Are You Discussing Marriage?
"... Many of these properties are owned by wealthy and powerful families in the capital." The young man walking beside Fu Yunlang quickly continued, nudging Fu Yunlang with his elbow as he spoke. "But because of this, many wealthy and powerful families come and go here. These people are all willing to spend money. It can be said that, apart from the capital, this is a relatively suitable place to buy property. It's close to the capital, easy to manage, and has a good population."
"Fu Da usually spends most of his time at the border, I didn't expect you to know so much about the situation in a small place like Beining," Fifth Master said with a smile.
Then he looked at Fu Yunlang and said, "I seem to have heard that the Young Master Fu Er is discussing marriage with the young lady of the Marquis of Huanping's Residence?"
Fu Yunlang, having been nudged by his elder brother, snapped out of his daze and realized he had been lost in thought halfway through his sentence. A cold sweat immediately broke out on his back. Hearing Fifth Master's words, the cold sweat streamed down his forehead.
Worried that the two gentlemen might misunderstand him, he quickly pointed to Xu Xi and said, "The woman in the green dress is the one who designed the bird bracelet jewelry. I wanted to talk to her the other day, hoping she could design more jewelry to sell to the jewelry store. But I hadn't seen her until now. I was stunned when I saw her just now. I hope you will forgive me, Second Master and Fifth Master." As he spoke, he bowed deeply to the two gentlemen.
Upon hearing Fu Yunlang mention this matter, Xu Xinda, who was following behind, turned deathly pale.
He didn't know the identities of these two gentlemen. But seeing how carefully the young master Fu Yunkai and the second young Fu Yunlang of the Marquis of Pingnan's Residence's mansion were served, he could vaguely guess their identities.
Remembering how these two seemed quite interested in the jewelry store business, and how he had angered Miss Xu, who was capable of taking the jewelry store's business to the next level, Xu Xinda broke out in a cold sweat.
"Oh? Is that the jewelry that the Second Young Master gave to your mother at his birthday banquet?" Fifth Master asked with great interest.
Because his elder brother had a very good personal relationship with Fu Yunkai, he went to the Fu residence with his brother on Madam Fu's birthday and saw the bracelet that Fu Yunlang had given to their mother. The design was indeed unique and novel.
"Exactly."
Seeing that Fifth Master didn't seem to care about his distraction, Fu Yunlang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Upon hearing this, Fifth Master turned his head to look in that direction, only to see that the two young ladies had already walked away.
"The jewelry design is quite good; it's clear that the young lady is very talented. You should contact her again and see if she can design any other innovative pieces. If so, we could have a long-term collaboration."
"Yes, yes, I'll have someone contact that young lady right away." Fu Yunlang said, gesturing to Xu Xinda.
"Wait, I haven't finished speaking yet," Fifth Master continued. "There are many established brands in the capital, and they rely on their reputation built up over many years. If you want to open a jewelry store in the capital, you can only focus on novelty. But if everyone in the capital knows that your jewelry store's jewelry is unique and novel, how could those ladies and young women not patronize it? That's the key to success."
"Thank you for your guidance, Fifth Master," Fu Yunlang said with a smile. "Fifth Master is indeed Fifth Master, so skilled in business as well. You hit the nail on the head. I've never done any administrative work before, and I'm still completely clueless, not knowing where to begin. Fifth Master, you rarely leave your house, yet you know everything that's going on in the world. You're truly remarkable."
"So, people who are stupid need more experience." Fu Yunkai glanced at his younger brother. "If I don't pull you out to do something, you'll still be like a silly boy, not understanding anything."
"Who's the fool?" Fu Yunlang's carefully cultivated image of a refined young master in front of Xu Xinda and Huang Xing crumbled instantly, flaring up at his brother's words. "What kind of older brother are you? Constantly slandering your younger brother. If I'm a fool, then what are you?"
Both Second Master and Fifth Master burst into laughter.
Second Master patted Fu Yunkai on the shoulder and said, "Yunlang is right. If he's a simpleton, then you're a big, simpleton."
Everyone laughed again.
Xu Xinda dared not laugh. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he instructed his steward, "Go and keep watch over that carriage. Try to find out from the driver about the girl's background. Come back and tell me when they come out of the market."
The Fifth Master hadn't told him to leave, and he dared not go. But they'd been wandering the county for days without finding Miss Xu. If they let her go today, how would they explain themselves to the Fifth Miss Xu and the Second Young Master?
So he could only order his servants to keep watch. Although he didn't know why a young girl dressed so well, looking like a rich heiress, would go to such a dirty place as the market, it wasn't his business. All he wanted was to be able to contact the girl.
Meanwhile, Xu Xi and Xu Xue had already reached the entrance of the market and spotted Xu Yongyi. At that moment, Xu Yongyi was busily and efficiently weighing cold dishes for people while talking.
Xu Xue called out, "Father," and pulled Xu Xi closer.
Xu Yongyi turned around, saw Xu Xi, and his smile almost overflowed. He quickly handed over what he was doing to the people behind him and walked over.
"You've been busy at home all day, and you still come out to help others. You really are something!" Xu Xue said with a touch of pity.
The cold dish stalls sold the vegetables to the vendors by weight at wholesale prices. Once the vegetables were sold, the business had nothing to do with the Xu Family anymore. Xu Yongyi helping people weigh the vegetables was purely out of kindness.
Xu Yongyi laughed and said, "I just saw that their business was doing so well that they were too busy to handle everything, so I was just lending a hand. It's nothing, it's nothing."
He was talking to his daughter, but his eyes were on Xu Xi, and he asked with concern, "Why are you here Miss Xi? Is everything alright at the Marquis's residence?"
"It's alright," Xu Xi said with a smile. "Business is quite good. Are the other stalls doing the same?"
"Yes, everyone who tries it buys it. Anyway, it's not expensive. Your aunt and I made about 200 jin of cold dishes at home today." Xu Yongyi said, grinning from ear to ear.
Having worked as a street vendor for so many years, he has a good business sense and is very thoughtful.
His original plan was to hire people in the village to wash and chop vegetables, which would be enough to use his own house in the village and would also keep the cost of hiring people low.
But upon further reflection, I realized that this would not only be inconvenient for transportation but also difficult to control the quantity. Moreover, due to kinship ties, it would be difficult to manage. If there were any slackers or cheaters, firing them would cause a lot of trouble.
Later, Xu Xi invested two hundred taels of silver as capital. He became bolder and simply rented a courtyard with a well not far from his home. He asked a middleman to introduce him to several aunties and older women to help him. They not only washed and chopped vegetables, but also cooked some vegetables that couldn't be eaten raw.
He didn't pay these people based on the number of days worked, but rather by weight. Those who were quick, efficient, and capable, and who washed, chopped, and cooked more cold dishes, earned more money; those who were slow and lazy naturally earned less. When business was good, these people had things to do; when business was bad, they had less to do.
In this way, management problems are reduced and the cost of hiring staff is controlled.