Casting Nets to Catch a Husband

Chapter 182: Good Days

The preparations for the opening of the cloth shop were progressing even faster than for the embroidery shop. After discussing it, Lu Chengxiao and Lu Xun decided to schedule the opening of both the cloth shop and the nearby Ruyi Embroidery Shop on the same day.

Now that Liu Yu’s embroidery shop had many female workers, producing ready-made garments wouldn’t take too long. Lu Chengxiao said, “Since the two shops are right next to each other, rather than opening one after the other, it’s better to open them together—it’ll create a bigger impact.”

Lu Xun found this amusing. After all, the cloth shop belonged to his younger son, and half of the embroidery shop belonged to his daughter-in-law. His son wanting to progress together with his wife was a sweet tale, so there was no reason to refuse. The father and son roughly settled on a date and laughed, “There’s nothing left for you to do here. Go check on the weaving and dyeing workshop. Once we finalize the opening date, come back. I’ll be ready anytime.”

The preparations involved recruiting and training staff. Working in a cloth shop wasn’t something anyone could do right away; there was a lot to teach. The timeline ended up aligning well with the Ruyi Embroidery Shop next door.

Lu Chengxiao quickly sailed home and arrived in Anyi County two days later, just around noon—right in time for lunch. He went to the embroidery shop and, during the meal, discussed the idea of opening both shops on the same day with Liu Yu, Wei Shi, and his brothers-in-law.

Wei Shi was of course happy about the idea and asked if Lu Chengxiao and Lu Xun had agreed on a rough date.

Lu Chengxiao turned to Liu Yu and asked, “When do you think your stock will be ready?”

Liu Yu thought for a moment and said, “The batch being sent to Yuanzhou City includes items from two of our high-end collections, plus an additional forty designs with more intricate embroidery. These will take a bit more time to complete. Some of the designs have four sizes, so they should all be ready by the third day of February.”

The timeline Liu Yu gave matched what Lu Chengxiao had expected. He turned to Wei Shi and said, “Let’s set it for early February. I checked the almanac before coming; the eighth and tenth days of February are both good for openings. Which one do you think is better, Aunt?”

He also looked at Liu Yu as he asked.

Wei Shi and Liu Yu thought about it. Wei Shi, uncertain, suggested, “Why not choose the eighth?”

Then she started calculating. “It takes two days to sail to Yuanzhou, right? Plus, there’s unloading the stock and hiring new staff. I’m not sure if the time will be too tight. The new hires will also need some training, won’t they?”

Lu Shuang, who was nearby, said, “Why not bring me and Third Sister-in-law Liu along? The new workers might be fine for everyday work, but when it’s time for the grand opening, they’ll definitely be overwhelmed. We can help for a few days, and once they’ve settled in, we can return.”

Lu Shuang was now considered a key member of the embroidery shop. Liu Yu privately paid her five taels of silver each month, making her one of Ruyi Embroidery Shop’s top earners, equal to the Zhang sisters. After just a few months of work, she had saved over twenty taels of silver, almost matching her savings from the previous decade.

She had practically grown into the embroidery shop. If not for her third brother, she’d probably prefer living and working with her sister-in-law. When Lu Chengxiao returned from Zhejiang, Chen Shi, afraid her daughter was overworking herself, pulled her back to live at the cloth shop.

Lu Shuang worked at the cloth shop, but since the embroidery shop often had late-night shifts, she ate two meals a day there. Unlike the other female workers, Lu Shuang sat and ate with the Lu family. The “Third Sister-in-law” she referred to was Wen Shi, Liu Yu’s sister-in-law.

Wei Shi then turned to Zhang Xiaofu, and Liu Yanqing also instinctively looked at his wife.

Zhang Xiaofu understood immediately and nodded, saying, “Don’t worry, Mother. I’ll handle everything here.”

She was gradually getting the hang of running the embroidery shop’s business.

Wen Shi was eating with the female workers on the other side when Wei Shi went over to ask for her opinion. Upon hearing that she would be needed to help in Yuanzhou City for a short period, Wen Shi immediately nodded without any objections, saying, “No problem on my end.”

Wei Shi smiled and returned to the main hall, where she told Lu Chengxiao and the others, “Alright, let’s settle on the eighth of February.”

