Around Wulin Gate, silk and satin shops were the most numerous.
Perhaps because New Year was approaching and each shop would close for the holidays in a few days, there were especially many people on the street—shoulder to shoulder, as far as the eye could see, everywhere was a sea of heads.
Yu Tang followed closely behind Yu Yuan, looking left and right, surveying the surrounding shops. Before long, she spotted the Sheng family’s lacquerware shop.
Eight bays wide with a bright red shop sign as tall as a person—it looked similar to the neighboring shops, but its black lacquered doors were inlaid with transparent glass. In the dead of winter, other shops all hung thick cotton curtains, but theirs allowed you to vaguely see the silhouettes of people inside. At a glance, it stood out from the rest.
Drawing closer, she discovered that the young clerks coming and going in the Sheng family’s lacquerware shop were not only all good-looking with clear features, but they all wore matching parrot-green satin robes, stood with ramrod-straight backs, and had faces beaming with enthusiastic smiles. Seeing Yu Tang get jostled by someone, one young clerk even proactively stepped forward to help block the crowd for her, asking with concern: “Miss, please be careful. You weren’t hurt anywhere, were you?”
Yu Tang smiled and thanked the young clerk.
The young clerk—whether from being too busy and overheated, or from embarrassment—had a thoroughly flushed face. He quickly ushered her and Yu Yuan into the shop. None of the condescending treatment she had anticipated beforehand appeared.
Thinking of the few timid clerks at their family shop, Yu Tang couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
Once inside the shop, she discovered it was also packed with people. The lacquerware shop shelves she had seen before were all open-style, where everyone could freely touch and pick things up to examine them. But the Sheng family shop had counters blocking access, with all items placed in transparent glass cabinets. Whatever customers wanted to see, the young clerks behind the counter would take out for them to view. Only large lacquerware items like screens were placed in the open space beside the treasure shelves, available for people to observe and appreciate at will. So although the shop was crowded, there was no worry about things being stolen.
Yu Yuan had already come to look yesterday. Now he couldn’t help whispering to Yu Tang: “Look how good their business is!”
Yu Tang nodded imperceptibly.
The young clerk said attentively: “Young Master, Miss, what would you like to buy? Would you like recommendations? Spring Festival is approaching—are you buying gifts for elders, or just browsing? If you’re buying for elders, please come look over here to see if there’s anything suitable. If you’re just browsing, I’ll introduce what our shop sells, and when you need something in the future, you can come to our shop to look more carefully.”
These young clerks had all received special training.
Yu Tang thought to herself.
In her previous life, she had seen shop clerks like this.
It was just that those shop clerks didn’t dress as well as the Sheng family’s lacquerware clerks, nor were they as spirited.
Satin—that was fabric only some country gentlemen could afford to wear, yet the Sheng family actually dressed their shop clerks in it. They were tremendously wealthy and imposing. No wonder her brother felt inadequate. Moreover, training shop clerks like the Sheng family did was probably a first in Hangzhou.
She just didn’t know if this method was their family’s invention.
In the coming years, everyone would follow suit. Even in Lin’an, some shops had begun training young clerks this way.
Looking at it this way, their family not only sold goods well, but also had their own approach to shop management and personnel matters.
Yu Tang observed secretly.
Yu Yuan had already said: “We’re just coming to look around. If there are good things, we’ll also buy a few to take back.”
The young clerk glanced at Yu Tang, thinking he understood their intentions. Smiling, he led them to a counter selling small boxes and small mirror cases. The clerk squeezed in first, pointed at the Yu siblings standing to the side, and said to the clerk who was selling: “These two customers want to look at interesting small items.”
One of the clerks who had just fetched something for a customer glanced at the two of them, immediately turned to get a tray, arranged several small items on it, and handed it to the clerk who had squeezed in, saying: “These all came out new before Spring Festival. See if the young master and miss like any of them? If not, I’ll help fetch more.”
The clerk thanked him, took the tray and squeezed out from behind the counter, saying politely to the two: “Young Master and Miss, please see if you like any of these. These items also have matching tiered boxes, brush and ink boxes…”
Yu Yuan looked closely and saw that the tray held several rouge boxes, lip balm boxes, and such made with the “inlaid mother-of-pearl with backing colors” craft—all exquisite and delicate items with lustrous jewel-like qualities, very suitable for use by boudoir ladies.
He picked them up to examine them carefully.
Yu Tang only glanced once and looked no more.
In her previous life, thanks to the Li family, she had seen hundred-treasure inlay pieces made by the Imperial Workshop. The Sheng family’s inlaid mother-of-pearl with backing colors didn’t dazzle her as much.
She was observing the shop’s customers and clerks.
There were many clerks—almost every customer could be attended to. Those who couldn’t be attended to could still get a response as soon as they asked. Although the shop had many customers and was especially busy, no customers were dissatisfied.
The variety of goods in the shop was particularly abundant—from small boxes for holding gold trinkets to twelve-panel screens. The designs were also particularly numerous. Besides traditional ones like the Immortal Magu’s Birthday Celebration, there were also new-style Four Gentlemen of plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum. Like paintings, they had large amounts of blank space, but there were also very complex designs with no discernible symbolic meaning—like the box in her eldest cousin’s hand imitating hundred-treasure inlay, inlaid with various kinds of pearl beads that presented seven-colored brilliance under the light.
