Chapter 36 Making Money
The sewing basket quickly attracted visitors. When someone asked the price, Chen Afu raised the price to 150 wen and refused to lower it. It was not that she raised the price, but she was afraid that the sewing baskets would sell too quickly and they would not be able to wait for the people they were waiting for.
Even at this price, two were bought by a girl with several maids and one by a woman.
The sewing bag was not taken out, and the people who came before did not look like people who could pay ten taels of silver to buy it.
Half an hour later, the woman who bought the sewing basket came back again. She asked Chen Afu angrily why it was more expensive than the one in front of Lingyin Temple.
Chen Afu smiled and explained, "Look, my sewing basket is made of fine willow branches, and the basket is made of silk instead of fine cloth. The material is good, so it is more expensive. If you think it is expensive, just return it to me, and you can go down the mountain to buy another one. That one is also ours."
The woman heard that it was not cost-effective to buy this basket, so she returned it and said she would go down the mountain to buy a cheaper one.
Chen Dabao was very anxious when he saw that his mother didn't sell the sewing kits. If he couldn't sell any sewing kits, how could he have money to eat wontons in front of Lingyin Temple?
Chen Afu whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, Dabao. If you don't see the rabbit, don't release the eagle. If there is a big business, mother will naturally not miss it."
At about the end of the Si hour, several carriages and a dozen men on horseback came up from the foot of the mountain. The carriage stopped in front of the temple, and several women with pearls and jade on their heads and a group of maids and women came out of the carriage. They discussed it for a while, and two older masters brought two men and several maids into the temple, and a young beauty in her twenties led two young girls, several women and men to the stall.
The beauty, the two young girls and the man were obviously masters, with extraordinary demeanor and gorgeous clothes. Especially the beauty, wearing a rose purple jacquard brocade jacket, a lavender embroidered brocade pleated skirt, and a particularly eye-catching large phoenix hairpin inlaid with sapphires and red gold on her head, shining brightly in the sun.
The golden swallow in the needlework basket, contrary to its listless appearance, flew out like lightning without waiting for Chen Afu to chase it, so fast that no one noticed it.
Seeing those nobles coming this way, the vendors who sold things perked up and whispered to promote their products.
A little girl of eleven or twelve was quickly attracted by the needlework basket and said, "What a beautiful little basket."
Chen Dabao hurriedly said, "Girl, this is a needlework basket. Buy one, it's not expensive, only one hundred and fifty coins each."
Dabao was already beautiful, and her crisp words attracted the attention of those people. A respectable old woman said, "One sewing basket costs 150 coins, and they say it's not expensive."
Another eight or nine-year-old girl picked up a sewing basket and said, "This sewing basket is so exquisite. I have never seen such a beautiful sewing basket. Mom, Uncle Six, I like it."
The young beauty also liked it and laughed happily, "The sewing baskets are unique. Let's buy all of them."
Chen Afu took out another sewing bag from his bag and said, "Grandma, I have a beautiful sewing bag here. Take a look and see if it suits you."
The beauty took the sewing bag and saw the dog head smiling at her. She giggled, "Oh, the puppy on the purse is so funny. It's smiling at people."
Next to her The little girl also laughed and said coquettishly, "Mom, I like this little dog so much, buy me one quickly."
The beauty nodded, turned the bag over again, her eyes widened, and she said in surprise, "Oh my God, is this a button? It's so delicate and beautiful, it looks like two blooming chrysanthemums."
A woman next to her was also surprised, "Buttons can be made like this, like a flower, this old woman has finally opened her eyes."
Chen Afu smiled, "Well, this is a chrysanthemum button made by my mother. It's not easy to make, it takes more effort than making clothes. If this button is sewn on clothes, it will not only be a button, but also a beautiful decoration."
The beauty's eyes lit up, and she seemed to think of some unique and beautiful clothes.
Chen Afu smiled again, "Grandma, open the button again, there is another world inside."
The beauty opened the three buttons, and the bag became a round cloth with several delicate small bags and several ribbons sewn on it.
Chen Afu took out a square plum blossom sewing bag and opened it, explaining where to put the pins, where to put the thread, thimble, awl, button, the wonderful uses of the straps, etc.
Everyone sighed, this thought was really clever. It sounds simple, but why didn't anyone think of it before.
Both girls liked the puppy on the bag, one called "mother" and the other called "fourth aunt", asking her to buy it quickly.
The beauty smiled and said, "Okay, okay, buy it." Then she asked Chen Afu, "How much is this bag?"
Chen Afu said, "This sewing bag took some time and effort, and it costs twelve taels of silver."
She raised the price by two taels of silver. Among these people, the adults like the buttons and the little girl likes the cartoon puppy. They can be seen as very rich people, and they don't look like robbers. They shouldn't refuse twelve taels of silver to buy a beloved one.
The beauty kept her eyes on the button on the bag, but she said, "Twelve taels of silver for a bag is a sky-high price. Even the most expensive purse in the Shuilinglong Embroidery Workshop in Beijing is not worth more than ten taels of silver."
The two girls on the side were anxious and said, "But we like this bag and the dog on it."
Chen Dabao hurriedly said, "Grandma, we not only sell bags, but also designs. Look, this kind of smiling dog, with beautiful buttons and exquisite sewing bag style, we are the first one."
His words made those people laugh.
The man fanned himself and said with a smile, "This bag has so many advantages. My sister-in-law and niece also like it. I will buy three."
Chen Ahfu smiled and said that his family had only made eight such bags and had not sold them to other families. This kind of button was also sold for the first time and had not been spread out. It was the only one in the world.
The beauty had a plan in mind after hearing this. She smiled and said, "If this button has not been spread out, I will buy all your bags and give you an extra 20 taels of silver. You are not allowed to make or sell this kind of chrysanthemum button again." After a pause, she said, "Maybe it will take less than half a year for this button to be spread out. Forget it, I can't stop you from making a living. You can make it again after a year." He then frowned and said, "If you lied or dared to make and sell it secretly, our silver is not given for nothing... You are all nearby villagers, right?"
I don't know what kind of rich family they came from. They don't need to sign an agreement with the common people at all. Just a threatening word can get them done. However, this family was really nice. They didn't force us to take anything. They bought all eight bags and the design price was reasonable.
Chen Afu hurriedly smiled and said, "Yes, I'll remember that. We are indeed villagers nearby. Our home is in Xiangluo Village, more than 20 miles away from here."
The man laughed when he heard about Xiangluo Village and said, "You are from Xiangluo Village? What a coincidence."
Eight bags, 96 taels of silver, plus an extra 20 taels, a total of 116 taels of silver. Four needlework baskets were given one tael of silver and they said no need to change. Chen Afu was given five 20-tael silver ingots, one 10-tael, one 5-tael, and two 1-tael silver ingots.
The first battle was a victory, which was the best result.
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Thank you Jane, Rose, and Hera x-on:Qianlin for the purses, thank you!