High-class maid

"Shantao, there's another shop here. Let's go in and take a look," Shen Xing'er said, looking at the magnificent shop in front of her.

“Okay, this shop is much better than the previous one, so the price must be quite high.” Shan Tao nodded in agreement.

So the two sisters walked into the second shop side by side.

"Ladies, what would you like to buy? Here are some new handkerchiefs in our shop, feel free to take a look."

As soon as Shen Xing'er and Shan Tao entered the store, a waiter came over enthusiastically.

"We'll just browse around," Shen Xing'er said, declining his suggestion. She and Shan Tao then started looking around the shop.

"Xing'er, this shop is huge! It even has a screen." Shan Tao whispered behind Shen Xing'er.

It's important to know that small shops typically only sell items like handkerchiefs, purses, belts, and headbands; only large shops usually have screens. This is because screens are time-consuming, require a lot of needle and thread, take up space, and represent a significant investment, so very few shops would buy them.

Shen Xing'er nodded; she was also observing the situation in the shop.

"Xing'er, this shop is so big, why don't we take out the rest of the embroidery and sell it?" Shan Tao suggested.

Shen Xing'er shook her head and said, "No, let me see what the shopkeeper has to say first. If the shopkeeper is honest, then we'll sell to him. If he tries to lower the price, we'll end up losing more than we gain."

After listening, Shan Tao gave a thumbs up behind her back, thinking that Xing'er knew more than her.

Shen Xing'er walked straight toward the shopkeeper. Unlike other places, the shopkeeper here was a woman, who looked to be in her twenties or thirties. She neatly tied her hair up and was using an abacus with a loud clattering sound, which made people unconsciously slow their pace.

Shen Xing'er wanted to wait until the female shopkeeper finished settling the accounts before speaking, but unexpectedly, she saw Shen Xing'er out of the corner of her eye, smiled, and said...

"Do you two young ladies have something to discuss? Are you here to sell embroidery?"

"Indeed, I'm so sorry to have disturbed your accounting." Seeing how kind the other party was, Shen Xing'er unconsciously became more polite in her words.

"It's not an intrusion, just a review of the accounts from the past few days. What would you like to sell, young lady?" The shopkeeper pushed the abacus aside and asked Shen Xing'er.

"Oh, I have two purses here, please take a look." Shen Xing'er said, handing them over.

She originally intended to sell the remaining two purses and the handkerchief, but seeing that the shop mainly sold purses and screens, she decided after much deliberation to take out the purses first.

The shopkeeper took the purse, and from a casual glance at it at the beginning to a careful observation at the end, the admiration in his eyes was undisguised.

"Good, good, good, are these all made by you, young lady?" the shopkeeper asked Shen Xing'er.

"It wasn't me, it was my sister who embroidered it. I came up with the color scheme and pattern," Shen Xing'er said, pointing to the mountain peach behind her.

The shopkeeper glanced at the mountain peach and praised, "Not bad, the embroidery is skillful and the stitches are fine. I've never seen this color scheme before, it's quite bold."

"How much silver can I sell it for?" Shen Xing'er asked cautiously.

"Are you embroidering a pair?" the shopkeeper suddenly asked.

"That's right, the black one is the men's style, and the light pink one is the women's style."

"No wonder, the black one is bigger and the light pink one is smaller. Oh, there are beads on the drawstring too. Young people always have such quirky ideas," the shopkeeper exclaimed in surprise.

"How much silver can I get?" Shen Xing'er asked again. The days were getting shorter, and she wanted to sell them all as soon as possible. She also needed to go to Song Wenyang's place.

"To be honest, these two purses are exquisitely made, and they even have pearls on them. If you are truly willing to sell them, I will accept two or three hundred coins."

"Can it be higher? I've been embroidering for so long!" Shantao said.

The shopkeeper shook her head and said, "I, Sister Gao, am the most honest merchant on the whole street. Ladies, feel free to ask. No one will offer a higher price than me."

"Shall we go and look around somewhere else?" Shan Tao asked tentatively.

Shen Xing'er secretly observed the shopkeeper's reaction and saw that she didn't seem to be stopping her. She figured she really couldn't offer a higher price, especially since the price was close to their budget.

So she thought for a moment and said, "No, Mother is waiting for us to come home. Let's leave now."

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper did not rush to take the money. Instead, he looked at Shan Tao as if he would not accept the money if she said she would not sell it.

"Oh, right, I have another handkerchief here. Would you like to take it with me?" Seeing that the other party was honest, Shen Xing'er took out another handkerchief from her sleeve.

The shopkeeper picked it up and examined it carefully, but didn't rush to tell him the price. Instead, he asked...

"I wonder where you two young ladies work? Do you have any proper jobs? Would you be willing to come and work as embroiderers in our shop? The monthly allowance is negotiable."

Just as Shan Tao was about to refuse, Shen Xing'er spoke up in front of her, saying, "Okay, Sister Gao, but we need to go home and discuss this with our parents. They're waiting for us at home."

"Look at me, I've been so busy recruiting talented people into the shop. In that case, this handkerchief is one tael and one hundred coins, no bargaining."

Finally, after exchanging money for goods, Shen Xing'er and her companion left satisfied.

"Xing'er, I thought the first one sold for a high price, but I didn't expect the second one to offer an even higher price." Shan Tao said excitedly, looking at the silver in her purse.

"Yes, it seems we still need to compare prices from different vendors in the future. I didn't expect there to be a difference of several tens of coins between us," Shen Xing'er exclaimed.

"Hmph, that annoying male shopkeeper, I'm going to find him and make him refund the difference." Shan Tao's temper flared up instantly, and she turned around to go find the man from before.

"Hey, hey, hey, why did you act impulsively again? If you go, they'll just say it was voluntary, and you might even be laughed at. Just consider it a lesson learned."

Shen Xing'er pulled her aside and tried to persuade her.

"That's true, but it's already very good if we can sell it for more than one tael. After deducting the principal, we made a net profit of three taels of silver."

Shantao, that little money-grubber, had already quickly gone through the accounts in her mind.

"You have an abacus in your head, calculating so fast," Shen Xing'er teased.

Because the two decided to make "high-end products," they bought high-quality fabrics and threads, which made their initial investment quite expensive.

"I've only been embroidering for five days, and I've already made so much money. My mother definitely won't believe it when she finds out," Shan Tao said proudly.

"What are you thinking, silly girl? I drew these patterns a long time ago, so it didn't take much time. Besides, the masters aren't in the mansion, so you have a chance to keep embroidering."

"If the masters return, you won't have time. Besides, the designs need to be updated, and each design takes several days to develop, so it won't be so easy then."

Just as Shan Tao was about to get carried away, Shen Xing'er timely poured cold water on her.

"That's true," Yamamoto quickly deflated, but soon perked up and said, "..."

"It's alright, I'm already quite satisfied with an income of one or two taels of silver a month."