Chapter 42 Mo Xiang Pavilion 2

On the second floor of Mo Xiang Pavilion, the four guests who came together finally chose the rice paper they liked. They were led by the waiter to the first floor to check out. The boss Yang Ruoqing then noticed that there were two young guests on the second floor.

"Oh! My apologies, I was so busy that I didn't notice you two. Please forgive me." Yang Ruoqing walked over with big strides and apologized to Liu Ming'an and Jiang Ning with a fist.

"It's okay, boss Yang, you don't have to be so polite." Liu Ming'an replied politely.

Yang Ruoqing wanted to say a few more polite words, but he found that the scroll in Liu Ming'an's arms looked familiar. He looked up at the shelf and found that the scroll that should have been there was gone.

"Oh my! Sir, do you like this Xuan

paper? You have good taste, good taste!" Yang Ruoqing was excited, and his eyes almost lit up when he looked at Liu Ming'an. "My dear, let me tell you, this Xuan paper is produced in Xuanzhou..."

Seeing that Yang Ruoqing was about to talk endlessly about how good and valuable this Xuan paper was, Liu Ming'an hurriedly said: "Boss Yang, there is no need to say more. I heard you introducing it to those guests just now."

"Ah? Hahaha... Is that so?" Yang Ruoqing stopped talking angrily, and asked with expectation in his eyes: "Then my dear, do you want this Xuan paper?"

Liu Ming'an said frankly: "Yes, Boss Yang, name a price." He planned to use this Xuan paper to draw a birthday painting for Zhou Yi.

Yang Ruoqing was overjoyed and blurted out without thinking: "Three taels of silver!"

Jiang Ning raised her eyebrows. What kind of grade is this scrap of paper? She was priced the same as him.

Liu Mingan was also shocked by the price and asked hesitantly: "Boss Yang, isn't this too expensive?"

"Sir, it's not expensive," Yang Ruoqing waved his hand and continued to persuade: "Look at this paper, Xuanzhou Xuan paper, anyone who knows about it knows what it means... It's worth this price!"

"But..." Liu Mingan opened his mouth to refute.

"But what?" Yang Ruoqing interrupted Liu Ming'an and kept persuading him, "In the whole Lingshan Town, only I can buy such good rice paper. Young master, you are handsome and elegant, and you are a talented person who is well-read in poetry and books. Only such rice paper is worthy of you."

"Heh! Boss Yang, you have fooled many scholars with your words, right?" Jiang Ning, who had been silent all the time, suddenly sneered, with a hint of sarcasm in her eyes.

Yang Ruoqing was stunned by this question, and looked at Jiang Ning and said, "Madam, what do you mean?"

"Her hair is not even tied up--"

Liu Ming'an saw that their relationship was misunderstood again, and hurried to clarify, but Jiang Ning turned around and said to him, "Don't talk first", so Liu Ming'an had to shut up obediently.

Jiang Ning took a step forward, took the scroll from Liu Ming'an, and put it in front of Yang Ruoqing: "Boss Yang, this fine Xuanzhou Xuan paper should have been in the store for a year or two, right?"

Yang Ruoqing's face changed, and his smile froze on his face.

Jiang Ning knew that he was right, and continued: "I believe that when you bought the scroll, the price must have been high, but you didn't expect that this Xuan paper was not easy to sell, right?"

Yang Ruoqing had a clear look of surprise in his eyes, and looked Jiang Ning up and down, and then clasped his fists and said: "May I ask how did Madam know?"

"Two places." Jiang Ning said firmly: "First, the dust at the end of the scroll."

"Here." Jiang Ning pointed to the small area at the end of the scroll and motioned Yang Ruoqing to look over.

Yang Ruoqing leaned over doubtfully. He cleaned the scroll frequently, so it shouldn't be covered with dust.

However, he saw Jiang Ning scraped the wooden scroll with her fingernails a few times, and a layer of black dirt stuck to her white fingers.

"Dalbergia odorifera is dark brown in color, so dust is not noticeable when it falls on it. Therefore, you overlooked the dust in the gap between the scroll head and the rice paper. It takes more than one or two months to form such hardened dust. It takes at least one year." Jiang Ning explained, and then asked Yang Ruoqing, "Am I right, Boss Yang?"

Yang Ruoqing nodded slightly, sighed and said, "Yes, I bought this scroll two years ago and have never sold it."

Liu Mingan once again experienced Jiang Ning's meticulous thinking and amazing insight. He was shocked and couldn't wait to ask, "This is just one place, what about the other one?"

"Another thing is the location of this scroll." Jiang Ning pointed to a wooden shelf nearby and said to Yang Ruoqing, "You put it at the top of the shelf because customers usually don't care about it, so there's no need to put it in a conspicuous place. And the layout of your store, with only this shelf for selling scrolls, shows that not many people usually buy scrolls, so you would strongly promote this long-accumulated Xuan paper to customers who want to buy scrolls, just to get rid of it as soon as possible."