This was not a shop that could be casually imitated.
When Yu Tang and Yu Yuan squeezed out of the shop without buying anything, the young clerk still saw them out as thoughtfully as when he had welcomed them in. He also introduced himself by name, telling them to look for him when they came next time. If they weren’t satisfied with anything in the shop, items could also be custom-made according to their requirements.
Yu Yuan smiled and thanked the young clerk, then headed with Yu Tang toward the Gu family shop. Only after leaving the Sheng family shop far behind did he smile bitterly at Yu Tang: “Now you know why I was dejected, right? Sigh, if our family shop could have one-fifth—no, one-tenth—of this shop’s business, I’d be satisfied.”
Yu Tang smiled and encouraged Yu Yuan: “We’ll take it slowly. Is theirs the only lacquerware shop in all of Hangzhou? Changsheng is Hangzhou’s largest silk and satin shop—does that mean besides Changsheng, all other silk and satin shops have no business?”
Yu Yuan sighed: “When there’s always someone pressing down on you, no matter how much effort you expend you can’t catch up, you can only forever chase after others’ heels—what pleasure can there be in that?”
Yu Tang laughed heartily and encouraged her eldest cousin: “Should we try to see if we can create a lacquerware shop even better than the Sheng family’s?”
Yu Yuan hesitated for a moment.
Yu Tang perked up, assuming an enthusiastic manner and said loudly: “Come on, let’s go see what other lacquerware shops are selling!”
Seeing Yu Tang’s smile as brilliant as summer flowers, Yu Yuan’s mood improved considerably. He smiled and said: “We should still go to the Gu family shop first, shouldn’t we? I heard from Miss Gu’s milk brother that the Gu family has especially many social obligations during New Year. His mother doesn’t leave the household during New Year. If we want to encounter Miss Gu’s wet nurse, we need to seize the time. If we don’t encounter her today, we can only wait until after New Year.”
Yu Tang had rushed to the Gu family before Minor New Year to speak about the Li family matter precisely because she wanted both families to have no peace during New Year. If they waited until after New Year, what meaning would it have?
“Words need not be many—as long as they’re useful,” Yu Tang said dismissively, waving her hand. “We still have all afternoon, don’t we? Let’s first browse the lacquerware shops in Hangzhou and see what those shops sell. Which designs sell best.”
This would take too much time.
Moreover, the Sheng family lacquerware shop’s booming business had dealt Yu Yuan quite a blow.
“It’s as if all that lacquerware costs nothing,” he still muttered quietly, unable to let it go.
Yu Tang just laughed and pulled her brother into a lacquerware shop not far from the Sheng family’s.
The shop only had five or six scattered customers, and the young clerks were also listless and spiritless.
Yu Tang looked carefully. This lacquerware shop sold a little of every kind of craft, all traditional designs.
The Yu siblings visited several more lacquerware shops in succession. Yu Tang gradually formed some impressions. By this time, it was the noon meal hour. If Yu Yuan and the others went to Yao San’er’s shop now, Yao San’er would certainly invite them to lunch. Although Yao San’er’s business was decent, it could only support his family. Yu Yuan was too embarrassed to impose further. Thinking that it was rare for Yu Tang to come out with him, he might as well take her to a restaurant.
After thinking, he took Yu Tang to a small alley and found a small noodle shop with only seven or eight tables but a large crowd waiting outside. He said to Yu Tang: “Don’t let the small size of this noodle shop fool you—it’s quite famous. It’s been here for several generations already. Last time I came to Hangzhou, Yao San’er brought me to eat here. Their most famous dish is bamboo shoot noodles. Try it and see if it suits your taste.”
From childhood, Yu Tang had loved going out. Like all children, she always felt things outside tasted better than at home. Although she had grown up now, in her previous life she had been confined in the Li family for six or seven years. Not only had this nature not changed with age, she had grown to like going out even more.
She followed Yu Yuan with a smile and waited quite a while before getting two seats.
Yu Yuan very skillfully ordered two bowls of bamboo shoot noodles, then spoke quietly with Yu Tang about the lacquerware shop matter: “I’m thinking that after New Year, I’ll come live in Hangzhou for a while and just stay near their shop watching what they sell every day…”
Though this method was clumsy, it was very practical.
But her brother was getting married in March next year. Would he really leave his new bride alone and run off to Hangzhou?
Yu Tang felt this was somewhat unrealistic. Just as she was about to advise Yu Yuan, she heard a familiar voice: “Boss, how much longer do we have to wait?”
She looked up and saw a young man dressed as a seventeen or eighteen-year-old shop clerk supporting a woman who looked only in her early thirties, with a round face and large eyes, appearing very amiable, standing at the noodle shop entrance.
This truly was finding something without effort.
They had actually encountered Gu Xi’s wet nurse and her milk brother at this small noodle shop.
Even more coincidentally, the couple sitting across from them had just finished eating and were about to get up to settle the bill.
Yu Tang immediately tugged on Yu Yuan’s sleeve.
Yu Yuan thought Yu Tang wanted to tell him something, but when he looked up, he saw Gu Xi’s milk brother. His heart stirred, and he waved at Gu Xi’s milk brother: “Brother Gu, over here!”
Just as if the two of them were together with Gu Xi’s milk brother, and they had come ahead to secure seats.