Song Sanniang's Journey to Wealth

After returning to the store, Song Sanniang was not idle either. She took out the draft menu and prepared to order a batch of menus later.

There is also a signboard on the door. She plans to put up a few light signs at night so that the store will be eye-catching and attract customers.

So she spent some time organizing her thoughts and then went out with Qin Haodong.

She first went to Master Tan to order four bunk beds. She asked Master Tan if he would make a plaque.

Master Tan laughed and said, "Miss Song, you think too highly of me. I am good at carpentry.

If I were to make a plaque, I'd be afraid that I would ruin my reputation." But he also introduced Song Sanniang to a shop that specialized in making plaques.

Since plaques couldn't be made, then I wondered if lanterns could be made? So Song Sanniang told Master Tan what she wanted to make.

Master Tan asked her to go to the lantern shop to find someone to make it. Only the materials of the lantern shop could let light through when the candle was lit at night without burning. So Song Sanniang thanked Master Tan and went to the plaque shop with Qin Haodong.

This shop with a sign is on the corner of a side street. When Song Sanniang got off the car, she felt that there were so few people here. Is there any business here?

When I entered the store, I found that there were actually a lot of people in the store. They all looked like scholars, gathered together to discuss something, and the atmosphere was quite lively.

The arrival of Song Sanniang and her partner was only seen by the waiter who was yawning out of boredom. He quickly stood up and greeted them.

"What kind of plaque would you two like to order?" he asked.

Song Sanniang looked around the shop. It didn't look like a shop with a signboard, but more like a bookstore.

The small shop was filled with all kinds of calligraphy and paintings. Only in one corner of the shop were there a pile of wood, carving knives and other materials, as well as a few finished plaques.

The characters on those finished plaques are really extraordinary, vigorous and powerful, flowing like dragons and snakes, so elegant and graceful that it seems as if the characters are alive. You should know that they are not written, but carved.

Song Sanniang retracted her gaze and explained her purpose to the waiter. The waiter invited Song Sanniang and her to a tea table at the side.

Then he went into the crowd and came out with a gentle old man. The old man smiled apologetically at Song Sanniang and the others.

"Excuse me, we were so absorbed in discussing calligraphy that we neglected it. I heard you wanted to make a shop sign." After saying that, he sat down leisurely opposite the two of them.

"Yes, old man, our shop sells sweet soup. The style of our shop is different from that of ordinary shops, so I don't want to make my signboard in a regular shape." Song Sanniang replied politely.

"Oh? This is the first time I heard that plaques can be made into different shapes. Please explain it clearly, little girl. Also, the name of your store and the style of calligraphy you want to use." The old man asked with interest.

"My store's name is 'Sweet Honey', and I'll use regular script for the calligraphy. I'd like to make the plaque into a more casual shape, like a cloud, or a wave shape on the left and right of the plaque."

Song Sanniang tried to describe it, but it still didn't seem quite accurate, so the old man asked the waiter to bring some brush and ink, and Song Sanniang used her poor painting skills to draw the shape she wanted.

The plaque that the two finally came up with was an irregular shape, like a piece of paper that was burning on all four sides but eventually went out.

Then the black regular script font is outlined with gold edges. The font is not placed neatly in the middle of the plaque, but one-third of the font is carved beyond the horizontal line of the plaque.

Then Song Sanniang ordered four small plaques, namely snacks, sweet soup, sit down and get-together. These would be hung in a row on the storefront. After deciding on them, Song Sanniang did not delay and immediately went to the lantern shop with Qin Haodong to make the lantern plaques.

When Song Sanniang arrived at the lantern shop, she was dazzled by the sight. The shop was filled with lanterns of all colors. It was hard to imagine how bright the night would be if all the lanterns were lit up.

Seeing Song Sanniang and the other person, the waiter came up to greet them enthusiastically, "What kind of lanterns do you want? We have all kinds of lanterns here."

"Young man, we want to customize lanterns. Is that possible?" Song Sanniang was not sure whether it was possible, so she asked first.

"Of course you can. Wait a moment. I'll go get the master to come out." The waiter went into the backyard and came out with a man in his forties.

The uncle came up to the two and said, "Please come over here and tell me what kind of lanterns you want to make." Then he took the two to the backyard.

There was a set of round stone tables and chairs in the backyard, and except for this side, most of the yard was filled with shaved bamboos, some broken bamboos, bamboo strips, bamboo shavings, and some semi-finished lanterns. A few young men were practicing breaking bamboos there.

"It's a bit messy here, please don't mind." The uncle smiled innocently.

Originally, Song Sanniang wanted to make a few simple rectangular floor-standing lanterns, but after seeing the dazzling array of lanterns outside this store,

She felt that what she wanted to make was really not presentable, so she told the master what effect she wanted based on the lanterns she had just seen, and ordered four lanterns.

The first one is the ancient version of the light box, which is like a small wooden box, and the front and back are covered with off-white lantern paper with words written on it. The top is connected by two vertical wooden strips with a small horizontal bar that is longer than the light box.

When the time comes, hang the light box on its side so that the words on the light box can be seen from both sides of the store.

Then, the two lanterns placed at the door were decorated with magpies announcing the arrival of spring, with words such as "sweet soup" and "snacks" written on them.

The lanterns are also off-white, and when the candles are lit they turn beige, which is very elegant.

The shape of the lantern is like a vase with closed ends. The main body is hexagonal, and there is a pendant hanging under the lantern.

This is a hanging lantern. The master also equipped two lanterns with floor-standing lantern stands, which are nearly 7 meters high. The shape is very simple, just like the number .

The only difference is that the vertical pen is not tilted, but straight. Then there is a small hook at the beginning, and you can hang the lantern on it. The base is a square wooden block, which increases stability and makes it look coordinated.

After being busy for most of the day, it was too late to customize the menu. Qin Haodong and Song Sanniang ended their day's schedule and rushed to the store.