Zhi Wan had no idea what happened at Lan Courtyard after she left.
She and Shuang’er left the Duke Dingguo Mansion and went straight to He Xu Bookstore.
Just as Ouyang Zhenzhu had said, the mont the bookstore’s manager saw her, he warmly invited her into a private room and even served fine tea.
Being out and about, Zhi Wan didn’t dare to casually drink tea served by others.
This held true even for Manager Jin, who seed very kind and was a business partner.
She didn’t drink the tea. Instead, she took the paintings from Shuang’er’s hands and gave them to Manager Jin.
"These are what I’ve painted over the past few days. Please, take a look."
Manager Jin’s eyes lit up. He imdiately took them, but then, rembering sothing, he handed a picture album to her.
"These are from the paintings you sold us last ti. We’ve already made them into a picture album, and we started selling it in the last couple of days."
Hearing this, Zhi Wan imdiately took it.
She opened it and saw that they were, indeed, all her own work.
Seeing her own art made into an exquisite picture album, Zhi Wan felt thrilled and delighted.
She looked through it several tis, unable to put it down.
Manager Jin had finally finished looking at the paintings she’d submitted and was very satisfied. Seeing how much she loved the album, he said, "Since you like it so much, Miss, please accept this album as a gift."
"Thank you, Manager Jin." Zhi Wan didn’t refuse and handed the album to Shuang’er to hold.
Manager Jin smiled. "The paintings you’ve brought this ti are also very good. It’s just that two of them look a bit similar, a little repetitive." As he spoke, he pulled out two paintings from the stack and handed them to Zhi Wan.
Zhi Wan took them and looked. Seeing that they were indeed a bit redundant, she said apologetically, "In that case, I’ll take these two back."
"You gave a total of twenty paintings this ti. Without those two, that leaves eighteen. We can use the sa price as last ti, ten taels a piece, for a total of one hundred and eighty taels. What do you think?" Manager Jin asked politely.
At his words, a thought struck Zhi Wan.
’Although Manager Jin hasn’t said how the picture album has been selling these past two days, I can guess from his enthusiastic attitude that it must be doing well.’
’On top of that, he even asked for my opinion on the price.’
’It seems my paintings have brought the bookstore a considerable profit.’
After mulling it over, she didn’t answer directly. Instead, she asked, "I was wondering, how has the picture album been selling these past two days?"
Manager Jin stroked his short beard, a aningful smile on his face. "It’s selling quite well. So, Miss, you just keep painting. No matter how many you bring, we at He Xu Bookstore will take them."
Hearing this, Zhi Wan was genuinely curious and couldn’t help but ask, "Aside from making my art into picture albums, does the bookstore use them for anything else?"
"For now, they’re only being made into picture albums." Manager Jin’s eyes flickered. Seeing her curiosity, he added, "At our bookstore, these types of albums are in high demand. Comic strips sell very well too. If you’re interested in comic strips, Miss, you could also draw so to sell to us."
Zhi Wan knew he was hiding sothing from her, but she didn’t pay it much mind.
’In any case, I haven’t revealed my identity. If any trouble cos of this, I’ll just find another bookstore.’
With that in mind, she said, "Since you say my picture album is selling well, Manager Jin, then my paynt should rightfully increase as well."
Manager Jin agreed readily. "I’ll raise the price by ten taels of silver per painting. For eighteen paintings, that cos to three hundred and sixty taels."
Zhi Wan suppressed her shock and forced herself to remain calm. "Then I’ll trouble you to settle the bill, Manager Jin."
After she took the silver and left, an assistant said, perplexed, "Manager, even if you hadn’t raised the price, that young lady probably wouldn’t have asked for it herself."
Manager Jin shot him a look. "What do you know?"
’While the picture album sells well in the bookstore, the lion’s share of the profit cos from the reward given by that noble patron.’
’That patron has always loved these kinds of picture albums, and the works of the bookstore’s previous painter no longer satisfy her. Now that a skilled painter who can create things the patron adores has finally co along, how could I not do my best to keep her?’
’You have to understand, every ti I deliver a new album to the patron, she gives a hefty reward. This ti, it was even more—higher than the bookstore’s profits for an entire month.’
That was why he didn’t feel the slightest bit of pain in raising the painter’s price.
Compared to the main prize, that little bit of money was truly nothing.
Shuang’er had followed Zhi Wan for a good distance away from the bookstore, but she was still in a daze.
Her lady’s paintings had sold for twenty taels of silver each.
"My Lady, I... I’m not dreaming, am I?" she mumbled.
It wasn’t just her; Zhi Wan also felt as if she were in a dream.
She hadn’t expected Manager Jin to actually raise her price, and by a whole ten taels at that.
But the fact that Manager Jin had agreed so readily showed that the profit her albums brought him was far greater than she had imagined.
She wasn’t envious, though.
’After all, that’s his skill. He has to be making good money himself to be willing to pay so much.’
Including the one hundred taels from last ti, she had now earned a total of four hundred and sixty taels just from selling her paintings.
After the initial excitent, she cald down.
Seeing her maid still in a daze, she said with amusent, "Let pinch you. If you feel pain, then it’s not a dream." With that, she really did pinch Shuang’er’s arm.
She didn’t use much force, so it was just a slight sting.
Shuang’er felt the sting and imdiately snapped out of it, exclaiming happily, "My Lady, I’m really not dreaming! You’re so capable, My Lady!"
Zhi Wan was also very happy. She took her hand and said, "Let’s go for a walk."
"Okay," Shuang’er agreed cheerfully.
As they passed a shop, she saw that it had been completely cleared out, with a "For Lease" sign pasted on the door.
A thought struck Zhi Wan, and she stopped in her tracks.
’This business of painting for the bookstore is sothing I can’t let others find out about, not even my aunt.’
’I’m afraid my aunt would think it’s improper.’
’Now that I have money, I can’t keep accepting silver from my aunt. That ans I need a legitimate source of inco.’
’Opening a shop is a great way to do that.’
Thinking this, she led Shuang’er over.
The owner happened to be inside. Seeing soone looking at the shop, he imdiately ca forward with enthusiasm.
"Are you looking to rent the shop, Miss?"
"We’re just browsing," Zhi Wan said, glancing inside.
The shop wasn’t large, but it ca with a courtyard in the back.
"If you’re interested, Miss, please co in and have a look," the owner urged with extra enthusiasm.
Zhi Wan saw several n moving things inside, so after a mont’s thought, she politely declined. "I’ll co back with my elder brother to look at it tomorrow."
The owner looked a little disappointed to hear that but still nodded eagerly. "Then you must co tomorrow, Miss. I’ll be waiting for you in the shop."
Zhi Wan gave a noncommittal nod and pulled Shuang’er away.
Once the owner had gone back inside, Zhi Wan walked over to a nearby stall and asked, "Ma’am, I’d like to ask, why did that shop go out of business?"
The old woman glanced at the shop. Seeing the owner wasn’t there, she lowered her voice. "That shop isn’t clean. Soone died in there. Why are you asking about it, Miss?"
Zhi Wan was startled. When she tried to ask for more details, the old woman clamd up.
Zhi Wan had no choice but to leave with Shuang’er for the ti being.
Back at the mansion, it suddenly occurred to her, ’As for whether soone really died in that shop... I can find out just by asking my cousin.’
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