Fu Yunlang

She showed no annoyance, and said with a smile, "Please forgive me, Master Xu. I am the weaker party. If you two look at the design and decide not to buy, and then try to make the jewelry according to the design after I leave, I will have no way to stop you and will suffer a loss in silence. Whether you take advantage of me or not is entirely up to you. Although I am being petty, I have to be careful, and there is no other way. Since Master Xu says he won't look at it, and this is Master Xu's territory, then I will take my leave."

She said to the woman, "If you don't mind signing a contract, and are interested in my design, we can move to the teahouse up ahead to discuss it further. If you find that troublesome, then we shall take our leave."

With that, she stood up, nodded to the woman, and swiftly left the room, heading downstairs.

The woman didn't speak or even glance at Old Xu. She stood up and walked towards the door, followed closely by several servants.

"No... this..." Old Xu stood up, somewhat at a loss, watching the figures of the group disappear.

He didn't do anything! He just said something to Xu Xi, trying to stop the girl from getting too arrogant. From the buyer's perspective, he was doing this for the lady's sake, right? Why didn't he appreciate it and instead followed that girl out without saying a word?

Seeing this, Shopkeeper Huang quickly said, "Master, don't worry. Here's what we'll do: we'll send someone to follow them and see how things go."

Old Xu was about to nod, but then he changed his mind and quickly said, "No, don't send anyone to follow us. If that lady misunderstands and thinks we're going to harm her, we're finished."

He called over the shop assistant who had been serving the woman and asked him, "What kind of jewelry is that lady looking to buy? Has she taken a liking to any particular piece?"

"They came in, only asked me for the catalog to look at, and didn't say anything else, nor did they request to see the manager," the shop assistant said.

Old Xu asked and asked, but couldn't get any useful information. He could only say dejectedly, "Forget it, it's good enough if we don't offend anyone. Let's just stay put."

"Master, manager..." A young waiter suddenly rushed upstairs.

Upon seeing this, Old Xu scolded, "What's the rush? You're so impetuous!"

"Master, Master," the young shop assistant stammered, "The second young master of the Marquis of Pingnan's Residence has arrived."

Old Xu jumped to his feet, nearly knocking over the teacup in front of him.

"Where?" he asked as he walked out.

The young waiter wiped his brow. "He just got off the carriage. He's probably going upstairs now."

Old Xu and Shopkeeper Huang hurried downstairs.

Just as they reached the top of the stairs, they saw a man in brocade robes walking towards them. It was none other than Fu Yunlang, the second young master of the Marquis of Pingnan's Residence. Behind him were several people, who, judging from their attire, were likely servants, guards, and the like.

"Second Young Master, it is an honor to have you here. I am so sorry for not greeting you sooner," Old Xu said hastily, bowing with his hands clasped.

Shopkeeper Huang also bowed.

Fu Yunlang waved his hand without saying a word, and walked straight upstairs. He sat down in a room that Shopkeeper Huang used to entertain distinguished guests, and then spoke, "I was just passing by and thought I'd stop by."

He looked up at Old Xu and Shopkeeper Huang: "My mother's birthday is coming up soon. Do you have any new and stylish jewelry in the shop? Let me take a look."

"Yes, young master," Shopkeeper Huang replied, turning to arrange the jewelry.

Thinking about what had just happened, Old Xu felt a little guilty.

Just as he was about to speak, Fu Yunlang said, "Uncle Xu, if you have something to do, go ahead and do it. I'll just look at the jewelry and then leave."

Old Xu was about to say he wasn't busy, but when he saw Fu Yunlang's indifferent gaze, he quickly swallowed his words, cupped his hands, and said, "Yes, yes. I won't bother you any longer, young master." With that, he bowed and left.

After leaving, he didn't dare to leave. Instead, he went into a private room and waited for Fu Yunlang's summons.

A moment later, Shopkeeper Huang entered, followed by a young shop assistant carrying several brocade boxes on a tray.

At Shopkeeper Huang's signal, the young waiter put down the tray, bowed to Fu Yunlang, and left. Before leaving, he made sure to close the door behind him.

Shopkeeper Huang opened the brocade box and showed Fu Yunlang the jewelry inside, one piece at a time.

After reading Fu Yunlang frowned and said, "That's all?"

"Yes, that's all." Shopkeeper Huang noticed his dissatisfaction, opened his mouth to speak, hesitated for a moment, and then closed his mouth again.

"Speak your mind." Fu Yunlang glanced at him sideways. "Don't forget, you're one of my people. Don't think you're the manager of the Xu Family."

These words sent a chill down Shopkeeper Huang: "No, I... I just think it's a small matter..."

"From now on, whenever there is anything that you feel should be reported, no matter how small, you must report it to me. You must not hide anything," Fu Yunlang said coldly.

As he spoke, he looked up at Shopkeeper Huang and said, "If you don't do a good job, I'll have to consider replacing you."

"No, no, I will report it immediately," Shopkeeper Huang quickly assured him.

This silver shop does indeed belong to Old Xu's family. Old Xu, Xu Xinda's father, worked as a manager in a silver shop when he was young. It wasn't until Xu Xinda married that his father started his own business, opening a silver shop and becoming the owner. However, although his family had some connections, they were of low rank, and coupled with limited funds, the silver shop was only a small-scale operation.

It wasn't until two years ago that the Fu Family took a liking to this jewelry store and invested in it. Although the Fu Family was only a marquis, whose rank was not prominent in the capital, their position in the military was not to be underestimated. Most people with a brain would not go against them for a little money. With the Fu Family's investment and their backing, the jewelry store has grown into the largest jewelry store in Beining County in the past two years.

Since the Fu Family had invested and held Datou stake, it was natural that Xu Xinda the business alone; instead, they sent Shopkeeper Huang. However, Shopkeeper Huang lacked experience in running a jewelry store and wasn't as as astute as Xu Xinda, so he would ask Xu Xinda to make decisions when problems arose. Of course, this only applied to business matters. Once other issues were involved, Shopkeeper Huang would naturally report to his true master.

Shopkeeper Huang had just opened his mouth to speak because he thought the bird jewelry design Xu Xinda had bought was quite good, and perhaps the young master would be pleased with its novelty. However, he realized that mentioning it would bring up other design drafts. Considering his relationship with Xu Xinda, he didn't want Xu Xinda to be reprimanded by the young master over such a small matter, which would be detrimental to their future cooperation. Therefore, he decided it was better to avoid trouble.

But since the young master insisted on getting to the bottom of things, he couldn't care less and told Fu Yunlang everything that had just happened.

Fu Yunlang frowned.

"Go and fetch Uncle Xu," he instructed the servant.