A Happy Coincidence

Shen Jingchuan got out of the car at the courtyard gate. Mindful of how bland the seasonings in the otherworldly kitchen were, he headed straight for the supermarket near home.

As soon as he reached the seasoning aisle, he started grabbing things with abandon. He loaded up several bottles each of light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce, along with soybean paste, sweet bean sauce, chili sauce... star anise, cinnamon bark, Sichuan peppercorns, ground pepper... They were all essentials for everyday cooking, and he stocked up enough to last the kitchen well over half a year.

Thinking of the few big and little treasures at home, he had a stock clerk bring him ten boxes of the best apples and a big bag of assorted snacks.

He pushed his packed cart to the checkout and paid, then had the store deliver everything to his door. Once it arrived, he shut the door and put the whole lot into his storage space.

It was almost one in the afternoon by the time Shen Jingchuan got home. He tossed his keys onto the entryway cabinet and took a change of clothes into the bathroom.

The hot water washed away the smell of wood shavings and the weariness of the journey. He came out wrapped in a bath towel, drying his hair, and had just reached the living room when the phone on the coffee table vibrated twice.

He picked it up and swiped open the screen. Factory Director Zhou had sent him several long messages on WeChat, along with a photo of a handwritten cost breakdown:

"Boss Shen, I've just checked all the costs with the subcontracting factory, so here's the bottom line:

"The titanium alloy chassis and the main frame of the carriage body will all use industrial-grade TC4 material. The welding and machining will be done by a factory that specializes in precision parts. That portion comes to 160,000...

"The prototype will cost 288,000 in total. If you place a bulk order afterward, starting at ten carriages, we can bring the price down to 260,000 apiece. The bigger the order, the more we can knock off.

"I've also settled the production schedule. The main things that take time are getting the titanium alloy work into the queue and having the glass custom-made. At the fastest, the finished carriage will be ready in a month. If that sounds good to you, pay a thirty percent deposit tomorrow and I'll put the order in the queue and have the materials cut. If there's anything you want adjusted, just let me know."

Shen Jingchuan glanced over the messages, then took a careful look at the drawings. There were no problems; it was even better than he had imagined. He had no idea what these materials and processing costs should run, so he couldn't tell whether the price was high or low.

He was only having a prototype made to test the waters anyway, and couldn't be bothered to pore over the figures. He immediately typed out a reply:

"Okay, make one first and let's see how it turns out."

With that, he opened the transfer screen, entered an even 100,000, and wrote "horse carriage custom-order deposit" in the memo field. A tap of his fingertip sent the money over.

After a moment's thought, he added, "Make absolutely sure the quality is up to standard."

Factory Director Zhou accepted the payment in no time, and his reply followed right behind:

"Don't worry, I'll make sure it's built good and solid!"

Shen Jingchuan tossed his phone onto the sofa, and his stomach suddenly growled twice.

He rubbed his belly. The house was cold and empty, and cooking was too much trouble. Since there was nothing pressing to do here anyway, he might as well go over there, where he would have people waiting on him and less to worry about.

He changed into his otherworldly clothes, and with a faint shimmer of light before his eyes, he was standing in his bedroom in the other world.

Shen Jingchuan stepped out of the main hall. The breeze in the courtyard carried the scent of early-summer greenery, refreshing against his face.

Yue'er was sitting in the pavilion, embroidering something. She looked up and spotted him, and her eyes lit up at once. She hurried to her feet and ran over.

"Young Master, you're out! Thank you for your hard work."

She took his arm and led him toward the pavilion in the middle of the courtyard. "Please sit down and rest. This servant will make you some tea right away."

The stone stool was cool beneath him. Shen Jingchuan had just sat down and taken a sip of tea when he waved a hand.

"Don't bother with anything else. Hurry and tell the kitchen to prepare a meal. I'm hungry."

"Yes!" Yue'er answered brightly. Gathering her skirts, she took off running toward the front courtyard, her steps light and quick.

Before long, Qingshu and Qinghua heard the news and hurried over as well. The sun wasn't harsh and the breeze was cool. The kitchen soon sent out the meal, setting four light dishes and a bowl of japonica rice congee on the stone table.

The three of them served the dishes and refilled his water while Shen Jingchuan ate at his ease. Before long, he had eaten his fill.

After resting for a while, he left the residence.

As he walked down the street, he was still thinking about the mirrors in his space.

If he distributed this batch among several shops, too many people would be talking, making it more likely to attract attention.

If he sold only to that one general store, the shopkeeper would have an exclusive supply channel in him and would surely keep his lips sealed for the sake of long-term business. That would be safer.

Besides, the two of them weren't acquainted to begin with, which meant even less to worry about.

