Chapter 190: The Stingy Shopkeeper Wang
This admiration reached its peak after she followed her to a girls' school, which turned out to be a school specifically for girls as she had heard.
Young girls can even learn to read for free there, which is something Chen Ma never dared to imagine before.
Because she admired Cui Qingyi so much and knew that she liked to eat noodles, Chen Ma tried her best to prepare noodles for Cui Qingyi in different ways.
She also discovered that although the master of the house didn't like cooking very much, he was very knowledgeable about food.
For example, this vegetable called chili pepper, Chen Ma was very sure that she had never seen it anywhere else in all her years.
Its unique spicy taste makes her noodles more than just delicious.
There is also soy sauce that has been improved by the owner. Just a little addition of its shiny reddish-brown color can change the color of food, especially meat, making it more appetizing.
With the addition of Chen Ma, Cui Qingyi successfully tried pulled noodles, fried pork with chili noodles,臊子面 and even beef pulled noodles. It was also the first time for Chen Ma to know that there were so many varieties of noodles, but every one of them was delicious.
After only half a month at the Cui family's, Mother Chen discovered that she had gained a little weight, which was something she had never dared to think about before. Mother Chen even decided that because of the few pounds of weight she had gained, she must serve the host family well and strive to live there in her old age.
The girls' school classes have been taught for such a long time that everything that should be taught has been taught. Cui Qingyi is preparing to conduct a graduation examination before the heavy snow comes in Dongping County.
No matter whether it is an embroidery class or a baking class, as long as the students pass the assessment, they can graduate. If the children are one of the people who are most looking forward to the moment of graduation, then Gong Xiu is definitely the second.
Hearing that Cui Qingyi was going to arrange graduation examinations for the girls, Gong Xiu volunteered to be the examiner of the embroidery class. Cui Qingyi naturally would not refuse such a small matter, but what she did not expect was that in addition to Gong Xiu, the owner of the embroidery shop who had always been on good terms with her, there was actually someone else who came to her on his own initiative.
Like Gong Xiu, this person was also the owner of a well-known local cloth shop. When he saw Cui Qingyi, he immediately started praising her:
"Mr. Cui, our small place of Dongping County has not been taken seriously by the higher authorities for more than ten years. However, your girls' school not only received the imperial decree of the Empress Dowager this year, but the palace also selected an embroiderer from us to serve in the palace for the first time. You should know that our Dongping County has not produced even a single beautiful girl in decades.
Mr. Cui, you have done us Dongping County a great favor."
Seeing that this person was about to continue to boast, Cui Qingyi hurriedly interrupted: "Shopkeeper Wang, Shopkeeper Wang, if you have something to say, just say it directly."
Seeing that his flattery didn't seem to be very loud, Shopkeeper Wang felt a little embarrassed, but seeing that Cui Qingyi didn't look impatient, he continued:
"To be honest, Mr. Cui, I, Wang, and two good friends also want to open this embroidery shop. Your unique embroidery technique, double-sided embroidery, is now well-known, and you have selflessly taught this skill to more people. Wang is thinking of hiring a few embroiderers from the girls' school to open this embroidery shop. Do you think it would be possible for me to attend your girls' school's graduation examination as well?"
He was indeed a businessman who would not do anything without profit. He didn't know how long he had been watching from the side. Only when he saw that double-sided embroidery had become famous did he hurried out.
But to be honest, Cui Qingyi didn't mind. In the future, new embroiderers would graduate from her girls' school every year, and the best ones would be sent to the palace to serve the nobles. What about the others?
Although Gong Xiu's embroidery shop is big, it cannot accommodate too many people.
Therefore, Cui Qingyi hopes that more people will come to her so that students can have more employment opportunities.
But she had already promised Gong Xiu that all this year's graduates would be given to her.
Cui Qingyi was too lazy to beat around the bush with Shopkeeper Wang and said directly, "I'm really sorry, Shopkeeper Wang, but I've already promised Shopkeeper Gong of Jinxiufang that I'll give all the embroidery this year to her.
Shopkeeper Gong has been supporting our girls' school since the very beginning. You may not know that the embroidery threads and fabrics used by our girls' school students are also sponsored by Shopkeeper Gong.
As the saying goes, one should be soft-hearted when receiving a favor, and you can’t let me be someone who goes back on my word.”
Gong Xiu did sponsor some embroidery threads and fabrics for the girls' school, but that was only a part of it. The vast majority of the girls' school's costs were covered by the tuition fees collected.
But if she didn't say that, how could she get these profit-seeking guys to take the initiative to provide some help to her female students?
As expected, after Cui Qingyi finished speaking, Shopkeeper Wang's expression was only slightly dull for a moment, and then immediately replaced with a more enthusiastic smile.
"Mr. Cui is indeed a man who values friendship and keeps his word. Wang cannot let Mr. Cui break his promise.
Mr. Wang has a suggestion, Mr. Cui. Do you think it's feasible? I won't compete for the embroiderer position this year, but you should reserve a place for me in the graduation assessment of the girls' school so that I can see the embroiderers' wonderful skills up close.
In this way, Wang, the top three graduate in the graduation examination, can take out five taels of silver as a reward. Mr. Cui, do you think this is feasible?"
Cui Qingyi...is so stingy!
He spent such a small amount of money to show up in the graduation examination of the girls' school. Even if this year's graduates will not choose to go to his embroidery shop, he has successfully shown his face in front of the students and their parents. What about next year?
Although she disliked the man's stinginess, Cui Qingyi still agreed. Five taels of silver was not enough for her to feel guilty about taking advantage of others. However, as a teacher, she naturally had to leave more job opportunities for the children. Anyway, there was still a year to observe. If this man surnamed Wang was not of the right mind, the newcomer would naturally eliminate him.
"Manager Wang, you are so generous. I would like to thank you on behalf of the children."
Unexpectedly, he got the confirmation so easily. Shopkeeper Wang left the girls' school contentedly, ready to go back and show off his negotiation skills to his partners.
Gong Xiu soon got the news that Manager Wang had arrived.
When he arrived at the girls' school, he got straight to the point. "Mr. Wang is here, but he wants to hire a few embroiderers?"
This was obvious, and Cui Qingyi didn't intend to hide it from Gong Xiu. "Yes, but I refused. He offered to provide prizes to the top three students in the graduation exam in exchange for an opportunity to appear at the girls' school graduation exam. I agreed."
Gong Xiu's expression remained unchanged, but she approached and took Cui Qingyi's hand, saying pitifully, "Sister Qingyi, I know my embroidery workshop can't accommodate so many people, but for the sake of our friendship, at least you have to leave all the people this year to me, so that my embroidery shop can go first."
Gong Xiu knew very well that although many people in the girls' school were willing to work in her embroidery shop, these children respected Cui Qingyi and Konjac, and just a word from these two people could decide where the children would go.
Now that there are so many competitors, Gong Xiu has to be on guard.
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