Chapter 24 Chapter 24 It was almost midnight when Jiang Wan arrived home, four...
It was almost midnight when Jiang Wan arrived home. Everything was quiet except for the warm light coming from the Jiang family courtyard.
At the gate, the renovation team had just packed up their tools and filed out. According to Uncle Wang's words last time, the renovations should have been completed by today.
"Miss Jiang, why are you back so early today?" Uncle Wang greeted her when he saw her.
Jiang Wan went up to him and said, "I asked for leave from the shopkeeper today, thinking I'd make some Yuanxiao at home for the Lantern Festival. Uncle Wang, is the house finished?"
"It's all done. We rushed the work today and just finished the repairs." Uncle Wang smiled. "You gave me a lot of money, so after replacing the walls, there was quite a bit left over. I even replaced the wooden boards on the roof as well. Do you think you're satisfied?"
Jiang Wan walked around the house, examining it carefully. The entire hut had been replaced with wood, the planks fitting together perfectly, preventing any drafts. It was clear that although Uncle Wang's renovations were slow, they were very attentive. She felt grateful and said to Uncle Wang, "Excellent! Thank you for your hard work these days."
She paid the balance and gave him some extra change as a tip, saying politely, "Uncle Wang, please stay and have a bowl of Yuanxiao before you leave. I just bought it."
After saying that, he pulled Zi Yan over and shook the bag of food he was carrying.
Unexpectedly, the moment Uncle Wang saw Zi Yan, he took several steps back like a mouse seeing a cat, avoiding his gaze and not daring to look at him.
What's going on? Jiang Wan was surprised. Could it be that Zi Yan's appearance was too striking and made him shy?
"Uncle Wang, Uncle Wang? What's wrong with you?" she asked.
Uncle Wang was stunned for only a few seconds before his expression returned to normal, revealing his usual simple smile: "It's okay, it's okay. I still have some work to do at home, so I won't delay Miss Jiang's family reunion."
After saying this, he bowed and left. For some reason, Jiang Wan could sense a hint of hasty escape from his back.
After sending Uncle Wang away inexplicably, Jiang Wan turned around to look at Zi Yan. He was also staring at Uncle Wang's back in a trance. His dark and deep eyes made Jiang Wan think of the broken sword that was shining with cold light.
I'll go back and try to see if I can reattach the sword. It's quite valuable. If it's repaired, it shouldn't be a problem to sell it for over a hundred taels.
Her mind was full of money, and she didn't realize that she had been staring at the boy in front of her for a long time, nor did she realize that her brother Jiang An saw the two of them looking at each other as soon as he opened the door.
Jiang An strode over and grabbed his sister's arm, looking very unhappy: "Sister, who is this young man?"
"Ah, he's the deliveryman I hired," Jiang Wan answered honestly. He wondered inwardly, "What's wrong with my brother? He looks so bad. Was he beaten and scolded by the officers while working?" That shouldn't be the case. With Magistrate Li's warning, the officers wouldn't dare touch my brother anymore.
I'll have to ask them later who dared to bully my Jiang Wan's brother.
Jiang An also wanted to know when his sister had such a good relationship with a man outside that she would let someone else take her home, and he was just a delivery boy who was just trying to make a living. However, considering that his sister was grown up, it was not appropriate to ask too much about her feelings. He could only point the finger at Zi Yan: "I see. Thank you for sending my sister back, but you don't have to worry about it anymore. I will pick her up myself."
With a cold face, he took the bags that Zi Yan was carrying and took out a few copper coins from his pocket: "These are a little gift from your brother. Consider them as the payment for your overtime work to help your sister carry things. Please accept them."
He spoke gently and politely, but his tone was like that of a farmer whose cabbage had been eaten by a pig, so cold that ice chips could fall off.
Zi Yan glanced at him sideways, then turned and left.
Jiang Wan waited until he was far away before carefully pulling Jiang An's sleeve and asking softly, "What's wrong, brother? Who made you unhappy?"
Jiang An heard this and turned around to carefully observe his sister's expression. The moonlight sprinkled on his sister's fair face like water. Her eyes were bright, with a hint of doubt and confusion.
She's still a young girl who hasn't gotten her bearings yet. Jiang An helplessly scratched his sister's nose and warned, "Brother is very good, but don't go out alone with men at night in the future. Especially good-looking men, they are the best at deceiving you, understand?"
"Pfft——" Jiang Wan burst out laughing. She was worried that her brother had been wronged, but now that she understood the reason, she felt funny and warm in her heart.
It turns out that it feels so good to have someone care about you.
"I know, brother. I'll be careful." After years in the business world, she was no longer at the age where she would be deceived by men. "By the way, brother, can you take half a day off tomorrow to help me with the delivery? I need to check on the shop tomorrow."
"You really rented a shop?" Jiang An laughed in surprise. "Of course! My sister is amazing!"
The night is gentle, and thousands of lights are rising into the sky, flickering one by one, carrying the good wishes of countless people. It is both spectacular and beautiful.
