Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 67 - 65 Buying a Shop

Chapter 67: Chapter 65: Buying a Shop

Chapter 67 -65: Buying a Shop

Distracted during dinner, Shen Chengyao was only focused on eating, forgetting to take any side dishes.

Xiao’er could not bear to see this, “Father, did you go to the government office today?”

“Hmm, I did, but still no news,” replied Shen Chengyao, shaking his head with disappointment.

This matter clearly doesn’t concern Yun’er. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Every time he went to the government office, there was no news.

Shen Chengyao had grown accustomed to this.

“Did you encounter any particular people or events?”

“Any particular people or events?

No!” Shen Chengyao looked at Xiao’er in surprise.

“Did you find a suitable shop?”

Hearing this, Shen Chengyao looked at Mrs.

Liu.

“There is a furniture shop for sale, priced at 600 taels.”

“Why are you looking at me?

The shop is not mine.

If you think it’s good, take the children to see it.

If it’s suitable, buy it.

I will not go as there is no one to spare at home.”

“The shop is the one where my eldest brother works.

The shop is up for sale now, and I am a bit worried that my brother might not find a good job immediately.”

Upon hearing this, Mrs.

Liu started to worry.

Her family at her maiden home didn’t own any land or fields.

The family’s survival depended mainly on the silver earned by Liu Minhong, her elder brother, by working in the county.

If he lost his job, then what would happen to her mother’s family.

“How could they sell the shop?

Hasn’t the business always been good?”

“The shopkeeper’s daughter married a powerful noble, and the family wants to move to the Imperial capital to be closer to their daughter.

So, they decided to sell their shop here.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao’er had an idea.

According to the original host’s memory, her uncle was a fine carpenter.

The little animal carvings he made for her and her siblings were very exquisite and looked lifelike.

“Father, let’s buy that shop.

We can open a furniture shop.

I will design the styles of the furniture, and Uncle can be the shopkeeper.”

“Open a furniture shop?” Shen Chengyao and Mrs.

Liu looked at each other.

“But we don’t know much about furniture, and I don’t know carpentry.” He was clueless about all this and thus couldn’t help with the shop matters.

“It’s enough as long as Uncle knows about it.

Father, our family will certainly open more shops in the future.

You don’t need to know how to do everything.

You just need to know how to select and manage people.

If you were to personally step in for everything, you wouldn’t manage regardless of how capable you are at multitasking!”

“The little horse my uncle made for me was just like a real one!” The only toy Jinghao used to own was a little horse carved by Liu Minhong.

Shen Chengyao also thought highly of his brother-in-law’s craftsmanship, “I’ll ask for his opinion tomorrow.”

“First let’s buy the shop, then ask.” They were all familiar with the shop because they had gone to look for Liu Minhong there before.

“Yes, we need to buy the shop first.” The shop has a great location.

It’s a spacious place since it was a furniture business, and also comes with a backyard.

The house in the backyard has four main rooms, and four rooms each in the east and west wings, two side-rooms and a row of back rooms.

Because it was a furniture shop, the courtyard was huge, providing ample space for carpentry work.

The next day, early in the morning, Liu Minhong came over.

He had no job now, and within a day of returning to the village, his mother and wife looked worried.

He, on the other hand, was not concerned at all.

A skilled craftsman like him would not starve anywhere.

Originally, he intended to take a few days off before looking for work in the city.

But as soon as he heard that his sister’s family was building a house, he immediately packed up to help.

As soon as Liu Minhong arrived at the village gate, he ran into Shen Chengyao, who was planning to go to the county.

“Big brother, why are you here?”

“I have some free time right now.

I heard you’re building a house, so I came over to help.”

“Perfect timing.

I’m about to go to the county to buy the shop where you used to work.

Let’s go together.

I have something to discuss with you.”

Listening to this, Liu Minhong was taken aback.

When did his brother-in-law’s family get so rich; they could actually afford to buy his former shop, which would cost several hundred taels of silver.

Surely they didn’t know the price of the shop.

“Brother-in-law, it would take five or six hundred taels to buy that shop.” He also dreamt of having his own shop, but he didn’t have enough capital.

“I know, get in the cart first.

I will explain it slowly to you.”

