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1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests.
2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author.
3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.
After entering the room, they saw that the entire place was filled with people. Although their elders weren’t there, there were still quite a lot of people. Everyone greeted each other and sat down. Liu Shu smiled as he watched everyone fill their cups with wine. Then he raised his cup and said, “About that… Let’s first congratulate Shi Cheng and Senzi for becoming juren – our family has two outstanding people!”
Those who had cups in hands, raised their cups, while the rest continued to pour themselves some more wine. Liu Lin started to hunt for something around the table. Impatiently, Liu Shu asked, “What are you looking for?”
Liu Lin smiled, “Dasao’s drink…. What is that?”
“You don’t want to drink wine?!” Liu Shu was taken aback.
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Ohlausdl pvyavle vs zywtb yaswde vbl vyczl, obkzl Nkw Nkd tyhl y qsszkpb pxkzl. Fbys Ssdt oyp yv Nkw Fbw’p pkel. Fbl iwknjzu rypple psxl sq bla oyax rlynb kdqwple xkzj vs y czwpbkdt Fsdt Zys, clqsal pxkzkdt yde ypjkdt Nkw Dw’la, “Ps usw oydv psxl yp olzz?”
Nkw Dw’la pxkzle yde iwknjzu pbssj bla blye, “Ls dlle, ds dlle. R okzz eakdj okdl.”
Nkw Fbw pvkzz eked’v wdelapvyde. Gqvla vbkdjkdt ycswv kv qsa y obkzl, kv pllxle vbyv bl byed’v blyae yduvbkdt ycswv bkp ekxlk byhkdt tsse dlop? Tl pwprknkswpzu zssjle yv vblx. Fbys Ssdt sdzu pxkzle yde vbld pnssrle swv ydsvbla nwr sq xkzj qasx vbl rsanlzykd rsv.&dcpr;
Mbl xld xktbv dsv cl nzlya, cwv pkdnl vblal olal yzz vblpl wdxyaakle rlsrzl yaswde vbl vyczl – zkjl Nkw Mys, Dkwmkw yde zkvvzl Fldgk – vbl xyaakle osxld fwpv tyhl lynb svbla y tzydnl yde eked’v ypj yduvbkdt. Nkw Dw’la jdlo vbyv yzvbswtb lapys oypd’v raltdydv, pbl oyp rzyddkdt sd vaukdt. Fs sq nswapl, pbl oswzed’v eyal vs eakdj okdl nypwyzzu.&dcpr;
Jwv Nkw Dw’la oyp dsv ydmkswp – pbl oswze sdzu cl 17 yqvla vbl Llo Zlya. Ls xyvvla obyv, pbl oydvle vs cl yv zlypv 18 clqsal vaukdt.&dcpr;
Nkw Fbw pyo vbyv lhlausdl bye qkdyzzu aykple vblka nwrp yde alrlyvle bkp lyazkla pldvldnl. Mbld lhlausdl nzkdjle vblka nwrp vstlvbla.&dcpr;
Mbl xlyz oyp fsuswp – lhlausdl yvl yde eaydj xlaakzu obkzl nbyvvkdt okvb lynb svbla. Nkw Dw’la zkpvldle vs vbl nsdhlapyvksd. Rv pllxle vbyv vbl qyxkzu oyp rzyddkdt vs xlatl vbl vos bydeknayqv pvsalp kdvs y pkdtzl zyatl sdl yde zlv Nkw Mys xydytl kv.&dcpr;
Gp qsa vbl osajpbsr, vblu bye yzalyeu qswde ydsvbla zyatl yaly vblu nswze wpl. Mblu rzyddle vs xshl vbl xyzl ypplxczu zkdlp shla. Mblu bye yzalyeu yeele iwkvl y qlo dlo elpktdp sq osseld nsxcp yde bye lhld pvyavle vs yee rlynb osse byka rkdp, yde qkdl vssvble nsxcp vs vblka alrlavskal.&dcpr;
The current workshop would be entirely occupied by the female assembly lines. They too had added new lines of products. Their workshop had been noticed by people in Hanzhong city and Xianyang prefecture and people were coming forth to inquire about buying stock from them. They wanted long term contracts with the workshop.
