Chapter 34 Chapter 34 Early in the morning on the twenty-third day of the first lunar month.
Early in the morning on the twenty-third of the first lunar month.
Jiang Wan's shop was bustling with activity: Wang Da swept the floor with a broom, Chen Xi wiped the walls, and Wang Er followed behind with a bucket of water. Jiang An brought in a ladder, and Jiang Wan nailed the plaque inscribed "Jiang's Shop" to the door.
"Brother, is this correct?" Jiang Wan asked, holding up the plaque.
"A little bit more to the right, yes, it's fine." Jiang An held the wooden ladder from below and looked up at the position of the plaque until it was straight.
"So I hammer the nails?"
Jiang An nodded: "Be careful, hold on to the ladder."
Jiang Wan nailed the plaque down and descended the ladder. He stepped back a few steps, admiring the calligraphy on the plaque and exclaiming, "It's vigorous and powerful, and the writing is effortless. I didn't expect Zi Yan to have such good handwriting."
Jiang An frowned: "It's obvious that the boy's identity is not simple, don't take it too seriously."
"Don't worry, brother. I just want to spend time with you and Mom. I don't want anything else." Jiang Wan smiled and shook Jiang An's arm. Jiang An couldn't resist his sister's coquettishness. His heart was about to melt. He scratched Jiang Wan's nose helplessly:
"Okay, brother always believes in you. It's getting late, I should go to work, you should rest for a while, don't get tired."
"Yeah, see you at noon!" Jiang Wan waved his hand and watched his brother's back disappear around the corner. The smile on his face slowly faded.
These days, she wasn't the only one busy; her brother also helped her a lot. Not only did he do hard labor, he also had to care for their elderly mother and work odd jobs at night to supplement the family income. Although he never complained about the hardship, Jiang Wan could see the hardship from his tired demeanor and the dark circles under his eyes.
Brother, please wait for me. I will earn the remaining 170 taels of silver as soon as possible, and then I will free you and mother from citizenship. We can live a good life as a family and never be separated.
After seeing Jiang An off, Jiang Wan returned to the shop and carefully observed it while placing some flowers as decoration. The shop would officially open the day after tomorrow, and she had been thinking about how to decorate the shop to attract customers.
After a while, Wang Da finished sweeping the floor and came to Jiang Wan and asked, "Master, the merchandise cabinet we ordered should be almost ready. How do you plan to arrange it?"
Jiang Wan's shop consisted of two vertical rooms: the inner room was for storage, and the outer room was for display cases. The outer room's checkout counter faced the shop door, so the merchandise cases were typically arranged vertically. Wang Da estimated the width of the room and figured it could hold about three merchandise cases.
As expected, Jiang Wan walked around the outer room for a while and said, "Put three cabinets there."
Wang Da was about to agree when he heard his master say, "Put two of them vertically, four feet apart, and put the other one horizontally against the wall."
"Ah?" Wang Da was stunned. "Master, if it's placed horizontally, it will just hit the edge of the inner door, no problem. But isn't four feet too wide for the vertical cabinets? Most shops have two and a half feet between them."
Jiang Wan pointed at the wall in front of him and explained, "I plan to make a display window here, so I left some space."
Wang Da was puzzled: "What is a display window?"
"They knocked down a section of the wall and installed wooden bases around the empty space to display the merchandise. That way, passersby can see it from outside."
According to the practice in the previous life, glass should be installed to prevent dust from getting in. However, there is no glass in this time and space, so the windshield can only be made larger.
"Is this even possible?" Wang Da said excitedly, "Should we put the latest porcelain on it?"
Jiang Wan shook her head: "I don't plan to use the window to display the merchandise."
"Then why do you open the window?" After wiping the wall, Chen Xi came over and asked curiously.
"I plan to demonstrate the glaze blowing skills in the window." Jiang Wan replied.
Chen Xi looked at Jiang Wan in confusion. She had never seen Jiang Wan blowing glaze, so she didn't understand what it meant.
Wang Er, standing by, quickly explained, "Blowing the glaze is a glazing technique invented by our master. The blue-glazed porcelain we sell is all glazed this way. I've been practicing for three whole days. I'll teach you how to blow it later. You're so smart, you'll definitely learn faster than me."
After hearing this, Chen Xi lowered his head a little aggrievedly and whispered, "Second Brother, I, I'm very stupid."
A few days ago, Jiang Wan taught her how to shape porcelain clay into bowl bodies. Since she was a beginner, Jiang Wan specially prepared a mold, but she made the bowl body crooked.
She still remembered how Jiang Wan wanted to laugh but didn't dare to, for fear of dampening her enthusiasm for studying.
She had been practicing hard these past few days, but still hadn't made much progress. She really didn't know how the eldest and second brothers could learn so quickly.
Jiang Wan smiled and stroked her hair, comforting her, "It's okay. Your senior and second senior brothers have been learning for over three years, so they must be more familiar with it. Take your time and watch more. Master believes you will learn it."
Chen Xi lowered his head, rubbed Jiang Wan's palm, and nodded.
Wang Da looked worried: "But Master, didn't you say that our method cannot be passed on to others?"
