As she spoke, she briskly scooped a bowl of hot soup and handed it over.
Jiang Xiyu cast her eyes down at the clear, jade-green broth in the bowl, filled with doubt. “Will this kind of plain, watery soup really work?”
Xue Li pulled up a small stool and sat beside her, her expression serious. “This is no ordinary soup; it has mung beans added to it. When I was young, I once accidentally ate croton seeds. My father boiled this mung bean and licorice soup for me to drink, and it stopped my diarrhea instantly. He used to run an apothecary and often said that mung beans can detoxify, while licorice can relieve spasms. When the two are decocted together for their juice, they have the effect of stopping diarrhea.”
Hearing this, Jiang Xiyu took a sip, half-believing and half-doubting. She was surprised to find the soup tasted clear, sweet, and refreshing. She couldn’t help but smack her lips. “By the way, we made such a huge commotion, how come your parents haven’t been woken up?”
Hearing this, Xue Li’s hand movements paused slightly.
If the original owner of this body had heard this, she might have shed tears of sorrow. But Xue Li had never met the original owner’s parents. However, if she just brushed it off, she would inevitably seem strangely callous.
She remained silent for a moment, her head bowed low, using the dim lamplight to hide her expression. “My family suffered many misfortunes. My parents passed away many years ago.”
Caught off guard, Jiang Xiyu choked violently. She immediately wanted to slap herself twice and hurriedly apologized. “Ugh, my big mouth! I was too reckless and made you sad for no reason. I’m truly sorry…”
“It’s all in the past, no need to dwell on it.” Xue Li forced a smile and changed the subject. “What about you? Where are you living right now? Do you have any family?”
“Family…? Ever since I can remember, I’ve been wandering the martial arts world with my master. I’ve never met my parents.” As Jiang Xiyu spoke, she suddenly blinked and smiled slyly. “As for my residence…”
She raised her hand and pointed to the spot behind the east wall of the kitchen.
Xue Li followed her gesture and stared blankly for a long moment. Suddenly, she realized something was wrong and whipped her head back—wasn’t that her own narrow storage room?!
She looked at her in disbelief. “Are you saying you’ve been living in my house these past few days?!”
The thought of a living person secretly taking up residence in her house without anyone noticing—and staying for over half a month, no less—was truly alarming!
Jiang Xiyu felt a bit embarrassed under her glare. She rubbed the tip of her nose and laughed sheepishly. “That day when I passed by your house, I smelled an extraordinarily rich aroma of mutton and really couldn’t resist the craving. Originally, I just planned to eat one meal and leave, but who knew your cooking would be so good? So, I ended up staying for a short while…”
“It’s a good thing you sneaked into my house. If it were anyone else, they would have already sent you to the county magistrate for punishment!” Xue Li sighed again. “Forget it. Since you have nowhere to stay for the time being, you can live with me, to save you from unknowingly sneaking into someone else’s home to play the thief.”
Hearing this, Jiang Xiyu immediately put down her large bowl, raised three fingers, and said solemnly, “Rest assured, young lady. Although I, Jiang Xiyu, have no worldly possessions, I have a chivalrous heart. I am definitely no scoundrel! If I harbor even a sliver of malicious intent, may I be struck by lightning and die a wretched death!”
“Alright, alright, don’t make reckless oaths.” Xue Li waved her hand, stood up, and stretched lazily. “It’s getting late. You’ve just joined and aren’t familiar with anything yet. Tomorrow we won’t set up the stall; we’ll go to the porcelain shop to buy some kitchenware!”
The morning mist had not yet dispersed, and raindrops from last night still clung to the bluestone slabs, reflecting the clear sky.
Xue Li pulled Jiang Xiyu through the crowd. By the time they reached the front of the porcelain shop, it was just opening its doors.
“Yawn—” Jiang Xiyu was so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open. She let out a long yawn, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. “It’s not even market day. Do we really need to rush here this early?”
“If we don’t come early, all the good porcelain will be reserved by others! Hey, watch the threshold!”
