Yunling agreed and got into the carriage with Tangling. Tangling was shrewd enough not to sit inside the carriage, but to sit on the deck, leaving the space inside for Lu Yinghuai and Yunling.

When Yunling saw that it was Lu Yinghuai, she didn't say anything. She lifted the curtain and looked outside, wishing she could lean her upper body out as far as possible to get to the place where the jade was being polished, so that she could reduce the time she spent alone with Lu Yinghuai.

Lu Yinghuai just thought the little guy was very cute. Whenever he met him, his joy, anger, sorrow and happiness were all written on his face, very obviously. Oh well, it's fine this way.

"Lingniang, how about we go to Zhouqiao Night Market again later?"

Yunling originally wanted to go, but after Lu Yinghuai said it, she didn't want to go as much anymore, or perhaps she didn't want to go with him, so she simply ignored him, hoping he would understand.

But Lu Yinghuai was not one to give up so easily. He always had plenty of patience when it came to Yun Ling, so he continued to coax her:

"Didn't you say you wanted to try dragon's beard candy when we were on the ship? They have it at the night market..."

There are plenty of options at the night market, why doesn't she just find them herself? Why does she insist on having him take her there? She won't fall for it!

Lu Yinghuai muttered to himself:

"I think I saw some Western Xia merchants there..."

"really???"

Yunling immediately turned around, looked at Lu Yinghuai, her face full of anticipation.

Lu Yinghuai smiled slightly, his eyes full of mockery. Yunling knew she had been tricked, and angrily pulled back the curtains to look outside again.

Why didn't you answer me when I spoke to you? Was it because of last night...?

"Last night? What night? I don't remember what happened last night. I was thinking about something and couldn't respond to you for a moment."

Lu Yinghuai chuckled softly, his eyes filled with deep affection.

"Then Lingniang, come with me to the night market. I'll secretly pocket two coins from Zifu's wages and treat you to a piece of dragon's beard candy, okay?"

Yunling couldn't help but laugh out loud. This man was really something... He was clearly the young master of a wealthy merchant empire, yet he still went so far as to deduct other people's wages to treat her to dragon's beard candy. And last time, he made her complain about Zifu, and Zifu just...

"Since you smiled, I'll take that as a yes, and you can't go back on your word."

"screw you."

Hearing her sweet and coquettish rebuttal, Lu Yinghuai knew that she had agreed. He was overjoyed. Gangzi and Chen Jie, those two big tails, did not come today, and Tang Ling and Zifu were not very troublesome. This was naturally a good opportunity for him and Yunling to be alone!

He wanted to buy Yunling lots and lots of delicious food. He wanted to be like other young couples in love, holding hands and strolling through the bustling night market. Just thinking about it made him happy; he felt like he was growing a tail and wagging it vigorously.

The carriage slowly stopped in front of a shop. As soon as Yunling got off, she saw that the water benches inside were arranged in a neat and orderly manner. The shop was quite spacious, and compared to Da Tou's small workshop, it felt a bit more open and aboveboard.

The shop assistants were all busy with their own tasks, ignoring the customers as they focused on carving and polishing their wares. Finally, it was the owner who came out to greet them.

"Oh my, what a rare guest! Isn't this our young master Lu? It's been a long time. What brings you to our shop today?"

“Master Cai, rest assured, we just bought a few rough stones and want to polish them into jewelry. In Bianjing, Master Cai’s shop is one of the best, so naturally we came here.”

"You flatter me, you flatter me. How about we take a look at the rough stone first?"

Lu Yinghuai nodded, and Zifu brought in the five raw stones in two separate trips, carefully placing them on the viewing platform.

Cai Dongjia took the aida (a type of jade pendant) from the wall, put it on, and then picked up each raw stone to examine it. He would occasionally stroke the surface of the stone with his palm, and then drip a drop of water onto it to observe its movement. It took him quite a bit of effort to finish.

"What kind of ornaments does the young master plan to carve out from these treasures?"

Yunling's clothes were tugged, bringing her back to reality from the shop assistant who was focused on polishing jade.

"I'd like to have some bracelets, jade beads, jade pendants, jade charms, etc. made. I wonder if that's feasible?"

"Having jade would certainly work, so why don't we open the jade first?"

"OK."

Cai Dongjia then summoned five people, who first marked the five raw stones with cutting marks, and then gave orders to go and cut the jade.

Yunling had already sensed from Da Tou's small workshop how much time it would take to open the jade. Instead of waiting idly, she started walking around the shop, looking at each water stool one by one.

Seeing that Lu Yinghuai was also there, Cai Dongjia, being a more hospitable host, warmly walked to Yunling's side and introduced her:

"Once we finish cutting this piece of jade, we can start taking materials. These materials are divided into three types: main material, bracelet core material, and scrap material."

"Then we can cut it according to the drawings provided by the customer. This is another process. The cut jade is often quite rough, so we have to use a grinding wheel to polish out the general shape."

"Then, through fine grinding, we use tube drills, mortar drills, and double drills to hollow out the jade. Finally, we do the exquisite carving, adding patterns, and using wooden and leather tools. Each of these processes requires the right people and the right attention."

Yunling nodded in agreement. That was true. This kind of craftsmanship was nothing like the machines of later generations that could cut stones with a rumble. Here, it all depended on the craftsmen's ingenuity.

Seeing that the introductions to the goods had been completed and that he still had other matters to attend to, Cai Dongjia decided to first settle Yunling and Lu Yinghuai in to avoid disrupting the business. He then led them to a small tea room nearby.

"Young master and young master, why don't you enjoy some tea in this tea room? Opening jade takes quite a bit of time. Young master, you can first draw the shape of the jade ornament you want on paper, which will save you a lot of time."

Yunling thought this made sense, and before Cai Dongjia left, she asked:

"I wonder if the owner can make all kinds of jade ornaments here?"

"What kind of design would you like, young man? We often make jade gourds, magnolias, auspicious flowers, jade bamboo, jade butterflies, leaves, dragon and phoenix jade pendants, as well as jade Guanyin, jade Buddha, and jade plaques."

Cai Dongjia rattled off the names of the jade ornaments as quickly and crisply as if he were cutting vegetables with a knife. Yunling had just remembered the jade gourd and magnolia flower when he immediately started talking about the jade Buddha and jade plaque. However, based on his words, she probably knew that the craftsmanship of this shop was very high, so she boldly picked up her brush and started drawing.

She first drew four jade bracelets, and then she thought of Zhang Shi and Granny Yun. Given their previous situation, the possibility of them having jade bracelets was extremely slim, so she planned to make two for each of them, for a total of six bracelets.