Chapter 111 A New Big Deal

Chapter 111 A New Big Deal

The day after Xie Daoheng and his group left Mingfu Village, Xie Wanniang had a new guest.

The visitor was Qin Niangzi, the owner of Qin's Cloth Shop, who brought Xie Wanniang a big business deal.

Helped down from the carriage by her husband, Qin Niangzi knocked on the Xie family's door. Her first words were, "Sister Xie, I've come uninvited. I hope you won't take offense."

Xie Wanniang smiled and invited her and her husband into her home. "Sister Qin, what are you saying? I'm so happy you're here, how could I possibly blame you?"

"I'm relieved to hear that, sister." Qin Niangzi smiled and took her arm, leading her to sit down in the main room. Her husband parked the carriage in front of Xie Wan's mother's house, in the small open space within his line of sight.

Xie Wanniang poured tea for the two of them and then offered them fruit and snacks. "May I ask what brings you here, sister?"

Qin Niangzi was already used to Xie Wanniang's straightforwardness. She said, "I have a big, lucrative order, but the buyer needs the goods in a rather urgent manner."

Xie Wanniang was completely powerless against the words "generous reward," and she said, "Sister, why don't you tell me in detail?"

Qin Niangzi had the same idea. She said, "There is a rich young master who was sent to our Baihe Town by his elders to gain experience. His grandmother's birthday is approaching, and he plans to spend a lot of money to have someone embroider a double-sided embroidered screen."

Xie Wanniang pressed further, "Which two patterns does he plan to embroider?"

"Magu presents longevity offerings and pine and crane symbolize long life."

Xie Wanniang then asked, "What size embroidery does he want? What's the latest he'd be willing to accept us delivering it?"

"Two feet (0.67 meters) wide and three feet (1 meter) high, and he said the delivery date would be before the 19th of next month."

Xie Wanniang breathed a sigh of relief. This requirement might be harsh for others, but it was nothing to her.

The screen with Magu offering longevity on one side and pine and crane symbolizing long life on the other was the last double-sided embroidery pattern she learned from her master. It saved her time designing patterns and figuring out embroidery techniques, and it was still easy to deliver the goods before the 19th of next month.

She asked Qin Niangzi, "How much will I get as compensation?"

Qin Niangzi's eyes lit up, "What Sister Xie means is..."

"I have enough time, but I need to see if the reward is really as much as my sister said, and whether it's worth putting aside other things to focus on this."

Fearing that she wouldn't take the order, Madam Qin quickly told her the price the other party had offered: "That rich young master is willing to pay three hundred taels. After deducting the cost of materials and my commission, you can get about two hundred and sixty taels."

Xie Wanniang is not only one of the most skilled embroiderers in her shop, but also the fastest embroiderer in her shop, without exception.

If there's anyone in her shop who can consistently deliver on their promises, then Xie Wanniang is the only one.

The wealthy young master was the young owner of Fumantang Restaurant, the largest and best restaurant in Baihe Town. Most importantly, his family owned Fumantang Restaurant of similar size in more than a dozen surrounding counties and towns.

In addition, his family also owned several fertile fields and a caravan that made a living by trading goods between the north and south.

In the eyes of some people in the city and even the capital, his family might just be an ordinary merchant family with a little money, but to Madam Qin, that rich young master was undoubtedly her biggest customer.

It's not easy for such a wealthy customer to come to her door, and Madam Qin doesn't want to hand over this generous young master to the town's embroidery shop just because she can't accept the offer.

In order to do business with this wealthy young man and even the family he represents for a long time, Madam Qin could not afford to mess things up when he first came to her door.

She looked at Xie Wanniang with expectant eyes, "So? Are you satisfied with this amount?"

Xie Wanniang nodded, "I couldn't be more satisfied."

Upon hearing this, Madam Qin immediately instructed her husband, who was sitting at the door drinking tea, to go to the carriage and unload the cloth, embroidery thread, and other items they had brought.

After the business was concluded and the contract was signed, Qin Niangzi politely declined Xie Wanniang's warm invitation to stay for dinner and returned to town with her husband.

The villagers noticed Qin Niangzi's carriage and couldn't help but gossip about Xie Wanniang again.

After all, Xie Wan's family had just sent a carriage yesterday, and they're here again today, so it's hard not to be curious.

But as curious as they were, they didn't have the guts to go and find out more or to make up rumors. After all, they still remembered Xie Wanniang's valiant actions against the Wang family.

Nobody wants to be the next one to get beaten up, so naturally everyone has to keep their legs and mouths in check.

Xie Wanniang was completely unaware of the villagers' curiosity and fear. She was busy preparing zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) to give to Chen Lizheng, Doctor Chen, Wang Xiaozhi, and Wang Yuzhi and Zhao Yueniang, who had become her friends because of the kidnapping incident.

She herself likes to eat red bean paste zongzi, red date zongzi, or candied date zongzi, but considering that others may not have the same taste as her, she also made mung bean paste zongzi, salted egg yolk and pork zongzi, chestnut and pork zongzi, and shiitake mushroom and cured pork zongzi.

Each family receives two strings of twelve zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), two of each flavor, plus ten salted duck eggs and ten preserved eggs. That completes the gift preparation.

Hao Yu's family also prepared zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) as a gift for Chen Lizheng this year, but they made the most common small jujube zongzi and yellow millet zongzi in the area.

In addition to zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), his family also prepared a small jar of realgar wine.

Jiang Yuan didn't make any zongzi. The zongzi he ate were all given to him by Xie Wanniang, Hao Yu, Wang Xiaozhi, and Aunt Chen, so naturally he wouldn't give any zongzi away.

The holiday gifts he prepared for Hao Yu, Chen Lizheng, Wang Xiaozhi's family, and Wang Xiaozhi's parents-in-law were a slab of tofu and two catties of pork.

As for Xie Wanniang, since she invited him to celebrate the festival together, Jiang Yuan not only prepared a slab of tofu and two catties of pork for her, but also bought her favorite ribs and pig's head.

Pig heads are troublesome to prepare, but that's okay. Xie Wanniang can command Jiang Yuan, who is extremely serious, quick, and patient.

The fragrant braised pig's head meat is so delicious that just one bite can make you feel blissful, not to mention that Jiang Yuan bought a whole pig's head.

With a happy meal, Xie Wanniang became even more motivated to work. In order to finish the order as soon as possible, she began a new round of busy routine: going up the mountain to collect herbs and prepare them simply in the morning, and embroidering at home in the afternoon and evening.

Even with Xiaoyang and Chenyuan, she only let them practice the acupuncture techniques repeatedly on their own, instead of continuing to teach them new content.

After being busy for more than a month, Xie Wanniang finally managed to deliver the double-sided embroidery she had finished to Qin Ji Cloth Shop on the ninth day of the sixth lunar month, accompanied by Jiang Yuan.

Qin Niangzi was surprised and delighted that she could deliver the goods ten days ahead of schedule. She also made sure to take the goods to a bright place to inspect them carefully.