"Can't sell them…"
As dawn broke, Nie Yunzhu sat on the steps in front of the small building, resting her chin on her hand with a hint of frustration.
"A few days ago, I went to talk to the managers of some nearby restaurants, just like Master Ning suggested. But they said nobody has ever eaten these before, and the price is too high, so they wouldn't let me sell them at their counters."
In these times, production was still limited. Basic food items like rice, flour, and grains were seen as necessities and were relatively inexpensive, while meat and eggs were more expensive. By comparison, if a two-wen pancake could be viewed as equivalent to one Chinese yuan, a ten-wen salted egg would be about five yuan, and under Ning Yi's suggestion, the century eggs were priced at twenty wen—already approaching luxury status. In these years, when even moderately well-off families ate meat and eggs only occasionally, such items were naturally hard to sell.
Of course, there were still many wealthy people in Jiangning. In the context of the brothels, a popular girl could fetch three guan—equivalent to three taels of silver or three thousand wen—for a night of singing and dancing, with another three guan for a bed visit, totaling nine guan or four thousand five hundred wen for a single encounter. The prices for selling one's body were extreme exceptions; for those who didn't sell themselves—like Yuan Jiner, Lu Caicai, Qilan, and once Nie Yunzhu herself—there were even fewer limits on pricing. With a large crowd willing to spend money, if you were stingy, you wouldn't even get in the door; and if you got in but were still stingy, you'd naturally be ignored next time. Just like Su Tan'er's group of friends, who every time extracted dozens of taels of silver from her. In a normal family, that was a huge sum, but to show off and call a group of friends for a good time, it was just a matter of one or two occasions.
Those willing to spend nine thousand wen on a girl might not want to buy a twenty-wen century egg from a roadside stall, but at least it proved that there was still purchasing power in Jiangning.
To sell the century eggs at twenty wen each, they would need to target some nearby higher-end establishments, famous tea houses and restaurants, to help with consignment sales. But this was a new product; if you told them you were selling eggs for twenty wen each and asked for their help, they weren't in the charity business. Nie Yunzhu had various talents and was considered a talented beauty, but those skills didn't translate into concrete business acumen. The proposal to consign the twenty-wen salted eggs didn't succeed. Two restaurant managers hardly talked to her, and one, seeing she was pretty yet selling pancakes, tried to get a little too familiar, so she simply walked away.
For Nie Yunzhu, who was determined to shed her previous identity and earn a living like an ordinary person, this was naturally a setback. However, she was also quite stubborn. Most people would reconsider selling the century eggs after such an experience, but she showed no signs of such a plan. Ning Yi, meanwhile, was running around, sweating profusely, playing with a coin in his hand, and then smiled, saying, "Speaking of which, I recently made a bet that we'd sell those century eggs within a month."
"Sell them?"
"Yeah, at least twenty or thirty a day."
"...Uh." Nie Yunzhu thought for a moment and then laughed, "I'll work hard to sell thirty of them! Actually... maybe I could consign some to Jinfeng Tower..."
Nie Yunzhu clearly hesitated for a while before saying this. Her thoughts differed significantly from Ning Yi's. To her, Ning Yi was a kind-hearted, unique, humorous genius, but he seemed to have nothing to do with business. He invented these century eggs and asked for her help to sell them, perhaps because he boasted a bit, which was natural. If she couldn't sell many, he would lose face. Unless absolutely necessary, she probably wouldn't consider Jinfeng Tower again. Although the proprietress there had kept her word and didn't pressure her, one couldn't say she was truly kind-hearted. It was tough to repay favors, but regardless, using that connection was probably the only option she could think of at the moment.
When Ning Yi heard her mention Jinfeng Tower, he paused slightly before understanding, "No need for that." He shook his head and pointed to the small shelter where the cart was parked. "Let's wrap things up early today and pack the cart. It's too simple like this to sell at twenty wen."
"Wrap?"
"Uh... just decorate it a bit."
Nie Yunzhu nodded, her eyes showing confusion but indicating she understood...
At noon, after school, Ning Yi went to the market for lunch, then bought various paints, brushes of different sizes, and tools before heading over to Nie Yunzhu. It was only then that she realized what he was planning to do. In the afternoon, after cleaning the little cart, Ning Yi used chalk to create a simple composition. After pondering for a while, he sat on a low stool and began to paint.
At this time, Nie Yunzhu couldn't help much, occasionally squatting nearby to watch. When she returned to her room and saw Hu Tao, Hu Tao said, "Is Master Ning planning to paint on the cart to sell century eggs?"
"It seems so."
"But can paint create good artwork..."
"Many lacquerware items are painted, after all. Master Ning... must have some experience in this area..."
Nie Yunzhu was somewhat worried. While playing the guqin, chess, calligraphy, and painting were all refined arts, whether Ning Yi was skilled or not in painting was another matter. However, given his current reputation, painting on a small cart just to sell century eggs could lead to criticism if people found out. The better he painted, the greater the risk.
On another note, Hu Tao was feeling down as well. She had been increasingly worried about her mistress. Ever since the Lantern Festival when she confirmed that the Ning Yi who was involved with her mistress was indeed the top scholar with real talent, her anxiety had grown. Although she hoped for an early marriage between the two, she couldn't feel at ease with her mistress's lack of a stable future. Now that her mistress seemed to have feelings for him, what would that lead to? As her mistress had said: it's not something that can happen.
