A crown princess who doesn't do infrastructure construction isn't a good doctor.

"As expected of Masakazu, a few blueprints are enough to excite the shop owner like this."

Seeing Zhao Kun disappear in an instant, Lan Feng clicked his tongue in amazement.

As the person who knows the blueprints best, Lawson said with pride, "That's right. During this time, I have been studying the latest woodworking techniques in Beiqian, but none of them can compare to what Zhengjun taught me. Not only are the styles novel, but Zhengjun only gave me a little guidance on many of the complex ones, and I need to figure them out myself. But I haven't even grasped half of it yet."

"Young man, which noble person do you mean by 'the emperor'? Could you tell me?"

Suddenly hearing an unfamiliar voice, Lawson subconsciously turned around and found that Zhao Kun had led over a middle-aged man who looked older than the executive, followed by three or four young people.

Upon seeing the middle-aged man approach, Zhao Kun, the shop owner, stood beside him, indicating that the man must have a high status in the shop. Luo Sen guessed that the man was likely the unsung but highly skilled craftsman that the shopkeeper had mentioned.

After rising and politely greeting him, Lawson said, "My master is the current heir apparent of Prince An, Qin Suiyou."

The middle-aged man was somewhat surprised, but he quickly recovered and said, "The wedding a few days ago has spread throughout the entire city of Ye. Even in this alley, we've heard people mention it to some extent."

Lawson smiled but remained silent, not knowing what to say next. Just as he was about to ask for help from behind, the middle-aged man introduced himself in a loud voice: "My name is Zhao Hai. People who know me call me Lao Zhao. You can call me Lao Zhao too."

Only then did Lawson realize that he hadn't introduced himself, so he said, "Hello, Master Zhao, my name is Lawson, you can just call me Lawson."

Zhao Hai waved his large, fan-like hand and said with a smile, "Hey, young man, you're too kind. I'm just an ordinary old carpenter, not some master craftsman. And who are these people behind you...?"

Reminded of what he had forgotten, Lawson quickly said, "We're all together. He's Jinwen, he's Lanfeng, and he's Chen Xiaodong."

After exchanging pleasantries, Zhao Hai invited the group to sit in the backyard of the woodworking shop. Once there, they all sat around a large round table. The young men who had come with Zhao Hai were originally just there to join in the fun, but now that they were back in the backyard, they dispersed and went about their own work.

Since arriving, Lawson couldn't stop looking around, his eyes constantly drawn to the timber drying in the yard on a fine day.

Zhao Hai stroked his stubble-covered chin, which he hadn't had time to groom, and said with a smug look, "How about it? My shop may look small, but it's got some substance inside, doesn't it?"

Lawson turned back, grinned, and nodded.

Seeing this, Zhao Hai said, "Then you can rest assured that your orders can be entrusted to us for processing, right?"

"what?"

Lawson didn't react for a moment, not understanding what Zhao Hai meant by those words.

Zhao Hai pointed at Lawson with his finger and laughed, "You're even more dense than Zhao Kun."

As he spoke, Zhao Hai took out the blueprints that Zhao Kun had taken earlier and looked at Lawson, continuing, "Although I don't know if you've been involved in our trip, being sent here by such an important person, you must know how valuable the things on these blueprints are. If other woodworking shops saw them, they would definitely be scrambling to take your orders. You probably haven't been to the other shops yet, right? We also want to take advantage of our proximity to secure this cooperation."

Being called a blockhead, Lawson scratched his forehead somewhat embarrassedly before replying.

"I do some woodworking, but my skills are probably not as good as yours. The reason why Masaru sent us here is actually to have me tell you about his requirements. I think your shop is very good. As long as you find the requirements acceptable, our cooperation can be basically finalized."

As soon as Lawson finished speaking, Zhao Hai laughed. Before Lawson could ask, Zhao Hai explained why he was laughing.

“You really don’t know how to do business. If anyone else had said that to me, I would have pretended to agree to their request first, and then go back on my word and squeeze them out of money.”

Lawson chuckled awkwardly, unsure how to respond, so he simply recounted everything Qin Suiyou had instructed Zhao Hai beforehand, then hung his head and waited for others to consider.

However, Zhao Hai stopped laughing after hearing what Luo Sen said. His expression showed obvious surprise. It wasn't that Qin Suiyou's request was too harsh; on the contrary, it was as if Zhao Hai had gotten a great deal.

The request stated that Qin Suiyou possessed valuable woodworking resources, which he could transfer entirely to the party with whom the cooperation was established. In return, the other party would not only establish a long-term partnership prioritizing Qin Suiyou for orders whenever needed, but also disseminate the techniques provided by Qin Suiyou as much as possible so that more people could learn them.

After digesting the information, Zhao Hai said with some emotion, "To be honest, all the craftsmen and apprentices in my shop are my apprentices. Some of them were sent by their families, and some were adopted by me. I never hesitate to pass on my skills to them. I'm not afraid of the saying 'teaching an apprentice will starve the master.' I hope they can do better than me."

Zhao Kun, who had been sitting quietly to the side, finally spoke up.

“I was picked up and raised by my master. He taught me his skills when I was a child, thinking that I would learn all his skills so that he could take care of me in my old age.”

No sooner had Zhao Kun finished speaking than a burly man's voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Senior brother, why did Master say when he picked me up that I should learn well so I could go out and open a shop to earn money and get married? Sigh~ As expected, the later disciples are like weeds, they don't even want me to take care of them in their old age."

Another, slightly thinner man chimed in, "What Master told me was something else entirely..."

"Screw you!"

Zhao Hai bent down, picked up a piece of wood, and threw it over, interrupting the group's back-and-forth banter. He then continued, still not satisfied, cursing, "Did I raise you all to talk back to me? Get to work!"

Then Zhao Hai nudged Zhao Kun beside him, though he didn't move him, he still said, "You go too! Don't get in my way."

With an innocent look on his face, Zhao Kun said sincerely, "Master, I've finished my work and am just waiting for the customer who placed the order to pick it up."

It's just that Zhao Hai doesn't have a beard, otherwise he would definitely have put on a show of blowing his beard and glaring on the spot. But he can still glare for a while now.

"Cough cough."

Hearing Lawson cough at Jinwen's prompting, Zhao Hai turned his head awkwardly, then said somewhat embarrassedly, "Please excuse me. My disciples are unfilial; they were impolite in the heat of the moment."

Lawson shook his head.

"It's nothing. It's quite enviable that you and your apprentice get along so well."

Zhao Hai clapped his hands happily and said with a smile, "You're the only one who speaks so well, unlike the others, who always give me a hard time."

Lawson raised his hand and shook it, saying twice, "I dare not accept such praise."

Seeing that Luo Sen's face was flushed with embarrassment, Zhao Hai laughed even more heartily. After comparing and teasing him with his own apprentices several times, he returned to the main topic.

"I, Lao Zhao, may not have many other skills, but my carpentry is absolutely top-notch. I'm also a man of integrity. Luo, when you get back, tell your esteemed friend that I will definitely meet his requirements. Oh, by the way, could we leave these drawings here? Let's hurry up and finish the orders we've already taken on, and then we can start your work immediately."

Without much thought, Lawson learned from Qin Suiyou that when he gave him the blueprints, he could simply keep the blueprints if he decided on that company.

Afterwards, a date was set for signing the contract, which also served as the estimated timeframe for the woodworking shop. Then, Lawson and his entourage were escorted out of the woodworking shop.