Shen Xuan had only casually asked Lin Ye to help him brainstorm, never expecting his idea to be so brilliant!
Looking back at the characters Lin Ye had written on the paper, he realized they were strong and forceful, forming a unique calligraphic style that was much better than his own.
"Lin Ye, your handwriting is really good," Shen Xuan couldn't help but exclaim. "I was originally going to write the signboard myself, but now that I've seen your writing, I feel ashamed of my own. I'd like to ask you to write this signboard for me."
He didn't know that Xue Fenglin's handwriting was famously good in the capital, even praised by Emperor Jinwu.
Back then, there were even wealthy merchants who, to curry favor with the Marquis's residence, were willing to pay thousands of taels of gold to have Xue Fenglin write a plaque for their shops, but he had always refused.
Xue Fenglin looked at Shen Xuan, then at the canvas spread on the table, and nodded. In those days, he disdained merchants as overly materialistic and looked down on them from the bottom of his heart, unwilling to write plaques for them. But today, with Shen Xuan asking him to write a signboard for free, he felt quite willing.
Xue Fenglin then wondered, if he were to encounter such a situation again after returning, would he still refuse?
If he weren't a Marquis's heir, who would spend so much money asking him to write a plaque? As the saying goes, "In a bustling city, the poor are ignored. in a deep mountain, the rich have distant relatives. People associate for gold, without much gold, the association isn't deep. With wealth and power, you're acquaintances. Without them, you're just strangers. A dragon in shallow water is played with by shrimp, a tiger in the open plains is bullied by dogs."
(t/n : the point is "people respect power, not character."
Your value in society often depends not on who you are, but on what you have—wealth, status, and influence.)
When Xue Fenglin first fell on hard times in Yunshui Village, stripped of his status as a Marquis's heir, not even ordinary villagers were willing to help him.
Only Shen Xuan, that "fool," risked being beaten and publicly humiliated to bring him back. If wealthy merchants were to offer him hundreds of taels of gold to write a plaque again in the future, he certainly wouldn't need to be so aloof.
He would just need to observe the merchant's character. As long as their character was upright, then accepting the silver and writing the characters would be fine.
Regardless of a person's status, as long as they had a useful aspect, they could be befriended.
This time, his misfortune in Yunshui Village, and these days spent with Shen Xuan, witnessing the myriad lives of the lowest commoners, had truly changed something within him.
Seeing Xue Fenglin agree, Shen Xuan was quite excited and immediately began designing the signboard's style.
His stall cart had bamboo poles that could be inserted on both sides, and an awning could be pulled over the top.
He planned to place the signboard on the right bamboo pole, hanging it vertically. The characters for "Honey Scholar Tea" (蜂蜜吉士茶) would definitely be written vertically, but if it only had large characters, the signboard would only be for literate students, which wouldn't be very friendly to other illiterate customers.
So, Shen Xuan decided to design the signboard by combining words and pictures. He first had Xue Fenglin write the large characters for "Honey Scholar Tea" on the paper.
Then, he mixed paints and, holding his brush, he drew a cartoon-like little bee and a pot of honey near the "Honey" (蜂蜜) characters. Next to the "Scholar" (吉士) characters, he drew a peeled orange, and in the blank space below the "Tea" (茶) character, he drew a large teacup filled with tea.
Xue Fenglin had never seen anyone design a signboard in such a way and was quite surprised. Although Shen Xuan's drawings weren't particularly refined, they were very vivid and easy to understand at a glance.
He wondered where all these ingenious ideas in Shen Xuan's mind came from. They were always flowing endlessly and felt novel.
The more Xue Fenglin understood Shen Xuan, the more he felt Shen Xuan was like a treasure chest, always having surprising and valuable qualities.
If his initial feelings for Shen Xuan were just gratitude and pity, then later they were tinged with an indescribable desire.
Now, he felt an added respect and admiration for Shen Xuan. This respect and admiration had previously appeared when Xue Fenglin faced his esteemed mentors or close friends. He had never thought he would feel this way towards a Ger.
It was a kind of appreciation for Shen Xuan's intrinsic qualities, transcending gender, and different from the earlier feeling of pity and affection that made him want to take care of Shen Xuan for life.
***
On the appointed day, Shen Xuan went to Carpenter Liu's shop to pick up the finished stall cart.
Carpenter Liu was indeed a carpenter with decades of experience. The stall cart was made exactly according to Shen Xuan's blueprint. Even some details Shen Xuan hadn't thought of were proactively improved by him.
Shen Xuan raised the collapsible legs of the stall cart, setting it up stably. The countertop of the stall was woven bamboo, which was light and easy to clean, and unfolded quite large.
There was also ample space underneath, perfect for storing items. He folded up the legs, then hitched the cart to the mule and walked it around. The entire stall cart wasn't heavy, and the mule pulled it with ease.
Shen Xuan was extremely satisfied with the stall cart, so he took out two taels of silver as agreed, ready to pay the remaining balance.
Unexpectedly, Carpenter Liu waved his hand and said, "No need to rush with the silver. I actually have something to ask of you." He continued, "This stall cart design is excellent. Could you sell it to me? I'll offer you twenty taels of silver for the blueprint at market price, and if you agree, the three taels for its construction will be free."
