Casting Nets to Catch a Husband

Chapter 120: The Lu and Liu Family

Lu Xun never imagined that a letter he sent to announce good news would soon bring great trouble to Lu Feng’s fabric shop. Even when issues arose with the August shipment, he couldn’t have connected it directly to the congratulatory letter he had written. Naturally, this is a story for later.

At this moment, Lu Xun was completely unaware of the matters being discussed by the Qian siblings. The Liu family’s embroidery workshop had been fully renovated the night before, and the embroiderers and seamstresses were all confirmed by this afternoon. Liu Yu was at the Lu family’s shop, selecting fabrics suitable for early autumn clothing.

With the help of the Lu family’s shop assistants, bolts of fabric were transported to the Liu family’s embroidery workshop. The newly cleaned shop was gradually filled with silks, satins, and various fine cloths, all neatly arranged on dust-free shelves. Although over a hundred bolts of fabric only filled three sets of shelves, making the shop appear somewhat sparse, this was partly due to limited capital and partly because Liu Yu didn’t dare to stock too much early autumn fabric all at once.

After some thought, Liu Yu decided to have the embroiderers rush to make more embroidered handkerchiefs, pouches, sachets, and embroidered shoes to quickly fill the shelves on the other side of the shop.

Madam Zhang, who was responsible for tailoring, also received her tasks. Liu Yu had seen her skills and asked her to start by making sample garments in the most common sizes. Liu Yanan returned to Yangshan Village to bring Liu Datian and Liu Chunshan’s wife over, along with their belongings, to start work from today.

Liu Yu covered the small table used for entertaining customers with a tablecloth she had embroidered herself, but the shop still felt a bit empty.

After pondering for a while, Liu Yu said, “Second brother, do you think we should bring out the unused cabinets we put away earlier? We can use them as counters in front of the fabric shelves to make the shop look less empty.”

Liu Yanping nodded. “That works. People can’t tell if there’s anything in the cabinets anyway.”

Having made the decision, the siblings, along with Wei Shi, began moving the cabinets. Lu Chengxiao arrived with Babao, immediately helping Liu Yu and Wei Shi. As he moved the cabinets, he asked, “Why are we bringing these out again?”

Liu Yu sighed. “The shop still looks too empty. These cabinets will fill the space and act as counters in front of the fabric shelves, which will also prevent customers from easily touching the fabrics. Over time, the fabrics can get dirty or damaged.”

Silk fabrics, in particular, are easily damaged by rough handling, so having a counter as a barrier was necessary.

Lu Chengxiao, however, focused on the earlier statement about the shop looking empty. He kept this in mind as he continued to help move the cabinets. Once everything was set up according to Liu Yu’s plan, he quickly headed back to Lu Feng’s fabric shop.

At the fabric shop, he found Lu Xun and Lu Chengzong and said, “Father, eldest brother, I have something to discuss with you.”

Lu Chengzong was puzzled. In his view, their father could decide on everything. Why was his third brother being so formal and involving him?

“Go ahead.”

“I wanted to ask if we could lend some fabric from our warehouse to Liu Yu’s shop. I just went over, and their shop with two fronts only has three sets of fabric shelves, which makes it look too empty. We can take the fabric back anytime we need it. If their customers like it and want to order clothes, we can settle the bill for the fabric with our family based on the full bolts used. What do you think?”

“For this? Sure,” Lu Chengzong readily agreed, smiling. “It’s just sitting in the warehouse anyway. Maybe it will even sell better there. Why not? Take your sister-in-law to our warehouse and pick some out.”

Privately, when discussing Liu Yu, Lu Chengzong often referred to her as “sister-in-law” with his wife, Qin. He slipped up and used the term in front of Lu Chengxiao.

Lu Chengxiao laughed softly. “Brother, I’m very happy to hear you call her that. But Liu Yu is a bit shy, so don’t call her that in front of her.”

Lu Chengzong burst out laughing. “I know, I know.”

Lu Xun chuckled as well and said, “Go ahead. Just bring Yu’er to choose the fabrics herself. Once you’ve made your selections, have your older brother make an inventory list with two copies, one for each side. This way, it’ll be easier to manage the inventory later.”

Lu Chengxiao immediately agreed, “Thank you, Father, thank you, Brother. I’ll go tell Yu’er.”

Excited, he hurried over to the Ruyi Embroidery Workshop.

Lu Xun, amused, glanced at his eldest son, feeling very pleased. Without saying much, he returned to the counter with a smile and got back to work.

Liu Yu was still figuring out how to arrange the fabrics to make the shop look fuller when Lu Chengxiao arrived. He explained the plan to borrow fabrics from his father and elder brother. Liu Yu and Wei Shi were momentarily stunned.

Liu Yanping was the quickest to respond, “That’s a great idea. We should thank Uncle Lu and Brother Chengzong for this big help.”

With limited capital and a large shop space, they initially thought it would be difficult to make the shop look decent in the first few months of operation. Now, with the Lu family providing fabrics, it was a significant boost.

