Chapter 568: Chapter 568: Master Xia
Manager Cheng said, "Ten thousand porcelain bottles and ten thousand pottery bottles, can we possibly get one-tenth of the goods ready within three days if we hurry back?"
Yuanzi Pharmacy had substantial resources, opening the conversation with an order of twenty thousand bottles of tooth powder.
Gu Jinli did some mental calculations and replied, "Yes."
One-tenth meant two thousand bottles, two hundred catties of tooth powder; their pharmaceutical workshop was fully equipped, and they had already hired fifty workers. They could grind out two hundred catties of tooth powder in one day, she could spend another day preparing it, and on the third day, they would be ready to deliver the goods.
Manager Cheng quickly wrote two contracts, one for Yuanzi Pharmacy with Xuanhu Fang, and another for Xuanhu Fang with the Gu Family pharmaceutical workshop.
Gu Jinli reviewed the contract between the pharmaceutical workshop and Xuanhu Fang and, finding no issues, quickly signed her name and pressed her handprint.
Manager Cheng took out five hundred-tael silver notes and handed them to Doctor Wu, who immediately passed them to Gu Jinli: "This is the deposit. Keep it safe."
Gu Jinli accepted it joyfully and added, "We need to get the bottles for the tooth powder early."
Doctor Wu replied, "Don’t worry. Yuanzi Pharmacy is not short on these items. Later, you can send Mu Tong to Xuanhu Fang to bring back all the herbs and bottles."
Gu Jinli agreed. Doing business with a large pharmacy was indeed gratifying; as long as her products were good, she didn’t need to worry about the other minor details.
Doctor Wu was very busy. After finalizing the tooth powder arrangement, he left with Manager Cheng and Manager Zhang.
Gu Dashan wanted to invite them for a meal but failed, so he packed up two baskets of marinated meats and three roast ducks: "Doctor Wu, Manager Cheng, Manager Zhang, these are the marinated meats we make at home, a fresh novelty. Please take them back and try them."
Doctor Wu accepted with a smile and said to the two managers, "This is good stuff. Even Boss Min has tried and praised it."
The managers nodded, "We’ve heard Dong Family praise it before. Having the chance to try it ourselves is our good fortune."
Mu Tong took Mai Dong with him to Xuanhu Fang, and after four hours, returned with two mule carts, one loaded with herbs for making tooth powder, the other with bottles.
Qiu Lang had already gathered the children from the escort agency, and Ye Jingzi was teaching them how to grind the herbs.
The twenty-plus children from the escort agency were all smart; they learned quickly, and under the watchful eyes of Ah Shi, who was meticulous in separating and carefully inspecting the various herbs.
Tong Dayu’s family, Lu Family, Wu Family, and a mother with her three children from the Miao surname went to learn how to make mosquito coils.
Among them, Aunt Tong and Aunt Miao, selected by Gu Jinli, were taught how to blend and prepare spices.
Aunt Tong was an honest person, and Aunt Miao, a widow raising two sons, had been through hard times and only wanted to ensure food for her family and, hopefully, find wives for her sons with the master’s favor in the future.
By having them blend and prepare spices, Gu Jinli intended to free up Ms. Chu, Ms. Yan, Mrs. Chen, and others, to alleviate the workload of these women.
As the business grew larger, it was not possible for these women to always do such laborious tasks.
The blending method remained the same as before; Aunt Tong, Aunt Miao, Ms. Xu Wang, and Old Zhu’s wife—four people in total—each prepared two types of spices. They worked separately, each in a different room, without communication to ensure the spice recipes remained confidential.
That evening, Gu Jinli called together the families involved and discussed the matter.
Upon learning of this new arrangement, the women were delighted and said with a smile, "We can relax now and attend to our own households."
The happiest was Luo Huiniang: "I can go and play with Xiao Yu now."
Otherwise, if she isn’t working at the shop, she’s at home mixing fragrance ingredients, so she can’t go out and play with Xiao Yu. She’s bored to death... and could have visited Brother Qin Er more often.
