Not long after, Madam Li returned from entertaining her distinguished guests.

At this time, Madam Li’s daughter, Li Xin, also came out holding Fu Rong’s hand. She was a nearly 1.6-meter-tall, very pretty girl who closely resembled her mother, Madam Li, belonging to the bright and beautiful type. Especially when she walked in wearing a red dress, her graceful demeanor caught everyone’s attention.

Li Xin had heard from the maid that Fu Wenyu had arrived, so she quickly came out holding Fu Rong’s hand.

Because she had a question that needed confirmation from Fu Wenyu, she asked as soon as they sat down: “Brother Fu, I heard from Sister Rong that this fluffy, Yangzhou Tongcao flower-like velvet flower was something you saw in a book.”

“Can that book still be found?”

“Yes,” Fu Wenyu gathered his thoughts and answered frankly, “but unfortunately, when I looked for it last time, it was gone, probably bought by someone.”

“Who bought it?”

Li Xin keenly followed up: “My mother said she wants to cooperate with Aunt Zhou.”

“And the method of making this velvet flower is simpler than what I learned, and easier to make than Yangzhou Tongcao flowers, without the need for dried Tongcao. This way, not only does it take less time, but it also doesn’t require precious fish glue. But if the book was bought by someone from Liuzhou, then this business venture needs to be reconsidered.”

This girl is really smart.

Fu Wenyu secretly admired, as most people in such situations would only think it’s a pity that they couldn’t learn more techniques from the book, like the previous Zhou and Fu Rong. But she had already thought of potential competitors and felt that if someone from Liuzhou bought it, then the velvet flower business cooperation needed careful consideration.

Meaning not to invest too much, to avoid losses later.

Hmm, he had always been curious about how the threads on the flat version of the velvet flower were glued together, turns out it was fish glue. He had heard of fish glue, a natural glue made from fish bladders, widely used in various fields in ancient times, with a complex production process and not cheap. Compared to the flat version that requires fish glue and a more complex process, the fluffy version only needs two copper wires, indeed cheaper.

These thoughts flashed through Fu Wenyu’s mind.

Facing such a smart and keen Li Xin, he cautiously replied: “I don’t know who bought it, that was last year, too long ago.”

Before Li Xin could show disappointment, Fu Wenyu added his prepared answer, “But when I delivered the remaining storybooks to the bookstore yesterday, I asked, and the clerk said it was a foreigner.”

Li Xin’s expression brightened, “A foreigner?”

Fu Wenyu nodded, “Yes.”

He pretended to think, “The clerk said that person bought many books, and the shopkeeper, seeing he bought a lot, bundled some unsold books and gave them to him. Although he didn’t know which book I was referring to, all those books were given away at that time. Because they were all given away, he still remembers.”

Not all he said was a lie.

In the original host’s memory, there was indeed such a foreigner last year, and indeed such a story about buying and giving away books, except the book he mentioned wasn’t among those given away. This was something he heard from Zhang Er during a casual chat at the bookstore.

The probability of Li Xin going to the bookstore to confirm this was very small, so Fu Wenyu fabricated it without pressure.

Selling to a foreigner, this answer should ease her concerns.

Sure enough, Li Xin’s eyes lit up after hearing this.

She turned to Madam Li and happily said, “Mother, Brother Fu said that book was bought by a foreigner, so we don’t have to worry about a second velvet flower shop appearing in Liuzhou city.”

Li Xin stood up and cheerfully walked to Madam Li and Mrs. Zhou, “Mother, Aunt Zhou, although the Mid-Autumn Festival has passed, there’s still the Double Ninth Festival, the entire flowerless winter, and the New Year. If we start preparing more velvet flowers now, we can surely make a big profit by the New Year!”

Madam Li was slightly embarrassed and glared at her daughter, “You’re the only one who can talk.”

“Mrs. Zhou, don’t mind her, this daughter of mine has been spoiled by me since childhood. While other young ladies like music, chess, poetry, and books, she prefers doing business, always coming up with one idea after another.”

“It really gives me a headache.”

Mrs. Zhou laughed, “I envy you.”

“Wenyu and Xiao Rong have been a bit of a snob since childhood, especially Wenyu, who used to always be with his books at home, ignoring everything else, only now has he gotten better.”

The ‘before’ she mentioned was, of course, when Fu Qingshan was still alive.

Thinking of this, she felt a pang of sadness.

Fortunately, Madam Li quickly changed the subject, “I think for this business, let’s proceed as we just discussed. You make them, and I’ll sell them, but just the three of you aren’t enough, I think we need to find more people. Hmm, let’s find those embroiderers who often come to the shop looking for work.”

“I know a few, all with good character and tight-lipped.”

Running a embroidery shop, she believed that for this thing, intelligence and talent are secondary; first and foremost, one must have good character. Otherwise, the method of making this novel velvet flower would spread all over the streets in no time.

Seeing this, Fu Wenyu hurriedly said, “Auntie, I have an idea.”

He explained the modern assembly line model, suggesting that they could work in batches. That is, some people would be responsible for combing the threads, some would make various small fluffy sticks of different sizes and colors, and finally, a few with good aesthetic sense and trustworthy would trim and assemble them, fixing them into shape.

This way, secrecy could be maximized.

And besides the velvet flowers worn on the head, they could also make flower crowns, wreaths, decorations, etc. Especially decorations made to look exactly like real flowers, which wealthy families would probably like.

This was also something he saw from modern documentaries and interviews.

“This is great!”

Li Xin was the first to react, as soon as Fu Wenyu finished speaking, she said, “Mother, Aunt Zhou, let’s do it this way. Each person does one thing, not only can we make more, but people outside can’t easily figure it out. In winter, a velvet flower decoration, even placed in the living room, wouldn’t be out of place.”

Madam Li thought this was not bad, so she turned to Mrs. Zhou.

Mrs. Zhou nodded, “Let’s do as Wenyu said.”

Thus, the matter was settled.

Madam Li was generous in her dealings, even though the Li family had helped the Fu family, she still wrote a contract truthfully, not taking advantage in the cooperation. Finally, both parties signed and stamped, agreeing to split the profits equally.

As for the ones that Mrs. Zhou and Fu Rong brought over today, already made, of course, it was sold. The Double Ninth Festival was coming soon, and throughout September and October, wearing chrysanthemums was popular, so this batch of velvet flowers was sure to sell.

At this time, Fu Wenyu and the others learned that the price of velvet flowers was higher than simple embroidered pouches and handkerchiefs. So the large bundle they had finally sold for more than ten taels of silver, several times what they earned from embroidery before.

They originally planned to use this money to repay the Li family, after all, when Fu Wenyu was sick, the Li family helped by calling a doctor and buying medicine, and also gave some money. Neither Aunt Zhou nor Fu Wenyu could bear to owe money without repaying.

But Madam Li and Li Xin both refused.

The final agreement was to deduct it from the future profits of the velvet flowers, and they would take this money back for now. Considering they needed to build a house later, Fu Wenyu agreed.

When they left the Li family, all three were surprised.