Jingrou is by no means a professional when it comes to these fabrics.
However, she has become very skilled at embroidery over the years and uses a wide variety of fabrics, including various patterns. Especially when sewing gifts for others, she has to be particular about the fabrics and inevitably has to deal with different kinds of fabrics.
In addition, my aunt and maternal grandmother were also keen on making clothes for themselves.
Therefore, having seen this type of fabric many times, one naturally develops the ability to appreciate it.
She may not be able to tell the value of every type of fabric.
However, it is absolutely possible to distinguish which are the best quality and which are just used to make up the numbers and fool people.
Even if he had never seen the price of this kind of fabric before, he could probably guess it by comparing it with fabrics of similar quality. Rich people who buy things are all very shrewd, so how could they possibly pay more?
Especially the person in front of you; no matter how eloquently they speak, it can't hide the fact that the piece of cloth in front of you is very ordinary.
Moreover, it's just for show; this kind of fabric is actually quite stuffy to wear, and it just so happens to be a type of fabric that I knew about before!
Although Jingrou already felt that the person in front of her was fooling her, she still pretended to be interested and went along with him.
Seeing her like this, Ah Qiang was even happier. It seemed she really didn't understand him. If that was the case, then he shouldn't blame him for fooling her...
For a young lady from a wealthy family like this, that amount of money might not be much, but it's enough to live a good life! This is the kind of fat sheep he loves to fleece!
Ah Qiang had been working in this shop for nearly three years. At first, the shopkeeper would discipline him strictly, and he did everything under the shopkeeper's watchful eye.
He must have some skills to get into this shop and stay successfully. He has a silver tongue that can turn black into white, and he has a cheerful personality and a handsome face, making him a likable person. That's why he's done quite well over the years.
However, people are never satisfied. After having a stable job, they start thinking about whether they can find an opportunity to earn more money!
Those who sell things in shops like theirs need this kind of ability the most. For the past few years, he has pretended to be very good, worked diligently and conscientiously and gradually gained trust. It was only this year that he started to do this kind of double-dealing.
“Miss, please feel the quality of this cloth carefully. If you leave our shop, you probably won’t find anywhere else like it! You’re a connoisseur, don’t you know that?” He said this with a solemn expression, as if waiting for the other person to believe him!
Jingrou smiled. Of course, she wouldn't find another one. This kind of stuffy and unbreathable fabric had been phased out by Prince An's Mansion many years ago, so it naturally wouldn't be on her!
He probably wouldn't like this kind of gait from anyone even remotely decent.
People who do heavy physical labor tend to sweat a lot, so isn't this kind of fabric annoying?
Jingrou smiled slightly and raised her chin demurely, "I wonder how much this piece of cloth is worth?"
Upon hearing this, Ah Qiang felt that the business was very promising and was overjoyed! "Miss, only fifty taels!"
He assumed that the person in front of him was a young lady from a wealthy family, and that even if she wore fine silks and satins, the price would likely be very low, as she probably had someone taking care of everything for her. He likely didn't know the true value of the fabric before he spoke up.
Having done this many times, he gradually learned how to judge the people in front of him—the shrewd ones, the naive ones!
Especially since young ladies from wealthy families value their reputation, if you flatter them, they might not be able to refuse certain things, making money will be a piece of cake, right?
In any case, Jingrou has now become a very easy sucker in his eyes.
If they're the shrewd ones, they'll be sweet-talking, say nice things, and flatter them until they're overjoyed, and then they might end up paying for it.
If it's someone clumsy or doesn't seem very clever, then of course you can fool them however you want! They can ask for an exorbitant amount without hesitation. To do this kind of thing, you need to be bold, have no guilty conscience, and be utterly shameless!
It would be bad if any flaws were revealed, and they could deny it afterward.
People like this care about their reputation, so they rarely come knocking on your door specifically for this kind of thing. The saying "no business for six months, but when it does, you can live off it for a year" isn't just a saying; it applies to people like them here as well.
If there are no elders or wet nurses with you, it is even easier - many young ladies from wealthy families may not like to be followed by many people when they go out, so they go out by themselves or with a naive young maid, just like the person in front of us!
Even the guards, who weren't very knowledgeable about such matters, frowned at the price.
Although this man was a roughneck who had spent a lot of time on the battlefield, he had been in the Prince's mansion for several years. How could he not know a little about such things? He would know their approximate value after seeing them many times.
Although he didn't know how much such a piece of cloth was worth, he felt deep down that it wasn't worth it.
However, many people criticize him as a roughneck, but perhaps they lack the ability to appreciate beauty.
Jingrou, however, was smiling happily.
"And this hairpin, I think it's quite nice too."
"Miss, you have such a discerning eye! Your visit today has truly brought honor to our humble shop! We specially brought out our finest jewelry for you to choose from, and you picked it out at a glance—one of the best pieces in our shop!" Ah Qiang's eyes lit up upon hearing this, knowing that jewelry offers far more room for manipulation than fabric!
Jingrou tugged at the corner of her mouth.
The hairpin in front of me is made of jadeite. Jadeite is not very popular in this era; people probably prefer other types of gemstones.
It wasn't until later generations that jade became increasingly popular, and naturally, its price rose.
But the servant probably thought that young girls like her preferred brighter colors, so he brought them out.
The jadeite is of very good quality, but because jadeite has historically been low-valued and not favored by aristocratic families, even though it looks good, it's far from being as priceless as the servant described.
Sometimes she secretly regrets that if it were the 1970s or 80s, she might be able to buy more of these things and take advantage of the times.
But she's from the Qing Dynasty. Even if she hoards so much jade, and the price skyrockets in the future, does she expect to live for hundreds of years?
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