, we can forget about this.”
Saying how pitiful you were was useless. I’m not here to be charitable. If you really were starving on the side of the road, then I might be hospitable and help you a bit. But it was extremely obvious that your current situation was much more well-off than how I was in the previous world. Let’s not talk about a gold chastity belt. The previous me would not even have had the chance to see a stainless steel one.
The woman placed her hand on the table and knocked on it, repeatedly howling in grief: “Little Sister, just add five more taels for a total of eighty-five taels of silver. No matter what you do, I won’t sell any lower.”
She still wanted to bargain! Ruan Zhu couldn’t help but to smile.
No matter how good a product was, one still had to look at where it was being sold. If these belts were being sold at Ming Xiang Cui Yu, then they would have a different price tag. A modern product sold in a third-rate store was bound to have third-rate prices–it was the same concept.
This woman described herself as pathetic but Ruan Zhu knew this was simply a trick merchants liked to use. She laughed: “At most, I’ll add two taels of silver. Don’t underestimate these two taels! They’re enough to buy a few hundred catties of rice, more than enough to last a small family for a long time~”
Ruan Zhu took out a silver banknote worth one hundred taels and placed it on top of the table while she gazed at the other party. The meaning was: the price was exactly what we had discussed so do as you saw fit and stop trying to waste time.
The woman foolishly stared at the banknote, her eyes filled with envy and desire. A little while later, she finally wiped away the drool spilling from her mouth and mumbled: “I……I can’t break this.”
No way, wasn’t she in the business of selling gold and silver? She didn’t even have change? Ruan Zhu said to Xiao Feng: “You’re familiar with Lan Zhou. Go find somewhere we can exchange this banknote.”
Doing business but being poor to this extent, this was truly what was called ‘useless’. There were no problems with their merchandise so the problem must lie within how they operate. Xiao Feng disdainfully curled his lip and left with the banknote.
The following period where they waited for Xiao Feng to return was mindlessly boring and idle so they began speaking of their daily family lives. The woman was clearly one that loved to chit-chat and asked Ruan Zhu for her familial name, conveniently introducing herself: “Little Sister Ruan, I’m called Yu Lian Hua. Sister, don’t think of me as a poor one. Actually, my father is Manager Yu of Ming Xiang Cui Yu, who is in charge of selling their precious jeweled ornaments as well as managing their custom orders. In the future if Little Sister wants to buy jewelry, just come find me. With your connection to me, I can give you a 5% discount.”
Ruan Zhu nodded her head. In any case, having a little discount to make things cheaper was always a good thing. But the two servants by her side became disdainful, and opening his mouth, Nuan Qing snorted before saying: “My family’s Miss is not so low as to be unable to even afford that remaining 5%. It’s not as if we’re poor to this extreme.”
The woman called Yu Lian Hua looked at the clothes Ruan Zhu was wearing as well as what was on her head. She then lowered her gaze to glance at her own old and wrinkled attire. This was even her best set that she was only willing to wear when she had to appear in front of others. If she was at home, she would most definitely not wear this. Yu Lian Hua was crestfallen and too embarrassed to continue speaking. Every person lived their own life. Who told her to wed a poor man and for even her secondary husbands to be without future prospects? On the contrary, her maternal family had some wealth, but it wasn’t enough for her large group of brothers to find themselves a wife.
“Impudent! You still haven’t given Elder Sister Yu your sincerest apology?” Ruan Zhu reprimanded Nuan Qing with one sentence.
“My deepest apologies to Lady Yu. This one has misspoke.” Nuan Qing faced Yu Lian Hua and slightly bowed with a cupped fist. With a tiny tilt of his head, he saw the corner of his Master’s mouth was quirked up in a smile as if she wasn’t angry at all, causing him to become pleased with himself in his heart.
“Ha ha, it’s fine, it’s fine.” Yu Lian Hua forcibly laughed twice.
Ruan Zhu did not believe Nuan Qing’s ridicule was false. At the very least, it gave her, his Master, face. She tried to lighten the mood: “So it turns out Manager Yu of Ming Xiang Cui Yu was Older Sister’s father. That’s too much of a coincidence as I had just custom-ordered a set of jewelry. I didn’t know about Older Sister’s connections. If I had known, I would have come here first to buy the chastity belts before going to Ming Xiang Cui Yu to place my order. Maybe I could have even saved some change.”
Thinking of how Mister Peacock was willing to give her 50% off, she inwardly shook her head. Even if that guy was willing to give her the pieces free of charge, his offer was not necessarily one out of kindness, thus it was not one she dared to accept.
Yu Lian Hua was in high spirits again and patting her chest, said: “Don’t worry, Little Sister Ruan. You can just leave this matter to me. In the future when you want to purchase jewelry, how about you just look for me? I can guarantee it will be cheaper.”
As she was saying that, Xiao Feng returned with the exchanged banknote. Ruan Zhu took out eighty-two taels and handed them over to Yu Lian Hua. Instructing her servants to tightly hold onto the cases containing the chastity belts, they left the shop.
In high spirits, Yu Lian Hua waited until her customers had walked far away before lifting up the shiny silver coins and fiercely kissing them.