Jiang Yuwei turned to look at Yun Qing, pondered for a moment, and nodded:
“Alright, it will be more convenient for you to come with me. Our appointment with the blacksmith is today, so we can pick up the kettle on the way.”
Yun Qing nodded.
Soon the two arrived at the blacksmith's shop, where the blacksmith was looking out the door. Seeing Jiang Yuwei approaching, he happily went to greet her.
"I thought you should arrive today. I've prepared everything for you. Please come in and take a look."
Jiang Yuwei smiled and nodded, then led Yun Qing into the house. As soon as they entered, they saw the fire pot on the ground. Jiang Yuwei went over and examined it carefully. She was very satisfied to see that the shape of the fire pot was the same as the one she had drawn on her blueprint.
So he looked up at Yun Qing and said:
"Yunqing, try swinging it."
Yun Qing didn't hesitate. He stepped forward, picked up the fire kettle, and went into the courtyard to perform the set of movements he had practiced earlier. Jiang Yuwei nodded and said:
"Great, this is the one."
As he spoke, he took out a purse and handed it to the blacksmith, smiling:
"Thank you so much. I'll come back to you for business in the future."
The blacksmith took the silver, looked at it, and smiled very attentively:
"Yes, yes, yes, please take good care of my business in the future, madam."
Jiang Yuwei led Yun Qing out of the blacksmith shop and went to the carpenter's shop on the street corner.
"Shopkeeper, are you there?"
As soon as Jiang Yuwei finished speaking, an old man came out of the house with a hammer.
What do you want?
Jiang Yuwei stepped forward and smiled:
“We have a house at No. 28 Jin Street and need to hire a group of workers to repair it. I wonder if you can take on this job.”
The old man raised his eyes, sized up Jiang Yuwei, and slowly spoke:
"You mean the courtyard in the Sun family's residence from before?"
Jiang Yuwei nodded.
The old man frowned and pondered for a moment.
"Okay, I'll take this job. When do we start?"
"It would be best to start work tomorrow. You can bring a few more people to work. The shorter the construction period, the better. As long as the work is done well, you can name your price."
The old man gestured for Jiang Yuwei to sit down and chat.
“The start date tomorrow is indeed a bit rushed. I can only gather a maximum of twenty people at the moment. But you have to prepare all the materials for us. The wages will be fifty coins per person per day, and the foreman will get an extra twenty coins.”
Jiang Yuwei thought the wage was reasonable, so she nodded and said:
"Okay, then it's settled. Here are the drawings for you to take a look at. If you don't understand anything, you can ask me."
Jiang Yuwei handed over the blueprints and continued:
"By the way, we urgently need these materials. Do you know of any place that sells them?"
The old man simply took out a pen and paper, wrote down an address, and handed it to Jiang Yuwei.
"You can go here and ask. Right now, the place with the most complete selection of materials in the city is the shop under Manager Qiu. If you think the price is right, you can buy everything at once and have it delivered to your door tomorrow."
Jiang Yuwei took the note and nodded:
"Thank you. You can take your people there directly tomorrow."
After saying that, Jiang Yuwei got up and left. Yun Qing hurriedly drove the carriage and took Jiang Yuwei to the dock written on the note to find Manager Qiu.
When the two arrived at the dock, they inquired and learned that Manager Qiu had gone to Jingweifang early that morning to deliver the account books to the young master, and had not yet returned.
Jiang Yuwei glanced at the time, turned around, got into the carriage, and instructed Yun Qing:
"Yunqing, go to Jingweifang."
Yun Qing then drove the carriage to Jingweifang. Just as they arrived, Jiang Yuwei encountered a man hurrying out, carrying an account book.
"Wait a minute, are you Manager Qiu?"
"And you are?"
"I was introduced by the owner of the carpentry shop on Shanshui Street. I want to buy some materials from you to repair my house."
Seeing that a customer had arrived, Manager Qiu quickly put on a smiling face.
"It turns out that this business was introduced by Old Wang. He always buys from us. We're old friends. Madam, please let me know if you need anything."
Jiang Yuwei nodded.
"I need four truckloads of Phoebe zhennan wood, eight truckloads of blue bricks, ten truckloads of gray tiles, ten truckloads of pine wood, and two truckloads of Toona sinensis wood..."
As Jiang Yuwei spoke, Manager Qiu took notes.
"Yes, madam, please wait a moment while I calculate how much silver is needed."
As he spoke, Manager Qiu took out his abacus and began to calculate. He finished the calculation in no time.
"It will cost a total of eighty taels of silver."
Jiang Yuwei nodded.
"Then prepare these for me first, and deliver them to No. 28 Jin Street tomorrow morning. If there is any shortage of materials later, I will order more from you."
Shopkeeper Qiu nodded with a smile and said:
"Okay, I'll write you an order form. You'll also need to pay a deposit here. I'll go back and prepare the goods for you right away."
Jiang Yuwei took the order form written by Manager Qiu, and then handed over a twenty-tael silver note to Manager Qiu.
"Manager Qiu, construction on our courtyard will begin tomorrow, so please make sure to deliver it on time."
Manager Qiu nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Seeing that the matter was settled, Jiang Yuwei got up and left Jingweifang.
At this moment, Princess Qinglan, who had been looking down from the private room on the second floor, saw that Jiang Yuwei had left and instructed Yang Liu:
"Go and call Manager Qiu up. I have something to ask him."
Upon receiving the order, Yang Liu nodded hurriedly and ran down the stairs to stop Manager Qiu.
Sitting to the side, Young Master Qiu asked in confusion:
"Qinglan, what do you need to see Lao Qiu for?"
Qinglan turned to look at Young Master Qiu and smiled faintly.
"The woman who was talking to Manager Qiu just now has never gotten along with me. Now, I'm a little curious about what she said to Manager Qiu."
Upon hearing this, Young Master Qiu quickly poured Qinglan a cup of tea and said with a smile:
"I see. Don't worry, Qinglan, I certainly won't give a friendly look to anyone who doesn't get along with you."
At this moment, Yang Liu had already called Manager Qiu up.
Qinglan glanced at him indifferently and then spoke:
"Manager Qiu, what did that woman say to you just now?"
Shopkeeper Qiu hadn't expected that Princess Qinglan had stopped him just to ask about this matter, so he quickly said:
"It's nothing. That lady helped me buy some materials, and I'm on my way back to prepare them!"
Before Qinglan could speak, Young Master Qiu, who was sitting to the side, slammed his hand on the table and roared:
"Old Qiu, are you out of your mind? Why would you do business with someone like that? Come on, come on, our Qiu family won't sell anything to her!"
Shopkeeper Qiu was momentarily confused by his young master's words and stammered, "..."
“But, but I… I’ve already accepted her deposit and agreed to deliver the goods to her residence first thing tomorrow morning. If we stop doing business with her now, wouldn’t that ruin our business’s reputation?”
Young Master Qiu glared at Manager Qiu and cursed:
"You're getting senile! You really can't think straight. Just tell her we don't have all the materials, let her buy them elsewhere, and then refund her deposit!"
As he spoke, Young Master Qiu turned and glanced ingratiatingly at Princess Qinglan, who was drinking tea, before continuing:
"Oh, and remember to make sure you tell all the other businesses that no one is allowed to sell anything to her! Otherwise, they'll be going against the Qiu family!"
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