The second floor of the Lu Family Trading Company was spacious yet elegant, with a landscape painting screen. Through the screen, several lamp-hanging chairs could be seen, with small square tables placed between them, presumably where they sat to discuss matters on weekdays.
Yunling followed Lu Yinghuai to a room on the side. As soon as she entered, the fragrance of plum blossoms wafted towards her. The room was decorated in a simple and elegant style. There was a long table with an incense burner, a pen holder, an inkstone, and a candlestick. A tall stack of account books was placed on the corner of the table.
What's even more unique is that in the empty space next to this long table, there is a small table. The table looks very new, with a shiny surface. There are very few things on it, just a pen and a piece of paper, as if it had just been added.
Yunling was somewhat curious and asked:
"Who is sitting at this small table? It's so small and exquisite."
Lu Yinghuai's lips curled slightly upward as he looked at Yun Ling, his eyes crinkling with laughter.
"This is for you to sit on."
"Is this for me to sit on? Then..."
If she doesn't come—no, how did he know she would definitely come? How did he know she would agree to his request?
Why does this person always seem so confident of victory?
Yunling was secretly annoyed and irritated. She plopped down in her seat, turned her head away from Lu Yinghuai, and looked out the window. She shouldn't have come in the first place. This way, she could have dampened his arrogance and stopped him from being so cocky.
But to be fair, the view outside the window is really nice. The weather is perfect today, with blue skies, white clouds, and warm sunshine. Even the wind chimes hanging on the eaves couldn't resist being lazy and just swayed casually before stopping.
Yunling couldn't help but yawn. After the initial joy, the fatigue from yesterday surged back like the rising tide at the beach.
“Your aunt should have received the letter you wrote last time. I told Uncle Cao that if they have anything they want to say to you, they can send it to you.”
"oops!"
Yunling straightened up in an instant.
"What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. I just suddenly remembered what my family told me before I left Bianjing. My grandmother wanted to buy sausages from the sausage shop in Hongqiao, my grandfather wanted to buy the sharpest sword in Bianjing, my sister wanted a medical book, my aunt wanted a cotton-padded coat, and my parents just wanted to see what unique dishes were available in the capital."
"But I haven't left Beijing yet, so there's no need to rush to buy."
Lu Yinghuai nodded and said:
"I've written it down."
Yunling glanced at the man, then looked away and began fiddling with the brush on the table. Write it down? Write down what? This is her business, what is he doing writing it down?
What on earth is this person thinking?
The wind chimes on the windowsill suddenly rang, interrupting Yunling's thoughts. She then thought of the wool and her brows furrowed involuntarily.
She couldn't help but doubt herself again. Was it too casual to order ten thousand bolts of dyed cloth when she discussed it with Yun Ruoxia? Ten thousand bolts—that's ten thousand bolts of cloth! That would require sixteen thousand strings of copper coins worth of wool.
Moreover, even if she worked day and night to sell 400,000 bras and panties, it would be impossible for her to sell them all.
But if she didn't make them all into bras and panties, what else could she make? Clothes? She didn't yet have the ability to create clothes that would satisfy the people of this era. Besides, the competition among clothing stores was fierce.
Without customers and unique new styles, they simply can't outsell established shops. So, they have to think of other ways out.
Or should we order 200 kilograms of wool first to test the waters?
Yunling felt a headache coming on. She held her head in her hands, trying to come up with a compromise. Perhaps she could sell some of the dyed fabric? But...
What's bothering you?
"I'm wondering, how much wool should I buy?"
"Have you found a wool trader?"
"I found him, but I always felt that he was unreliable and always acted arrogantly."
Yunling felt she had a lot to say about the horse timber, so she turned to Lu Yinghuai and said:
"I met him once, and then I met him again on the recommendation of Liu Erlang, who played polo with us. I don't know if it was because he met me twice and thought I was a bit too eager, but the way he spoke to me always had a bit of an air of superiority."
Lu Yinghuai slowed down his writing and asked softly:
"Did you ask him about the price?"
"Of course, he also told us that the price of wool in Xixia was 300 wen per catty, but it was 600 wen per catty when it was transported to Bianjing. I had asked Chengbo about it before, and he had seen sheep dealers buying wool, and he said it was around 55 to 60 wen per catty."
“I can understand that fellow saying it’s 300 coins a catty; business always needs to make money. However, I have doubts about the price for the journey to Bianjing. Young master, you’re very knowledgeable. What do you think?”
Lu Yinghuai was overjoyed by Yunling's praise; even the characters he wrote had a cheerful little tail at the end.
"Lingniang, have you decided how much wool you want to order?"
"I'd like to order two hundred jin first..."
As Yunling spoke, she began to lose confidence and asked again:
"Isn't that too little? How about we order a thousand catties?"
Lu Yinghuai laughed out loud, then shook his head and said with a wry smile:
“Lingniang, there are no outsiders here, so you don’t need to be so polite and reserved with me.”
"That's two hundred catties. I've calculated it. One hundred catties of wool can make about two thousand pieces. Considering the orders brought by the fashion show, now that so much time has passed, I think it would be good if we could sell a thousand pieces."
"But you can't be too rigid about the quantity when doing business. What if this trend comes up again in a while? Then I'll still have a hundred pounds of wool to move around, so I won't be too desperate."
Lu Yinghuai stopped what he was doing, leaned back against the chair, and carefully discussed with Yun Ling:
"Two hundred catties of wool... Did he say that the price of six hundred wen per catty included taxes, brokerage fees, and other expenses?"
“He said that the price included a series of fees for the goods transported from Western Xia to Bianjing.”
Lu Yinghuai nodded and continued to calculate:
"According to the tax collection at the border market, wool is taxed at 1/50. If we calculate based on the 300 cash per catty he reported, then 200 catties would be 1 string of cash and 200 cash. With the 20% tax reduction for the ordination certificate, the tax would be 960 cash."
"Two hundred catties of wool... A large sack can hold twenty catties, so two hundred catties would be ten large sacks. Two carriages would be enough. Adding the cost of the wool, five strings of cash would be sufficient."
Yunling slapped her thigh suddenly, her emotions running high.
“I was just saying that when he said 600 cash a catty, it sounded like he made it up on the spot. If it were true, it would only have been done with 6 or 7 cash, but he insisted on extorting 60 cash from me. No wonder he kept asking me how many catties I wanted when I was leaving.”
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