"Hahaha..." Yang Ruo laughed out loud and looked at Jiang Ning with eyes full of praise and admiration: "Madam is really meticulous and observant. I admire you! I admire you!"

Jiang Ning replied lightly, "Thank you", and then said, "We have selected twenty-two books on the first floor, and we are going to buy some pens and ink in your store. Boss Yang, will you still charge three taels of silver for this Xuan paper scroll?"

Yang Ruo waved his hand lightly and said, "No, no, I bought the scroll for one tael of silver, so I will sell it to you for one tael of silver. I'm not trying to make any money, but just to protect my capital."

"That's very good." Jiang Ning rolled up the scroll and put it into Liu Ming'an's arms.

"You two still want to buy pens and ink, come with me, Yang, I guarantee the price is fair, no cheating." Yang Ruo smiled and turned to the shelf where the pens and ink were placed.

Liu Ming'an watched Jiang Ning bargain down two taels of silver with a few words, holding the scroll, his heart could not calm down for a long time.

Jiang Ning seemed to know what Liu Ming'an was thinking. She leaned close to him and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "Liu Ming'an, you know rice paper, but you don't know business."

Liu Ming'an saw the cunning look in Jiang Ning's eyes, smiled silently, leaned down slightly to get closer to her, and whispered: "Thank you Miss Jiang Ning for your teaching!"

Liu Ming'an leaned too close, and the warm air sprayed in her ears. Jiang Ning frowned and reflexively reached out to push Liu Ming'an back.

Liu Ming'an was stunned and a little at a loss, not knowing whether he had offended Jiang Ning.

Yang Ruoqing, who was walking in the front, happened to look back and saw this scene. She thought it was just a young couple flirting, and laughed, "Sir, Madam, come and have a look. The brushes in Moxiang Pavilion are also the best in Lingshan Town. They are different from those inferior ones outside. I guarantee you will be satisfied."

Jiang Ning nodded to Yang Ruoqing, turned to Liu Mingan and said, "You go and choose the brushes and ink. I don't know these. I'll look around."

Liu Mingan looked at Jiang Ning's eyes carefully and found that she was as calm as usual, and there was no anger on her face. Only then did he feel relieved.

After Liu Mingan finished choosing the brushes and ink, Yang Ruoqing personally sent them to the first floor.

"Boss, why are you downstairs?" Storekeeper Yuan looked at Yang Ruoqing with some surprise.

Yang Ruoqing didn't explain much, just asked Manager Yuan to come out from the counter, and he took the abacus and began to count.

"Sir, a total of 4,100 coins." Yang Ruoqing said after a moment.

Liu Mingan paid the money readily, and then asked, "It's inconvenient to carry too many things. I wonder how much it will cost to send someone to Lotus Village?"

"Just give me 30 more coins, and I'll have someone deliver the things to your home tomorrow. Please tell me the location of your home in detail."

"Okay."

When the two walked out of Moxiang Pavilion, Liu Mingan looked at the sky. It was already past 5 p.m.

"Are we going to Chen's Rice Shop now?" Jiang Ning asked.

"Yes."

The two went to buy rice and flour according to the original plan, and asked the store to deliver them to their home the next day. Next to the rice shop was a butcher shop. Liu Ming'an agreed with the boss to send a piece of pork fat and a large piece of pork meat from a newly slaughtered pig to the rice shop the next day. Jiang Ning thought about it and asked for two live chickens to be sent home.

When they were about to leave the town, they passed by a clothing store. Jiang Ning looked at her old clothes and pulled Liu Ming'an in. They bought a few sets of ready-made clothes and also bought shoes and socks .

When they walked out of the streets of Lingshan Town, Liu Ming'an only had twenty copper coins left on him, except for the eleven taels of gold in the box. This was the first time in his life that he felt the feeling of spending money like water.

"Don't worry about it. Money is earned, not saved. Do you understand?" Jiang Ning saw through Liu Ming'an's thoughts and spoke.

Liu Ming'an did not refute, and smiled, "I'm just not used to it."

"You'll get used to it after a few more times," Jiang Ning thought for a moment, and then said, "According to the price, the money in your bag should be enough for us to have food and drink for two years, right?"

"Ten years," Liu Ming'an answered decisively.

Jiang Ning glanced at Liu Ming'an with a dim gaze, and said nothing more. Liu Ming'an didn't understand what "It's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality" meant, and she also had a hunch that the two of them would not stay in this Lotus Village for too long. Liu Ming'an had to take the imperial examination, and she had to explore her own identity. The stable days in Lotus Village were like quicksand in her hands, slipping away from her fingers bit by bit.