After leaving the restaurant, Wang Jin did not return directly. Instead, he strolled through the bustling commercial district, paying special attention to the shops whose business was particularly poor.
Fireworks could earn him his first pot of gold, but to have a steady long-term income, he needed his own shop.
These struggling shops included cloth stores, accessory stores, and cosmetics shops. Even though they were located in the city's most prosperous area, their business was even slower than shops at the city gates.
After visiting a few, Wang Jin discovered the issues: the goods were either too expensive, the styles too old-fashioned, overly exaggerated and impractical, or sometimes the service was just terrible—he was even scared off before entering by some fierce-looking beastmen.
Some of these shops were already planning to close down, with "For Rent" notices posted at their doors.
Seeing those notices, Wang Jin's mind became active.
Although the things he previously made in the Danmu Tribe had similar or even better-quality counterparts here in Ning'an City, Wang Jin noticed the costs were much higher here. He could completely take what he made before and sell it at lower prices to the poorer beastmen and gers...
Furthermore, to make high-quality goods, his ability to grasp the formula just by looking at something allowed him to learn any craft. Plus, he had many ideas from his previous life in his head, all of which could be put to use...
However, what he lacked most now was... people.
In the Danmu Tribe, he had Mu ger and others to help him. In Ning'an City, only Uncle Shan was available for use.
Wang Jin looked back at the two gers closely following him. These two gers were found by Uncle Shan, one was called Xiao Yu, the other Xiao Pei. According to Uncle Shan, they were orphans who had suffered a lot, always working as domestic servants for others, and were very loyal. During their time with him, they had indeed been very well-behaved and knew their place...
Wang Jin thought for a moment, then turned to look at them and asked, "You two... has either of you ever worked in a shop?"
Xiao Yu, upon hearing this, replied softly, "I once helped the shopkeeper mind the store at a cosmetics shop."
"So, you know how to handle money and keep accounts?" Wang Jin asked.
"I know a little," Xiao Yu replied.
Wang Jin turned to look at Xiao Pei. "And you?"
Xiao Pei shook his head, replying somewhat sheepishly, "Young master, I've always done jobs involving close personal service... I haven't done anything else."
"In that case..." Wang Jin looked at the rental notice, then glanced at the two of them, finally settling his gaze on Xiao Yu. "Xiao Yu, go and rent that shop for me at the lowest possible price."
"Yes," Xiao Yu acknowledged.
Wang Jin took Xiao Pei and went back to the pavilion first. When he returned, Yuan Heng was still in the small courtyard and hadn't gone out. He brought him some food, but Yuan Heng was constantly busy. Remembering their prior agreement to prepare a gift for City Lord Xi Ning, Wang Jin didn't disturb him much.
Instead, he summoned Uncle Shan, provided him with a copy of the personnel roster for the pavilion, and began discussing which people could be effectively assigned to tasks.
Uncle Shan set aside the people currently assigned to the pavilion and selected seven available people from the remaining personnel. This group included both Xiao Yu and Xiao Pei.
Three were beastmen named Zhang Wei, Yu Sheng, and Li Hao. The other two were gers, A-Shan and A-Lian.
These people had all performed exceptionally well these past few days.
Wang Jin silently memorized the list of these people.
Soon after, Xiao Yu returned with the shop lease agreement. Apart from the lease, the remaining goods in the shop were also bought by Xiao Yu, who found them to be a bargain.
Wang Jin went with Xiao Yu to take a look.
The rented shop was a fabric store. The fabrics had old-fashioned patterns and dull colors. Originally, they were too expensive for anyone to buy, and later, even after price reductions, not many people bought them.
"Young... young master, did Xiao Yu act too presumptuously? Should I not have bought these fabrics?"
Seeing Wang Jin walk around the shop, his delicate, slender fingers touching bolt of cloth after bolt of cloth without saying anything, Xiao Yu felt a bit nervous.
Hearing this, Wang Jin quickly waved his hand. "No, you did very well."
Selling these fabrics directly would surely not fetch a high price, but if they were made into clothes, that would be a different story.
"Xiao Yu, who in the city is the best at making clothes?" Wang Jin asked.
"In terms of clothes-making, aside from the masters in the various city shops, Xiao Pei is quite skilled," Xiao Yu said.
"?" Wang Jin was surprised. "Didn't Xiao Pei say he only knows how to provide close personal service?"
"That's right. Xiao Pei has always taken care of young masters in the city. Those ger young masters are all beauty-loving, often they can't wait for the outside tailors to make and deliver the clothing styles, so they have their personal attendant gers make them. Some wealthy young masters even send their personal attendant gers to specially learn this skill. The family Xiao Pei served before specifically sent him to learn it. It's just that later that family fell into decline, so Xiao Pei was bought back by Uncle Shan."
"!" Wang Jin's eyes widened in surprise. There was such a thing? They were even more versatile than the personal attendants from his previous life.
"Alright then, let's take one bolt back with us to test Xiao Pei's skills."
Wang Jin randomly picked one bolt of cloth, took Xiao Yu, and returned home. He then tossed this bolt of cloth to Xiao Pei, telling him to make one garment he was most skilled at.
Xiao Pei accepted the task, but said it would take a few days.
Wang Jin suddenly found himself with free time and realized it was already dark. Yuan Heng was still in the small courtyard and hadn't come out. Wang Jin brought some food and went in. He was still fiddling with those stones.
Seeing Wang Jin enter with food, he quickly washed his hands and led Wang Jin out, saying, "You've never liked it in here. Don't come in. Let's go out to eat."
"Mm." Wang Jin glanced inside. A large furnace had been set up there. The man had clearly remembered the method he mentioned before.
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