The shopkeeper accepted the silver and carefully counted it before waving his hand with satisfaction, ordering the servant to bring out the makeup box that had been prepared beforehand.
When He Yunze saw the wooden box containing the box, his eyes lit up with joy. He steadily took the box with both hands, carefully opened it, and checked what was inside.
Only when he saw the long-awaited lacquer mother-of-pearl inlay placed safely inside did He Yunze finally feel relieved and breathe a sigh of relief.
He smiled and asked the shopkeeper, seemingly radiant with joy, "Besides this Buddha statue dressing case, do you have any other items related to lacquer and mother-of-pearl?"
The shopkeeper nodded without hesitation: "Of course, this item is a unique antique, made with special techniques, so naturally there are no other stock available."
Having received the shopkeeper's reply, the three people present were finally relieved.
After the shopkeeper and his servant left, Zhao Qianlan hurriedly asked, "Son-in-law, are you sure this thing can be earth-shattering and win the Empress Dowager's heart?"
He Yunze nodded, carefully placed the makeup box back into the wooden box, and then instructed Shuangxi to take it to the Marquis of Anding's residence for strict guarding.
"Yes, Mother, don't be fooled by its unremarkable appearance during the day. It holds hidden wonders at night. The Empress Dowager is a devout Buddhist and will be overjoyed."
"Your son-in-law will not let your three thousand taels of silver go to waste, you can rest assured."
Seeing the certainty in He Yunce's eyes, Zhao Qianlan immediately believed him.
She was so excited she almost cried: "That's good, that's good! Mother has been waiting for this day for so long! Mother has really had enough."
The money has already been spent, and the poison has been administered. Now that she is being tormented by that old geezer, Zhao Qingshu will surely try to kill her and take her life.
It was all because of this large lacquer and mother-of-pearl inlaid makeup box.
She was so unhappy now, she absolutely couldn't let Song Xizhi be happy; she had to make sure Song Xizhi died!
Zhao Qianlan secretly made a vow in her heart, fantasizing about Song Xizhi being dismissed from his official post, Su Jiaquan being imprisoned, and her kneeling in front of her to serve her, cleaning up her excrement and urine.
As she thought about it, even her eyes became much more determined.
Before she could even catch her breath, she glanced up at the sky and shuddered again, then rushed outside in a panic.
"Oh no, oh no, we've been out for too long, your grandmother must have woken up by now."
As she spoke, her voice trembling, she wiped away her tears: "Yun Ce, I'm leaving the rest to you. I'm so wronged right now."
But as it turned out, Song Xizhi was not only not unhappy, but actually quite happy.
As soon as Manager Lin left the restaurant, he went around in circles and, in a random teahouse near the Song family's old residence, handed over Zhao Qianlan's hard-earned money to Song Xizhi intact.
Song Xizhi took the package and was quite surprised by the weight of the silver inside: "Manager Lin, did you give too much silver?"
"We originally agreed to split the profits 50/50. If it weren't for me, your item would have fetched around 600 taels of silver. Now everyone is making a profit, but you..."
Song Xizhi frowned slightly and looked up at him.
The shopkeeper was probably in his forties. He had a square face and a slightly dark complexion. He didn't have the shrewdness of other merchants, but rather an honest and upright demeanor.
The shopkeeper suddenly stood up from his chair and bowed deeply to Song Xizhi, his bright eyes filled with sincerity: "I didn't give you much; this is my way of showing my respect to you, Lord Song."
"This deal wouldn't have been possible without you. With your business acumen, you'll likely have many more opportunities to make money in the future. I'd like to continue working with you."
"However, driving up auction prices is ultimately not the right way. Doing it too much will damage your credibility and is not a long-term solution. I think that you are now running a spice shop and are too busy to spare any time, which is a waste of your superb medical skills."
"If I am fortunate enough to cooperate with you, you will not need to show your face. You only need to provide some prescriptions, and I will take care of everything for you and send the account books over every month."
After hearing his words, Song Xizhi realized what he was planning.
It turned out that he wanted to use Zhao Qianlan's money to do her a favor and seek cooperation with her in the future.
Song Xizhi now holds an official position, so it would be inappropriate for her to open a pharmacy under her own name. However, the idea of Manager Lin in front of her can solve her problem.
He's quick-witted; he's quite a clever person.
However, doing business with him rashly was too risky, so Song Xizhi still wanted to give him a try.
"Since you have this intention, we can cooperate. However, the matter of medicinal herbs needs to be discussed in detail. I suppose Manager Lin has never run a pharmacy before."
Manager Lin nodded: "Exactly..."
Song Xizhi smiled: "But it doesn't matter, there's another good business opportunity right now, which is this lacquer mother-of-pearl inlay."
"If anyone else wants an item made of this lacquer and mother-of-pearl inlay in the future and comes to me, you can come to me and we can continue our cooperation."
Shopkeeper Lin was taken aback by Song Xizhi's words. He widened his bright eyes and exclaimed, "You actually know how to make lacquer mother-of-pearl inlay?"
"Is it possible to make lacquer mother-of-pearl inlay in this world?"
Song Xizhi nodded: "It's the people around me who would do it, but there are three things they won't do: they won't do things that are too stupid, too wicked, or don't meet my standards."
"But you have to keep this news from me for now. When others ask you about it, you should also ask me first. We do custom business."
Upon hearing this, Manager Lin shook his head dismissively: "I would still very much like to continue cooperating with you, but I'm afraid we can't do business on lacquer and mother-of-pearl."
"After all, even the makeup box I have now was hard-won; I almost ended up with nothing. The reputation of lacquer and mother-of-pearl inlay is really not that great!"
Song Xizhi smiled again, without explaining, and simply said, "Don't worry, shopkeeper, this day will come eventually."
Upon hearing this, Manager Lin disagreed in his heart, but he couldn't refute it on the surface. He simply sighed and took his leave.
Song Xizhi sat there, watching his departing figure, and only after a moment did he get up again.
She handed all the silver the shopkeeper had left to Siqin and said, "Siqin, tell someone to prepare the horses."
Siqin took the silver and then asked, "Master, are you going back to the old Song family mansion?"
Song Xizhi raised an eyebrow slightly, glancing at Siqin with a meaningful look in his eyes: "No, I need to go back to my maternal grandparents' house. Now it's time to get down to business."
The group then took a carriage back to the Su family home.
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