In reality, the Great Jin Dynasty didn't have copyright protection. Once Shen Xuan had Carpenter Liu make this cart, Liu would have memorized the design, and it would be normal for him to secretly make and sell it to others later.
Carpenter Liu offering twenty taels of silver to buy Shen Xuan's stall cart design was, firstly, because he was a righteous person, and secondly, he had a good impression of Shen Xuan.
Shen Xuan was delighted upon hearing this and naturally agreed. Anyway, once the cart was made, it would be seen by others.
Even if Carpenter Liu didn't copy it, others would learn from him. Besides, this stall cart didn't involve any secret recipes; it was just a convenient tool for everyone, and its widespread use would actually be quite good.
After receiving twenty-one taels of silver from Carpenter Liu, Shen Xuan prepared to leave with the cart. Just as he climbed onto the mule's back, Brother Liu came running out from behind, carrying a bamboo stool.
"Shen Ger, wait, this stool is for you," Brother Liu said, placing the bamboo stool under the stall cart.
"This is?" Shen Xuan wasn't familiar with Brother Liu and was somewhat puzzled as to why he suddenly gave him a stool. Brother Liu smiled slightly at him and said,
"This was made by my own hands, and it's my thank-you gift to you. Thanks to your conversation with my father last time, his worries were resolved. These past few days, he hasn't been busy looking for someone to marry into the family, and he's started letting me learn carpentry skills from him."
So that was it! Shen Xuan's heart swelled with joy for Brother Liu. He never expected his casual words to help this Ger in front of him.
"Shen Ger, where do you usually set up your stall? If I have free time, I'd like to come and support you," Brother Liu asked.
"It's near Caohua Alley on Jinli Street," Shen Xuan said. "But I won't start setting up until tomorrow, and I probably won't go if the weather is bad. Next time you go, I'll treat you to tea. I won't charge you."
"Oh, no, that's not right. business is business," Brother Liu quickly said. After a few more pleasantries with Shen Xuan, he watched him drive away.
Shen Xuan drove the stall cart to Widow Ge's house to discuss the water usage for the next day. After paying the deposit, he also bought all the bamboo cups he would need for tomorrow and moved them all to Widow Ge's courtyard in advance.
With everything arranged, Shen Xuan then drove away, and an hour later, he returned to the entrance of Yunshui Village.
"Eh? Isn't that Shen Xuan? He seems to be pulling some kind of cart behind his mule!"
"This is the first time I've seen a cart like that. It looks like a stall; it must be the stall cart he was talking about?"
"He actually managed to make one? Carpenter Yang must be so embarrassed now."
"Yeah, we heard Carpenter Yang say it couldn't be made at all, and we actually believed him. Turns out his skill wasn't good enough, otherwise, how did Shen Xuan get a city carpenter to make it?"
***
As soon as the villagers saw Shen Xuan with his stall cart, they immediately started discussing it. Some curiously came closer to observe, and others asked who he had hired to make it.
Because Shen Xuan's earlier friction with Carpenter Yang was widely known, many villagers now concluded that Carpenter Yang's skills were inferior.
Several villagers who had planned to hire him to make engagement furniture now backed out, intending to switch to a carpenter in a neighboring village.
Carpenter Yang knew he was in the wrong; he was annoyed but helpless. He could only stubbornly insist that even if the stall cart was made, Shen Xuan, being a Ger, wouldn't be able to make the business work and would pack up his stall in disgrace within a few days.
Besides Carpenter Yang, the Wang family was also quite displeased. Especially Wang Xiaolian, whenever he heard anyone discussing Shen Xuan's stall outside, he would sourly remark,
"It's going to close down sooner or later anyway. Spending money to make all those things and not earning any back, won't that just be a bigger loss? Shen Xuan's man's meager savings will probably all be wasted by him!"
Shen Xuan had moved all the necessary items for the stall into the cart a day in advance. The next morning, he woke up at dawn, ate breakfast, and drove to Jinli Street.
He arrived at Widow Ge's doorstep, found a spot to pull over, set up his stall cart, and then led the mule to Widow Ge's backyard.
It was almost chenshi (7-9 AM) now, and Widow Ge had already boiled the water he needed in advance. In the courtyard, two large vats were covered with gauze, containing water that had already cooled.
Shen Xuan saw this, scooped some and drank it, confirming it was fine, then filled a large bucket with the cooled water to use in his stall cart.
After preparing the cold boiled water, Shen Xuan went to the well to wash all the bamboo cups he had placed in the courtyard yesterday, and also washed the spare sweet citrus.
When running a food business, everything had to be perfectly clean. If someone got sick, how could the business continue?
Shen Xuan thoroughly cleaned all the bamboo cups, then arranged them in batches. After confirming all the tea ingredients were ready, he propped up the bamboo poles on both sides of the stall cart, pulled open the awning, and hung up the signboard he had drawn earlier.
On his first day of business, he hadn't yet settled on the exact price for his tea. However, based on costs and the prices of other teas nearby, he roughly estimated a price of ten wen per cup.
Prices on Jinli Street were generally higher; steamed buns cost ten wen each, and the sour plum soup next door cost five wen.
His tea used genuine ingredients and was much better than sour plum soup. Plus, with the cost of a free bamboo cup, the price naturally had to be a bit higher. Ten wen a cup shouldn't be too expensive.
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