The female workers all knew that Wen Shi was likely to be promoted to manager soon. Although Liu Yu had never said this outright, people could guess as much. Some envied her, but upon hearing that she’d have to go to Yuanzhou with no set return date, they realized the job wouldn’t be easy and didn’t feel jealous. The atmosphere in the shop remained harmonious.

With the opening date set, Lu Chengxiao decided to visit the weaving and dyeing workshop. Liu Yanping and Liu Yanqing naturally accompanied him. Liu Yanqing said goodbye to Wei Shi and Zhang Xiaofu and prepared to return to the county government office.

To be honest, with the courtyard now full of female workers, the three Liu brothers felt a bit uncomfortable being around, and they had even considered buying a house. However, they didn’t have enough money at the moment, so they tried to avoid being around the women to prevent any awkwardness.

As a result, Liu Yanqing spent most of his days at the county office, while Liu Yanping and Liu Yanan usually stayed at the weaving and dyeing workshop, which provided both meals and lodging.

Just as Lu Chengxiao was about to leave after saying goodbye to Liu Yu, Mrs. Zhang, who was helping oversee the shop, led a middle-aged man inside and said to Wei Shi and Liu Yu, “Madam, someone is here to see you.”

Neither Wei Shi nor Liu Yu recognized the visitor, but as soon as the man saw Lu Chengxiao, his eyes lit up. “Young Master Lu, do you remember me?”

Of course, Lu Chengxiao remembered him and quickly went up to greet him. “Master Quan, do you have a suitable shop?”

“Yes, yes! There’s one now, and it meets all your requirements in size and location.”

Upon hearing that there was a shop available, Wei Shi, Liu Yu, Lu Shuang, and Zhang Xiaofu, who were about to leave, all paused.

Before leaving for Zhejiang, Lu Chengxiao and Liu Yanping had visited many nearby counties looking for a shop. Master Quan was a well-known broker from a neighboring county.

Now, no one was in a rush to leave. They invited Master Quan into the main hall, while Aunt Lin cleared the table and Zhang Xiaofu helped prepare tea. Master Quan had traveled a long way, and after taking a sip of tea, he said, “I just got the message this morning. I was worried someone else might snatch it up, so I confirmed with the owner right away and rushed over here.”

Being meticulous, Lu Chengxiao calculated the travel time between there and Anyi County and asked, “Master Quan, have you eaten yet?”

Master Quan patted his empty stomach and smiled, “Actually, I haven’t. I came straight here after getting off the boat and haven’t had time to stop at a restaurant. I thought I’d take care of business first and then find something to eat.”

Liu Yanqing, upon hearing this, quickly said, “No need to be so formal.”

He then turned to Aunt Lin and asked her to prepare a few more dishes.

Aunt Lin agreed, but when Master Quan heard that Liu Yanping was inviting him to stay for a meal, he was concerned about getting back to the neighboring county as soon as possible. He didn’t stand on ceremony, though, and stopped Aunt Lin from making more food. “Please don’t trouble yourselves. I do want to return quickly, so there’s no need for anything special. Your food looks fine to me. Once we’ve finished discussing business, I’ll just have a quick bite.”

Wei Shi shook her head, “How could we let you eat leftovers after coming all this way?”

Master Quan waved his hand, “It’s really no big deal. Please don’t fuss, sister-in-law. This is more than enough.”

He insisted that there was no need to cook anything new.

Aunt Lin looked at Wei Shi for confirmation. Wei Shi glanced at the table and saw that there was still half a bowl of braised chicken left, but the other dishes were mostly finished. She turned to Aunt Lin and said, “Sister Lin, please stir-fry a couple of quick dishes, and leave that bowl of braised chicken.”

The rest of the food wasn’t fit for serving a guest.

Aunt Lin understood and quickly went to prepare.

Some of the more sociable female workers saw this and came over to help. In no time, four or five women entered the room, each carrying two dishes, and the table was swiftly cleared.

Master Quan had noticed the dozens of people in the courtyard earlier. While chatting, he quickly estimated there were about forty people. He was puzzled as to why there were so many in the back courtyard of an embroidery shop, but of course, this wasn’t something he could ask about. While waiting for the food, he got down to business.

