Chapter 89: Extra Story 10

Chapter 89 Extra 10

Wen Xi prepared three price tiers of embroidery for his shop. The brocade sachets and fan cases were made by himself and He Jin, the mid-range plain satin sachets were made to order by city embroiderers, and for the more affordable handkerchiefs and colored cords, he still intended to buy them from the villagers.

With a proper embroidery workshop, Wen Xi sold a much wider variety of items than before. Besides the common sachets and fragrance pouches, he also had moderately priced items like pillowcases, bibs, document bags, and brush rolls made.

The brocade pieces were mainly for window dressing; to keep the shop running long-term, he needed to sell things most people could afford.

Once the embroidery stock was nearly ready, Wen Xi called He Jin and Li Wan together to discuss how to run the shop going forward.

The shop was bought with Wen Xi's money, and all materials were prepared by him alone—he was the real boss of the embroidery workshop.

At home, he was their brother-in-law, but in the shop, he was their boss.

Given their personalities and skills, Wen Xi assigned them different tasks. Li Wan's embroidery was average, but she was steady, literate, and good with numbers, so he put her at the counter to handle customers, money, and bookkeeping.

He Jin was an excellent embroiderer and knew fabrics inside out, so he was put in charge of materials and inventory management.

Their pay matched the going rate at other embroidery workshops—one tael of silver per month, plus a three-percent cut of the shop's net profit at year-end.

With his two sisters-in-law handling all the day-to-day details, Wen Xi could focus on high-end custom orders, managing the embroiderers, and the occasional social obligation.

As for the embroiderers, Wen Xi also signed them to work contracts. No matter where else they took work, whenever Qinghe put in an order, they had to complete the pieces within the deadline, or they'd be in breach of contract.

Once everything was sorted out, Wen Xi set the shop's opening date for the first day of the second lunar month.

Before the opening, he asked Yan Fengan to write invitations to all the ladies and gentlemen he was close to. Whether they came or not didn't matter—he had to be proper about his manners.

In addition to the invitations, he had Yan Fengan write up a notice:

"New shop opening on the first day of the second month. For the first three days, regardless of style, everyone who places an order gets a free handkerchief. Orders over three hundred wen receive a plain satin sachet, orders over five hundred wen receive an additional plain satin fragrance pouch, and anyone who buys brocade embroidery gets twenty percent off everything in the shop."

Once the ink was dry, he had Aqiu post it on the shop door.

On the morning of the first day of the second month, three long bamboo poles were set up in front of Qinghe Embroidery Workshop. At the lucky hour, Afu lit the fuse at the door, and firecrackers went off with a loud crackle.

Red paper scraps littered the ground. For the good luck of "full hall of red," the firecracker scraps were left unswept all day.

People nearby heard the racket and came to see what was going on. After the firecrackers finished, some stood at the door peering inside, while others walked straight in and reached out to touch the embroidered pieces on the display racks.

The ladies and gentlemen who had received invitations also arrived—mostly Wen Xi's old customers from past collaborations. They really showed up for him this time, almost all of them picked out a piece of brocade embroidery.

Wen Xi had personally embroidered five sachets and five fragrance pouches to make a good showing, and every single one sold that day.

Besides those, handkerchiefs sold the best—they were the cheapest items in the shop, two for the price of one, which everyone thought was a steal.

That evening after closing, Li Wan went over the accounts with Wen Xi. On opening day, all the coins and loose silver added up to nearly fifty taels—a considerable sum.

Wen Xi wasn't particularly excited. He knew the first day's sales were mostly thanks to his regular customers showing support; the next few days probably wouldn't bring in as much.

For the first few days, with the promotions running, people were coming and going nonstop. After about five days, the crowds started to thin out.

It wasn't as packed as the first few days, but it wasn't dead either.

Embroidery shops had their slow seasons and busy seasons. Around the Dragon Boat Festival, business was noticeably better than usual.

The shop also restocked according to the seasons and holidays—for the Dragon Boat Festival, they introduced seasonal items like five-color cords, five-poison sachets, and five-poison fans. When families had new babies, tiger-head bibs and tiger-head caps sold pretty well too.

Before he had this shop, Wen Xi could only take orders from a few regulars. Now with a shop on the main street, he didn't have to go out and hustle for business—people who needed his stuff would find their way to Qinghe Embroidery Workshop on their own.

His embroidery was not only well-made but priced for every budget, so nobody was afraid to come in and ask.

The pricey pieces sold one at a time, the cheaper ones in bulk. Between the opening and the Dragon Boat Festival sales, he'd nearly made back the silver he'd put into buying the shop.