With quick reflexes, Xue Li caught Jiang Xiyu, who had tripped over the steps. Just as she was about to scold her for being careless, her attention was captivated by a crisp, clear scent of clay. Looking around, she saw the shop’s spacious lobby. Dozens of tiers of cedar shelves lined the room from the front all the way to the back hall. The ivory white of the Ding ware and the rosy hues of the Jun ware gleamed and intertwined in the morning light, looking exactly like an overturned box of paints.
A shop assistant was standing on a high stool, polishing a porcelain vase. The moment Xue Li laid eyes on that piece, her eyes sparkled with adoration. It was a plum-green arrow vase. Even from a distance, the porcelain’s glaze shone with a lustrous radiance akin to mutton-fat jade.
It truly lived up to its reputation as the number one porcelain shop in Bianjing City, which she had asked about for a long time and chosen at first glance! Highly satisfied, Xue Li reached out and tugged at Jiang Xiyu, whispering, “Did you see that? That porcelain is so translucent that it even makes the coarse linen clothes worn by the assistant look much brighter.”
With this kind of quality, if she could eventually replace all the bowls and plates in her future restaurant with this type of ware, would she have to worry about not attracting wealthy and aristocratic diners?
Jiang Xiyu yawned again and rubbed her eyes. “Could it just be your own eyes that are shining?”
This person, honestly…
Xue Li twitched the corner of her mouth. She tilted her head back, her gaze wandering among the dazzling array of porcelain on the shelves, finding there were simply too many beautiful things to take in.
“Feel free to look around, young ladies.” The Shopkeeper behind the counter glanced at them briefly. Likely seeing that their attire was quite ordinary, he lowered his head and continued to flick the beads of his abacus. “To the east, we have coarse wares from civilian kilns, and to the south, there is Fuqing ware…”
“Why are you only suggesting such common items? I see your shop has quite a few treasures. Is the Shopkeeper looking down on our business?” Hearing the Shopkeeper’s dismissive tone, Jiang Xiyu instantly sobered up. She was never one to mince words, always speaking directly, and since they were here to spend money, there was no way she was going to suffer his attitude for nothing.
“Ah, not at all, not at all,” the Shopkeeper stepped forward, offering an apologetic smile. “I merely thought that if the two of you were buying for household use, there would be no need for anything overly ornate. Rather, simple and practical would be best.” As a businessman, he was well-versed in smoothing things over with tactful words.
“That sounds nice.” Jiang Xiyu despised this kind of posturing and gave a low, cold harrumph.
Beside her, Xue Li discreetly tugged at her sleeve and said warmly to the Shopkeeper, “You don’t understand, Shopkeeper. We are buying porcelain not for home use, but for our shop.”
Since it was for opening a shop, there would be a good profit to be made.
Hearing this, the Shopkeeper’s demeanor shifted to a radiant smile, and he immediately made a gesture of invitation. “In that case, please follow me to the West Pavilion for a look, ladies.”
Stepping into the West Pavilion, they realized that this porcelain shop truly had a hidden world inside.
“It certainly lives up to being the best porcelain shop in the capital.” Even someone as usually careless as Jiang Xiyu couldn’t help but sigh in admiration upon seeing these pieces. She was utterly enchanted by a copper-red glazed Jun ware cup. Extending a fingertip to gently touch it, she found that the base of the crabapple-blossom-shaped cup looked as though it held a piece of solidified sunset clouds.
Xue Li, however, stopped in front of a large Ding ware plate with carved daylily motifs on the northern wooden shelf. Her heart fluttered slightly. Taking advantage of the Shopkeeper facing away to introduce other ceramics up ahead, she quickly flipped over the mulberry paper price tag pressed under the plate—
Two strings of coins! It was blindingly expensive!
An abacus immediately started clacking in her mind—two strings of coins were enough to buy fifty catties of premium lamb!
At that moment, Xue Li completely gave up the idea. Her gaze swept over the large plate with lingering reluctance before she finally followed the Shopkeeper forward.
“Why don’t you ladies take a look at this set of Hutian kiln Yingqing ware.” The Shopkeeper opened a camphor wood box, casually took out a cup, moved to a dimly lit corner of the room, held it above his head, and illuminated it with a lamp.
They watched as the soft lamplight pierced through the glaze, casting a hazy, semi-transparent silhouette of a peony flower onto the brick floor, as misty as a gauze curtain under the moonlight.
