Chapter 60 Back to the old business
Coming out of Duke Chengguo’s Mansion is Ping’an Street. Turn two corners and keep going straight ahead. You will soon reach the most prosperous place in the capital.
This is the Zouma Street of the Dayan Dynasty.
As the name suggests, it is a street wide enough for horses to pass through.
But that was all in the past. Although Zouma Street is still as wide as before, there are only two or three people walking on the street.
If the road is not closed by the government, people are not allowed to ride horses at will.
At most, you can take a leisurely ride in a carriage.
There are many shops on both sides of Zouma Street, especially a few shops selling jewelry, ready-made clothes and perfumes are the most famous.
Although Xu Shuyao had never been there, she could already remember a few names after listening to her third cousin's detailed introduction.
Their carriage finally stopped in front of a two-story building with glazed lanterns hanging on it. In front of the building were three large gold-plated characters "Langgan Pavilion".
As soon as you see the name, you know it is related to beautiful jade.
Of course, the original Langgan Pavilion did only do jade jewelry business, which were pure jade jewelry that could be worn on the wrist, waist or neck.
But later it gradually evolved into jade inlaid with gold, jade inlaid with silver, and various jade ornaments with gold inlay.
Not only does it look delicate and beautiful, it also has a rich texture.
Whether it is inserted into the head as a hairpin, hairpin, or comb, or worn between the ears as earrings, or hung in front of the body as a necklace.
In short, Langgan Pavilion has everything related to jade, and we guarantee that you will be satisfied with it.
Xiao Jinshan came here to buy a pair of gold-emerald earrings for Liu Qingwan.
When the waiter saw that the carriage parked at the door was from the Chengguo Mansion, he hurried over from a distance.
When he heard why they came, he took out all the good quality jewelry from the counter.
In the end, Xiao Jinshan spent fifty taels of silver to buy a pair of gold and jade pendants. Xu Shuyao looked at hers and added a hairpin. Finally, Xiao Jintong simply bought a pair of bracelets.
Because I was buying it as a set, the clerk gave me a discount, and in the end I only paid 120 taels of silver for it.
Then the third daughter of the Xiao family was going to go shopping at the clothing store. Xu Shuyao thought of her plan before leaving the house, so she said that she would buy some pens and ink for her younger brother to use for study, and would have the maid deliver it to him in a few days.
Xiao Jinshan didn't care too much. She knew in her heart that her cousin was very poor and just thought it was an excuse.
So, after agreeing to meet again in front of Langgan Pavilion later, the two groups quickly separated.
Xu Shuyao's pen and ink shop is not far from here, but it is not on the land-scarce Zouma Street, but is located in a small alley next to it.
The alley is adjacent to Qipan Street and is usually a gathering place for officials and scholars.
When Xu Shuyao arrived, there were no customers in the store.
Manager Yang had received instructions beforehand, and when he saw her, he hurried over to greet her, "Here comes the young lady!"
He looked around the deserted entrance and said uncomfortably, "It's still too early. This area won't be lively until after noon."
Xu Shuyao frowned and looked outside the alley. It was a main street running parallel to Zouma Street, and there were indeed not many people there at the moment.
She had known about the shop's situation for more than a day or two, so of course she didn't feel disappointed.
She went in and looked at the things placed there. They were all wiped clean, but when she turned over a stack of paper, she frowned.
"Does anyone want this?" Xu Shuyao asked curiously.
"It's okay. Our store didn't have this originally. I saw it selling well in other stores, so I bought some." Manager Yang was a middle-aged woman. At this moment, she rubbed her hands and smiled, and her look was inexplicably... a little flattering.
Xu Shuyao looked at the other person and smiled.
However, when she looked at the colored paper in her hand, she felt that the pattern on it was too plain.
"Our store has no channels to purchase goods, and these are all bought from other people's stores. Naturally, the profit is not much." Manager Yang said immediately after rubbing his hands.
Xu Shuyao pulled up the stack of unmarked paper next to her and asked, "What about these? Are they in stock?"
"These are useless! Young ladies and gentlemen must draw patterns when writing letters and poems." Manager Yang replied with a distressed look on his face.
"There's plenty of supply, right?" Xu Shuyao asked again.
“There are plenty of them.”
"That's good."
After she finished speaking, she chuckled. Manager Yang didn't understand what she meant. Just as he was about to ask, he heard someone at the door asking if the shopkeeper was there.
Xu Shuyao and Manager Yang looked up at the same time, and saw a young man in a gray cloth robe appear before them.
When the other party saw that there was a young lady in the shop, he was obviously stunned.
Then he waved his hand and said, "Since there are customers in the store, the shopkeeper will entertain this young lady first!"
Xu Shuyao shook her head: "My problem has been solved, you can go!"
The words were spoken to Manager Yang. Others thought she was a customer in the store, so she said what a customer should say.
But when Xu Shuyao was about to leave, she asked her maid to get a few stacks of plain paper from the shop.
After all, I was delayed for a while. When I came out again, I saw that there were more people on the street.
This street sells things like pens, ink, calligraphy and paintings, inkstones, and seals. Most of the business is done by men, and the majority of people appearing on the street at this time are also men.
As soon as they saw Xu Shuyao, a young lady with outstanding appearance, they all looked over.
When a few people saw that she was standing in a pen and ink shop, they changed their minds and came over there.
Xu Shuyao was a little confused at first. She had looked around like this many times in Huzhou City, and everything was fine at that time.
But when I looked down again, I realized that I was wearing women's clothes today.
The two maids became anxious upon seeing this, and while secretly cursing her as a "lecher," they tried to pull her back into the store.
Xu Shuyao looked at the door and was thinking about how to avoid it when a voice came from not far away.
"Young lady! Come this way!"
She turned her head and saw the young customer who had just appeared in the store looking at her with a kind smile.
The man's expression was frank, without a trace of vulgarity.
Xu Shuyao quickly put on her cloak and hat, then lowered her head and walked through the porch to stand behind a clump of banana trees next to the store.
Seeing her like this, the two maids followed her quickly.
Manager Yang smiled slightly and went back to serving the customers in the store.
Someone murmured, "This is strange! Where did that young lady go?"
Manager Yang smiled and said, "Didn't you see it? It's peach blossom paper. The young lady took a bunch of it back to write a letter!"
As a result, this inconspicuous little shop unexpectedly attracted a wave of customers.
On the other side, Xu Shuyao smiled and thanked the man in front of her.
The man said no, then looked at the thick stacks of paper in the maid's hands and said with a smile, "Miss, you don't need to buy so much."
Xu Shuyao also replied casually: "There are many sisters in the mansion, and one stack for each of them is just right."
After Xu Shuyao returned home that day, she began to draw flowers on the edge of the paper as soon as she had time.
Occasionally, when she was in the mood, she would take out a stack of paper with a picture of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl gazing at each other under the starry sky. She named this kind of paper "A Line of Connection".
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