Chapter 42: Three Silversmiths

Yan Ning looked at the two peerless beauties and for a moment did not know what to do.

She hesitated for a moment and asked, "Why don't you come with me? You can sing songs whenever you have nothing to do."

Zhijin and Yunshang hurriedly thanked her, "Miss, you helped us redeem our freedom; from now on, we are yours."

Yan Ning felt a bit of a headache.

However, after thinking about it, she brought the two back to the inn, opened a superior room for them, and then left.

Yan Ning remembered that she still lacked a few silversmiths on her side.

Their place was remote, and people who were doing well making silver ornaments might not be willing to go.

It didn't matter if hiring silversmiths was a bit expensive; the profit from Glass was high, and Yan Ning didn't care how much money she spent—the main thing was wanting to launder the "black money."

Thinking this way, Yan Ning went to the teahouse.

She remembered there was a person here called "Know-It-All"; she was very unfamiliar with Haicheng, let alone finding silversmiths here.

Yan Ning and Ji Lan went to the teahouse together and, sure enough, saw Know-It-All.

Know-It-All looked like an old beggar, squatting on a chair with a chicken leg in one hand; just looking at this person made one feel he was filthy.

However, none of this was important; Yan Ning only wanted to get information.

Yan Ning pulled Ji Lan to sit opposite Know-It-All and asked, "Old man, do you know where there are silversmiths?"

Know-It-All put down the chicken leg and asked, "What are you looking for silversmiths for? Aren't there a whole bunch of them in the silver shops?"

Yan Ning then explained, "I opened a shop and need silversmiths to help; it would be best if they were silversmiths who could come with us. Do you think you can find them?"

Know-It-All's eyeballs rolled around, and he said with a smile, "No problem, but as for the price..."

Yan Ning took a twenty-tael silver ingot and placed it in front of him: "Is this enough?"

Know-It-All's eyes lit up instantly; usually, when others wanted information, they either bought him a big chicken leg or gave him bits of silver and copper coins. This was the first time he had seen someone so generous.

Know-It-All took the money and said happily, "You just wait here; I'll bring the people over in a while."

Yan Ning liked this kind of person, so she and Ji Lan drank tea while listening to the storyteller tell a story.

And don't say, this storyteller told stories quite well; Yan Ning became fascinated, and it was just at this time that Know-It-All brought the people over.

Yan Ning was a bit surprised, "So fast?"

Know-It-All's way of doing things was not only fast but also very thorough; he brought three people over at once.

Yan Ning wanted to understand their basic situation, so she went to a private room.

Know-It-All brought the three over together and introduced them: "This one is Qian Shifu from the Dragon and Phoenix Silver Shop; because he argued with the boss a few times, he just lost his job."

"This one is a disciple of Li Shifu from the Dragon and Phoenix Silver Shop; he has finished his apprenticeship but hasn't found a job at a silver shop for the time being, so he is preparing to go to Shawan County to take a look."

"This one is Wu Dashi; his skills are exquisite, but his employer was always deducting his wages, so he didn't want to work there anymore."

Honestly, for a moment, Yan Ning wanted to take Know-It-All back with her.

The way he handled things was too beautiful.

Yan Ning stated her situation: "We are from Shawan County. To be precise, we are near Taohua Village in Shawan County, a relatively remote place; it takes two and a half hours to come to Haicheng by boat, but you can arrange your holidays freely because the wages are calculated by the piece."

"What we mainly make are Glazed Hairpins or other jewelry; the wages are ten percent of the Glazed Ornament. We will definitely not treat you unfairly."

When the few heard it was Glazed Ornament, their eyes widened all at once.

How could there still be someone selling Glazed Ornament?!

Isn't Glazed Glass something only the royal family uses? The Glazed Glass offered as tribute would never flow into the hands of the common people.

What is the background of these two?

Yan Ning asked, "Are you willing?"

Wu Dashi asked, "Do you have a large amount of Glazed Glass? When I was at the silver shop, my wages were thirty percent of the jewelry."

Yan Ning took out the broken Glass from her space to show them: "Look, there is still a lot of this kind of Glazed Glass; it is all transparent. Later, I will also color the Glazed Glass, which will look even better."

The three looked at the Glass in Yan Ning's hand, and each of them revealed a look of admiration.

"It really is Glazed Glass; the floating patterns inside are also very beautiful, and the transparent ones are also beautiful."

"My goodness, this is the first time in my life I've seen Glazed Glass; it's so translucent, it must be able to sell for a lot of silver. If we can have ten percent of the wages, wouldn't we make a fortune?"

"I am willing to go; living there for a year is no problem."

Yan Ning then said, "Just come to Hongyun Inn to find me in two days."

The reason she had to wait two days was that Zhao Lianxin's funeral would take a few days, and she still had to take her younger brother to see a doctor.

It just so happened that Yan Ning didn't know how the house construction was going, so she might as well stay in this city for a while longer.

The number of people she was bringing back this time was really large.

In the evening, Yan Ze returned. As soon as he returned, he lay on the daybed, "The promotions these past two days really tired me to death. It's a good thing there's only a little bit of stuff left; let Manager Jin handle it all tomorrow."

Yan Ze asked, "Are we going back now?"

Yan Ning slapped her forehead; she hadn't had time to tell Yan Ze about the things that happened recently.

Yan Ning said, "I've taken in a few people and need to bring them back together; we have to leave in two days."

Yan Ze was puzzled: "Why are you bringing so many people back? Our house isn't even built yet."

Yan Ning counted on her fingers for him: "The food at Four Seas Tower is delicious, so the chef must be brought along; there's also the girl who sold herself to bury her father—she said she can make clothes, do embroidery, and cook, so shouldn't she be brought back? There are also three silversmiths; our plan to sell Glass also requires them to be brought along."

Yan Ze: "Then they should all be brought along."

Ji Lan added: "You forgot, there are also the two singing girls next door."

Yan Ning remembered at this moment, "I saw that Steward was going to force them into prostitution, and I couldn't help but redeem their freedom. They probably have nowhere else to go."

Yan Ze rubbed her head, "It's fine, bring them all back; if it really doesn't work out, let them live in tents."

Yan Ning was walking on the street, preparing to go to the bookstore to buy a few novels to read when she had nothing to do.

There were also many novels on her iPad, but she was worried the target was too big and would arouse others' suspicions, so she simply bought some paper books.

As a result, just as she left the bookstore, she bumped head-on into a little boy who looked like he was carved out of pink jade.

The books Yan Ning bought were scattered all over the floor.

This little boy was staring at Yan Ning in a daze.

When Yan Ning bent down to pick up the books, the little boy finally reacted and wanted to help her pick them up.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to."

Before long, the manservant and the wet nurse behind him hurried over and pulled him aside to check on him.

The wet nurse was somewhat dissatisfied: "You little girl, you bumped into my young master, so clumsy; if something had happened, could you have taken responsibility?"

Yan Ning rolled her eyes, "It was clearly your young master who was charging around recklessly; are you blind and unable to see?"

The young master hurriedly said: "Sorry, big sister, I didn't mean to charge around recklessly."

Afterward, the young master said to his attendants: "You are not allowed to scold people."

He was like a little adult, quite cute.

Yan Ning's anger dissipated, and she prepared to leave while holding the books, but this little boy insisted on handing her a Jade Pendant; she was holding the books with both hands, and the Jade Pendant was placed on top of the books, ready to shatter into pieces at the slightest touch.

By the time Yan Ning wanted to find that child, he had vanished in an instant.