Chapter 69

Zhou Shi and Wei Shu quickly discussed and then it was time to set the price.

The fabric chosen by Shen Cui was indeed cheap, but the military coats were wide and large, so they still required quite a bit of fabric. Moreover, cotton was also not cheap, costing one hundred wen per catty. A military coat that reached the calf would require about three catties of cotton.

Just this alone would cost three hundred wen, which was three qian of silver. Adding the fabric, the cost would be around five qian of silver.

If they also had to add the labor cost, how much more… this was another difficult problem.

Wei Shu did not rush her. Zhou Shi looked at Shen Cui in distress. Shen Cui did not directly make a decision for her but asked her, “When we went to the fabric shop to buy fabric, weren’t you with me? They also had ready-made clothes there. Didn’t someone there plan to buy New Year goods? Did you ask about the prices?”

Zhou Shi nodded and said, “Those clothes were hanging next to the fabric we bought. They used the same fabric, but they didn’t have as much cotton as we put in, and they weren’t made as large. One piece cost one or two silver coins.”

“Isn’t this just right? You can also base your price on this.”

After calculating, Zhou Shi realized that she could earn five qian of silver for sewing one coat. For ten large cotton coats, wouldn’t that be five liang of silver?

Despite Zhou Shi having done this job for so long, when Shen Cui casually helped her calculate, she didn’t actually make a mistake. She could only earn two or three dozen wen per day. After a month, she would only earn a few qian of silver.

Five liang of silver was equivalent to what she had earned in the past half year!

When she just heard about making ten coats, she didn’t think much of it. But when she actually calculated the specific numbers, such a large sum of silver made her hesitate to agree.

Shen Cui didn’t look at her but at Wei Shu. “Let’s pay half of the deposit first, and the deadline will be set before the New Year. You can take some money during the last ten days of the month. If you have already gone home by then, Zhou Shi and I will deliver it to the academy.”

Wei Shu nodded and took out five liang of silver.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Shi realized something was wrong and hesitated, saying, “Young Master Wei… Could it be that you didn’t collect a deposit from the ten people? If it was the deposit they gave, there would definitely be some odd amounts, not exactly five liang of silver.”

Wei Shu replied, “I didn’t know the exact amount of silver before, so I didn’t collect from them. We’ve been classmates for many years. I’ll cover it first, it’s okay.”

Zhou Shi hesitated and said, “Young Master Wei, it’s not quite appropriate for you to help introduce business and advance the deposit.”

Wei Shu reassured her, “Madam, what are you saying? It takes capital to purchase fabric and cotton. We can’t start without the capital.”

While the two were debating, Shen Cui had already taken the silver and handed it to Zhou Shi.

“Wei Shu is right, this is the capital. How can we buy cotton and fabric without it?” Shen Cui said. She then invited the two inside and had Zhou Shi write ten receipts, each stating the receipt of five qian of silver as a deposit, totaling five liang.

She also had Wei Shu write a simple contract in duplicate, stating the price per piece, the total quantity, and the delivery time.

In a short while, both had finished writing. After the ink had dried, Shen Cui gave a small stack of receipts to Wei Shu.

“When you go back, take these to your classmates. Collect a deposit for each and tell them that when the coats are delivered, we will only recognize the receipts, not individuals.”

Then, there were the two copies of the contract. Shen Cui had them both sign and keep a copy.

In Shen Cui’s hands, this matter took only a little over ten minutes, and everything was clear.

However, Zhou Shi was still feeling embarrassed. She didn’t say anything in front of others, but after everyone had gone back to their rooms for the night, she went to Shen Cui’s room.

“Mother-in-law, Young Master Wei is my husband’s close friend, and those in the academy are his classmates. I’ve earned so much silver from them…”

By this time, Shen Cui had already finished washing up and was preparing to sleep. After hearing Zhou Shi’s hesitant words, she didn’t rush to sleep but sat up again, gesturing for Zhou Shi to sit down and talk.

“Let me ask you first, can you buy a coat like ours in the city for one or two silver coins and expect to wear it within a month?”

Zhou Shi thought for a moment and said, “Before the New Year, everyone is busy. If they want to wear it immediately, they can only buy ready-made clothes. And our coat’s style was designed by you. I haven’t seen such ready-made clothes elsewhere.”

“Then let me ask you, how much worse is the coat you make compared to the ready-made clothes sold in the fabric shop?”

“My skills definitely can’t compare to those of an experienced tailor, but our style is simple, and I’m meticulous in my work. The stitches and everything won’t be worse than those in the fabric shop.”

“Exactly, our style is novel, the materials are sufficient, and your skills are not inferior. The only thing lacking is that we don’t have a storefront and don’t have much reputation… With these factors offsetting each other, the pricing is very reasonable.”

Seeing Zhou Shi still hesitant, Shen Cui continued, “I know you’re thinking about the personal relationships. But since this is business, we should keep things clear. Like today, Wei Shu helped deliver the order and even advanced the deposit. You can wait until this order is completed and then buy him a gift as thanks. But in business, don’t mix personal relationships. Settle matters with receipts and money. Didn’t you see that Wei Shu wasn’t upset today?”

Thinking of Wei Shu’s reaction—when she refused to accept the deposit he advanced, he was very embarrassed at the time. But after Shen Cui helped collect it and wrote the receipts and contract, he looked relieved and didn’t waste any more time on the matter, instead focusing on his studies.

It used to be that she wouldn’t dare to talk to Shen Cui like this. After nearly a year of getting along, she knew that her mother-in-law was really different from before, which gave her the courage to speak up.

