"Just send it here, I can go up by myself." Pei Che took the package handed over by the servant and turned to Jiang Miao who wanted to get off the car.
In order to get married, he asked the Dean for ten days' leave. Now that the leave is over, it is time for him to return to the Imperial College.
"Okay, you can go up by yourself. By the way, during the time you are not at home, we should live in Jiang's house. It is close to my shop and it is more convenient for Xiao Shitou to study." Jiang Miao said. Although the Duke's Mansion is nice, it is too depressing to live in. They usually only move around in Pei Che's yard. Jiang Miao is afraid of trouble and he doesn't want to deal with other people in the Pei family.
Pei Che nodded: "Go ahead, I've already told grandma."
Jiang Miao's eyes widened: "When did you say that?" He clearly made the decision today.
"Yesterday afternoon, when you were taking a nap in the study." Pei Che's eyes flashed with a smile.
Jiang Miao curled his lips. He thought he would only fall asleep when reading the Four Books and Five Classics, but he didn't expect that he would also fall asleep when reading storybooks. If there was anything to blame, it was because the books here were arranged vertically, there were no punctuation marks, and the words were crowded together. Who wouldn't feel dizzy
"Since you've already said it, I don't need to say it, right?" Jiang Miao was quite afraid of the old lady of the Pei family. He was not very good at dealing with such an old person with a cold personality.
After receiving a positive reply, Jiang Miao was visibly happy. Pei Che looked at him apologetically, thinking that it was because of him that he was restrained. However, he would try his best to make sure Jiang Miao was not restricted.
"What's wrong with you?" Jiang Miao noticed that his expression was a little complicated and couldn't help feeling worried.
"Nothing, you guys go back, I'm going upstairs." Pei Che smiled at him, took the package and took two steps back to watch them leave.
"Brother coachman, before we go back, let's take a detour to Minghua Street." Jiang Miao was naturally full of curiosity about this shop that was said to make a fortune every day.
Now that Jiang's shop is developing steadily, he has time to care about other things. Since promoting Tang Lin as the shopkeeper of Jiang's shop, he has been working hard every day. During the days when Jiang Miao was away, the business of the shop was not much different from usual.
Of course, Li Ping also contributed a lot to the good business of the store. In addition to his unique skills, Jiang Miao taught him other breakfast recipes, and he can imitate them to be 70% to 80% similar. Customers who are not particularly picky about their tastes can hardly tell the difference.
The carriage headed towards Minghua Street, and Jiang Miao arrived at Minghua Street about an hour later. This street was crowded with people, and it was not convenient for the carriage to enter, so Jiang Miao asked the driver to wait for them outside.
Grandmother Pei’s shop was not far from the street. Jiang Miao followed the address on the title deed and soon saw the shop selling colored glass.
This shop is about the same size as Jiang's shop twice, and it is also a two-story structure. From the door, you can see rows of glass ornaments on the shelves. When the sun shines into the shop, the glass ornaments are full of light and look very beautiful and luxurious.
Jiang Miao couldn't help but sigh. Such exquisite handicrafts would be expensive even in modern times. But compared with today's prices, it's not worth mentioning.
It was the first time for Jiang Miao to come here, and he had no intention of revealing his identity. He wanted to secretly observe the attitude of the waiters and the shopkeeper here towards others.
He had a good plan, but as soon as he entered the store, he was thrown off guard by the loud shout of "Madam Crown Prince". Then the shopkeeper came over, with a very respectful attitude.
Jiang Miao really wanted to know how they recognized him. Perhaps his question was too obvious, so the shopkeeper kindly explained, "You and the prince needed help at your wedding banquet a few days ago, so I took some people to help. I had the honor of meeting you once."
"Haha, is that so?" Jiang Miao laughed dryly. Since his disguise plan had failed, he just watched it openly.
He walked around the entire shop, and during this time, the store closed three deals. Looking at the real money coming in, Jiang Miao sighed, as expected, the luxury goods business is the most profitable!
"Madam, do you and the young master have anything you like? If so, please tell me and I will have someone pack it and send it to your house." The shopkeeper was very attentive. I guess he knew that the shop was now in Pei Che's hands.
"No need, just keep it in the store and sell it for money." Jiang Miao said, "Manager Hu, where does the colored glass in our store come from?"
Shopkeeper Hu said with some pride: "The colored glaze in our shop is not purchased from other places, but is made by ourselves. In the whole Liangjing, there is no better colored glaze than ours, and there are more colors."
Jiang Miao's heart moved, and he asked, "Is there any transparent colored glass?"
"We also have pure and transparent ones. Come and have a look." Shopkeeper Hu walked to an inconspicuous place, bent down and picked up a lotus-shaped glass. This glass was clear and transparent, emitting a faint glow. If it was placed in the sun, it would definitely look great!
"Isn't this transparent one hard to sell?" Jiang Miao took it in his hand and admired it.
Shopkeeper Hu said, "Yes, people seem to prefer colorful glass ornaments. This ice lotus has been in the store for a long time, but it has not been sold."
