Chapter 43

Shuiqing gave the silver, and seeing that Fan Jin didn’t move his feet and didn’t intend to leave, asked suspiciously, “Is there anything else?”

Fan Jin stammered for a long time, his fair cheeks turning red as he said, “The silver isn’t enough.”

He knew there wasn’t much money at home.

The first time he sold the He Shou Wu, he bought a lot of things, leaving three taels of silver. The second time he sold it for six taels, he bought some fabric as gifts for his father-in-law’s family, leaving four and a half taels.

Shuiqing had given him half a tael.

Shuiqing was extremely surprised. In these times, the purchasing power of silver was quite strong. How much could five brushes cost?

Half a tael of silver was equivalent to five hundred coins, and it wasn’t enough to buy five brushes?

Fan Jin awkwardly said, “It really isn’t enough. Even the smallest and worst brush costs a hundred and twenty coins. I’m not lying to you.

If five children only use one brush to practice calligraphy, it would waste too much time.”

Shuiqing quickly explained, “I didn’t doubt you, I just didn’t expect brushes to be so expensive!”

“They’re not expensive. You don’t understand the craftsmanship involved in making brushes. Once you do, you’ll know that a brush costing over a hundred coins is worth it.” Fan Jin defended the thing he loved.

Shuiqing became interested and curiously asked, “You know about it?”

“I’ve heard the master talk about it. The better materials are sheep wool, weasel tail hair, badger hair, and raccoon hair. The cheaper ones use pig hair, horse tail, ox tail, and mouse whiskers.

I use pig hair, and even though it’s the cheapest, as long as it’s not defective, it still costs a hundred and fifty coins per brush.

This is because the hair must first be treated with lime water to remove odor and impurities. If this step isn’t done well, the material is ruined and unusable;

After washing and drying, the hair must be combed, trimmed, pressed, and mixed. The hair is then arranged on a board, and cut to the required length based on needs. Isn’t this a process that requires great patience and care?

After that, the hair is bound, which is just the initial stage of making the brush head. Next, you choose a brush handle, attach the head to the handle, and the better ones have decorations and inscriptions, but those are more expensive.” Fan Jin’s eyes shone brightly when he talked about what he loved.

Listening to this, Shuiqing felt that, indeed, handmade items with complex craftsmanship and high difficulty could fetch such a price.

Then she realized that Fan Jin could remember it so clearly, indicating he must really like it. She asked, “Do you want to buy an expensive brush?”

Fan Jin shook his head.

“Really don’t want to?” Shuiqing didn’t believe it.

Otherwise, even if the master had mentioned it, he wouldn’t have remembered it so clearly.

Fan Jin continued shaking his head and said helplessly, “Shuiqing, I know how much money we have. Currently, we have seven and a half taels of silver. Building a quadrangle courtyard requires at least a hundred taels, and even after selling all the He Shou Wu, we might not have enough.

Moreover, we need some money for emergencies. Even if we have enough silver, we can’t spend it all. Having brushes is enough, regardless of their quality.”

He had little ability to earn money, copying books for fifty-three coins a day. It took three days’ wages to buy the worst brush.

Good brushes are liked by scholars, but sometimes you can’t just look at the quality; you also have to see how poor you are.

Shuiqing listened and somehow felt a sour feeling from it.

Ah, poor children studying, even buying a brush requires pinching every penny.

“Wait, let me check if the mall has any?” Shuiqing said.

Fan Jin looked up in surprise and asked blankly, “The mall sells brushes too?”

Shuiqing proudly said, “There’s nothing it doesn’t sell! From the heavens to the earth to the waters, it has everything, just depends on whether you have money.”

Fan Jin’s lips curved into a smile. He hadn’t thought of buying from the mall, and was curious about the prices there.

However, since brushes were rare and difficult to make, they probably wouldn’t be cheap in the mall either…

Shuiqing opened the shopping mall and searched under the stationery category.

She glanced at the price to open this category. Since it was a small and commonly used category, the opening price wasn’t expensive, only a thousand yuan.

She quickly found the brushes and was stunned by the prices.

Fan Jin couldn’t see the mall prices but could read Shuiqing’s expression and asked worriedly, “What’s wrong? If it’s too expensive, it’s okay, no need.”

Shuiqing snapped out of her shock and excitedly said, “You won’t believe the price!”

Fan Jin was puzzled, not knowing if she meant it was expensive or cheap.

Shuiqing didn’t expect him to guess right and directly announced the prices: “Ten small brushes for eight yuan, ten medium brushes for nine yuan, and ten large brushes for ten yuan.” (Prices from a certain online store)

Fan Jin had a general understanding of the mall’s pricing system. He knew the prices of bamboo fungus, skirt fungus, gorgon fruit, and the like.

But he never imagined that brushes, which he cherished, would be so cheap!

He calculated, “The price of one jin of rice can buy two large brushes?”

“Mm-hmm, should I buy ten of each size for you to check the quality? If they’re not good, the kids can use them for practice, and it won’t hurt.” Shuiqing suggested.

That afternoon, the entire village, except for a few families, had worked hard and collected a hundred and ten jin of gorgon fruit.

Their savings directly increased by more than ten thousand!

For the one thousand opening fee, Shuiqing didn’t hesitate.

Her only worry now was how to convert the mall’s money into silver legitimately.

Fan Jin nodded blankly.

Shuiqing clicked to open the category, and with a wave of her hand, she ordered ten of each size!

Total cost: 27 yuan!

Fan Jin looked at the thirty brushes in front of him.

The tips were sharp and fine, the hairs were even and smooth, without any uneven or stray hairs, and the brushes were round and full. The hardness of the bristles was just right.

The four virtues of brushes—sharp, even, round, and firm—were all met!

Even better than the ones he bought for a hundred and fifty coins!

Shuiqing didn’t understand brushes. Seeing Fan Jin not speaking for a long time, she asked, “How are they? Not good? Can we let the kids use them for practice?”

After all, these were mass-produced by machines, maybe they just had the form without the essence?

Although she didn’t know what the essence of a brush was.

Fan Jin finally shifted his gaze from the brushes and looked at Shuiqing with delight, “Shuiqing, they’re perfect!

These brushes are excellent! Your mall is amazing, producing things that are cheap and well-made.”

Shuiqing: …Because of something called machines.

It’s strange, in places with mass production, handmade and natural things are highly valued;

And in places with manual labor, machine-made mass-produced items have the price advantage.

Price?

An idea flashed in Shuiqing’s mind.

She thought of a way to convert the mall’s money into silver!

Maybe, they wouldn’t have to wait until next year, and could build the quadrangle courtyard before this New Year…