She was still a bit afraid when she said it, afraid that Shen Cui would think she, a junior, was questioning the decisions of her elder, and afraid that Shen Cui would scold her as she had done in the past.

But Shen Cui didn’t scold her. She analyzed the situation for her from beginning to end and said, “There’s one more thing, do you remember when we were collecting eggs in the village earlier? The old lady insisted on giving them to you.”

Zhou Shi said she remembered.

That old lady was the one who had given Mu Yunchuan the maltose earlier. She had been confused and then realized she had done something wrong. When Mu Yunchuan had happily returned home after passing the imperial examination, she had given him such a dirty thing. And Mu Yunchuan was truly kind-hearted, not getting angry with her and even defending her face in front of others.

Not long after that, when Zhou Shi was collecting eggs in the village, the old lady recognized her as the wife of the scholar and insisted on not taking a few wen from her, wanting to give them to her.

A few wen might not seem like much, but the old lady was living a hard life and could barely take care of herself. How could Zhou Shi take advantage of her? They couldn’t settle it after several attempts, so Zhou Shi avoided going to her house when she collected eggs. Instead, she had someone else collect them for her, adding an extra step and making it more troublesome.

“So, business is business, and personal relationships are personal. Each should be dealt with separately. If they are mixed together, it’s not good for either party.”

Zhou Shi, among other things, was quite receptive to advice. After listening to Shen Cui’s words, she immediately stopped hesitating and went to sleep. The next morning, she started working.

By the time Wei Shu took his ten-day break again, she had finished five coats. In fact, at her previous speed, she could have finished one coat a day.

But at that time, the system task had a tight deadline, so Shen Cui helped her out, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law worked together to complete the task.

Now that she was the only one doing the work, although she used the system’s candles and wasn’t worried about straining her eyes when sewing at night, even an iron person couldn’t withstand continuous labor. Shen Cui still made sure she had time to rest, so she made her work on one coat every two days.

The next day, Wei Shu took the coats back to the academy.

Shen Cui had given him a stack of receipts with clear terms written on them. The people who had ordered the coats immediately exchanged their silver for their receipts.

Those who received the news first, before their break, entrusted Wei Shu with both the receipts and the final payment. When they received the coats, they tried them on immediately.

Just like Wei Shu’s coat, although the cutting was very simple, each coat was thick and warm, with tight stitches and sufficient cotton. When they put them on, no wind could get through! They didn’t rush the work just because time was short!

Moreover, making them large was also good. They could wear their own clothes during normal times, and when it got windy at night, they could put them on at any time. It was already late at night, so it wouldn’t affect their image as scholars.

Some people didn’t immediately put them on but instead covered themselves with the large coats over their blankets, knowing they wouldn’t be frozen awake at night.

“Brother Wei, the shop you picked is really good. These one or two silver coins are no worse than the coats sold in the tailor shops on Academy Street. And you have to pre-order in the tailor shops. I ordered mine before winter, and they still haven’t been made.”

“I just arrived late, so I didn’t get one of these five coats. I’ll have to wait another ten days… and then it will be the New Year holiday. Brother Wei should be going home, right? Why not just tell me the shop’s location, and I’ll pick it up myself.”

Wei Shu replied, “The shop said they’ll deliver the coats directly to the academy when they’re done. You just need to provide the receipts then.”

…

Shortly after Laba Festival, the Qingzhu Academy went on holiday.

There were many students from all over at the academy. For example, for Wei Shu and Wei Xi, whose families were far away in the capital, the round trip would take up almost half a month.

Last year, Wei Shu found the journey too far and didn’t go back. This year, Wei Xi followed him over. If both brothers didn’t go home, it would be hard to explain to their parents.

Wei Shu actually wanted to go back by himself, fearing that Wei Xi would get sick on the way.

But it was strange, too. Wei Xi, who usually got sick in winter, didn’t even cough this year?

Wei Xi felt that he could do it. If he didn’t go back, even though Wei Shu said everything was fine outside, their parents would only think that he was not reporting any problems.

On the one hand, he wanted to ease his parents’ minds, and on the other hand, he had been very comfortable during his time at the Cuiwei Academy. Thinking about staying here for a long time in the future, he still had to go home and explain carefully to his parents.

On the tenth day, Shen Cui and the others bid farewell to the Wei brothers. After seeing them off, in the afternoon, Shen Cui accompanied Zhou Shi to deliver the coats.

At that time, only the Wei brothers who were going back to the capital were leaving first. Most of the others had not left yet, especially those who had not received their new coats, who were all waiting.

After Zhang Fu helped spread the word, the five young men came out soon with their receipts.

Zhou Shi and Shen Cui rarely came to this side. The last time they dealt with Qingzhu Academy was during the academy’s grand competition in August. But at that time, everyone was on their respective viewing platforms, far apart. Shen Cui and Zhou Shi didn’t show their faces much, so these five people didn’t recognize them.

The five of them quickly gave their receipts, paid the final payment, praised the coats repeatedly, and casually asked where their shop was located.

Shen Cui, who had arranged this deal to train Zhou Shi, naturally remained silent and let Zhou Shi handle it.

“We don’t have a shop yet; we’re just doing our work at home, barely a small workshop,” Zhou Shi said, her eyes unconsciously glancing at Shen Cui.

Shen Cui remained silent, giving her a encouraging look.

Zhou Shi took a deep breath and continued calmly, “But a small workshop has its advantages. With fewer orders, we can work faster. If you have any future orders, whether it’s for purses or robes, feel free to place them with us.”