Liu Yu stopped fussing with the existing fabrics and stepped out from behind the counter, feeling happy but still asking cautiously, “How did you explain it? Will moving the fabrics here affect your family’s shop?”

“It won’t affect them. These are fabrics that were just sitting in the warehouse. I’m borrowing them to make your shop look better. It will make the place livelier, and customers will have more choices. If our shop sells any of these fabrics, our staff will come to retrieve the same ones. If your customers like any and want custom clothing, we’ll settle the bill with my brother based on the full bolts. We’ll keep two copies of the inventory list and update both sides with any changes,” Lu Chengxiao explained.

Liu Yanping had guessed this process when Lu Chengxiao mentioned borrowing fabrics, so he just smiled. Liu Yu and Wei Shi were thrilled. Wei Shi said, “Let’s go. I’ll personally thank them for this great help.”

Running a shop with little capital and a large space meant that after buying over a hundred bolts of fabric, they had only a bit over two hundred taels left, two hundred of which were from the Lu family’s betrothal gifts. They intended to save this money for later. By early to mid-August, they needed to earn enough to buy autumn fabrics and cover Liu Yanping’s dyeing and travel expenses.

Wei Shi and Liu Yu had only recently learned that Liu Yanping planned to handle two thousand bolts of fabric this time, which cost much more than before, adding to the pressure. The family had discussed possibly using sixty taels from the betrothal gifts for Liu Yanping’s trip if necessary, intending to repay it later. The earnings from this trip would go towards Liu Yu’s dowry, which made this plan acceptable. Money is a resource to be managed flexibly, after all.

However, since half of the shop belonged to the Liu family, Wei Shi was reluctant to use that money unless absolutely necessary. Therefore, they needed to earn the money for the autumn fabrics by mid-August to avoid disrupting their business.

Originally, their capital could only cover the purchase of a bit over a hundred bolts of fabric, limiting customer choices and sales. With the Lu family’s help, business would be much easier.

Leaving Liu Yanping to watch the shop, Wei Shi and Liu Yu accompanied Lu Chengxiao to Lu Feng’s fabric shop.

Seeing Wei Shi, Lu Xun immediately guessed their purpose. As expected, Wei Shi thanked him as soon as she arrived. Lu Xun quickly said, “No need for that. Let’s go to the back for some tea.”

The shop wasn’t the best place for a conversation due to the presence of customers, so they moved to the back. Wei Shi expressed her gratitude again, but Lu Xun waved it off with a smile and led them to the warehouse. “Take a look at the fabrics here. Moving them to your shop is no different than keeping them here. If anything, it might help us sell more and reduce our inventory pressure. This is a win-win. We’re family now, no need to be so formal.”

Wei Shi laughed, “What might seem minor to you is a huge help to us. Your kindness is greatly appreciated. But you’re right, we’re family now, so I won’t be overly formal. I’ll always be grateful to your family.”

“Of course, you’ve given us such a wonderful daughter-in-law. We’re very grateful too,” Lu Xun said happily, making a light joke. Everyone laughed, except for Liu Yu, who blushed.

After this light-hearted exchange, Lu Xun said, “Yu’er, go pick out the fabrics you like.”

Liu Yu curtsied and said, “Thank you, Uncle.”

~

The first big challenge they faced before opening the new shop was easily resolved with the Lu family’s help. They selected over 260 bolts of fabric, including some expensive ones Liu Yu had previously hesitated to buy due to limited funds. Lu Chengzong made an inventory list, copying it so both sides had a copy.

With everyone helping, including the staff from Lu Feng’s fabric shop and the embroiderers from Ruyi Embroidery Workshop, they moved the fabrics across the street. The movement of hundreds of bolts of fine fabric attracted much attention. It took about forty-five minutes to complete the transfer.

Once all the new fabrics were arranged, the embroidery shop looked completely different. The variety of high-quality materials brightened the entire space.

Due to the day’s activities, the relationship between the new Ruyi Embroidery Workshop and Lu Feng’s fabric shop became a hot topic among the shop owners and managers on North Street. At this time, not many people knew about the upcoming marriage between the two families.

That evening, after closing the shop in Xifeng Town, Lu Chengzang and Zhou Qiongying returned to the county, planning to stay with her parents. Naturally, her parents were curious about the Liu family.

The Zhou couple had heard about the excitement on North Street and were curious, especially since they knew about the Liu family through their daughter and son-in-law. Zhou Qiongying’s eldest brother was particularly interested in the Liu family’s success story. He had heard detailed accounts from the North Street shopkeepers about the hundreds of bolts of fine fabric worth at least three or four hundred taels.

Zhou Qiongying’s eldest brother, excitedly recounting what he had heard, asked, “Did Chengxiao make a fortune on this trip?”

Three or four hundred taels were clearly beyond the Liu family’s means. Lu Chengzang speculated that they either used the betrothal gifts or borrowed fabric from his family, likely the latter.

However, he kept this to himself. It was his father and elder brother’s business, and he wouldn’t extend his involvement beyond his own role.

After some small talk, Lu Chengzang turned to his father-in-law and said, “I came here today because there’s something Qiongying and I can’t decide on. We need your advice.”

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