I don't know how Li Dani did it, but this hairpin looks just like a peach wood hairpin that costs five coins a piece at a street vendor's stall.
About the length of a palm and the thickness of a chopstick, it's dark and inconspicuous. The magnolia flower at the top is twisted open to reveal an empty tube. The tip looks blunt, but when you press down an inconspicuous clasp in the middle, you can see a sharp blade about five centimeters long. It's perfect for a surprise attack.
Li Daniu said in a simple and honest way
"It's enough for my sister-in-law to use as a dagger for self-defense when she goes out. The empty tube can also hold some silver notes. The hairpin is inconspicuous and no one will covet it."
"Brother Li's craftsmanship is superb; I am extremely satisfied with this hairpin!"
"I'm satisfied, I'm satisfied!"
Li Daniu responded with a simple, honest smile.
After Xie Yushu put away her things, she turned back to find Qu Xiaodie and said goodbye to Li Daniu and his wife.
With the needle in hand, Xie Yushu wanted to find a jade shop to see if they could make a few syringes using the same needle model.
Since there was no plastic available at the time, disposable needles couldn't be made. Xie Yushu thought of the glass needles she had used initially. They could be reused after being boiled twice in hot water. Although they weren't as convenient as disposable needles, they were better than nothing!
She just didn't know if there was any glass here; in any case, she didn't see any, even in the extravagant Zhang Mansion!
Therefore, the only alternative to glass is jade!
Ugh! Just thinking about it makes my heart ache; it costs money again!
Xiao Yi returned the silver to him, but that one was no longer relevant; he should keep it for emergencies.
After accounting for the money given to the Xie family, the money borrowed by Old Madam Xiao who threatened to kill herself, and the money she spent herself, Xie Yushu still had more than 126 taels of silver.
In this era, there weren't many advanced technologies, and jade was just plain jade, incredibly expensive. Even jade of average quality was beyond the reach of ordinary people. Besides, she wanted to make medicine needles, and a small piece of jade wouldn't be enough.
Forget it, let's go check if it's enough first!
Fifteen minutes later, Xie Yushu and Qu Xiaodie arrived at "Cui Meiren", the largest jewelry store in Jinyang City.
It is said that the jade jewelry here has novel designs and can be made to order.
"Please come in, esteemed guests! What would you like to see? The east side is the accessories section, the other side is jewelry, and the north side has small ornaments. Complete sets of jewelry are on the second floor!"
A waiter came up to greet us and gave us a warm explanation.
The shop was quite crowded, with people browsing in twos and threes. Xie Yushu looked around and saw that the items were exquisitely crafted and stylish, indicating that the artisans were skilled. She then spoke to the waiter...
"I'd like to have something custom-made; could you help me find a skilled craftsman?"
When the waiter heard that she wanted something customized, he spoke up.
"You may see the craftsman, but our craftsman's rule is that if you want to see him, you must first pay a ten-tael silver threshold fee. Would you two gentlemen be willing to accept that?"
"He charges ten taels of silver for a single meeting; he's worth more than that courtesan!"
Qu Xiaodie couldn't help but voice her doubts.
The waiter raised his eyebrows.
"What are you saying, young lady? What are courtesans in brothels? How dare they compare themselves to our masters!"
If you keep talking like that, please leave. We won't do business with you anymore!
Qu Xiaodie then realized that comparing others to courtesans was indeed inappropriate, and spoke up.
“It was inappropriate of me to compare your master to a courtesan, but we don’t know how skilled your master is. What if we pay him and he can’t make what we want?”
The waiter said arrogantly
"As long as it's jade, there's nothing our craftsmen can't make. If our craftsmen can't make it, you can travel all over the world and no one will be able to!"
This sounds familiar; it seems like Li Daniu said something like that!
However, those who dare to say such things must have some ability.
Xie Yushu pulled Qu Xiaodie, who was about to argue again, and handed over ten taels of silver. Only then did the waiter lead them into the backyard.
Passing through an inner courtyard and entering what appeared to be the workshop where craftsmen worked, Xie Yushu and Qu Xiaodie were led past several young craftsmen to an elderly man in his forties or fifties. The young man said…
"Master Li, these two guests want to order something. Could you please attend to them?"
The old man was drinking tea when he saw people coming. He put down his teacup, stood up, and asked, "What do you two young ladies want to make? Do you have a design?"
Xie Yushu took out a three-dimensional sketch she had drawn earlier and a scale diagram and showed it to him.
"This is it, called a syringe, also known as a needle tube. This is the empty tube, and the outer part has graduation marks that need to be clearly marked."
Inside is the core rod. There should be a rubber ring at the top of the core rod to facilitate pushing and pulling the medicine. However, there may not be a rubber stopper here, which will test your skills. You need to ensure that the medicine inside does not leak out while the core rod can be pushed and pulled smoothly.
And the transparency must be high!
The old man frowned and looked at it.
"Your request is too difficult. The jade must have sufficient translucency to achieve such an effect. Moreover, jade with sufficient translucency and large size is not cheap. Furthermore, my skills are not up to par. I need to ask our young master for help!"
"If you two are determined to fight, I can ask our young master for you."
"How old is your young master? Is his skill level higher than yours?"
Qu Xiaodie sounded a bit unreliable. Generally, rich kids spend their time eating, drinking and having fun. Even if they have some serious business, how much carving experience could a young master have? Could he compare to the old craftsman in front of him?
The old man explained
"Young lady, you may not know this, but our young master has a unique talent in jade carving, which I, an old man, am ashamed to admit."
"Okay, then please go and ask around for me!"
The old man turned and left. Qu Xiaodie asked Xie Yushu...
"How much silver do you have left? It looks like ordering this won't be cheap!"
"A little over one hundred and twenty taels, let's see if that's enough!"
After waiting for about the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, the old man returned with a young man in his early twenties.
"Young master, these two are the employers."
"This is our young master."
"Greetings, ladies. My name is Wen Ruyu."
"Greetings, Young Master Wen. I am Xie Yushu, and this is my sister, Qu Xiaodie."
"Miss Xie, Miss Qu, please have a seat."
I've looked at your drawings. The product can be made, but the price is a bit high!
To achieve the effect you described, only the finest jade or emerald can be used. The glass-type emerald is extremely expensive, and the cost to create what you want would be approximately a thousand taels of silver.
However, if the lady is only concerned with the practical effect, she can use a slightly lower-grade Xiuyan jade, specifically white ice jade, which is high-grade glassy jade. It's relatively inexpensive and has extremely high transparency, costing around three hundred taels. That's the price of the raw jade; I'll add an extra one hundred taels for this!"
As Wen Ruyu introduced the product, she smiled and pointed to one of her fingers.
Qu Xiaodie gasped and whispered in Xie Yushu's ear,
"I still think Li Daniu is more lovable. As for Wen Ruyu, he's just a bloodsucking, unscrupulous businessman!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
