Gong Family, Wuyi Alley.
Madam Gong came out from her own courtyard, locked the yard gate properly, and prepared to go out.
"Madam Xiao Hua's mother, at this time to go to the market, where are you going?" The neighbors asked when they saw Madam Gong.
"I ordered some wedding furniture for Xiao Hua. The shop owner sent someone to come over and asked me to take a look today."
"I see. This Xiao Hua is going to marry into a prestigious family. It must have cost a lot for the wedding furniture right?"
"No way, it's just like ours, didn't cost much."
"Madam Gong, how come we haven't seen Xiao Hua recently?"
"She's following her master to work outside."
"Wow, she can even work in front of the master now. Xiao Hua really has prospects."
"Oh, the Ministry of Justice happened to be busy with competitions and lacked people, so Xiao Hua was sent out."
"I see, so that's how it is."
"Xiao Hua's wedding day is coming soon too right? Can she make it back on time?"
"It's just some trivial work, she'll be back soon. It's getting late, I won't chat with you all anymore. When Xiao Hua gets married, everyone come and have a drink at the wedding banquet."
"Alright, alright."
The crowd watched Madam Gong walk away.
One person said sourly, "Bah, what's the big deal, she just married a good son-in-law. Look how cocky she's become."
"Right." Another echoed.
"Who would have thought that chubby country girl from before could grow up and transform into a prestigious family's mistress. It's all about fate. Don't be sour here, let's disperse. Disperse."
Only then did everyone gradually leave.
Madam Gong walked all the way to Chongren Street and arrived at the furniture store.
The shop assistant standing at the door immediately came out all smiles when he saw Madam Gong.
"Madam Gong, you've arrived. Please come in, I'll go get the shopkeeper."
"Alright, no need to receive me, go on."
Soon, the shopkeeper came out from the back yard of the store, his face glowing red, his eyes bright and excited as he walked over to Madam Gong.
"Shopkeeper Ye, with you looking so happy, could it be you've landed another big deal?"
"Thanks to you, it's a big order indeed."
"With that mouth of yours, your boss made the right decision hiring you as shopkeeper."
"Haha, don't flatter me."
"Come, Madam Gong, the furniture you wanted has been mostly completed. Just needs some varnishing and a month of drying, then it'll be ready. I'll take you to see, if there's anything you're not satisfied with, feel free to point out."
"What's there to be unsatisfied about. In this whole street, your shop is the most reliable for furniture."
"It's all thanks to the boss." The shopkeeper humbly said.
The two went to the backyard. Seeing the wardrobes, dressers, camphor wood boxes and other red solid wood furniture, the workmanship was sturdy and Madam Gong was very satisfied.
"Shopkeeper Ye, for furniture, it still has to be your hundred year old shop. The furniture is well made and good looking. Especially this wardrobe, it really looks exactly the same as the blueprint."
"Of course. In the capital, our shop is number one, no one dares claim number two. To be honest, Madam Gong, I asked you to come today not just to see the furniture, but also to discuss another matter with you."
"Oh? What matter?"
"It's like this. Last time when the boss came to inspect the shop, he saw the wardrobe blueprint you provided and was extremely impressed. He thought of doing business with you."
"That won't do. My family are all government officials, we can't get involved in business."
"Sorry for my poor choice of words, it's not really business. Our boss means that as long as you provide your blueprints to us, we won't charge you for the few pieces of furniture you ordered. What do you think?"
"Ah? Wouldn't you lose too much?"
"No loss at all."
Not only no loss, but huge profits to be made.
When he first saw the blueprints, he already saw great business potential in the future.
So he got the craftsmen to speed up their work and produce this latest style wardrobe.
In fact, the actual product turned out even more exquisite and practical than imagined on the blueprint.
This style of wardrobe solves all the deficiencies of previous wardrobes.
Previous wardrobes were simply one door with three layers separated inside, better ones had four layers.
Now this wardrobe consists of three wardrobe components combined together, with different compartment separations inside each component.
The first component uses two layers separated top and bottom, each over three feet tall, in hanging style.
The second component is more complex. Its doors are half a foot off the ground, and in that half foot are two drawers.
The top part is the wardrobe section, open the doors and inside there are two clothing layers.
The third component uses an exposed style, separated into top, middle and lower three layers, for placing decorative items.
The wardrobe design is extremely unique. What is even more unique is that the three components, matched to the "embedded" combination on the blueprint, are joined seamlessly into one complete wardrobe.
This kind of "embedded" method is currently one of a kind in the entire furniture industry.
He could imagine applying this technology flexibly to other furniture in the future, with unlimited money-making potential.
If Xiao Hua was here, she would have to exclaim "No business without exploitation".
"What an exquisite and unique wardrobe."
A female voice sounded from the yard.
Madam Gong and Shopkeeper Ye turned to see two ladies of nobility, dressed in splendid silks and glittering with gems and jewelry, accompanied by maids and escorts.
"Madam Lin, Miss Lin, what wind blew you here?" Shopkeeper Ye recognized them to be the wife and daughter of the Minister of War's household, and quickly came forward to attend to them.
The arrivals were Madam Lin and Lin Yueru.
After the wrestling competition ended, they took their leave of the three Imperial Concubines and came to this shop. It was also a shop they placed furniture orders with.
"Shopkeeper, I heard the furniture our Lin Family ordered is completed?" Madam Lin said.
Lin Yueru looked at the cabinet in the yard and liked it more and more.
"Is this your shop's latest wardrobe design?"
"Return Miss, this isn't, this wardrobe uses a style personally custom designed by this Madame, specialized for her."
"Oh? I want this wardrobe, name your price."
"This..." Shopkeeper Ye looked at Madam Gong in a dilemma.
"Madam, this is my dowry, you should get Shopkeeper to make you another set."
"Money's not a problem right? This is enough." Madam Lin said.
As she said so, she took 50 silver taels from her maid and threw it at Madam Gong's feet.
"Madam, it's not about money. My wedding is imminent, I cannot delay."
"This isn't up to you. You're a commoner, reasonable etiquette requires you to avoid us here. Come, drive her out."
"You..."
Seeing the situation, Shopkeeper Ye quickly stepped in and said to Madam Lin, "Madam this won't do."
But no one listened. They insisted on pushing and shoving Madam Gong out of the shop.
Madam Gong was so angry she couldn't speak, unbearable. Finally she screamed out the door, "Help, a noblewoman is unjustly bullying a proper woman in broad daylight!"
This scream immediately gathered many onlookers from the street.