Add in the big-ticket items, and his shop's yearly income was looking pretty solid.

Wen Xi's embroidery shop had carved out a solid place for itself in the city, and Yan Fengan's private school was also doing great. Last year, three of his students passed the county exam, and his name spread like wildfire.

When the school reopened this year, a lot of parents sent their kids to sign up.

Yan Fengan would've liked to take more students, but he just couldn't spread himself too thin, and taking in just anyone would hurt the quality of the students.

Studying took not just hard work but also a bit of natural talent. If he accepted everyone, his school would inevitably fall into chaos.

The children in the beginner class were young, so no entrance exam was needed for enrollment—but they still had to be screened for those who could sit still in class and understand the teacher's words.

Students who wandered around the lecture hall and made a ruckus were absolutely not accepted.

Before enrollment, Yan Fengan arranged a three-day trial period for these children and sent home those who were clearly unsuited for formal study.

Those who stayed weren't necessarily brilliant, but at least they could communicate normally and didn't bully other children without cause.

This year, the beginner class took in forty children total, with tuition unchanged at five taels each.

A gaggle of little kids like that was the hardest to manage. Fang Mutian couldn't handle them alone, so Yan Fengan split the beginner class into two lecture halls and hired an additional elderly scholar to teach, with the same tuition share as Fang Mutian—two taels per child.

Fang Mutian was in charge of the beginner class's teaching progress and attendance, so his annual salary of twenty-four taels remained unchanged. During holidays, the school also gave both of them extra bonuses, making it a very decent position overall.

As for the Classics Class that Yan Fengan taught personally, he raised the tuition from ten taels to twelve, and the student count grew from thirteen to fifteen.

Lu Xiuyuan had struggled quite a bit to pass the county exam last year, and having just married, he had no plans to pursue further examinations for the next couple of years. Lin Hongwen truly wasn't cut out for studying either—after getting engaged to a well-matched girl this year, he was going to learn business from Master Lin.

With the two of them leaving, two spots opened up in the Classics Class, so four new students were admitted this year.

A country gentry from a neighboring county even pulled strings to send his son there, going so far as to buy the boy a house in the city and provide maids and servants.

Though it wasn't easy for someone to travel such a distance, Yan Fengan couldn't bend his own rules for one person. He brought out the test paper as usual and only admitted the boy after he passed.

Besides the formal students, he also set up a few auditing spots in the Classics Class. These auditors could attend lectures at half tuition, but he would not provide any individual tutoring to them outside of class.

It wasn't that he was being deliberately difficult as a teacher—it was simply that if auditors received the same treatment as formal students, it would be neither fair nor meaningful.

Each morning he lectured on the texts, and in the afternoon he let students ask questions freely. After school, he graded assignments and then assigned individual homework based on each student's weak points.

With just over a dozen students, teaching was still exhausting. Fortunately, his efforts weren't wasted—every year at the county examinations, his school could guarantee at least two students passing.

Tiezhu was already over ten this year. Ideally, he should have moved up to the Classics Class, but the boy had no interest or talent for academics. Yan Wangchun and Li Wan decided to let him continue learning basics in the beginner class, and when he was older, he'd go help at the carpentry workshop. With a trade in hand, he'd never starve no matter what.

With so many children in the household, Chen Lanfang couldn't watch them all alone. Peng'er was used to being around Aqiu, so Wen Xi had him stay home specifically to help look after the kids.

As for the embroidery shop, he hired a new errand boy to clean and run errands.

The household also needed someone for cooking and cleaning, so the Yan family hired another elderly maid, whose wages were paid by the eldest and second brothers—Wen Xi and Yan Fengan didn't interfere.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, Peng'er was almost four.

The boy not only looked like Yan Fengan but had the exact same temperament. At his one-year-old item-grasping ceremony, he ignored all the valuables and insisted on grabbing a book to gnaw on.

At the time, Chen Lanfang and Yan Shichang joked that the family would produce another juren. Wen Xi and Yan Fengan just smiled and didn't take it to heart.

The couple worked so hard to earn money precisely to ensure their child would have security in the future. Even if Peng'er doesn't grow up to be as scholarly as Yan Fengan, as long as they were there, the kid would never go hungry or freeze.

But Yan Fengan was a cut above the rest, and Wen Xi was just as sharp. Their child couldn't possibly turn out poorly no matter what.

Moreover, Peng'er had fully inherited Yan Fengan's strengths, and at such a young age, he was even more cunning than his dad. It wasn't the Yan family tooting their own horn—the kid really did seem sharper than most.