Shen Jingchuan had just lifted the cloth curtain and stepped into the general store when he saw two women in their thirties or forties standing by the counter. Both wore fine silks and satins, and each had a maid behind her carrying a cloth bundle. They were gathered there, picking through the glass mirrors on display.

Hearing someone enter, the two women looked up together. When they saw a young gentleman with an upright bearing and handsome features, their gazes paused. They openly gave him a few extra looks, without the slightest attempt to act shy or hide it.

Shen Jingchuan was still thinking, Married, older women really are different.

The shopkeeper at the counter was smiling as he explained the wares. Catching sight of Shen Jingchuan out of the corner of his eye, his heart gave a sudden jump, and he immediately grew a little flustered.

He quickly gave the young shop assistant beside him a look, signaling for him to take over attending the two ladies. Then he hurried over in three strides, cupped his hands, and lowered his voice almost to a whisper as he smilingly ushered Shen Jingchuan to the side.

"Young Master, you're here. Please come with me to the back courtyard, where we can talk. It's terribly noisy here." Though his words were polite, his feet never stopped moving. Half inviting and half guiding, he led Shen Jingchuan toward the shop's back courtyard, afraid of delaying even a moment.

As soon as they entered the main hall of the back courtyard, the shopkeeper hurriedly showed him to a seat, then turned and urged a maid to brew some fine Maojian tea, moving with great haste.

Seeing how eager he was to distance himself from the front of the shop, Shen Jingchuan couldn't help laughing. "Your glass mirror business seems to be thriving, Shopkeeper."

The shopkeeper's face grew warm. He rubbed his hands and smiled awkwardly. "Oh, not at all. It was just a happy coincidence. How could business be like this every day?"

"Is that so?" Shen Jingchuan tapped his fingertips on the table, his tone teasing. "I figured your stock must be running low if it was selling so fast, so I made a special trip to bring you some more."

At those words, the shopkeeper's eyes lit up. He leaned half a step closer and said joyfully in a low voice,

"Oh, that couldn't be better timed! What did you bring this time? Let me have a look."

"The goods this time are bigger than before." As Shen Jingchuan spoke, he slipped the canvas backpack off his shoulders and set it on the table, then pulled five mirrors out of it. (The bag was only so big, and five were all he could fit inside.)

"Take a look at the goods first."

Four glass mirrors in paper boxes were now laid out on the table, a full palm's width wider than the ones from last time.

The shopkeeper's eyes went wide at the sight. After some back-and-forth, he reluctantly counted out eight hundred taels in silver notes and handed them over.

Both men were delighted and parted happily.

After putting the silver away, Shen Jingchuan didn't hurry back to the residence. He strolled leisurely down the street and turned into a medicine shop on the corner.

This shop was far grander than the one he had visited last time. Its storefront had carved wooden beams, and inside, neat rows of shelves stood amid the rich fragrance of medicinal herbs. At a glance, it looked like an establishment with deep roots.

He had just stepped through the door when an assistant by the counter hurried over, a broad smile on his face.

"Welcome, honored guest. Are you here to have a prescription filled or to look for medicinal ingredients?"

"Just browsing." Shen Jingchuan glanced over the rows of medicine drawers on the shelves and asked casually, "Do you have ginseng here?"

"Of course. How old would you like it to be?"

Shen Jingchuan was a complete novice when it came to medicinal ingredients and didn't know the first thing about them. He had been busy these past few days and hadn't looked up which medicinal ingredients were valuable in the modern world.

He knew only that ginseng was a hard currency. He still hadn't found the right opportunity to sell the one in his space, but he felt that with this stuff, the more the better; there could never be too much.

When the assistant asked about its age, he didn't dare blurt out a request for thousand-year-old ginseng this time. Instead, he waved a hand with feigned composure. "It doesn't need to be that old. A little over a hundred years will do."

The assistant went to the back counter and soon returned carrying a gilded wooden box. He pulled back the soft cotton lining to reveal several dried ginseng roots lying neatly inside, their crowns firm, their rootlets intact, and their skins a glossy dark brown.

"Take a look, honored guest. These are all genuine wild mountain ginseng from North Chang Ridge, at least a hundred and sixty or seventy years old. Their medicinal properties are exceptionally potent."

Shen Jingchuan picked them up and weighed them in his hand for show. In truth, he couldn't tell good from bad at all. He simply chose the two heaviest ones with the most intact rootlets. "These two, then. How much?"

"Two hundred taels for the pair, an honestly fair price."

He didn't bargain. He took out a silver note and handed it over, then watched the assistant pack the roots into two wooden boxes before tucking them into his backpack.