He opened the door. "Madam, please come in. You are welcome to look around and see if you like this house. If you don't, there is another one next door, but that one has three courtyards and is not as exquisite as this one."
"But it's very spacious there, and it can accommodate more people. All the furniture is still there."
"Let me check this area first!"
An Shuyi looked at the house. Entering through the main gate, there was a large courtyard with covered walkways on both sides. There were moon gates on both sides of the walkways. One side was a garden, and the other side was a pavilion. There were east and west wing rooms on both sides of the courtyard, and further ahead was the main house with side rooms on both sides.
There was a covered walkway next to the side room leading to the backyard, but she didn't go in to look. She assumed it was the backyard and the servants' quarters.
"How much is this mansion worth?"
"Madam, this two-courtyard house is in a good location, and it costs three thousand five hundred taels." The broker glanced at her, thinking that with such a high price, this lady probably wouldn't buy it.
"Three thousand taels, are you selling it? If you are, I'll give you another hundred taels to help you settle down. This is your own money."
The broker smiled and said, "Thank you for your generosity, Madam!" The house could be sold for 3,500 taels, but he could only take 35 taels. However, if the madam gave him 100 taels, it would all be his, and he could take another 30 taels. Why wouldn't he do such a thing?
An Shuyi smiled too. She was just too lazy to haggle any further, and this place was especially nice, particularly the attic, which she really liked. If they ever went to Jinnan City, she could let Xiaoqi stay there.
She gave him the deposit and said, "Give me the key. You handle the registration. It will be registered under An Shuyi's name. I'll go to the brokerage to get the deed at noon." This matter required going to the government office, and she didn't have time, so she sent the broker to handle it.
The broker took the silver and said, "Don't worry, Madam, I will take care of it quickly. You can come and collect it when you arrive." He then handed over the key and hurriedly left.
After he left, An Shuyi went into the west wing next door and put in a lot of rice seeds and other seeds. Finally, she put in 10,000 catties of grain. Although the second son would not buy it, he only bought 20,000 catties. It was cheap here, only three coins a catty, which was like getting it for free.
After buying the fabrics, they started selling them. No matter what kind of fabric it was, they would buy twenty bolts at a time, including silk, also in sets of twenty bolts each.
In Jinnan City, the minimum price for a bolt of cloth is two taels of silver, but she only needs one tael of silver. The minimum price for silk is five taels of silver, but she only needs two taels of silver per bolt.
Realizing she didn't have many chicken eggs at home, but still had plenty of duck and goose eggs, she took out her basket and filled it with them. To prevent them from breaking, she even padded them with cotton. How could she have eggs without tomatoes? But she didn't have anything else to put in the basket, so she took out a grain sack from the warehouse and filled it with tomatoes.
These burlap sacks were given to her by Huahua so that she could store food. Seeing that it was getting late, she went to find them. She and Huahua had agreed that they would meet at Jinxiu Pavilion after she finished preparing.
She had the fabric, but no embroidery thread. They agreed that whoever arrived first would go and buy it. When she arrived, Hua Hua and the others were already waiting there, so they must have been waiting for a while.
"Flower!"
Xia Hua looked at her and smiled slightly, "Have you bought everything?" Of course she knew that Shu Shu had already bought everything, but she was just telling others.
"Everything has been purchased; we'll go pick it up now."
"Let's go!" Xia Hua told the others to follow. Now, ten cows and two horses had been matched with a cart, and the cart was also equipped with a carriage.
Looking at the large house in front of them, Sister An went over to open the door. Lin Changyuan asked, "Sister An, aren't we here to pick up seeds? Why are we here?"
“This is the house of the seed seller. I bought too much stuff, so I borrowed this place. Hurry up, the seeds are all in the room, carry them all out and tie them up.” After An Shuyi finished speaking, she winked at Xia Hua.
Xia Hua understood immediately, went to the east wing, went in and closed the door, and took out the sewing machine she had already bought. She bought the old-fashioned kind of sewing machine, the kind that was very old, with a wooden tabletop except for the sewing machine itself.
The newer models are nice, but they're all made of plastic, and they're all automatic. The old-fashioned ones are better.
After everything was in place, Xia Hua opened the door. "Chang You, there are still some things here. Move them to the carriage. Be careful not to let anyone see them."
Upon hearing this, Lin Changyou looked into the room and saw many strange-looking things. He then called two more people to help him move them. However, worried about being seen, he took off his clothes and covered them with them, as did the other two.
Although the carriages are large enough, each carriage can only hold five sewing machines.
"Sister-in-law, there are still ten sheets left that we can't fit."
"Horses walk fast, you and Wenqi drive the carriage back first, then come back to pull it up."
"Okay, sister-in-law." The two jumped onto the carriage and hurried away.
An Shuyi went over and asked, "Wenzheng, how many seeds and rice seeds are left? Can you haul them all away at once?"
Lin Wenzheng looked at the remaining oxcarts; three were still unloaded. "Auntie could have hauled them all at once. Now all that's left is grain and cloth."
Before seeing these things, they were wondering if there were too many oxcarts. But after seeing them, they doubted whether they could pull them all. Each oxcart was fully loaded and tied with ropes. The oxen would have to pull in front while they pushed from behind.
After everything was packed, An Shuyi told them to go back first, and that they would wait for Changyou here.
"Huahua, Changyou won't be here for a while. Let's go buy some things first, then go to the dental clinic."
“Okay, let’s go.” Xia Hua followed behind, carrying her basket on her back.
The two went to the bookstore to buy books for Xiao Liu. This time she bought different books, as the previous ones had been lost, but Xiao Liu had already read them all. They also bought medical books for Xiao Wu, and finally bought writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones.
After leaving the bookstore, An Shuyi showed the paper she had bought to Xia Hua. "Hua Hua, look, this is the best paper, and it still costs five hundred coins a sheet. I have to say, the paper here is really expensive. Once ours is made, we can sell it for one or two taels of silver a sheet."
Of course, there are cheaper options, but they still cost one tael of silver for fifty sheets, about the size of a book. The kind of paper used for drawing costs five taels of silver per sheet.
Xia Hua nodded, "The best ones are of course expensive. Ours can sell for one tael of silver. One large one can be cut into four pieces. It's a pity that not many people buy the large ones, otherwise it would be more cost-effective to sell them for five taels each."
"At that time, we will produce two kinds of paper: good Xuan paper and everyday toilet paper. The toilet paper will be made from the scraps of inferior materials."
"Okay, we can start preparing when we get back this afternoon. As for the braised meat shop, should we get started on that too?"
“No rush,” Xia Hua said, glancing around. “We’ll make wine first. You have plenty of fruit there, so we can make fruit wine. It’s not a hassle. We can sell it after that is over, and then we can start making braised meat.”
"Then let's wait a little longer."
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