Chapter 28: They Struck It Rich

Shopkeeper Liu clutched the patterns tightly, clearly infatuated with them. "I’ll give you 20... no, 30 taels. How about you sell these patterns to me?"

She had originally intended to offer 20 taels, but suddenly recalling Wen Ye’s shrewdness, she had increased it by 10. She watched Wen Ye nervously, thinking that if this didn't work, she would have to add another two taels.

"45 taels!" Wen Ye stated.

"This... you girl are really too tough," Shopkeeper Liu mused. "How about this: we each take a step back. 40 taels, and I’ll throw in some silk thread as well. What do you say?"

Unexpectedly, Wen Ye nodded immediately. "Deal!"

Shopkeeper Liu’s eyes crinkled with a smile. "Very well, very well. Next time you have embroidery pieces, bring them over, and I will certainly purchase them."

In her heart, however, she thought that while she would certainly buy them, the price would not be high again. At most, she would pay 12 wen per handkerchief. After all, she would have all these designs by then.

Under the stunned gazes of Wen Lan and Wen Yu'er, Wen Ye tucked away the 40 taels and pulled the two girls over to select silk threads.

This time, she picked out 30 plain handkerchiefs, a large piece of high-quality silk fabric, over 50 bundles of mulberry silk embroidery thread, and six circular fan frames. All three were the finest materials the shop had to offer.

Shopkeeper Liu gasped as she watched; that semi-transparent silk fabric alone was worth five taels. With the fan frames and the silk thread added on... it totaled fifteen or sixteen taels!

Shopkeeper Liu felt like she was falling apart, wishing she hadn't added those extra five taels earlier. But considering the value of the designs, she held her tongue.

Wen Yu'er also wanted to pick out 50 plain handkerchiefs, but Wen Ye stopped her.

"Have you finished picking everything?" Shopkeeper Liu asked.

"All done," Wen Ye smiled.

Fearing that Wen Ye might keep picking, Shopkeeper Liu quickly grabbed a piece of cloth, wrapped up the fabric and threads, and laughed, "Haha, little girl, do come back next time!"

"Certainly, certainly! Next time I have good embroidery, I’ll sell it to your shop!"

Wen Ye smiled so broadly her teeth were visible. Seeing that smile, Shopkeeper Liu shuddered. Why did she feel that Wen Ye didn't mean "sell to your shop," but rather "fleece your shop"?

She shook her head. No, she already had the patterns in hand; there was no way the girl could fleece her again next time. When the girls returned to sell handkerchiefs, she would offer 12 wen per piece at most.

"Let’s go!" Wen Ye chirped. "Sister, Yu'er, let’s go have some wontons."

With that, the three girls left the embroidery shop.

The wonton stall was located diagonally across from the shop. The three found a spot in the corner and sat down. Wen Ye ordered three large bowls of wontons and then divided the money from the handkerchief sale.

"Based on the quantity, Yu'er, yours is 9 taels and 6 qian. For me and my sister, it’s 6 taels."

As Wen Ye spoke, she placed the money into the hands of Wen Lan and Wen Yu'er. Both were still in a daze, unable to process what had just happened.

"I only embroidered 80 handkerchiefs..." Wen Yu'er said blankly. "I used to only get two hundred or so wen for the labor. But now... I actually have over 9 taels!"

Wen Lan’s eyes were even redder. Six taels! She had never touched so much money in her life. Did they really earn this? Just by embroidering a few handkerchiefs? And on top of that, their little sister had another 40 taels from selling the patterns! They were rich!

Tears streamed down Wen Lan’s face. Finally, they had money for rice and flour; they would never have to go hungry again.

"This is for you, Ye-ya," Wen Yu'er said, suddenly placing 3 taels on the table. "Later on, when you finished your embroidery, I couldn't keep up, so you helped me with a lot of mine. I’ve lost count of how much, but I don't know if these 3 taels are enough."

To Wen Yu'er, being able to earn 9 taels and 6 qian today was all thanks to Wen Ye. Even though her family was poor, she didn't blink when offering these 3 taels.

Wen Ye smiled. "What’s this for? In the past, when you came to play, you would help us with our embroidery, and you brought us rice and eggs to help us through the hard times. We’re still living in your family’s house—do you expect us to pay you back for all that?"

Wen Yu'er replied urgently, "Of course you don't have to pay me back."

"Then you don't need to give us money either. If you really want to thank me, then treat me to these wontons."

Wen Yu'er was deeply moved. "Alright, this meal is on me."

Soon, the wontons arrived, as fragrant and delicious as before. Wen Lan had no more reservations and ate happily. "When we get home, we must keep working hard and embroider more cat handkerchiefs. But... Ye-ya, when you were choosing materials, why didn't you get more plain handkerchiefs?"

"We won't be embroidering cat handkerchiefs anymore," Wen Ye shook her head. "We’ve already sold those designs. The embroidery shop will imitate them, and by the time we finish our next batch, they’ll be everywhere and won't be worth much."

Wen Lan and Wen Yu'er panicked. "Then we can embroider other cute animals..."

"I already drew and sold the patterns for other styles earlier."

Wen Lan’s face stiffened slightly. 40 taels was truly a huge fortune, but: "If we hadn't sold those patterns and just took turns embroidering them, we could have earned three or four taels a month. In half a year, we would have over ten taels, and in a year..."

Wen Ye shook her head. "You’re right. But whether it’s the cat handkerchiefs or other styles, while they are novel and cute, their fatal flaw is that the lines are simple. Any third-rate artist could copy them."

"Once the cat handkerchiefs hit the market, anyone with a bit of business sense will hire an artist to imitate the style of the rabbits and cats. They can apply the same logic to deer, butterflies, and so on. In less than two months, almost every artist in Shengan County will know how to do it."

"By then, even if I draw more to sell, they won't be worth much. So, I have to make a big profit while I can."

Wen Lan and Wen Yu'er listened, bewildered. Though they were a bit confused, they understood the gist.

Wen Yu'er smiled. "I’m already satisfied with earning this amount of money. In the future, we can keep embroidering; even if we only earn three or four wen per piece, it’s not a loss."

"Mm-hmm," Wen Lan nodded as well. She couldn't be too greedy; she had no reason to complain after earning so much.

"Don't worry," Wen Ye chuckled. "We will keep making money, and there will be more and more of it."

Wen Lan and Wen Yu'er exchanged glances, their eyes bright. After today, they trusted Wen Ye implicitly.

After finishing their wontons, Wen Ye remembered that Mrs. Lin and Wen Yuan hadn't eaten yet, so she asked the owner to weigh out two jin of raw wontons. Wen Yu'er also bought two jin, costing 110 wen in total, but she didn't feel the pinch at all.

Leaving the stall, the three headed straight to the grain store.

Wen Lan said, "Shopkeeper, we’ll take 20 jin of brown rice."

"Sister, let’s buy some white rice instead!" Wen Ye pulled her sleeve. "It’s not often we have money; I want to eat white rice."

Wen Lan thought it was too extravagant, as they usually couldn't even get enough brown rice, but seeing Wen Ye’s pleading expression, she nodded. "Alright."

Wen Ye quickly called out to the shopkeeper, "Weigh 20 jin of brown rice and 20 jin of white rice."

Brown rice had a coarse texture; now that they had money, they should certainly eat white rice.

The shopkeeper was surprised to see two girls in patched clothes asking for white rice, but he happily agreed. "Coming right up."

Wen Lan’s heart bled—white rice cost 20 wen a jin! But since the money was earned by her little sister, they should naturally buy what she liked.