This little workshop had originally been intended to supply their own goods, so now, they needed to discuss as a family if they should expand it to supply others, or whether they should continue only supplying themselves?
There was really no need to ask this question. No one in the family was so shortsighted about this issue. Obviously, they should expand their business and supply to whomever asked.
It was just that there were a few stores in Hanzhong city that intended to buy stock from them. After all, it was much closer for them to buy from Feng town than to go to Songjiang prefecture. Even if their prices were higher, it was still more worthwhile buying from them.
And that was what Liu Lin wanted to discuss with Shi Cheng and Liu Xu’er. Liu Xu’er’s store was in Hanzhong city – if they were to supply stock to other stores there, they would be directly competing with Liu Xu’er’s own store. So he naturally needed to check in with her first.
Shi Cheng had already nodded his head earlier. Liu Xu’er naturally wouldn’t disagree. “Of course, it’s more important to expand the workshop’s business! That’s big business! Don’t worry about my store – even if others are supplying exactly the same goods, Hanzhong city is so large! Stores would definitely carry the same line of goods anyway. I am not afraid of competition.”
When everyone heard her confident words, they all smiled and the matter was settled. By now, the workshop had already significantly increased their uses for rabbit fur. The things Shi Cheng had mentioned so long ago, like stoles and capes, had already begun production. In the village, Liu Changqi had already expanded his rabbit rearing production. At first, Liu Changqi had hoped to buy more land when he had the silver. By now, however, he had completely set that aside. Every year, he merely farmed his 1.5 mu of land to produce the necessary grain for his family. The much more profitable area was raising rabbits!
Speaking of stoles, Song Yao tugged on Liu Xu’er’s clothes and asked, “Why are you dressed so simply today? You’re still a new bride, why aren’t you in bright red?”
Today, Liu Xu’er was dressed in a deep purple cotton outfit edged in fur. When she heard Song Yao ask, she pointed to her head and arms. She smiled, “It’s to match with these pieces of jewellery.” On her head was a silver hair pin encrusted with amethyst. She had on a similar styled silver necklace and bracelet.
When Shao Rong saw, her eyes shone. She came over, “This set of jewellery is really quite pretty!”
Liu Xu’er smiled and said, “I just like these types of rather fine, exquisite pieces… It’s just that it’s not easy to match purple jewellery. If I’m not careful, it would look rather ugly. So I thought it would be easier to just wear purple clothes.”
Xiuxiu had also leaned in for a look. With a face filled with envy, she stared at it. The men had started to talk amongst themselves and hadn’t noticed them. Only unmarried Liu Tao looked over, attentive to Xiuxiu’s reaction. Seeing her face full of admiration for the jewellery, he too, took a closer look at the pieces.
When Xiuxiu leaned in, Liu Xu’er took the chance to say to her softly, “Relax, your mother has agreed.”
Xiuxiu was stunned. She immediately straightened. She stared at her blankly for a while before her face reddened and she lowered her head, but the sides of her lips lifted. Liu Tao was watching both of them. When he saw Liu Xu’er say something to Xiuxiu, he started to have an inkling of what was said, but having not heard it personally, he didn’t dare to trust his instinct.
The entire group of people continued to talk and laugh, and no one forced anyone to drink. Everyone was free to determine how much they wanted. They kept chatting till it was late at night.
Because Shao Rong was pregnant, she started to get tired rather early and had to leave the room. After she left, Liu Shu’s mind started to drift off, so he too got up to leave. Liu Lin and Shi Cheng however, were happy to continue to talk business. They chatted till very late at night.
Liu Xu’er and Xiuxiu then went to Senzi’s courtyard to sleep. When they left, Liu Tao’s mind started to wander. After pacing around, he decided to just head to bed. He would ask tomorrow.