After her initial joy, Mrs. Chen expressed her worries: "Xiao Yu, all these are servants from your household. If they do our work, won’t we have to pay them wages?"
Gu Jinli said with a smile, "If Aunt Da Gui wants to pay, that would be fine."
Mrs. Chen quickly replied, "Hehe, Aunt has to save her silver for building a house, so we won’t be paying."
Third Grandma glared at her: "If you don’t want to pay, then stop talking so much. You should be the one to pay the monthly salary."
Mrs. Chen immediately zippered her mouth, shrinking back, hoping that Gu Jinli wouldn’t see her, but how could she escape Gu Jinli’s sharp eyes?
Mrs. Chen hurriedly changed the subject: "Xiao Yu, when will your elder brother return? It’s been so long, Aunt almost forgets what your brother looks like."
Gu Jinli shook her head: "I don’t know, it should be soon."
In ancient times, it wasn’t easy to communicate, and she really didn’t know when Gu Jin’an would return.
By coincidence, the very next morning, Gu Jin’an returned to the town.
Gu Jinli was at Xuanhu Fang settling accounts for medicinal herbs with Doctor Wu when Luo Huiniang came to find her: "Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu, your brother has returned, with many mule carts, and he brought back a master. They are now at the Wan Mansion."
Gu Jinli frowned: "Wan Mansion? Why did he go there?"
Luo Huiniang, dragging her along, said: "Let’s just ask your brother and we’ll find out. Come on, let’s hurry and take a look. A lot of people are going to see; if we’re too late, we won’t be able to get in."
Gu Jinli looked at Luo Huiniang’s face, full of excitement like a shiny red apple, and her apricot eyes flickering with the light of gossip, and couldn’t help but laugh: "Hold on, I have to settle the account for the medicinal herbs with Doctor Wu first."
Luo Huiniang made a bitter face. This is one bad thing about Xiao Yu; how can one wait when watching the fun? But she obediently sat aside, waiting for Gu Jinli.
A quarter of an hour later, Gu Jinli settled the account with Doctor Wu and handed him the silver note: "Here’s the silver for the tooth powder ingredients. Please take it."
Doctor Wu took it and wrote her a receipt for the merchandise payment.
Luo Huiniang felt like complaining... Xiao Yu and Doctor Wu are clearly partners in a pharmaceutical workshop, so why on earth pay for the inventory at Xuanhu Fang, and even bother with a receipt? Such a hassle.
"Let’s go," called out Gu Jinli, and Luo Huiniang immediately jumped up excitedly, grabbing her hand and running. But the entrance of Wan Mansion was already surrounded by a lively crowd, and now that they were getting older, it wasn’t appropriate for them to squeeze through, what with so many men around.
"What should we do, we can’t squeeze in," Luo Huiniang fretted, when Gu Jinli pulled her around to the back door of Wan Mansion and started to knock.
Unexpectedly, it was Gu Jin’an who opened the door. Seeing them, he laughed: "I knew you would come for the excitement."
It’s Hui Niang who is enthusiastic about such events, while it’s Xiao Yu who would think to use the back door.
"Brother An, it’s good you are back; everyone has been worrying about you," Luo Huiniang pulled Xiao Yu inside, and curiously asked: "Who did Brother An bring back? Why stay at Wan Mansion? This mansion is considered inauspicious; people in town avoid it, and no one wants to buy it."
She lowered her voice further, a hint of fear in her tone: "People say this mansion is haunted."
Just then, a hearty laugh rang out: "Ha ha~ Master Xia doesn’t care about such things. If this mansion really has ghosts, Master Xia would gladly boil some wine and chat with them through the night, inquiring about the affairs of the Ghost Mansion. If the other party is a scholar, perhaps Master Xia could even engage in a debate between the living and the shades of the underworld."
Following the voice, Gu Jinli saw a middle-aged man in his forties, fair-skinned and beardless, dressed in a loose Taoist robe, his hair casually tied up, striding towards them. Though his steps were wide, there was an elegance to his gait, a true likeness of a scholarly gentleman at ease.