"Even if something happens, it's actually a good thing. I'll take you there to see it first."
"You sent me back to the manor yesterday, and then went back to Jiangning?"
"Um."
You really don't need to work so hard.
Jiang Huaifu smiled faintly and said nothing. The carriage slowly headed towards Jiangning.
Under Zhao Ru's management, the workshop indeed got better and better. Although there were some ambiguities in the accounts, which business doesn't have messy accounts? As long as he checked regularly, there were no major oversights, and Jiang Huaifu was too lazy to care about a few taels of silver.
After all, we need people right now, so let's keep Zhao Ru in line for now. When they have time in the future, we can take over again and manage it ourselves, and then these problems won't exist.
“You told me last time that there were problems with the accounts. Have you found anything? I’ve been busy with the shop these days and haven’t asked you about it.”
Jiang Huaifu relaxed his brows and said calmly, "It's just some loose change. It's just a little bit of money I took in addition to my wages. I used it to pull some strings for my nephew so that he could study at the old scholar's school."
"But this money is still in our accounts..."
"After careful calculation, it's not much. It's mostly money she saved from where she sourced the goods. If she hadn't done that, we would still have paid those merchants the same amount. It's not really money we're entitled to. It's just a matter of each person relying on their own abilities to get a price lower than the market rate. Let her take a cut..."
"Yes, as long as you know your limits."
As soon as he finished speaking, the carriage gradually came to a stop by the roadside, and the driver stepped forward to report, "Young master, young lady, we have arrived."
Jiang Huaifu got out of the car first, then turned around and reached out to help her.
Song He'er gave an awkward smile, then glanced at him uncomfortably before leaping off the carriage.
Jiang Huaifu curled his lips into a smile and walked nonchalantly into the workshop...
Zhao Ruxiang had received the news in advance and was waiting outside the workshop early on.
"Young master, young lady."
"You've worked hard, Madam Zhao." Song He'er was still wearing a cap. The workshop workers had never seen their workshop owner's true face from beginning to end. They only knew that she was a young, unmarried girl.
"It's not hard work. Business at the workshop has been getting better and better these past few days. The silkworms we raise are of excellent quality, and even the shipping speed is four or five times faster than before."
Song He'er smiled and asked, "With such a fast delivery speed, you must have made quite a bit of money, right? Madam Zhao said it wasn't hard work, but I see you've lost weight. Once this busy period is over, my husband and I will definitely treat you well."
Zhao Ru was a perceptive and articulate person. Seeing Song He'er's politeness, he quickly smiled and declined, "Miss, please don't say that. The money we earn belongs to everyone. We've all done our best. Please come inside. I have something to discuss with you two."
"Um."
After saying that, Song He'er and Jiang Huaifu followed Zhao Ru and walked together toward the workshop's warehouse.
As they walked, the air was filled with the smell of dye, which Song He'er found rather pungent. She remembered seeing a silk workshop in Xiaoye City before, and the silk from that workshop had a sweet, unique fragrance. Theirs, however, did smell rather unpleasant.
“Miss, you don’t need to think the smell is bad. I remember telling you last time that if you want the silk to have a light fragrance, you just need to add some fragrance powder to the dye vat. However, that will greatly reduce the quality of the silk and make it less expensive. Another reason is that many wives of wealthy families and ladies in the palace do not like their clothes to have a special smell, so we chose not to add fragrance powder. If noble ladies like that kind of fragrance, it can be processed later.”
Zhao Ru explained it very clearly. Song He'er remembered that she had also mentioned this issue when they were in Xiaoye City. She felt that clothes with fragrance were mostly supplied to courtesans or top ladies in brothels and entertainment venues, so that customers would feel intoxicated by the smell. Ordinary women would not buy such clothes.
However, these arguments had already been thoroughly corrected by the woman from last time. She felt that one could not judge a person's worth based on a dress, and that judging a person's character based on their clothing was too much of a misinterpretation.
Just then, a soft, sweet voice came from behind me.
"Have you ever touched the texture of our fabrics, young lady? They feel wonderful to the touch and don't stick to your skin at all. I guarantee that in Jiangning City, there is absolutely no other place that can match our quality."
The speaker was a girl about the same age as Song He'er, with delicate features and a Jiangnan charm.
"Oh, whose daughter is this? She's so pretty. Could she be a relative of Madam Zhao, here to help out?" Song He'er asked with a smile.
“This is the daughter of a distant cousin of mine. She came to help me out when she had nothing else to do. This girl is very good at needlework. You have never seen her embroidery before. She has even embroidered the ‘Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’ pattern in the royal palace. So I’ve entrusted her with managing the patterns on the silk.”
As the supervisor here, Zhao Ru can naturally use and dispatch people at will, and the beautiful woman in front of him does have her own strengths. As long as she is honest and law-abiding, Song He'er will not hold it against her.
“She’s a pretty girl. Zhao Niangzi knows how to judge people, so we’re at ease.”
After saying that, Song He'er went into the warehouse and carefully inspected one piece of silk after another, just as the girl had instructed.
This stuff is truly excellent; not only is it brightly colored, but it's also as smooth as skin, definitely better than the stuff in the General's Mansion.
She remembered seeing the eldest daughter-in-law and Song Chanyue wearing similar silk gowns before, but they were nowhere near as good as this one. Moreover, those silks were imported from the south. In comparison, the craftsmanship of this gown was indeed among the best in Nanzhao.
Song He'er was in a great mood and was about to speak when she noticed that the pretty girl's eyes were darting around and glancing at Jiang Huaifu every now and then.
In an instant, she understood completely why Zhao Rurang had put a woman of marriageable age in charge of the workshop; he had his eye on Jiang Huaifu.
Although Jiang Huaifu was not as handsome as Pan An, he was still like a figure who had stepped out of a painting, with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes. He rarely spoke to others and had an upright demeanor.
"How old are you, young lady?" Song He'er suddenly cut off her little thoughts.
"Uh... I... am sixteen years old."
"She's exactly one year older than me, so she's practically my older sister."
......
My ranking has improved recently, thank you everyone for your votes!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
