The jewelry shop owner brought over a tray and placed it in front of Yan Xia.
Yan Xia immediately took a liking to the pair of baby play eight-treasure bracelets.
The craftsmanship is exquisite, with eight different colored gemstones set on each bracelet. Not only that, but the gold pieces next to them are also carved with several infants. Upon closer inspection, the children appear to be playing and frolicking on the bracelets, lifelike and vivid.
Even in modern times, she would be amazed by the craftsmanship.
As expected of Jiangnan County, it has all kinds of good things. She made the right choice by shopping here!
"How much are these bracelets?" Yan Xia asked the shopkeeper.
"You have excellent taste! These bracelets are treasures from the capital. They're not sold individually; a pair costs 1,500 taels!" The jewelry shop owner said, his eyes observing Yan Xia's expression.
Seeing that her expression didn't change, he was secretly delighted.
He seems to be quite wealthy.
"It's a bit expensive. I bought a red jade 'Fu' character pendant at another jewelry shop a few days ago for only 1,000 taels. You should know how rare red jade is. So, I won't haggle with you any further. I'll take it for 1,200 taels."
"No, sir, this is three hundred taels less. I'll lose a lot of money. I really can't sell it. Here's the price: one thousand four hundred and fifty taels. If you like it, you can take it."
Yan Xia smiled faintly.
She put the bracelet back on the tray.
"The gemstones set on these eight-treasure bracelets are of different colors, making them very selective in terms of who can wear them. Even if you can afford them, they may not look good on you. Since you are so dishonest in doing business, then forget it. I'm leaving. Anyway, there are plenty of jewelry shops in Jiangnan County. I'll take my time to choose."
Yan Xia stood up, making a move to leave.
The shopkeeper grew anxious.
"Don't go, don't go. How about this, we each compromise? Please let me make a little profit. 1,300 taels, that's all I can offer. I really can't go any lower. Is that alright?"
These eight-treasure bracelets have indeed been stored away for far too long.
In the capital, this bracelet could sell for at most a thousand taels of silver. However, since it was rare in Jiangnan County, it was usually sold for around a thousand two hundred taels of silver. With the travel expenses, he could only earn a little over two hundred taels out of a thousand three hundred taels of silver. You should know that jewelry shops either don't open at all, or they make enough to last them for half a year when they do.
This happens all the time.
His shop's most profitable items weren't the cheap jewelry, but rather these rare, prized possessions.
We urgently need money at home, and if we can't sell this bracelet, we'll have to give it away at a low price to a friend in the same industry.
"Okay, wrap it up."
Seeing that he was sweating profusely, Yan Xia initially wanted to push the price down further, but in the end she relented.
"Oh, thank you, sir. I'll wrap it up for you right away."
Yan Xia took out the two silver notes that Deng Qiuzhi had given her and placed them on the table.
Before long, a five-hundred-tael silver note and two one-hundred-tael silver notes returned to her space.
"By the way, how much is that white jade open bracelet inlaid with gold wire, and the gold-inlaid jade hairpin with red peony decoration that I just saw?" The jewelry shop owner gave Yan Xia a small ebony jewelry box as a gift. Yan Xia picked it up and was about to leave when she remembered something and turned around to ask as she walked to the door of the shop.
"The hairpin is six hundred taels. The white jade open bangle with gold wire inlaid with gold is a rare craft and costs nine hundred taels. However, this pair is gold with white jade and rubies, which looks like a set of headdresses. It will definitely look good when worn together. You have a good eye. If you really want it, you can take it for one thousand two hundred taels. I really didn't quote you a high price. You can ask around and you'll know."
The shopkeeper was afraid that Yan Xia would try to drastically reduce the price again.
He repeatedly showed weakness.
"Okay, wrap it up. But don't tell anyone that the price is 1,200 taels. Tell them it's 1,500 taels, understand? I'm giving it away as a gift."
Yan Xia planned to give the hairpin and bracelet to Old Madam Xu.
She's going to the Xu residence tomorrow.
Old Madam Xu must be extremely upset about losing her jewelry box, and this gift will surely touch her heart.
Anyway, we've already made so much money.
It doesn't matter if I bleed a little.
"That's for sure. Of course I won't tell anyone that you bargained. If that happened, everyone in my shop would be bargaining, and what if I couldn't sell any of the jewelry? Haha, don't worry. Here, I've wrapped it up for you, and I'll also give you a top-quality ebony jewelry box."
The two exchanged silver notes in one hand and a jewelry box in the other.
After buying what she wanted, Yan Xia went to an empty alley, threw the jewelry box into her spatial storage, and went straight to Deng Qiuzhi's shop.
In the evening, the two went to the newly opened [Su Lan Shui Xie] restaurant for dinner.
This restaurant is built by the water and has three floors. The first floor is the main hall where individual diners eat, while the second and third floors are private rooms that must be booked in advance, otherwise there will be no vacancies at mealtimes.
Deng Qiuzhi had booked the private room early in the morning; it was on the third floor, overlooking the river.
It was the best private room available, and he had to pay extra to book it.
"Sir/Madam, here is the menu, please take a look."
After they sat down, the waiter placed a booklet in front of each of them. When they opened it, they saw the names of various dishes, from cold dishes to stir-fries, as well as meat and vegetable dishes, soups, and drinks, all arranged in order of price from high to low, a total of ten books.
"Manager Yan, please."
Deng Qiuzhi held his palm up, fingertips pointing towards Yan Xia, indicating that she should make her choice first.
Yan Xia didn't stand on ceremony and listed all the dishes she wanted to eat. "I'll have a stir-fried shredded vegetables, a five-spice drunken chicken, a crystal pork knuckle, garlic-flavored bok choy, and chrysanthemum-flavored shredded pork. Okay, that's all."
Yan Xia ordered five dishes, three meat dishes and two vegetarian dishes. She closed the menu and stopped looking at it.
"Wait, let's have another dish: stir-fried shredded chicken with lotus leaf, stir-fried liver slices with red and green peppers, and for soup, just a simple loofah soup will do. It's too hot in the summer, I don't want to drink meat soup. Hmm, let's have a pastry too, how about mixed fruit cake? It's delicious, sweet and sour, and appetizing. Remember to serve the mixed fruit cake first. For tea, just a light 'Cuijian' tea is fine, as drinking strong tea at night will make it hard to sleep. Okay, that's all, hurry up and serve the dishes."
After Yan Xia finished ordering, Deng Qiuzhi added a few more dishes before the waiter could even open his mouth.
"Yes, sir, I'll go right away. Hong'er, bring a pot of Cuijian tea to the guests in the Gold Room—" The waiter walked to the corridor outside the room and called a maid to come in and serve them.
"Guests, please have some tea. I'm Hong'er. If you need anything, just call out towards the door." Hong'er came in carrying a tray, placed two cups of tea in front of Yan Xia and Deng Qiuzhi, introduced herself, and then left, closing the door of the private room behind her.
"Manager Yan, I've already dealt with the Wang family." Deng Qiuzhi spoke slowly after the maid closed the door.
"So fast? How did you solve it?" Yan Xia brushed away the tea foam with her teacup, brought it to her nose to smell it, and then asked curiously.
“Wang Guangyao has always loved gambling. I’ve been busy with this matter since early this morning. I found out which gambling den he frequents, found the owner, paid him a sum of money, and had him change the contract.”
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