Jiang Wan and her family sat in their newly renovated wooden house, eating steaming hot Yuanxiao dumplings, all three of them beaming with happiness. Especially for Jiang Wan, this was the first Lantern Festival in her life where her whole family was reunited.
She will work hard to make every Lantern Festival in the future as warm and harmonious as this one.
The next morning.
Jiang Wan pushed her cart into the alley as usual. The sixteenth day of the first lunar month was overcast, with no sun, and the early morning breeze brought a chill. She laid out the celadon and straightened her clothes.
A quarter of an hour later, the stall was filled with customers.
Jiang Wan introduced the products one by one as usual, but she sensed something amiss in the crowd. Her intuition, honed through years of business experience, told her that today might not be as smooth as the previous few days.
Therefore, she was extremely vigilant. While she continued to sell celadon enthusiastically as usual, she observed the crowd calmly.
A few middle-aged men huddled together, whispering, not looking at her stall. Normally, customers are most interested in the products and prices, but when she introduced them, those people didn't even look up once.
If they weren't interested, that would make sense. But they were rushing to buy it, which was very strange. Jiang Wan carefully observed these people while wrapping the porcelain.
They all bought blank porcelain bowls without designs, and only one at a time. Since the advent of glazed porcelain, the number of customers buying blank bowls has dwindled. Firstly, glazed porcelain isn't much more expensive than blank bowls, and secondly, glazed porcelain can be customized with desired designs. Consequently, she didn't produce many blank bowls; they were all sold out.
Jiang Wan noticed that one of the middle-aged men put the porcelain bowl in his handbag and smiled with an ambiguous smile when he lowered his head.
Her heart tightened. It seemed her premonition was right, but she had never seen these people before. What on earth did they want to do?
Jiang Wan continued to hawk his wares as if nothing had happened, keeping an eye on the movements of the middle-aged men. Within a quarter of an hour, they had all bought their blank porcelain bowls. Judging from the path they took as they left the crowd, they all passed a poplar tree at the entrance of the alley.
There was a woman squatting under the poplar tree, but because of the crowded crowd, she couldn't see what the woman was holding in her hand. She could only see the top of her head and half of her forehead.
The woman happened to look up, and her eyes met Jiang Wan's. Although she immediately lowered her head, Jiang Wan, after years of experience in the business world, had developed a photographic memory, and could recognize people even if he had only met them once.
Besides, he was an old acquaintance. She sneered slightly, and her original nervousness relaxed a little.
Just like the previous few days, the celadon sold out quickly, but the next stage of the reservation process was the climax. Many customers excitedly squeezed forward, ready to queue up to order the celadon they wanted.
Suddenly, a cry of surprise came from not far away.
"Ah! The porcelain bowl I just bought is broken!"
Jiang Wan looked in the direction of the voice and saw a middle-aged man who had bought a blank porcelain bowl. He held the broken bowl in his hands and angrily said, "Miss Jiang, I came here to buy this because of your reputation. I didn't expect you to fool me with a low-quality bowl. I just bought this bowl less than half an hour ago, and how come it's broken?"
The crowd immediately exploded.
"What's going on? Are there really any low-quality bowls?"
"That shouldn't be the case. I just bought a wine flask from this store. It's quite sturdy."
"Yeah, maybe the bowl this person bought wasn't properly made. If it's broken, just replace it. Why bother being so aggressive?"
Jiang Wan listened to the chatter and gestured for silence. Her fame had soared these days, and the customers had gradually quieted down, curiously waiting to see how she would respond.
"Dear guest, I'm sorry to bring you a bad shopping experience. Can I take a look at your porcelain bowl?" Jiang Wan maintained a faint smile and walked towards the middle-aged man. The onlookers around her consciously made way for her.
She picked up the broken bowl and examined it closely. The azure glaze, shape, and size of the bowl were identical; it couldn't have been swapped. The crack, winding downward, thinning at the top and thickening at the bottom, was clearly a natural crack, not the result of a collision.
What could be the reason? What method did that person use?
Jiang Wan was just pondering when suddenly several angry shouts came from the crowd: "My porcelain bowl is broken too!"
"Mine too!"
A few voices stood out in the silent crowd, igniting the entire crowd like a fuse. The trust Jiang Wan had previously earned through his good reputation plummeted, and many people began to curse:
"What a shady business! Once they make money, they lose their conscience!"
"I used to buy things from her store all the time, but I won't buy from her anymore."
"Liar! Liar!"
The woman squatting under the poplar tree also stood up at this moment. Jiang Wan met her eyes. She snorted, rolled her eyes, and her face was full of gloating.
If she doesn't break the deadlock, today's incident will spread and destroy the good reputation she has accumulated over the past ten days. Not only will her sales plummet, but her shop may also be taken back.
Jiang Wan's mind raced, and suddenly he caught a glimpse of a crack on the bottom of the porcelain bowl, which was curved and smooth.
She laughed softly, clearing up the last bit of doubt.
"These bowls are not sold by my family!" Jiang Wan shouted at the top of his lungs, barely suppressing the noisy voices.
Fortunately, this sentence worked and the crowd quieted down.
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