Liu Minhong got in the bullock cart, and Shen Chengyao explained how he earned money after the family split and how the family had discussed buying the shop last night and having him manage it.

When he mentioned a fifty-fifty profit-sharing plan, Liu Minhong declined.

“That won’t do, I can’t accept something like this.

I can take six hundred coins a month as my wage; there’s no need for me to share the profits.”

Shen Chengyao wanted to persuade him more, but he interrupted, “Brother-in-law, I know you all want to help me, but this really won’t work.

I will not agree to it, please don’t say more.

If you do, I won’t even continue the shop work.”

Shen Chengyao, feeling helpless, could only wait for his wife and children to persuade him.

Upon reaching the prefecture city, the current shopkeeper was happy to hear that his former apprentice and brother-in-law planned to buy the shop together and continue the furniture business.

He had an emotional attachment to the shop, so he agreed to sell it for 100 taels less, making it 500 taels in total, which led to elation among the two.

Returning home, Shen Chengyao let the family know that he saved 100 taels on buying the shop, which spurred further excitement.

Everyone praised how formidable their uncle was.

Regarding the matter of profit sharing, Liu Minhong still refused.

Seeing this, Xiao’er said: “Uncle, don’t refuse so quickly.

Actually, you are helping our family, not the other way round.

After the shop opens, Dad won’t have much time to manage it, and he really doesn’t know how to.

Almost all the work will be done by you, uncle.

And we can say that we are taking 50% of the profits without doing much work.

Plus, uncle, you saved us 100 taels today; let’s say these 100 taels is your investment.

So, let’s split the profits in half from here on.

I will provide some furniture design plans to the shop from time to time, and uncle, you can also make anything you think of.

Let’s work together to make our lives better.”

“No way, how can I take advantage of my own sister?

I…”

“Uncle, even if you refuse, we planned to have this kind of profit-sharing with anyone else we hire.

This way, they will work harder and produce better quality work.

So uncle, please agree.

You work diligently, produce good work, and earn more silver.

Isn’t that also good?”

Upon hearing this, Liu Minhong didn’t refuse.

He understood that his brother-in-law’s family was trying to help him.

He definitely wouldn’t let them down.

“There are some large pieces of furniture that I can’t make by myself.

We still need to hire people for our shop.

Among those who worked with me before, there are a few whose character and craftsmanship are good.

I think it’s better to invite known than unknown, so why don’t we invite them to come back and join us?”

Hearing this, everyone knew he had agreed.

Xiao’er quickly said, “That’s fine; when picking people for our shop, character is first and craftsmanship second.

The workers you bring back will start with 600 coins a month.

After three months, if they are indeed good, we’ll increase their wage to one and a half taels a month, in addition to commission.”

“One and a half taels a month, isn’t that a high wage?

And what exactly is commission?” Liu Minhong thought even in the prefecture city, the wages weren’t so high.

“Commission means giving a small share of the money collected from each item of furniture sold, which was made by an apprentice.

Let’s say, if we sold a set made by Master Jia for 100 taels, we would give Master Jia one tael.”

“Won’t that result in an extraordinarily high monthly wage?” Perhaps several taels, or even more than ten taels.

“Even if the wage is high, they deserve it.

Moreover, people work harder and put in more effort when the wage is high.”

Xiao’er took out a stack of papers, on which different pieces of furniture such as wardrobes, bookcases, dining tables, wall cabinets, tea tables, seats, sofas, screens, shoe cabinets, doors, and windows were drawn.

These were all designed by Xiao’er for their house, which was nearing completion.

The designs were elegant and robust, practical yet resilient, with a simplistic but not unremarkable beauty.

Looking at the blueprints in his hand, Liu Minhong was amazed, continuously praising them and marveling that the furniture could be made in such ways.

“Uncle, our house will be completed soon as well.

I don’t need your help anymore.

You first move back to the prefecture city to prepare for the shop opening and recruitment.

All the furniture for my house is going to be up to you!”

“Right, I have to recruit workers!” If those people found other jobs, then it would be troublesome.

He immediately put down his bowl and chopsticks, wanting to go back to the prefecture city right away.

“Have your meal first, it’s rare you’re home.” Mrs.

Liu stopped him.

The three brothers watching their uncle laugh as he takes their words like the wind and began to laugh.