Jiang Wan gave him a thumbs-up in satisfaction: "Not bad, you've already learned some business skills."
"We couldn't tell anyone about it back then because we didn't have our own shop, so we could only rely on our unique techniques to attract customers. But now it's different. We not only need customers to like our products, but also gain recognition from industry experts to create a brand effect. Letting everyone see the magic of glaze blowing is not only to attract customers, but also to let more people understand this technology and lead a new celadon trend."
"Don't worry about others learning from you. As long as you keep innovating and improving, you won't have to worry about falling behind. And as a craftsman, marketing skills are only auxiliary; improving your product is the most important thing. Only by communicating and learning with your peers can you improve quality. If you isolate yourself and stick to one corner, you're missing the point."
After Jiang Wan's explanation, Wang Da suddenly understood. He was older than both Wang Er and Chen Xi, and his master not only taught him porcelain-making techniques but also occasionally taught him some business tips.
In just one month, he learned a lot. He always thought that the gap between him and his master was in these skills. As long as he studied hard, he would be able to be on par with his master one day.
But after hearing these words, he realized that the gap was not just in skills, but also in concepts, pattern, and mentality.
The master will always be his master.
Wang Da was sighing here, while Wang Er and Chen Xi were staring at him, not understanding what he was saying.
Anyway, what the master said is definitely right, just do it.
Wang Er took out a ruler and marked out the display window according to Jiang Wan's request. Jiang Wan nodded with satisfaction, "Not bad. Big Brother, go ask Uncle Wang to come over and build the display window. He can also check if the merchandise cabinet is ready and help Zi Yan carry it back."
Before coming to the shop today, Zi Yan came to her and asked her to continue working part-time in the shop, saying that there was no work and no money here.
How could someone who knew the Jinyiwei Commander be broke? Jiang Wan secretly complained at the time. He had thought that after he and Shen Jianqing had connected, he would go back to his own home, or at least live in Lord Shen's house. He hadn't expected this man to become addicted to being a porter.
Jiang Wan knew that someone of Zi Yan's status must have his own reasons for staying, but due to his status, she couldn't ask why. Anyway, if he wanted to come, then come. It would be a good opportunity to have more labor.
So he asked him to reserve three merchandise cabinets early in the morning.
Calculating the time, it should be done by now. A merchandise cabinet weighs about 100 kilograms, so she asked Wang Da and Wang Er to help lift it.
"If you really can't lift it, ask the carpenter to help you lift it. Pay him the right amount. Don't force yourself and hurt yourself." Jiang Wan instructed.
The two apprentices agreed and were about to go out to the street when they suddenly stopped at the door.
Jiang Wan looked outside in the direction the brothers were looking, puzzled. He saw a tall, thin man at the corner of the street carrying a large cabinet in one hand and another on his left shoulder. He was walking towards their shop with brisk steps, seemingly without any effort.
Looking closely, it was Zi Yan.
Wang Da: ???
Wang Er: Master, are these three cabinets really weighing 300 kilograms?
Jiang Wan:......
I've underestimated this guy. I thought he was good at martial arts, but I didn't expect him to be so strong. Was he a cow in his previous life?
After a few seconds of daze, Zi Yan was already in front of him. He put down the merchandise cabinet and stood in the room: "Okay, where to put it?"
The whole room was silent, and four pairs of eyes looked at him as if he were an alien.
Zi Yan also felt that the atmosphere was not right. He tilted his head and gave Jiang Wan a puzzled look.
Jiang Wan: No, brother, you don’t think everyone is so arrogant, do you?
"Nothing, nothing, just put it here." Jiang Wan instructed Zi Yan to put the merchandise in the display cabinet. "You've worked hard all the way here. Are you tired?"
Zi Yan shook his head.
"It's getting late. You should go back and eat early. Leave the rest to me." Jiang Wan said.
Zi Yan looked down at her face for a while, then slowly nodded and turned around.
Jiang Wan seemed to be dazzled at that moment, and actually saw a hint of reluctance in his eyes.
If it weren't for what happened on the night of the 20th, she would have wanted to ask him. But after that night... Jiang Wan just thought it was an illusion and continued to say to Wang Dadao as if nothing had happened: "Since the merchandise cabinets have been moved back, then you can go directly to Uncle Wang and ask him to come over and open the window display."
Zi Yan's steps hesitated for a moment, then returned to normal and walked out of the store.
"Hey," Jiang Wan called him.
Zi Yan turned around suddenly, his eyes shining brightly at that moment.
"The handwriting is nice and handsome." Jiang Wan said with a smile.
He blinked, looked up at the words he had written on the door, smiled gently, and closed the door for her.
He seldom smiled, but when he did, even the sunlight seemed gentler, reminding people of flowers in full bloom in spring and melting ice and snow, so stunning that time seemed to stand still.
But Jiang Wan was stunned for only a moment before her sanity returned. His handwriting felt strangely familiar, but she searched through the original owner's memories and confirmed that the original owner had never seen this person before. Neither the appearance nor the courtesy name matched.
If the original owner had forgotten his appearance, that was unlikely. A face like that was hard to forget. So... where had she seen his handwriting?
Jiang Wan rubbed his head with a headache.
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