Chapter 45: Small Cart

"They're not selling..."

Before dawn, Nie Yunzhu sat on the steps in front of the small building, resting her chin in her hand, and said with some distress.

"A few days ago, just as Young Master Ning suggested, I went to see some managers at nearby restaurants," she explained. "But they said no one had eaten this before, and it was too expensive, so they wouldn't display it on their counters."

After all, productivity was low in those days. Staple foods like rice and grains were seen as mere sustenance and were relatively cheap. Meat and eggs, however, were quite expensive. Proportionally, if a pancake costing two copper coins could be considered one Renminbi yuan, then a salted duck egg at ten copper coins was equivalent to five yuan each. The preserved duck eggs, sold at twenty copper coins each on Ning Yi's suggestion, were almost a luxury item. In an era when even moderately prosperous families only ate meat and eggs occasionally, such items were naturally difficult to sell.

Of course, there were still many wealthy people in Jiangning. In the pleasure quarters, a popular courtesan might charge three *guan* (three taels of silver or three thousand copper coins) just for entry, another three *guan* for singing, dancing, and playing music, and three more *guan* for spending the night. This amounted to a total of nine *guan* for one session, or forty-five hundred yuan. Courtesans who charged even more for their services were extreme exceptions. For those who did not offer such services, like Yuan Jin'er, Lu Caicai, Qilan, and formerly Nie Yunzhu, the price was even higher and unlimited. A large number of people were always willing to throw money around; if you were stingy, you wouldn't even get in, and if you were still stingy once inside, they naturally wouldn't bother with you next time. It was like how Su Tan'er's brothers would extort dozens of taels of silver from her each time—an enormous sum for an ordinary family—yet to truly show off and entertain a group of dissolute friends, it would only last for one or two occasions.

People willing to spend nine thousand copper coins on a courtesan might not be willing to eat a twenty-copper-coin preserved duck egg from a street vendor. But it at least proved that such purchasing power existed in Jiangning.

To sell them at twenty copper coins, she needed to find some upscale places nearby, famous teahouses and restaurants, and ask them to sell on consignment. But this was, after all, a new product. If she said, "I'm selling an egg for twenty copper coins, please help," people weren't running a charity. Nie Yunzhu was naturally gifted in various arts and was beautiful and talented, but these skills were useless when it came to a serious business discussion. Consignment for these twenty-copper-coin preserved duck eggs did not materialize. Two restaurant managers didn't even bother to talk to her much. Another, seeing that she was beautiful but selling pancakes, tried to make advances, so she simply walked away.

For Nie Yunzhu, who was determined to shed her former identity and live a life earning money like an ordinary person, this was naturally a blow. However, she was stubborn; an ordinary person encountering such difficulties might have considered stopping selling preserved duck eggs, but she showed no such inclination. At this moment, Ning Yi arrived, sweating profusely from his run, idly flipping a copper coin in his hand. He then smiled and said, "Speaking of which, I recently made a bet with someone that these preserved duck eggs would sell well within a month."

"Sell well?"

"Yes, at least twenty or thirty a day."

"Uh..." Nie Yunzhu thought for a moment, then smiled. "I'll try my best to sell thirty! Actually... maybe I could consign a batch to Jinfeng Tower..."

Nie Yunzhu had clearly hesitated for a while before saying this. What she was thinking at the moment was clearly different from what Ning Yi had in mind. In her opinion, Ning Yi was a good-natured, unconventional, humorous, and highly talented scholar, but he likely had no connection to business. Now that he had invented these preserved duck eggs and asked her to help sell them, perhaps he had boasted to someone, which was only natural. If she couldn't sell enough, he would lose face. If there were truly no other options, she probably wouldn't have considered Jinfeng Tower again. Although the madam of the tower had honored their agreement and not pressured her further, she wasn't necessarily a kind person. Owing a favor was difficult to repay, but regardless, utilizing such a connection was probably the only method she could think of at the moment.

Ning Yi paused slightly when she mentioned Jinfeng Tower, then understood. "There's no need for that." He shook his head, then pointed to the shed where the cart was parked. "Let's close up early this afternoon and 'package' the cart. Its current appearance is too simple; it won't sell for twenty copper coins."

"Package?"

"Uh... just decorate it a bit."

Nie Yunzhu nodded, her eyes still showing a hint of confusion, but indicating understanding.

By noon, after school, Ning Yi went to the market to eat. He then bought various paints, different sized brushes, and headed back to Nie Yunzhu's place. Only then did she realize what he intended to do. That afternoon, after the cart was cleaned, Ning Yi sketched a simple composition with chalk. After contemplating for a while, he brought over a small stool and began to paint.

Nie Yunzhu couldn't help at this point; she just occasionally squatted nearby to watch for a while. When she returned to her room and saw Hutao, Hutao said, "Is Young Master Ning planning to paint on the cart to sell preserved duck eggs?"

"I suppose so."

"But can good paintings be made with lacquer...?"

"Many lacquerware pieces are also painted with lacquer. Young Master Ning... he must have some knowledge of this art..."

Nie Yunzhu was actually a little worried. The arts of qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting were refined pursuits. Whether Ning Yi's painting skills were excellent was one thing. But given his current reputation, painting on such a small cart merely to sell preserved duck eggs—if word got out, it might invite criticism. The better the painting, the greater the risk.

On the other hand, Hutao's mood was also poor; she had been increasingly worried about her mistress recently. Ever since the Lantern Festival, when it was confirmed that the Ning Yi interacting with her mistress was indeed the foremost scholar and truly talented, her worries had grown day by day. For her, while she certainly wished to marry Er Niu soon, she couldn't feel at ease as long as her mistress had no stable future. Now her mistress seemed to have developed feelings for this man, but what good was that? As her mistress herself said: he was unmarriable.