“With a quality as bright as a mirror and as thin as paper, you’d be hard-pressed to find a second set like this in all of Bianjing City.”
Jiang Xiyu bent down to look under the cup. “This one is actually quite beautiful. The body is thin, and the shadow shines through. It would be so elegant to use this when drinking tea.”
“Exactly, you really know your goods, miss!” The Shopkeeper nodded repeatedly. “This set of Hutian Yingqing is not only beautiful, but it’s also at a great price right now. Each piece is only ninety-nine copper coins! How many sets would the ladies like to take?”
Ninety-nine coins? Xue Li wasn’t buying his boastful sales pitch.
She took one out from the camphor box herself to examine closely. Holding it up to the lamplight, she noticed faint chatter marks right in the center of the cup. Chatter marks weren’t a major flaw; they were simply manual traces left on the bottom of the body when the craftsman hand-trimmed the clay. However, their presence meant the porcelain should be sold at a discount.
Xue Li’s eyes shifted slightly. “The glaze on this porcelain is indeed top-notch. It’s just a pity that the craftsman’s skill at turning the body was still lacking some refinement.”
The Shopkeeper’s brow twitched. “Why do you say that, miss?”
She handed the cup back to the Shopkeeper and illuminated the chatter marks in the center for him to see. “With this flaw, even if you took it to the Zhouqiao Night Market, I’m afraid it would only sell for sixty coins, or perhaps even less.”
“Sixty coins?” The Shopkeeper was so shocked he almost dropped the cup. He waved his hands frantically. “Impossible, impossible. Absolutely not for this set.”
Xue Li didn’t bother to argue further. Decisively, she grabbed Jiang Xiyu and started walking outside. “Let’s go, Xiyu. We’ll go look at other shops.”
The Shopkeeper quickly caught up, blocking their path. Putting on a fawning face, he said, “However, I can see that you are an insider, miss. If you want to buy fine porcelain at a good price, I do have another way. In the back hall, there is a batch of flawed Ru ware with peacock patterns. Although there is some chipping at the rims, fortunately, the cracks have been covered with silver banding. Even if you served nobles with them, I guarantee they wouldn’t notice a thing!”
“That does sound like a bargain.” Jiang Xiyu frowned slightly. “But… why does it still sound a bit strange?”
The smile on the Shopkeeper’s face didn’t fade, and a shrewd glint flashed in his eyes. “Ah, you jest, miss. Ru ware is the finest of all official kilns. Even flawed pieces are no ordinary items. Moreover, silver-rimmed cups are a style much loved by high officials and nobles. If they aren’t experts, who could spot the flaws?”
“Oh, so that’s how it is.” Jiang Xiyu crossed her arms, a half-smile on her face. “You’re quite considerate and thorough, Shopkeeper. However, we’re buying porcelain to do business, which means we demand value for our money. We have no interest in wasting good money on these kinds of gimmicks.”
Hearing this, Xue Li couldn’t help but shoot Jiang Xiyu several looks. Was this girl actually helping her haggle?
“If this Ru ware were sold in perfect condition, it would naturally be valuable. But since it’s flawed, even though you can cover it with silver, it doesn’t change the true nature of the porcelain body. May I ask how much silver you’re asking for this set, Shopkeeper?”
The Shopkeeper stroked his beard, smiled, and held up two fingers—meaning two strings of coins.
Jiang Xiyu let out a “pfft” and shook her head. “Two strings? Were these cups of yours raised drinking liquid gold? The way I see it, two strings of coins is enough to buy a top-quality, carved Ding ware large plate. Why on earth would we use it to buy these flawed pieces of yours?”
The Shopkeeper replied leisurely, “Miss, that’s where you are unaware. This batch of Ru ware was acquired from Henan Prefecture half a month ago. Though not flawless, their value lies in the rarity of the kiln, and the silver banding adds a touch of nobility. Even if I took them to sell to the foreign merchants at the Zhouqiao Night Market, they would definitely fetch a high price.”
“Oh?” Hearing this, Jiang Xiyu raised an eyebrow, her tone laced with skepticism. “Since you could have foreign merchants buy them at a high price, why bother keeping them in the shop? If you ask me, I’m afraid those foreign merchants also thought the price was too high, which is why they haven’t sold yet, right?”