Chapter 81: The Beginning of Contradictions
When the lady saw the child wake up, she didn't even bother to thank him. She just hugged him and cried bitterly.
After a long while, Ji Guifen prepared a bowl of sugar water for the two of them. They finally calmed down. The woman said, "This child has some congenital deficiencies, and he was born with them. It's all my fault for taking him out on such a cold day. If I hadn't met a doctor, I would die without being able to atone for the Zhou family's sin."
Ji Guifen asked in surprise, "Are you the wife of Zhouji Dengzhan from Fuzhou?"
The lady choked up and said, "Yes, but this child is not my biological child. I am a second wife. This child is born weak. If my husband Zhou Xiang hadn't decided to open a shop here, we wouldn't be here, let alone encounter what happened today. In any case, I have to thank this lady."
At this time, the child who looked seven or eight years old recovered and walked around the group of people, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
The woman breathed a sigh of relief, paid the silver and was about to say goodbye. The servants behind her also came to lead the child.
Boys love to play. Pointing at a gorgeous chandelier, he said, "I want this. Daddy's shop doesn't have it. Mom, buy this for me, and I'll go back with you."
The woman also looked over. It was a large chandelier with an embroidered screen, usually used in wealthy families. The lady asked, "Madam, how much is it? We want it."
Ji Guifen said, "A total of eighty taels."
"Huh?" the servant next to him said first, "Why is it so expensive? I heard that in the whole city of Quanzhou, apart from a lantern made by a skilled lantern maker, no one else dares to ask for such a high price. Even our Zhouji lanterns are fifty taels of silver."
Yu Huatang was sitting upstairs. After she finished saying these words, she also sighed. The servant was right. Her sister-in-law was asking for too much for this lamp.
But she couldn't go out and tell anyone about it, as her senior brother Li Ruotong took good care of her, and she couldn't do anything that would ruin his reputation.
At this time, the woman said, "Eighty taels is eighty taels, we want it."
Ji Guifen had someone take it down, and the clerk was happy because he had sold a big lamp today. Usually, Miss Yu's lamps were the most popular. To be honest, the lamps made by Senior Brother Li were not as good as Miss Yu's, but the strange thing was that all the lamps in the Lamp Master's Hall were priced by Ji Guifen, and Senior Brother Li's price was even higher than Miss Yu's.
They also understood that it was Madam Li (Ji Guifen) who was suppressing Miss Yu.
Before Miss Yu came, everyone bought Brother Li’s lanterns.
It’s different now. Two-thirds of the lamps in the Lamp Master Hall are made by Miss Yu, and the merchants have specifically asked for her.
Ji Guifen was originally quite dissatisfied with Li Ruotong's many times of taking care of her. Now her husband's skills have all been learned by someone else, not only that, but also better. Naturally, she feels unfair.
At this time, the boy said, "I don't want this one. I want the glowing one made of glass." The child's vocabulary was limited and he couldn't describe it accurately, but all the guys knew that the one they wanted was Miss Yu's.
Everyone looked upstairs. Yu Huatang came downstairs, took it himself, and asked, "Is this it?"
The child happily took it and said, "How much is it? I'll give it to you. This lamp is beautifully made and I want to buy it for my cousin to see."
Yu Huatang replied, "Just give me fifty-five taels."
The material of colored glass is relatively expensive, so the price of this lamp will be higher.
The woman came over, paid the money, and left with the child. The child was reluctant to let go of her hand and kept reminding the servants not to break it.
Yu Huatang glanced at Ji Guifen at the counter. She was still checking accounts receivable as usual. She didn't look up and her expression couldn't be seen clearly.
But Yu Huatang knew that Ji Guifen was unhappy. Her senior brother had asked her to become a shareholder before because she made too many lamps and was too tired. After becoming a shareholder, she could get an additional share of the revenue as a thank you for the business she brought.
But sister-in-law Ji Guifen didn't think so. She didn't want Yu Huatang to stay in Dengshitang in the first place. She hoped that Li Rutong could continue to work alone as before and no longer be involved with her. She also didn't want everyone in Dengshitang to think that Dengshitang became so famous because of her, Yu Huatang. Now there is another layer, which makes it even more unreasonable.
Yu Huatang later refused, saying that he would wait and see the total revenue. If it reached a certain amount, he would ask his senior brother to give a red envelope.
Although Li Ruotong wanted to help her, he could not help but feel that his first wife had taken out all her dowry to help him through the difficult times when he was in trouble.
At that time, Grandpa Li had just passed away, and Dengshitang was not yet stable enough. Some people were unwilling to buy Li Ruotong's craftsmanship. Someone offered him 800 taels of silver and asked him to sell his craftsmanship and the lantern tower together.
He was at a loss for words. It was only then that Ji Guifen took out all her money, bought servants, and shared the profits with other shops, which helped them get through the difficult times. It was not reasonable for Li Ruotong to refuse her request.
During the evening break, Yu Huatang went back through the back door. Xu Fu said he wanted to go to her house to get some special skeletons, so he went with her.
After they passed Xiangyuan Lane and Deng Shitang was no longer in sight, Xu Fu asked, "Sister, when we settled our wages yesterday, did you take fifteen taels?"
Yu Huatang smiled and said, "Why are you asking this?"
Xu Fu said, "Didn't I hear that if your lanterns reach a certain amount of money, Senior Brother Li will give you a red envelope? Last month, most of the lanterns sold in the lantern building were yours, so I thought, Senior Sister, you must be getting rich."
Yu Huatang replied, "Don't worry about these things. Just focus on learning your skills."
When Xu Fu heard her say this, he knew that his guess was correct. Sister Ji did not give any extra money to his senior sister. He snatched the purse from his senior sister. The silver and money in it were the same as what he saw yesterday, exactly five taels in total.
"This is too much." He counted it all. "Last month, the shop brought in at least several hundred taels of silver. Senior Sister, you're the head of the shop, and you're only making five taels of silver a month. Who would believe it if you told anyone else?"
"Senior sister, we all know that Sister Ji just wants to make your life difficult. You can tolerate this, but I can't. To put it bluntly, if it weren't for Senior Sister, this Dengshitang would have closed down long ago. She is suppressing the top leader. I don't know what Sister Ji is thinking. With your current skills, Senior Sister, if you go out, everyone will be vying for you. You can make at least more than ten taels a month, not to mention the dividends at the end of the year." He spoke indignantly, as if he was going to argue for her.
Yu Huatang said, "Senior Brother gave me several days off last month, so naturally they have to be deducted."
"You can't just deduct a few taels a day, that's too much." Xu Fu said angrily, "This must be Sister Ji's own account. Senior Brother Li must not know about it. Senior Sister, why don't you tell him?"
"What do you mean, let the couple have a fight?"
Yu Huatang shook his head again. "Brother is also worried about the store, so don't tell him about this. Grandpa Li was kind enough to take me in and teach me all this. Brother has also taken good care of me over the years. Consider this as repayment. I'm alone anyway, so I don't need so much money."
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