Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Jiang Wan walked closer and could see the building clearly...
As Jiang Wan approached, he could finally see the Loulan noble's features. He was about twenty years old, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes. Unfortunately, his brows were furious, his face flushed with anger, and he didn't have the temperament of a handsome man.
"Who are you?" He turned and glared at her, his hands on his hips.
"I'm an appraiser here, and I've examined many pearls, jade, and hairpins. Why don't you tell me your requirements? Perhaps I can design one." Jiang Wan wore her signature salesman smile, but inwardly she cursed this dandy, constantly finding fault. Xu's pawnshop had a wider selection of high-quality hairpins than any jewelry store. If they didn't have anything that met this man's requirements, then there probably wasn't any in the entire city.
The Loulan nobleman took a look at Jiang Wan, seeing she was a delicate little girl, and said with disdain, "You? Fine, then listen carefully, I want a pure gold hairpin. Not only must it be gorgeous and magnificent, but it must also have the elegant characteristics of your Lin'an in the Central Plains. Do you understand?"
The shopkeeper shook his head. He had heard this before, and hearing it again still found it incredible: "My dear, pure gold is a gorgeous style. The elegance of Jiangnan requires jade or silver, but jade and silver have an overall soft and light feel, which is difficult to achieve the gorgeousness of pure gold. The two are completely contradictory! Even if you search all the shops in the city, I'm afraid you won't find a hairpin like this."
Jiang Wan looked at the man thoughtfully. He said stubbornly, "Why not? You have so few varieties, and you blame me for asking too much! If you don't have it here, I'll look elsewhere!"
He walked out. This made the shopkeeper extremely anxious. Western nobles generally had specific supply channels and rarely bought from the shop. Moreover, nobles of this level often had their own social circles, and the quality of the goods in a certain place would spread throughout the circle after a single transaction. This was a rare opportunity. If they could satisfy this distinguished customer, the shop's regular customers would increase significantly. Otherwise, they might lose all aristocratic customers.
"Wait a minute, sir," Jiang Wan saw the shopkeeper's expression and understood the seriousness of the matter. "I was born in Lin'an, the capital, and have seen many of the fashionable styles there. I have some experience. Why not listen to my opinion?"
Hearing that she came from Lin'an, the Loulan nobles became interested and stopped.
"How about using colored glass as a pendant on the tassel? The hairpin body can still be made of pure gold, but the colored glass is elegant and gentle, and when it is illuminated by light, it will shimmer and shine, without losing its splendor."
The shopkeeper exclaimed, "What a great idea! I've never seen a hairpin with glass beads before. It's truly elegant and gorgeous, and the two blend perfectly, without a sense of disobedience. I'm really impressed that you could come up with such an idea!"
The Loulan nobleman was not satisfied: "No, beads are too tacky! This hairpin is for my mother... my mother, how can it be the same as others? The pendant must be unique."
Well, he had just been thinking about showing off his skills in front of the distinguished guest to satisfy him, but it turned out that he was just looking for trouble. Come to think of it, he already had a fixed supply channel, so why would he come to him in person to buy?
"Isn't this unique? I've never seen a pendant made of colored glass in all the years I've been a shopkeeper." The shopkeeper wailed inwardly, wondering how he could have run into such a jerk. He couldn't afford to offend him, and he had to put on a smile while enduring the humiliation.
Jiang Wan wasn't angry. Instead, she echoed the Loulan noble's words, "You're right, beads are a bit vulgar. I think it would be better to use colored glass to imitate the shape of a palace lantern, following the style used in the imperial palace. I'll ensure it's unique. That way, when your mother sees this hairpin, she'll be reminded of Lin'an City."
"Palace lanterns? Even if you built him an entire palace, he wouldn't be satisfied, right?" the shopkeeper curled his lips and whispered to Jiang Wan. While her idea was indeed ingenious, this man was clearly out to ruin things. He wanted both grandeur and elegance, and even after finally meeting his requirements, he found it too tacky.
Unexpectedly, after hearing Jiang Wan's words, the man's eyes lit up and he nodded. "Okay, I'll do as you say. Just name the price, but get it printed out to me as soon as possible."
"Huh?" The shopkeeper's mouth opened into an "O" shape.
No, wasn't this guy here to cause trouble? Why did he give in so quickly? No, no, no, the key point was that he had never seen the style Jiang Wan was describing, and he was just a pawnshop owner, without any professional craftsmen. How could their shop possibly make something as exquisite as a glazed palace lantern?
But if he offended such a distinguished customer, his shop might not be able to continue operating in the future.
The shopkeeper was at a loss and looked at Jiang Wan for help.
Jiang Wan simply waved his hand at the noble: "No."
The huge shop fell silent for a moment.
"Huh? Why not?" The nobleman was about to get angry again after hearing this. The shopkeeper quickly tugged at Jiang Wan's clothes and winked at her, wondering why this usually smart little girl had suddenly become so confused. How could they afford to offend this customer?
Just as the shopkeeper's brain was frantically racking its brains to figure out how to salvage the situation, Jiang Wan nudged him with his arm, gave him a reassuring look, and said to the Loulan noble, "The colored glaze palace lanterns are exquisite, but our craftsmen here aren't as skilled, and I'm afraid they won't satisfy you. How about this: I'll draw the design for you, and you can find a professional colored glaze craftsman. "
The shopkeeper suddenly realized and breathed a sigh of relief. That's right, why hadn't he thought of this possibility? Given the noble's power, he probably had quite a few retainers who could make glass lanterns.