"Is it easy to fire this kind of transparent glass? Is it possible to fire it bigger?" Jiang Miao asked.
"Bigger?" Shopkeeper Hu pondered for a moment. "If it's as big as a plate, it should be possible to make it. But this transparent glass is not easy to get. I got this one by chance. I thought it could be sold at a good price, but who knew that it would not please the customers."
Seeing his disappointed face, Hu said, "I'm not really sure, maybe the kiln craftsmen can make a large piece of transparent glass!"
Jiang Miao heard this and regained hope: "Where is the kiln? Can you take me to see it?"
"Of course, but that place is outside the city, about thirty or forty miles from the east gate of Liangjing." said Manager Hu.
Jiang Miao asked, "Isn't this a farm?" Hearing this, he realized that this place was the farm with more than 200 acres given by Grandmother Pei. But he didn't expect that it looked like a farm on the outside, but there was another world inside.
"There are some at the farm, and the kiln is there, too. With the farm in front to hide us, people don't know where our colored glass comes from. Those people still think that our colored glass is imported from other places." Shopkeeper Hu was very proud. Every time they transported vegetables from the farm, they would hide the colored glass under the vegetables.
"Okay, it's a bit late today. I'll come over tomorrow morning. Then I'll trouble Manager Hu to show us the way and take us there." Jiang Miao said.
"We will follow your instructions. By the way, the ice lotus ornament has been packed by our waiter. Remember to bring it back when you return to the Duke's Mansion later." Shopkeeper Hu said with a smile.
Since he was so kind, Jiang Miao didn't refuse. After all, they were cooked by themselves and were slow-moving items, so it would be nice to take them back and display them for fun.
Jiang Miao took the lotus ornament back home. Before leaving, he forgot to ask how much it cost. If he knew the price, he would definitely not walk out so casually.
The next day, Jiang Miao arrived at the store as scheduled. Considering the long distance, he left Pei Mu at home to practice calligraphy, and asked Chan Yi and Wen Jing to look after him.
Here, Shopkeeper Hu has also made preparations. Today, the shop is full of old friends, so it doesn't matter if he leaves for a day.
The two of them got on the carriage and set off towards the east gate, first from the upper city to the outer city, and then from the outer city to the outside of the city. The surrounding scene changed from prosperous to ordinary, and then from ordinary to desolate. Such a gap made people feel uncomfortable. No wonder those people in the upper city were reluctant to come out. This is how difficult it is to go from luxury to frugality!
Because this road also led to Jiangjiawan, Jiang Miao was quite familiar with it. After the carriage had traveled about thirty miles, it suddenly turned a corner and headed into a narrow path.
After walking on the path for a few minutes, the path in front of us suddenly became open and could accommodate two carriages at the same time.
Jiang Miao lifted the car curtain and looked at the fertile fields nearby and the neat farmhouses in the distance. These things gathered together to form the appearance of a farm. Just as Manager Hu introduced, this was a farm that looked very ordinary.
When the carriage was not far from the farmhouse, the children who were playing under an old tree with lush branches and leaves at the intersection swarmed in. Not long after they entered, an old man holding a pipe came out and stood under the tree waiting for their carriage to stop.
"Manager Hu, how come you have time to come and take a look today?" The person who got off the car obviously surprised the old man.
"The young lady wants to see how the kiln is fired. Old Lin, please take us inside to have a look." Shopkeeper Hu said, his tone revealing some familiarity, presumably they deal with each other frequently.
Young Madam? Old Lin looked at the man getting off the car and suddenly realized that this man was the wife that their prince had married.
"Please come in, young madam. The earthen kiln for firing colored glaze is a bit far from here. Please wait a moment. I'll ask them to put the bamboo chairs on a rack and carry you over later." Old Lin was very enthusiastic, but what he said made Jiang Miao laugh and cry.
"Uncle Lin, this won't work. Why do we need to carry it across such a short distance? My hometown is just down below in Jiangjia Bay. I walk from one end of the village to the other and never complain of being tired." If Jiang Miao really had to ask them to carry it across, he would be too embarrassed to come again next time.
"Jiangjiawan?" Old Lin looked at Jiang Miao, who was dressed in fancy clothes and had nothing to do with this place in terms of appearance or temperament, and felt a little suspicious. However, the way this young lady spoke was not much different from that of the farmers.
"Yes, the road in Jiangjiawan is not as smooth and wide as yours. If I can walk there, I can naturally walk on the road here." Anyway, it is absolutely impossible to carry it over there.
Since he insisted, Lao Lin would not force him. He went in and gave instructions, then led the two of them to the kiln.
Along the way, Jiang Miao observed the surroundings and found that there seemed to be no other people here except the farm. He raised the question, and Lao Lin nodded immediately: "Yes, there are only us here. In fact, there were only five or six families here. Later, we built the farm here, bought houses and fields from them with money, and found a village to help them move out, which made those people very happy."
Jiang Miao nodded. That was right. After all, this was not a simple farm. With outsiders here, they were indeed restricted in what they could do.
(End of this chapter)