Dafeng Night Watchman

Chapter 46: Chapter 46 Buying Jewelry



After returning to the capital, returning the horse to the horse shop and collecting the deposit, Xu Qian'an walked out of the shop and said:

"Cijiu, you go back first, I have something else to do."

Xu Xinnian nodded, without asking any more questions, and walked away alone along the long street towards home.

Xu Qian'an bought a piece of osmanthus cake on the street and ate it while walking. Not long after, he arrived at a jewelry store:

Baoqixuan!

The owner of Baoqixuan is a scholar. In fact, it is very common for scholars to do business, especially those wealthy nobles. It is impossible to support the decadent living expenses of a large family by collecting land rent alone.

Behind the big shops, brothels and other profitable industries in the capital are the figures of nobles.

"Dafeng's business is obviously unprecedentedly developed, but heavy taxes are imposed on farmers... I have reason to suspect that this is the work of the nobles."

"How much silver can be produced from farming? If you want to get rich, you must fleece the merchants."

"If you want to make the people live better and make the Dafeng treasury richer, you must reform, but there are so many dignitaries in the court, how can I, a small clerk, have a say? Well, set a small goal, first train Erlang to become the prime minister of Dafeng..."

Thinking of the future of his arrogant little brother, Xu Qi'an couldn't help but curl up his lips. Xu Qi'an stepped into the shop, his eyes swept across the counter, and the jewelry placed on the red silk came into his eyes.

Hairpins, hairpins, hairpins, hairpins, step-shaking, and Huasheng... It was dazzling.

Among them, gold is the most expensive, and jade depends on the type. The expensive ones are better than gold, and the cheap ones are almost the same as silver.

Xu Qian'an touched the three taels of silver in his pocket and muttered to himself that this little money couldn't buy any precious jewelry.

He was lamenting his lack of money when he stepped on a hard lump. He picked it up naturally and put it in his pocket without changing his expression.

Maybe he was too easy-going, so no one paid attention to him.

"One tael of silver is useless. One tael of gold is better."

He felt like he was shopping in a luxury store in his previous life. He couldn't afford it anyway. The only difference was that the store owner now was very reserved, not as annoying as the

waiters in his previous life, who wanted to stick to you and make you spend money immediately.

"Store owner, do you have a discount here?" Xu Qian'an knocked on the counter.

The store owner was an old man with a goatee, dressed like a scholar, and he was not surprised to hear this.

The store owner pointed to the sign hanging on the wall and said with a smile: "If you can solve the riddle, the things in the store can be half off."

This rule is the characteristic of Baoqixuan.

Guess the riddle and get a 50% discount... Interesting... Xu Qian'an walked to the wooden sign and glanced at the riddle on it: Clouds break, moon comes out, flowers play with shadows!

With his rich knowledge and logical reasoning ability, he quickly solved the riddle. "Some jewelry costs several coins just by weight, plus the labor cost..."

Xu Qian'an estimated and found that even with a 50% discount, he still couldn't afford very good jewelry.

But he soon found a solution.

The women who can come to Baoqixuan to buy jewelry are all from wealthy families and have studied for a few years. At least they are not illiterate women.

Such women have a problem: half a bucket of water clinks.

They think they are cultured people and like to be pretentious. Therefore, they are particularly addicted to the little tricks of Baoqixuan.

They like to buy jewelry of the same price in Baoqixuan, not for anything else, but to solve the riddle.

If the riddle is solved, the store will carve the correct riddle under the wooden sign and give it to the customer together with the jewelry.

It would be fine if they didn't solve it, but once they solved one or two of the riddles, they could brag to their close friends.

This is the shop's routine that Xu Qian'an analyzed after listening to the conversation of the two young women next to him.

As expected of a shop opened by a scholar, it knows how to attract high-end customers.

"Sister Yu, I can't solve any of the riddles here, they are so difficult."

"What my sister said is that the shop owner is a scholar with a title, so the questions he asks are naturally difficult, and ordinary scholars may not be able to solve them."

"Sister Yu, my husband also said so. If I can solve the riddle and take the wooden stick, I will definitely make my husband look at me with new eyes."

"It's a fool's dream."

"Oh, you are annoying..."

The two good ladies looked at the wooden sticks with a sad face for a long time, mumbling and mumbling.

They were all dressed very elegantly. They must have come from very wealthy families and had received a certain amount of education, otherwise they would not have tried to solve the

riddle.

"Ladies."

Suddenly, a man's voice sounded beside them.

The two beautiful ladies turned their heads vigilantly. When they saw Xu Qi'an, who had a handsome face and a tall stature, their vigilance was slightly reduced, but they did not speak. The customs of the Dafeng Dynasty were relatively free, but it was still very rude to talk to a strange man on the street.

Xu Qi'an did not care and said his intention directly: "I can solve the riddle for the two ladies, but the two ladies will get half of the money saved. If you save five cents of silver, you will get two and a half cents from me. If you save four cents of silver, you will get two cents from me."

Hearing Xu Qi'an's proposal, the shopkeeper looked up in surprise, looked at him seriously for a moment, sneered, and ignored him.

Although this man is wearing a scholar's robe, if you look closely at his physique and skin color, you will know that he is a fat guy.

Have you ever seen a scholar who is as strong as an ox and has wheat-colored skin?

That scholar's robe doesn't fit him at all.

The younger woman's eyes sparkled and she was quite tempted by Xu Qi'an's proposal.

The older woman was more dignified and reserved, and more cautious and distant. She said lightly: "Sir, please do as you please. If you really solve the riddle, I will not deny it."

The sense of distance is very strong.

"Two ladies, choose one." Xu Qi'an said with a smile.

The older woman hesitated a little, and the younger one was eager to try. Seeing that her sister next to her did not object, she pointed to one of the wooden sticks: "The clouds break, the moon comes, and the flowers play with shadows."

Her voice was soft and moist.

Xu Qi'an said immediately: "The capable should do more work."

The two young ladies turned their heads subconsciously to look at the shopkeeper, and the shopkeeper's dumbfounded expression said it all.

At that moment, the younger lady bought a gold hairpin and held it in her hand happily. Looking at Xu Qi'an's eyes, they became sparkling.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

After she put away the wooden stick, her eyes turned, and her tone became more familiar, saying: "Sir, can you continue to solve the word puzzle for me?"

"Lian'er..." The woman called Sister Yu pulled her sleeve.

"Sister Yu, we came together. I have it, but you don't. That's not good." After saying that, the

good woman called Lian'er looked at Xu Qi'an expectantly.

What a wish... Xu Qi'an showed a warm smile: "No problem, my lady, choose another one."

"Eastern sparrow flies southeast." She pointed to a wooden stick.

"Grandson!" Xu Qi'an said.

"....." The shopkeeper was dumbfounded.

"Thank you, young master..."

The two young ladies picked out the jewelry they liked and left the shop contentedly.

Xu Qi'an had amazing hearing ability and heard the woman named Lian'er say, "This young

master is really talented, tall and handsome, and much stronger than my husband."

"Don't talk nonsense." The older woman scolded.

She seemed to be afraid of being heard by Xu Qi'an, so she came forward to pester him and

quickly left with Lian'er.