Chapter 166: People from Yangzhou

At first, seeing Yan Ning's pricing, Yun Shu really didn't dare to sell them.

Both were transmigrators; in their past lives, a Small Round Mirror could be bought for one or two yuan, yet in this ancient era, she actually dared to sell them for three hundred taels.

And then there was the Glass Workshop; he saw several students holding inkstones made of Glazed Glass, as well as Glazed Glass pens.

Writing with a Glazed Glass pen was exceptionally difficult, and it was to their credit that they could endure it.

As for that Glazed Glass inkstone, he didn't even want to talk about it.

Yun Shu and Yan Ning did a rough calculation; on the first day of opening the shop, they had actually earned over ten thousand taels of silver.

Buying this shop had cost five thousand taels of silver; now, they had earned back the money for the shop on the very first day of business.

Things related to Glazed Glass were truly expensive.

Yan Ning sighed with emotion: "I feel like I'm almost ready to build a Train; by then, when it's built to Hainan, coconuts, lychees, and dragon fruits can all be arranged."

Yun Shu was also looking forward to it.

When Yun Shu returned to the Imperial Academy, it was already past noon and not yet time for class; Yun Shu only saw two people sitting in Science Class One organizing their notes.

Seeing Yun Shu approach, the two called out "Master Yun," then continued organizing their notes.

Yun Shu said: "After you finish organizing your notes, come to my office."

Song Yu and Jiang Zhi exchanged a glance, not knowing what Yun Shu wanted.

Especially Jiang Zhi, who had offended Yun Shu before and was terrified that Yun Shu was going to settle scores with him.

However, Jiang Zhi glanced at Song Yu; since he was going too, it probably wasn't to reprimand them.

After finishing their notes, the two went to Yun Shu's office together and knocked on the door.

Once they entered, the two were stunned.

They saw that Yun Shu's desk was piled with a lot of transparent Glazed Glass—round ones, square ones, big ones, and small ones; they had no idea what they were for.

Yun Shu said to the two: "Help me do some things; it won't be for nothing, I'll give you one hundred taels of silver per month."

Yun Shu had been making Mirrors for the past few days, all using the same method, which was very monotonous.

He thought about calling over the two best students; if they were easy to work with, he would take them to the Research Institute later.

Hearing "one hundred taels of silver," Song Yu was shocked.

He came from an ordinary background and was not from a wealthy family; one hundred taels of silver a month was an astronomical figure to him.

Jiang Zhi's family was considered wealthy, but he was also surprised—what kind of work earned one hundred a month?

No, he should have been surprised why Yun Shu didn't punish him but instead arranged a lucrative job for him.

Yun Shu didn't pay attention to their shocked expressions and just taught them how to make Mirrors.

Yun Shu demonstrated a few times, and the two learned it immediately.

Soon, they made two small Mirrors.

Yun Shu was satisfied: "You two do it."

Saying this, he went to another table, wiped it off casually, and began writing textbooks for Chemistry and Physics.

When Yun Shu was tired of writing, he looked up and saw that the two had made quite a few Mirrors.

Having assistants is truly great.

Yun Shu reminded them: "Do as much as you can, don't let the Mirrors delay your studies."

He was still counting on these two to enter the Research Institute so he could exploit them properly.

Liwenxuan, a wealthy merchant from Yangzhou.

He had come to the Capital to play for the past two days and happened to catch the opening of the glass shop.

It was just that he went late, and only one Small Round Mirror was left, which cost him three hundred taels to buy.

Liwenxuan treasured this Mirror; he had to carry it with him wherever he went.

Until he finished his business in the Capital and prepared to return to Yangzhou.

As soon as he arrived in Yangzhou, Liwenxuan couldn't help himself; he would take out the Mirror to look at it every few steps.

He had a mind to show off this Mirror, but because the Mirror was too small, the people nearby couldn't tell what kind of good treasure it was.

It wasn't until he met his friend Huang Liang.

Huang Liang was at a teahouse and found it strange when he saw him: "Old Li, what kind of thing are you holding in your hand? Why do you look at it every step you take? Aren't you afraid of bumping into someone and breaking the thing?"

Liwenxuan was happy; finally, someone noticed him.

Liwenxuan said: "Come down quickly, let me show you what good things I found in the Capital today."

Huang Liang stopped drinking tea and hurried down to see what was going on.

Huang Liang was stunned: "This, this, this—what is this thing? It can actually reflect so clearly!"

Huang Liang had a loud voice, and quite a few people heard him.

They all hurried over to see what was going on.

Liwenxuan said: "I bought it for three hundred taels of silver; I heard there were big Mirrors there too, but I went late and missed out."

Liwenxuan let them take turns looking at it, feeling incredibly smug inside.

At this moment, a wealthy merchant spoke up: "Hey, is this Mirror for sale? I'll offer double the price, six hundred taels of silver for you."

Liwenxuan immediately tucked the Mirror into his pocket: "Don't you all get any ideas about my Mirror; if you want to buy one, go to the Capital and fight for it."

It had been hard enough for him to get this one small Mirror.

Was he the kind of person who lacked those three hundred taels of silver?

At this time, someone had a sudden inspiration: "If we could go to the Capital and buy a few more Mirrors to sell to the wealthy merchants in Yangzhou..."

That was a nice dream to have.

Liwenxuan poured a bucket of cold water on them directly: "Buy a few more? It's not easy to even snatch one, let alone buy them to sell in Yangzhou; if it weren't for my good luck, I wouldn't have been able to snatch one at all."

There were many wealthy merchants in Yangzhou, and the news of this Mirror spread all at once.

They also wanted to take a look at those mirrors.

Thus, several young masters from wealthy households traveled together to the Capital, just to catch a glimpse of the mirrors that had been rumored so wildly of late.

The first place they went to was Liuli Pu, but there was basically nothing left inside; right next door was Jianyue Pavilion, which was empty and had nothing at all.

Zhao Dai and the others arrived at the Grocery Store together.

Inside the Grocery Store, there was a Bicycle, some mutton-fat soap, and then some other strange and peculiar items.

They bought a few things at random.

The group caught a whiff of a fragrant scent, and were lured by this aroma to the Ruyi Restaurant next door.

At this time, Ruyi Restaurant was packed with people.

However, upon hearing that Zhao Dai and his companions were from Yangzhou, someone cleared a seat for them.

Having traveled such a long way, shouldn't they be treated well?

Zhao Dai and the others glanced at the menu, which was filled with dish names they had never heard of.

Zhao Dai then said, "I don't know what these things are, so just bring us your specialty dishes."

Xiao Shi hurriedly acknowledged the request.

Zhao Dai and the others looked at the prices and became a bit uncertain: "The prices are so low, could it be that they don't taste good?"

The diners around them just smiled upon hearing this.

Once they tasted it for themselves, they would know.

Boiled Pork Slices, Corn Stir-fried Shrimp, Hot and Sour Shredded Potatoes, Cold Tossed Cucumber...

Quite a few dishes were served to them.

They were all mildly spicy, so those eating them for the first time wouldn't find them unbearable.

Zhao Dai picked up a slice of meat, and as it entered his mouth, he tasted a faint hint of spice.

It was his first time eating something with this kind of flavor.

The three of them devoured the food frantically; the taste of the dishes here was so good they nearly swallowed their own tongues.

After the group finished eating, they felt a bit regretful.

Zhao Dai said, "We won't be able to eat such good food in the future."

At this moment, a diner said, "Why don't you go check out the Grocery Store next door? They sell cookbooks there, though you'll have to rely on luck for the vegetable Seed."