A blessed wife leads her husband to wealth and prosperity!

Meng Xing, if you want to pay off your debts as soon as possible, you need to find a way to earn money. I see you really enjoy carpentry. If you're willing to work with me first, then you have to follow the rules of my shop. Not only you, but also Cao'er and Granny Li, besides their own duties, if I ask them to do anything else, I will give them extra rewards.

If you still don't agree, then I'll have to go outside and find a carpenter to do the work in the shop.

No, no, madam, I promise you. Why give the money to outsiders?

It's unacceptable for outsiders to make money from things that we ourselves can do.

Seeing that Lin He'er insisted on paying him before hiring anyone, Meng Xing had no choice but to stop talking.

Give it if you want, just like before, the money will be included in my redemption money.

"Okay, it's good that you agree." Lin He'er startled him with her words, then smiled and handed him another piece of paper. "Take a look at what's on this paper. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me now, and I'll answer your questions."

After receiving the blueprints, Meng Xing saw that the paper depicted the design of a box, but the box was hollow, consisting of two sides. The box didn't seem small; to carve out such a large space from a piece of wood, the wood chosen would have to be from a very large tree.

As for drilling holes in the box, that's actually quite easy.

Madam, I have no problem making this, I only have one request: do you have any requirements regarding the wood?

I think this requires very old trees. If we're going to be picky about the wood, we'll lose our 150 taels of silver.

Meng Xing was unaware of the costs of the other items on the blueprints, but he was very clear about the price of the part he was responsible for.

If a customer requests that this item be made from a precious tree species, 150 taels of silver would probably barely be enough to buy a good piece of material.

You're right, I forgot about that. Making these suitcases at home requires using wood from large trees, but century-old trees must be expensive.

Don't spend all your money just on wooden boxes.

Mengxing, do you know which tree is big enough and cheap? Ideally, its wood should be both tough and lightweight.

I've heard my dad talk about cedar. This tree grows in the south and isn't expensive. The wood is much lighter than other trees, but it's not easy to break and is very tough.

Okay, then we'll use cedar wood to make this box. I'll trouble you to go out and find a place that sells this timber again.

Lin He'er gave Meng Xing the money and entrusted him with the task of making the box.

With the box body sorted out, the next step is to consider the materials to be used for the zippers.

Iron or copper are both acceptable. If Lin He'er had to choose, she would naturally choose a copper zipper. The reason for choosing copper, which is more expensive, was simply because she didn't want to ruin the shop's reputation.

Although iron is cheap, it is also more prone to oxidation. Once oxidized, the appearance of the box will be greatly reduced.

After all, this is made for students, so we should try our best to make it as perfect as possible.

Having decided on the materials she wanted to use, Lin He'er went out to find a skilled craftsman in the city who could make something like hers.

Most blacksmith shops were located on the west side of the county town, not on the main street.

Lin He'er left the shop and headed straight west.

When we arrived here, we saw that there were many people living in the western part of the city, and many houses were built, but the houses were low and the alleys were narrow.

It seems that most of the people living on the west side of the county town are ordinary people.

Although there are no wealthy families here, it is much more lively. Many children are running and jumping in the streets, and the houses are close together. Even from a distance, you can hear all sorts of sounds, making it quite a lively place!

After entering the western part of the city and asking around, Lin He'er headed towards the blacksmith shop closest to where she was standing.

Upon arriving at the shop, one sees a stove leaning against the wall at the entrance, with a roaring fire burning inside. In front of it, on a platform made of stones, a middle-aged man is using a sledgehammer to forcefully hammer a red-hot iron block.

The loud banging made Lin He'er's head buzz.

After the man hammered the iron block a few times and then put it back into the furnace to heat it, Lin He'er finally had a chance to speak.

Uncle, could you please take a look at this paper of mine? Can you make it?

When the man saw someone approaching the shop, he stopped what he was doing, took the paper the woman handed him, glanced at it, shook his head, and returned it to her.

"Is that not possible?" Lin He'er asked again, unwilling to give up.

Madam, I'm not good at this kind of delicate work. You should find someone else.

After leaving the first shop, I turned around and went to the second blacksmith shop.

I was prepared that I couldn't find anyone the first time; even an average blacksmith would have a hard time making this.

They came to the second shop, but the blacksmith wasn't home; only a woman was minding the shop.

The woman saw someone enter the shop and greeted them warmly:

Hey girl, what do you want? Our stuff is really authentic!

Auntie, I don't want to buy anything, but I'd like to have something custom-made by your husband. Could you take a look at this picture and see if it's possible to make it?

The woman took the paper and looked at the things on it. She had never seen anything like them before. They were very delicate things, and her husband could never make such things.

Young lady, your work is too delicate; we can't do it.

Okay, thank you very much, Auntie. Could you help me think of any blacksmiths around here who could make something like this?

The woman shook her head. "I don't know, but my husband might."

Oh? When will that uncle be back? I'll wait here and ask him.

What do you know? What does this lady want to know from us?

Lin He'er had just finished speaking when she heard a loud voice coming from behind her.

Are you the owner of this shop, sir? I'd like to have this paper item made, but I've asked around and no one has taken on this job. Could you take a look and see if anyone can do it?

The burly man took the blueprints, glanced at them, and clicked his tongue twice: "Madam, there isn't a single person in this city who can do your job. Our family has been blacksmiths for three generations. I'm not bragging, but none of my colleagues in the city are as skilled as I am."

"Uncle, can you do that?" Lin He'er hadn't expected to encounter such a skilled craftsman.

"Haha, I can't do that either!" The burly man scratched his head sheepishly and handed the paper back to Lin He'er.

Nobody wants to do it anymore? No way, that would mean having to pay people a lot of money in compensation.

Madam, it's not that no one can do it anymore, it's that no one in this city can do it.

"Is there anyone outside the city who can do it? Can't this burly man finish his sentence at once? He made me think I had to compensate that lady with money."

There is one person who should be able to, but I don't know if that person is still a blacksmith.

Could you please tell me where this person is? I'd like to go to his house in person and ask him.

This person's surname is Cui, and he lives in Cuijiazhuang, near the county seat. Ask around there. The place is easy to find.

Okay, thank you, uncle!

Having learned that someone could make what she needed, Lin He'er was completely relieved. It was already late, so she decided to wait until tomorrow. She would get up early tomorrow morning to find the craftsman surnamed Cui.