He was only two months younger than Shitou. While Shitou was still peeing the bed and slinging mud, Peng'er was already following Yan Fengan to the private school for his early education.

Whatever the teacher taught, he could memorize after just a few listens. Once memorized, he would ponder it further, and if he couldn't figure something out, he'd climb into Yan Fengan's lap at home and pepper him with questions, determined to understand it thoroughly.

He was Wen Xi and Yan Fengan's first child. Though he was a boy, Yan Fengan wasn't strict with him, so Peng'er had been close to both his fathers since he was little.

While the other kids in the family were tearing around the alley, he'd sit by himself in the courtyard with a book, practicing his characters.

He was such an obedient and sensible child, yet somehow Wen Xi's heart ached when he watched him.

He kept coming back to that saying, "too much brilliance invites early ruin," and wondered whether their Peng'er would be able to live a smooth and steady life.

Yan Fengan, though, wasn't one to dwell on it. He wrapped his arms around Wen Xi and soothed him: "It's fine. I went through the same thing when I was his age. Look at us now—aren't we doing just fine?"

Wen Xi nestled against his chest, thinking back on Yan Fengan's last twenty-some years and all the wild, dangerous twists and turns he'd been through. How could anyone call that peaceful?

At the thought, his heart grew even heavier.

Yan Fengan had been trying to comfort him, only to end up making him cry. He chuckled softly and said, "You're a dad now and a shopkeeper to boot, and you still cry at the drop of a hat. Any second now, Peng'er's gonna look over and think I've been picking on you. I've noticed you've been getting more emotional lately."

Wen Xi lifted his head to peek at Peng'er, saw him quietly working on his writing, then tucked his head back into Yan Fengan's chest and pouted, "It's all your fault."

Yan Fengan had no clue how any of this could be his fault, but since his husband said so, he dutifully owned it: "Alright, it's all my fault."

One look at his face and Wen Xi knew he hadn't caught on at all. He wiped his tears on Yan Fengan's collar, then couldn't help a quiet laugh: "Husband, you're so silly."

Yan Fengan raised an eyebrow, looking a little put out. Wen Xi took his hand and pressed it to his own flat stomach, then said softly, eyes crinkling: "I'm pregnant again."

Yan Fengan went still for a second, then smacked himself on the forehead.

He'd figured Peng'er was old enough now, so he'd stopped taking the medicine. And lately, aside from Wen Xi being a little moodier than usual, there hadn't been any physical signs at all, so Yan Fengan hadn't even considered the possibility.

No wonder Xi'er called him dense—wasn't he exactly that?

After two more smacks to his own head, Yan Fengan broke into a goofy grin and leaned in to kiss him. Wen Xi ducked away and gave him a look, jerking his chin toward Peng'er.

Peng'er was a sharp little cookie. Seeing both his fathers looking at him, he slapped his hands over his eyes and said in that squeaky little kid voice: "I can't see anything, I can't see anything."

That little scamp. Yan Fengan grinned and waved him over. When Peng'er walked up to them, Yan Fengan reached out and lifted him from the ground, rubbing his nose against the kid's soft cheeks: "You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

Peng'er giggled and planted a kiss on his cheek, then turned and wrapped his arms around Wen Xi's head, giving him a big smooch on the cheek too.

"Is there a baby in A-die's belly again?"

The little one had sharp ears. Wen Xi leaned against Yan Fengan and said to his son, "Yes, A-die has another baby. Does Peng'er want a little brother or a little sister?"

Peng'er thought for a moment, then reached out and touched the vivid red mark on Wen Xi's forehead: "I want one just like A-die."

Yan Fengan laughed from the side: "Alright, we'll have a little one just like A-die. Peng'er is going to be a big brother now, so you have to protect the baby in A-die's belly, got it?"

Peng'er nodded, stretched out his chubby little hands, and awkwardly wrapped them around Yan Fengan and Wen Xi's necks, saying, "Okay, Peng'er will protect the baby, and also protect A-die and D-die."

Hearing the child's innocent and naive words, Wen Xi and Yan Fengan exchanged a smile, their eyes filled with indescribable happiness and joy.

A few months later, Wen Xi safely gave birth to another boy.

And so, the young couple who had endured so many trials finally found their perfect completeness.

"Author's Note"

What follows is just Xi'er's melancholy—Peng'er will sail through life smoothly, pass the imperial exams, become a high official, bring glory to the family, and make both of them proud. The little one will also grow into a great beauty and inherit Xi'er's business. A very happy and complete family.