The Jewelry Shop Opens
"I have classes four afternoons a week," Master Kang said. "If you're free at other times, I can teach you."
Xu Xi was overjoyed and quickly bowed to Master Kang, saying, "This student thanks you greatly, Master."
After agreeing on the time and place for the class, Master Kang said, "Alright, I'll ask around to see who wants to learn painting from you, and then I'll have someone contact you. You don't need to worry about this." With that, he waved and left.
With Master Kang helping to arrange the painting lessons, it was perfect, and Xu Xi didn't have to worry about it.
In any case, the painting class can't be opened in just a few days; Xu Xi can only learn to paint with Master Kang after the class is opened. After Master Kang confirms the number of students she will learn from, she will have to rent a house. This can't be rushed.
So for the next few days, Xu Xi stayed at the academy peacefully, spending her time either attending classes or drawing design sketches at the jewelry store.
And Gathered Treasures Studio opened its doors on an auspicious day during this ten-day period.
Shopkeeper Wang truly lives up to his reputation as the most capable manager among all the managers in the Prince of Zhennan's Residence. Although he may not know what "marketing" is, his marketing skills are truly top-notch.
He used to be the manager of a silk shop. Because the ladies and young ladies of wealthy and noble families rarely left their residences, the silk shop relied entirely on the quick-witted old women who went into the inner quarters to recommend any good products they had. They were all familiar with the gatekeepers and stewards of each household.
Since the Princess of Zhennan wanted to make the silver shop's business successful, Shopkeeper Wang didn't hold back. He immediately dispatched several of his former maids from the silk shop, who were quite skilled at working there. They took jewelry catalogs and a few pieces of jewelry and went to the shop to promote the items. He also explained that if the customer came to the shop on the opening day of Gathered Treasures Studio, they could enjoy a 10% discount.
The women of the inner quarters were bored spending all day in their homes. Seeing the fine jewelry and hearing that there were even more new styles to choose from, they were somewhat disappointed that the jewelry shop wasn't in the capital, but they weren't too opposed to going to Beining County —their family estate was in Beining, and they could conveniently visit it along the way.
Moreover, a 10% discount may not seem like much, but for a fine headdress worth three thousand taels, the discount would save three hundred taels of silver, making it worth the trip.
Therefore, on the day Gathered Treasures Studio opened, after the opening ceremony with gongs and drums and the hanging of the signboard, many carriages arrived one after another. The carriages were not only luxurious, but also bore the symbols of wealthy and noble families, indicating that those who came to patronize Gathered Treasures Studio were genuine nobles.
Xu Xinda and Huang Xing's faces had already darkened when they saw the Gathered Treasures Studio sign removed and realized it was a jewelry store; seeing this scene afterward, their faces turned even darker, like the bottom of a pot.
"Who owns this jewelry store? Beining County is so small, two jewelry stores are enough. Why open another one, right across from us? Aren't they trying to steal our business?" Xu Xinda said through gritted teeth.
Huang Xing had been keeping a close eye on Gathered Treasures Studio during this period and had learned quite a bit of information. Therefore, he took some countermeasures and even wrote a letter and had it delivered to the gatekeeper of the Marquis of Pingnan's Residence to report to the second young master.
It's a pity that the second young master is not at home these days; I heard he went to Jiangnan with the fifth master.
Looking at the bustling scene at Gathered Treasures Studio, he felt quite disheartened.
"I didn't find out which family owned it, but I do know they opened a workshop on the back street." As he spoke, Huang Xing gave a mocking laugh and asked Xu Xinda, "Do you know Juren Meng?"
Xu Xinda paused, put down the teacup he had raised to his lips, and nodded, saying, "I understand."
Juren Meng had been in the jewelry design business for many years and was quite famous; Xu Xinda couldn't possibly be unaware of him.
"This jewelry store hired Juren Meng to design jewelry for them." Huang Xing slowly picked up a piece of pastry and put it in his mouth.
Xu Xinda shocked. "What?" He turned sharply to look out the window, "Isn't that... isn't that..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but grabbed Huang Xing's arm. "You must report this to the Second Young Master immediately. That Juren Meng is the most skilled jewelry designer these days, at least in the capital. If they hire him, do we even have a chance to survive?"
Huang Xing wiped his mouth, his smile widening, "Do you know what they did after hiring Juren Meng? Juren Meng only worked for two days, and before he could even finish drawing a single picture, they kicked him out."
"Huh?" Xu Xinda's mouth dropped open. "Why?"
"What else could it be?" Huang Xing tossed another pastry into his mouth, chewing and pursing his lips. "Because Juren Meng was dissatisfied that the jewelry he painted wasn't as valuable as Miss Xu's, and after complaining a bit, they kicked him out."
Before Xu Xinda could say anything, he glanced at the other man smugly. "Juren Meng is furious. When our people went to contact him, he immediately accepted our offer to design jewelry for our Abundant and Prosperous Pavilion. The price won't be too high, just one hundred taels of silver per design. The Gathered Treasures Studio across the street is offering him one hundred and twenty taels per design."
Xu Xinda Gao Xing to hear the first half of the sentence, feeling secretly pleased; but upon hearing the last sentence, his brows furrowed involuntarily.
"One hundred and twenty taels for a painting? Have you checked it?"
Xu Xinda was still a petty bourgeois at heart. Even after being lectured by the "Fifth Master" and the Second Young Master, he still felt that spending one hundred taels of silver to buy a jewelry design was too expensive. He couldn't understand why Gathered Treasures Studio was willing to spend one hundred and twenty taels to buy a jewelry design from Juren Meng, and he also expressed his doubts.
He vaguely knew the price of the jewelry designs painted by Juren Meng; it seemed to be eighty taels per piece.
Xu Xi was a young lady from a noble family and was still in school, so even if people bought her jewelry designs, they wouldn't be able to do so many times; moreover, her jewelry designs were extremely novel and quite different from those circulating in the market. Therefore, Xu Xinda didn't have much of an objection to the second young master's insistence on buying Xu Xi's jewelry designs.
However, Juren Meng made a living from this, and although his jewelry designs were good, they were all based on the same principles and lacked originality compared to Xu Xi. In addition, his inlaid jewelry designs were priced the same, which increased the cost.
If you buy a jewelry design at this price, the finished jewelry will inevitably require high-quality materials. This makes the cost extremely high. If it can't be sold, the losses will be huge. A few such incidents could bankrupt a jewelry store.
Therefore, jewelry stores are very careful about the prices they charge those who design jewelry; they rarely raise the prices.
Huang Xing actually had his doubts about the price of 120 taels. But he had nowhere to verify it. He couldn't very well hire Juren Meng and then go to the Gathered Treasures Studio to ask, could he?
Moreover, he knew how difficult it was to hire Juren Meng; countless silversmiths in the capital wanted to hire Juren Meng but couldn't. He wondered how the people at Gathered Treasures Studio had managed to poach Juren Meng; perhaps they had genuinely offered a high price.
So, after a moment's hesitation, he agreed to the price quoted by Juren Meng. He planned to consult with the second young master when he returned. If the second young master thought the price was too high and didn't want to hire him, he could simply ask Juren Meng to leave. Given the speed at which Juren Meng drew jewelry designs, it would only be a matter of one design, and at one hundred taels per design, he wouldn't lose much money.