“There’s a good spot in our county. It was a teahouse for two years, but because the food wasn’t great and they served stale tea, the business never really took off. The first year was slow, and by the second year, they couldn’t sustain it. Recently, I heard the owner wants to switch to a different venture, so the teahouse is now available for transfer.”

He was careful with his words, knowing that businesspeople are often superstitious about the success of a location. He explained why the teahouse wasn’t doing well, hoping to ease any concerns Lu Chengxiao and the others might have.

Lu Chengxiao nodded. “What’s the asking price for the transfer?”

Master Quan held up five fingers. “Fifty taels. The teahouse isn’t big, just three front rooms with a backyard. There are five rooms in the back and a kitchen. The current owner kept one room for himself and converted the others into private dining spaces. So, the transfer fee mostly covers the cost of the furniture and renovations.”

If they were to take over the teahouse, the furnishings would be useful, but for a family like the Lius and Lus, who ran an embroidery shop and a fabric store, the fifty taels would be almost wasted since they didn’t need the setup.

Still, it was an unwritten rule—if you wanted the shop, you had to pay.

“And the rent?” Liu Yu asked.

Master Quan smiled, “The rent’s not too high, just twenty-six taels a month. Other shops on that street can go for as much as ten taels a month for a single storefront, so three rooms would normally be around thirty taels.”

Though the transfer fee was high, it was hard to find a shop in a prime location in the county. If not, they wouldn’t have been searching for so long with only Master Quan finding something suitable.

They all understood the situation and were interested. Liu Yu looked at Lu Chengxiao, who immediately caught her meaning. There was no need to go to the weaving and dyeing workshop anymore. He said, “Master Quan, let’s eat first, and then we’ll go with you to take a look.”

The quality of a shop’s location couldn’t just be judged by what the broker said—they needed to see it for themselves.

Even Liu Yu, who had urgent work to finish, called out to Lu Shuang, instructing her to take the clothes she had cut that morning and continue cutting the rest according to the patterns, while also tracing the embroidery designs.

Lu Shuang had become quite adept at this work. Liu Yu had taught her many techniques over the past few days, and she was now proficient. Knowing Liu Yu was going to check out the shop, Lu Shuang quickly agreed, smiling, “Third Sister-in-law, don’t worry, the rush won’t be delayed.”

Liu Yu smiled and said to the Zhang sisters and Lu Shuang, “Thank you, then. I should be back by tomorrow, so please take care of things until then.”

The three women smiled and agreed.

When Aunt Lin brought out the two quick stir-fried dishes, Master Quan quickly devoured two bowls of rice. Afterward, the group immediately set off for the dock. Those heading to see the shop were Lu Chengxiao, Liu Yu, Liu Yanping, and Liu Yanan.

As soon as they left, the female workers, who had overheard everything, started chattering excitedly, asking Wei Shi if the embroidery shop was about to open a second branch.

The more successful the embroidery shop became, the more work they’d have, and the higher their wages would be. It was a wonderful prospect.

Wei Shi smiled and said, “It’s not certain yet. It could be the fabric store opening first. But sooner or later, a new branch will open. Keep up the good work, everyone.”

The two businesses were looking for a shop together, but there was only one available at the moment. Whether Lu Chengxiao opened a fabric store or they expanded the embroidery shop, Wei Shi was genuinely happy.

In her heart, she saw Lu Chengxiao, her nephew-in-law, as no different from a son-in-law. She only hoped for prosperity in the lives of Liu Yu and her husband.

Both the Liu and Lu families had a bright future ahead.

In less than a year, Wei Shi had almost forgotten her past life of working in the fields in Yangshan Village. Now, all she saw was hope and opportunity.

Zhang Xiaofu was also sincerely happy. Her cousin had come to the shop a few days ago and, seeing her selling clothes there, had expressed concern, asking what she was trying to achieve.

But Zhang Xiaofu didn’t see anything wrong with it. In her view, the life she had with the Liu family was the most secure and reliable she could imagine.

Not only were the women in the shop and the female workers delighted, but Wen Shi’s eyes also gleamed with excitement.

This new shop might not be for the embroidery business, but if a second branch opened, could a third be far behind?

At the current pace, if more branches of the Ruyi Embroidery Shop started popping up, it wouldn’t be long before Wen Shi was promoted to manager. She felt her life was on the cusp of great things, and such good fortune was now within her reach!

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