On the third day of the month, the Liu family was again enjoying a wonderful day. Liu Tao finally managed to get the confirmation he sought on that day. He was overjoyed! Because Xiuxiu would be heading home with her parents today, he too went back. He wanted to discuss his marriage with his father, Liu Changqi.
The Liu family started visiting other relatives from the fourth day onwards, and quite a lot of people from Taohua village also came by to visit them. They were busy till the 15th day of the New Year.
For the rest of the first month, everyone busied themselves with their usual tasks. Those who needed to head to the store, went to open the store. Because the Liu family had already agreed to reorganise their businesses, they were unusually busy during this period.
Since they had discussed matters relating to the workshop over the New Year, Shi Cheng was especially mindful of it. After the 15th day of the New Year, he quickly settled his jewellery store as well as his restaurant. Then he discussed with Liu Xu’er – why don’t they head into Hanzhong city.
“We should at least pop in to check on that store. Liu Lin said that there were two stores planning to buy from them in Hanzhong city. We should go and check out how far they are from our own. We need to find out about the general situation.”
Liu Xu’er nodded her head. This was naturally a very important precaution to take. It wasn’t good to only deal with things when they surfaced – that wasn’t good business management. It was much better to be prepared, so she agreed and said, “Alright.”
The both of them packed up and took their carriage into Hanzhong city.
Hanzhong city was the same as always – it hadn’t changed much. By the time they arrived, it was just past 1pm. Because they knew that everyone in the family had probably already eaten, they decided to find a small stall to have some bowls of noodles instead. Then they headed straight to the store.
The store was in a very good location, so business was doing quite well. Liu Xu’er had already increased the types of items sold in the store from two to four. They prepared to also sell capes and stoles.
Several neighbouring stores had already opened. Because it had been a while since Liu Xu’er had been, she hadn’t realised that all of the stores here had basically switched to selling handkerchiefs and pouches. She remembered that there were quite a few general goods stores, but now, all of them basically sold embroidery work.
As she looked around, Liu Xu’er felt even more motivated to grow her store.
After the two of them had walked around for a while, they went back to the Shi residence. Their current residence could be termed a mansion – it stretched over half a street and there were two large stone lions guarding their gate. It was very majestic.
When they saw them arrive, the entire family was abuzz. Shi Cheng’s brother, Shi Qing was already 10 years old, but he was a bit distant from Shi Cheng.
The next day, Shi Cheng called for Liu Xu’er’s store manager to come by so that he could ask about the situation. The store manager was very clear. He smiled and said, “I am aware of the two stores you mention. They are on our street. By now, our entire street is selling similar goods. Everyone in Hanzhong city knows that if you need to buy handkerchiefs, tassels, scarfs, hand-warmers, you should come to our street! So anyone planning to open a similar store would definitely come to our street. But I am not very worried. We each have our strengths, and our store is well established on our street. Everyone knows that our goods are superior – our embroidery work is very exquisite!”
“But if they get stock from the same place, it would mean that their goods are the same as ours. And we will not extend you a discount, nor allow you to lower prices.” Shi Cheng smiled and said.
The store manager smiled and nodded his head, “Don’t worry! There really isn’t any need to worry. Even if the goods are the same, our brains aren’t! I will definitely come up with exciting activities during the festive seasons. I definitely won’t mess up the pricing. I am not afraid of anyone!”
Seeing the store manager look so confident, Liu Xu’er relaxed.
Shi Cheng smiled and nodded his head. Then he asked when they planned to open the store and how were the preparations coming along? When would the store assistants be coming, and other such questions. Then he let the store manager return.
“This store manager is a really good hand at business. You can leave it to him.” Shi Cheng told Liu Xu’er.
Liu Xu’er nodded her head, “Yes, it’s quite clear. Actually, I feel like having him at my store is really underutilising him. It’s so small, and there’s no place for him to show his strengths.”
Shi Cheng smiled, “Slowly build it up then. Aren’t all businesses like that, you need to slowly build it up… Store managers know exactly what they are getting into!”
Liu Xu’er smiled and nodded her head.
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