His status was that of a live-in son-in-law, so even if her mistress liked him, it would lead nowhere. The more talented he was, the deeper her mistress might fall, making it impossible for her to like anyone else. The Su family was powerful and influential. If his wife ever found out and came knocking, what would they do? Thinking this, she grew even more anxious.

At one point, Ning Yi called Nie Yunzhu out and asked her whether the stall should be called "Nie's" or "Zhu's." Nie Yunzhu thought for a moment and chose "Zhu's."

By evening, the sunset glow shone from a bend in the Qinhuai River. The decoration of the cart was finally complete. When Nie Yunzhu went to see it, she was somewhat stunned: she had never seen a painting style like this!

It wasn't that the painting was bad; it was too good, too bizarre. The composition of the painting on the cart was three-dimensional.

In those days, with lacquer available, various styles of lacquerware patterns naturally existed, either delicate or bold. However, the cart before her was absolutely unique for its time. The painting itself was simple: just a few bamboo stalks symbolizing a corner of a bamboo forest after rain, hidden in a mist. On one side, a preserved duck egg cut into four sections was depicted, though it wasn't particularly lifelike. The characters "Zhu's Preserved Duck Eggs" seemed to float on the image—yet the painting was three-dimensional.

For Ning Yi, it was a simple technique: controlling the uneven proportions of various parts of the painting to create the effect of a bamboo forest extending into view. The five characters "Zhu's Preserved Duck Eggs," accompanied by floating shadows, gave the impression of falling or drifting through mist. Only the preserved duck egg itself was painted rather poorly; he couldn't immediately find beautiful and fitting colors for it, so he could only make it look as pretty as possible. Since mixing paints could make them appear blurry, Ning Yi carefully added clear black lines around the edges of several different patterns, which, paradoxically, created an even more striking contrast and three-dimensional effect. If this cart were pushed out, it would certainly catch passersby's eyes immediately. Furthermore, unlike mainstream paintings, others would merely think it was a clever trick devised by a merchant, rather than a meticulously drawn masterpiece by some scholar.

Given the limited conditions, but seeing her surprised expression, Ning Yi was generally satisfied with the result. Perhaps recalling Ning Yi's eccentric taste in music, Nie Yunzhu said, "Liheng, your painting is also... uh, so strange. This style, Yunzhu has never seen it before. It's almost as if it's growing out from the cart's surface..."

When it comes to painting, if one takes a more realistic style, the initial visual impact is straightforward. This differs from musical taste. Nie Yunzhu almost reached out to touch the pillar, but Ning Yi stopped her with a smile, then pointed to the rain canopy above.

"The paint isn't dry; don't touch it. The canopy above needs to be replaced; I'll buy a new one tomorrow. For the next few days, while the paint dries, you won't be able to do business, so... we need to prepare some things: beautiful small bowls and plates, various sauces and condiments, vinegar, tofu. There will be many ways to eat them, and everything needs to look clean and pretty. This is the first step..." Ning Yi calculated, "Once these things are done, we'll address the issue of those stubborn restaurants..."

For the next few afternoons, things proceeded systematically: beautiful bowls and plates were acquired, various sauces purchased, and different ways of eating prepared. Ning Yi came over every afternoon, and Nie Yunzhu seemed happy. Only Hutao was displeased. In the evening, she complained to her mistress, "Miss, buying those things isn't worth it at all..."

Ning Yi chose very beautiful bowls and plates, which, in the eyes of ordinary people, were not very practical and were expensive. Although Ning Yi paid for half of these items, calling it an investment, Hutao saw no meaning in it. Their household funds were already scarce; if they saved, her mistress could still manage for a good while. But now, it was as if Ning Yi was carelessly spending money as he pleased, and her mistress, unwilling to refuse, could only follow along. When Young Master Ning no longer cared about wasting money, what would her mistress do? Wouldn't she have spent her last penny?

"If you ask Hutao, Young Master Ning is certainly very talented; there's no denying that. But he might not understand business. We're just running a small stall; there's no need for so much fuss! Miss, you can't go along with his nonsense anymore! We can't afford to mess around like this..."

"Young Master Ning is a truly talented person. Since he's so confident, I naturally trust him. Until the very end, Hutao, how can you know he has no solution?" In truth, Nie Yunzhu wasn't entirely confident herself, but she could only say this to Hutao.

"Has my mistress seen few talented people?" Hutao retorted. "Talent is talent, and business is business. Haven't many talented people gambled away their fortunes and ended up penniless? Although Hutao doesn't understand much, I've seen a lot. All those small stalls on the street are like this, but big restaurants or pleasure houses are completely different. Miss, Young Master Ning married into a merchant family as a live-in son-in-law. I heard his wife is very capable in managing the Su family's affairs. Perhaps he just can't stomach his situation and is using you as an experiment..."

"Silence!" Nie Yunzhu's gaze sharpened, interrupting her.

Hutao stood there, pressing her lips together for a long time, tears rolling down from her eyes. Then she gritted her teeth and said, choking back sobs, "Miss, you know it too. You can't marry Young Master Ning. If you could, Hutao wouldn't say anything..."

After she finished speaking, the room remained silent for a long time. Nie Yunzhu sat on the edge of the bed, leaning against the bed frame, her gaze shifting occasionally. After a long while, as the lamp's shadow flickered, she finally closed her eyes tightly. "I know..." When she opened them again, she managed a faint smile.

"Hutao, you should go to sleep too. It's getting late..."