"Okay, then you go and draw the blueprints, I'll sit here and wait." The Loulan nobleman finally calmed down, leaned back in his chair, and slammed a silver ingot on the table with a swagger.
"Tsk tsk, what a foolish son of a landlord! He has no idea how much a single ingot of silver can buy." Jiang Wan muttered to himself, then asked for pen and paper, carefully sketching on the white paper. In a moment, a hairpin with a glazed palace lantern hanging from it appeared on the paper.
"This drawing looks so real! Not bad, not bad. I didn't expect you to have such a brilliant mind and such a good painter." The nobleman took the blueprint in his hands and examined it carefully before finally smiling. His smile was like a gentle breeze, illuminating the night sky behind him. He had the unrestrained air of a man who travels the world with a sword.
It's a pity that he's just a fool with a bad temper, wasting his good looks. Jiang Wan secretly complained. The shopkeeper picked up the silver on the table, weighed it, and put it in his pocket with satisfaction. He sent the fool out, and even his smile became more sincere, as if he wanted to send him directly to his residence. Before leaving, he said warmly: "Dear guest, if you need anything next time, come to our shop to buy it!"
Jiang Wan returned to the second floor alone. After a while, a system prompt rang in her mind:
"Innovation is the source of vitality. Congratulations to the host for creating a new handicraft and completing the task [Ingenuity], earning twenty points."
Jiang Wan closed his eyes, and the remaining points on the system interface changed from 72 to 92.
This is a pleasant surprise.
After a while, the shopkeeper came upstairs, smiling so much that his eyes narrowed into a line. "Oh, this distinguished guest is so straightforward. He gave me a silver ingot for a painting! Miss Jiang, your idea this time is really brilliant. Let's split the silver 30-70. You get 7 taels and I get 3 taels."
She thanked the shopkeeper and pocketed the silver. The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment and asked, "Miss Jiang, um—I'm a little confused. Why did he seem so satisfied when you suggested changing the glass beads into palace lanterns? Even if the beads are tacky, they should have been replaced with peony or hibiscus patterns, which are commonly used by noble ladies, right?"
The shopkeeper had been in the business for years, after all, and by this point, he'd finally come to his senses. While the distinguished guest's request might seem unreasonable, it wasn't meant to be awkward. He simply didn't have a grasp of the hairpin styles of the Central Plains, and couldn't describe his needs specifically, which was why he'd requested something both ornate and elegant. Jiang Wan must have understood his intentions, and therefore had the right solution.
But the shopkeeper had been in the business for so many years and still couldn't guess what the customer's needs were. How did she guess it?
"You said those are commonly used by noble ladies. Doesn't he want them to be unique?" Jiang Wan explained. "Boss, you really can't tell who that person is?"
The shopkeeper looked bewildered. Jiang Wan glanced around and whispered something in his ear. The shopkeeper's expression changed from bewilderment to surprise, then to horror, and finally to great relief, thanking her profusely.
"That's how it is! Luckily you were here today, otherwise I would have been in big trouble!"
The next morning.
Jiang Wan woke up early and, as agreed yesterday, took her two apprentices to the kiln to pick up the improved celadon. Yesterday was her first time using blown glaze, and she was curious about the result.
At the kiln entrance, the laborer in charge of firing porcelain was already waiting for her. As soon as he saw her, he took out a finished porcelain bowl and said with anticipation, "It's all fired. The Chinese character for 'Fu' is so beautifully written. It looks so delicate. It burned in the fire for most of the day, and it didn't even peel off."
"Thank you for your hard work, big brother." Jiang Wan bowed slightly, took the porcelain bowl, and waved to his two disciples, "Give me my kettle and try to see if it will fade."
Wang Da responded, taking a kettle from the cart and handing it to her. He watched his master unscrew the kettle and pour a little water into the bowl, feeling a little nervous. Will they succeed?
Jiang Wan dipped his fingertips in some water and rubbed the word "Fu" vigorously.
Wang Er came over and stared at the porcelain bowl without blinking.
After waiting for an incense stick of time, the glaze didn't spread, remaining firmly in place. Jiang Wan looked at his fingers. The water droplets on his fingertips were clear, not stained with a single speck of blue.
"Master, we succeeded!" Wang Er jumped up with the bowl in his hand and was grabbed by his shoulders by his brother.
"Be careful, don't drop the bowl that Master has worked so hard to make." Wang Da scolded, but his eyes were full of joy.
Jiang Wan looked at the two children's excitement and smiled from the bottom of her heart. She took out a few coins and walked over to the migrant worker. "Thank you for your hard work, brother. It's so cold, and you're waiting for us here so early in the morning. Consider this as my breakfast treat."
"Thank you, young lady. You're so polite! I'm so embarrassed," the worker said, declining the offer but accepting it with both hands. "Thank you, young lady! Such a beautiful porcelain bowl will surely sell like hotcakes!"
Jiang Wan filled the cart and replied, "Okay, thanks for your kind words. The sun's coming out soon, so I should go set up my stall."
"Goodbye, girl!" After she walked away, the migrant worker took out the copper coins, weighed them back and forth, and grinned foolishly.
He doesn't earn that much money in a whole day.
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