Chapter 48.1

Translated by Aviana

Sure enough, once Shopkeeper Su was done appraising the piece, she offered Lin Qingwan a price of 80 silver taels.

80 taels of silver? The price was far more than what Lin Qingwan had expected.

But she still maintained silence, her face stoic. She wanted to see if there was still room to raise the price.

Seeing Lin Qingwan remain expressionless, Shopkeeper Su gritted her teeth and increased the price by another ten tales.

After increasing the price, with a painful expression, Shopkeeper Su added: “Younger sister Qingwan, this is the maximum this elder sister can give you. You must also know that in small towns such as Luoyun town, no one will fetch an embroidery for a high price. I would have to take it to Yangcheng to sell it.”

After considering this bit, Lin Qingwan nodded her head in consent.

Shopkeeper Su cheered boisterously and dashed in to get silver for Lin Qingwan.

At Lin Qingwan’s request, Shopkeeper Su handed Lin Qingwan 90 silver taels in 50 small silver notes and the remaining as silver ingots.

After Shopkeeper Su settled the amount to Lin Qingwan, she pulled her to take a seat by the side to chat. The gist of her words was, she was willing to buy all of Lin Qingwan’s double-sided embroideries in the future at high prices.

“Younger Sister Qingwan, we have dealt with each other many times, and you also know what kind of person I am. Elder sister will also not talk drivel with you and get straight to the point—Elder sister wishes to buy all of your future double-sided embroidery works. What do you say?” Shopkeeper Su seemed to be surging with excitement.

Even after adding the 90 silver taels she gave Lin Qingwan, she could be able to earn a profit of 50 silver taels upon selling the embroidery in Yangcheng! 50 silver taels, they were equivalent to one month’s earnings of the store!

Lin Qingwan smiled without any reply.

Seeing her lackluster response, Shopkeeper Su presumed she didn’t want to sell her embroidery to her and couldn’t help but feel a bit impatient.

Lin Qingwan found Shopkeeper Su to be a good person; thus, she didn’t twist her words while speaking with her and straightforwardly replied.

“Shopkeeper Su, it’s not that I don’t want to sell my double-sided embroidery to you. Rather, at best, I can only sell three of such embroideries in a year.”

“Three? Why? Your embroidery speed doesn’t seem to be slow?”

Lin Qingwan bought all the embroidery supplies from Jinxiufang. Naturally, Shopkeeper Su was aware of the time Lin Qingwan used to embroider this double-sided embroidery.

“Shopkeeper Su, it is not convenient for me to tell you the specifics. I can only tell you that before my master imparted this craft to me, they specially warned me to always follow this principle.”

Indeed. The embroidery master agreed to teach this skill to Lin jia’s daughters at a high price, but only on one condition: He can teach them, but this skill must not be divulged outside; it could only be passed on to one’s children. Furthermore, they are prohibited from selling them outside. In the event that they had to sell them, the number of pieces sold can’t surpass three in a year.

When Liu-shi heard this condition, she deemed it to be ridiculous. Her daughter, Lin Qinglan, was born in a golden branch and jade leaves and was the eldest daughter of a prestigious family. How could she possibly fall to the point that she would have to sell such products to make a living? The sole reason for expending a heavy amount of silver to hire a skilled master and teach Lin Qinglan this skill was to increase her marriage value.

金枝玉叶 (jīn zhī yù yè): golden branch, jade leaves (idiom); fig. blue-blooded nobility, esp. imperial kinsmen or peerless beauty

But seeing the embroidery master’s insistence, she earnestly vowed that they would absolutely not divulge to outsiders, nor would they sell it. And even if they had to do sell it, they would not sell more than three pieces.

But who would have imagined that due to an unexpected turn of events, Lin Qinglan didn’t learn anything, but Lin Qingwan, who was only assisting her at the side, ended up learning the skill?

The embroidery master was a middle-aged widow and was usually reticent. However, she was kind-hearted. The person she was initially supposed to teach the embroidery didn’t learn, but Lin Qingwan, who was merely accompanying her, learned the art. Seeing her diligence and her hardships in Lin jia, she taught her many things behind the Lin mother-daughter pair. In the end, she filled her in with an agreement that all the double-sided embroiders must comply with.

The original owner, Lin Qingwan , found this master to be a bit eccentric. But the present Lin Qingwan understood the reason behind the embroidery master’s insistence on this agreement.

In this world, regardless of what sort of article it is, the rarer it is, the greater is its value. To put it simply, double-sided embroidery is just a simple embroidery. Nevertheless, it is a bit unusual and seldom seen compared to other embroideries, and the technique used is also a rare one.

That’s why it’s quite expensive. But, if all the streets get filled with such double-sided embroiders, it would not be sold to sky-high price of hundreds of silver taels.

Simply put, laying a requirement of not selling more than 3 pieces in a year, it’s merely to protect the interests of the double-sided embroiderers.

Lin Qingwan truly admired the ‘Founder’ of this craft and this stipulation for his farsightedness and wisdom. Because he was able to see beyond the little profit in front of him and undegraded the value of this technique.

Perhaps, double-sided embroidery might not earn you a lot of silver in the short term. However, it can provide you long-term financial stability.

Not only that, in the future, it could also be passed on to your daughters and granddaughters, to the extent that turning this skill into a treasure bowl is also doable. It’s just that it could not make one’s life prosperous. However basic necessities such as clothes and food would absolutely of no problem.

Just as the saying goes, ‘use a long line to catch a big fish.

放 长线钓大鱼 (fàng cháng xiàn diào dà yú): use a long line to catch a big fish (idiom); a long-term plan for major returns

That’s why Lin Qingwan was also very much willing to abide by this agreement. After all, it protects her interests as well.

Shopkeeper Su, seeing her resoluteness and her promise to sell all the pieces to Jinxiufang in the future, also didn’t say anything further.

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