The other party was a son-in-law, and even if her mistress liked him, it wouldn't result in anything. The higher his talent, the deeper her mistress might fall, making it harder for her to like anyone else. The Su family was powerful; if his wife ever found out, what could they do? The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became.
At one point, Ning Yi called Nie Yunzhu out to ask whether the stall should be named "Nie Ji" or "Zhu Ji." After some thought, she chose "Zhu Ji."
By evening, the sunset cast its glow over the bend of the Qinhuai River, and the cart's decorations were finally complete. When Nie Yunzhu went to look, she was left speechless: the painting style was unlike anything she had ever seen!
It wasn't that the painting was bad; it was simply too good, too extraordinary. The composition on the cart was three-dimensional.
With the availability of paints, various patterns and styles could be created, either delicate or bold. However, the little cart before her was absolutely one of a kind in this era. The painting was simple—just a few bamboo stalks representing a corner of a bamboo forest after the rain, shrouded in mist, alongside a depiction of a century egg cut into four pieces. It wasn't particularly lifelike. The words "Zhu Ji Century Eggs" floated within the scene—yet the painting was three-dimensional.
For Ning Yi, it was merely a simple technique: controlling the uneven proportions of different parts of the painting to create the effect of the bamboo forest emerging into view. The five characters "Zhu Ji Century Eggs" combined with the floating shadows created a sense of falling or drifting in the mist. However, the century egg was painted rather poorly, so he could only make it look as attractive as possible. Since mixing paints could blur the edges, Ning Yi carefully added clear black lines along the edges of the different patterns, enhancing the contrast and three-dimensional effect. If this little cart was taken out, it would definitely catch the attention of passersby immediately. Moreover, it was unlike mainstream paintings; onlookers would think it was just a merchant's clever idea, rather than a carefully crafted piece by a talented scholar.
Given the limited conditions, Ning Yi was overall satisfied with the result, especially seeing the astonished expression on her face. Remembering Ning Yi's eccentric taste in music, Nie Yunzhu remarked, "Liheng's painting style is indeed... uh, so peculiar. This style is something I've never seen before, almost like it's growing out of the cart's wall..."
When it came to paintings, if one took a more realistic approach, the initial impact would be quite simple. This was different from musical taste. Nie Yunzhu almost reached out to touch the bamboo stalks when Ning Yi chuckled and stopped her, then pointed to the rain canopy above.
"The paint isn't dry yet, so don't touch it. The rain canopy should be changed too; I'll go buy a new one tomorrow. The paint won't dry for the next few days, so you can't sell anything. Uh... we need to prepare some things—pretty bowls and dishes, various sauces and seasonings, vinegar, tofu, and diverse ways to eat them. They should look clean and beautiful; hmm, that's the first step..." Ning Yi calculated. "Once we get these done, we can tackle those stubborn restaurant issues..."
In the following afternoons, everything proceeded step by step: beautiful bowls and dishes were prepared, and various sauces were purchased to complement different ways of eating. Ning Yi came by every afternoon, and Nie Yunzhu appeared happy, though Hu Tao remained upset. At night, she complained to her mistress, "Mistress, purchasing those things isn't worth it at all..."
Ning Yi chose beautiful bowls and dishes, which seemed impractical and expensive in the eyes of ordinary people. Although he covered half the cost, claiming it was an investment, Hu Tao felt this was meaningless. Their household finances were already tight; if they saved a bit, the mistress could use the money for quite some time. However, with this approach, it seemed like Ning Yi was thoughtlessly wasting money, and the mistress was reluctant to refuse, simply going along with it. What would happen when Ning Yi didn't care about wasting money? Wouldn't that mean depleting their entire fortune?
"If you ask me, Master Ning must have remarkable talent; that much is undeniable. But he might not understand business. We're only setting up a small stall, so why complicate things? Mistress, you can't indulge his foolishness! We can't afford to be reckless…"
"Master Ning is truly talented. Since he's so confident, I believe in him. Until the end, how can you say he won't find a way?" Nie Yunzhu didn't feel entirely confident either, but she could only say this to Hu Tao.
"How many talented people has the mistress seen?" Hu Tao countered. "Talent is one thing, but doing business is another. Those talented individuals can end up gambling their fortunes away, leaving them with nothing. Although I don't know much, I've seen enough. Many stall owners end up like this; it's not the same as those big restaurants or brothels. Mistress, that Ning Yi is marrying into a merchant family. I've heard his wife is very capable in the Su family; perhaps he's just taking out his frustrations on you, using you as an experiment…"
"Enough!" Nie Yunzhu's gaze hardened as she interrupted Hu Tao.
Hu Tao stood there, biting her lip for a long time, tears rolling down her cheeks. Finally, she bit her teeth and choked out, "You know you can't marry Master Ning. If you could, I wouldn't say anything…"
After this was said, the room fell silent for a long time. Nie Yunzhu sat on the edge of the bed, leaning against the bed frame. Her gaze shifted occasionally, and after a long while, the flickering light cast shadows. She closed her eyes tightly and then opened them again with a slight smile.
"Hu Tao, you should go to bed too. It's getting late…"