Chapter 63 Worries

  "Alright, you speak." Ya-Wen said. Upon hearing this, Ye Yu Qi's expectations rose a bit. This granddaughter of his had always been clever, maybe she could come up with something good.

  "You see, in the past, there were Master Huang and others, those old customers could still patronize our workshop. But now they're all gone, even if we find good jade carvers again, it would take a long time to accumulate customers and gradually expand the business. I think, with so many workshops and such fierce competition, it may take half a year, a year, or even longer. So, why don't we try a different approach and do something that others rarely do?"

  "What kind of business does nobody else do?" Ye Yuqi furrowed his brow, "What business?"

  "Grandfather, you've lived in Nanshan Town all your life. Look at these workshops, are they all carving jade into various pendants, bracelets, and hairpins? Are there any that carve jade into decorations?"

  "Carve jade into decorations?" Ye Yuqi's eyebrows still didn't relax, "There are, at Nie Family Workshop, they carve jade into jade bowls, vases, jade qilins, and jade xi wu. However, this kind of carving requires high-quality jade, with a large area and uniform color. Those jades aren't something we can afford. Even if you have the money, you still can't buy them, only workshops like Nie's can get that kind of good jade material."

  "No," said Ye Zhuo, "We'll buy the lowest quality jade with different colors, and then through design, we'll carve it into high mountain flowing water or flowers, birds, insects, and fish that have a holistic scenic beauty. Because the jade is of poor quality, the price won't be high. As long as the idea is ingenious, there should still be a market for it."

  Ye Yuqi's eyes lit up, looking at Ye Zhuo: "This idea is good." Ye Zhuo was now carving stones. The stone that originally had no interest became a very interesting object after being carved by her. Ye Yuqi believed that Ye Zhuo's design ability was absolutely not a problem.

  He thought it was more and more feasible, excitedly stood up and said: "I'll go out to find a piece of jade now. You try to think about it, see if you can come up with any wonderful ideas."

  "Then this jade carver..."

  "I'll just put it off for now, and the workshop won't open tomorrow. Since we have this idea, we need to carefully consider which jade carver to invite. We must find one who specializes in carving flowers, birds, insects, and fish. I'll spread the word when I buy the jade later and see if anyone is willing to come and apply for the job." He smiled complacently again, "Heh heh, when someone asks why the Jade Workshop isn't opening on time, I can tell them that Old Qian from the Langyuan Pavilion..." With that, he leaned on his cane and hurriedly walked out.

  Ye Yuqi has gone to work. Ye Zhuo naturally couldn't sit still either. She now deeply regrets that she started learning jade carving too late and can't help with the family business. If her craftsmanship were superb, would she still be controlled by Master Huang today? Would Grandfather have to run around looking for a jade carver? Indeed, one must stand on their own.

  Incense is to be split, but carving skills also need to be practiced. With both methods combined, this will achieve the greatest effect.

  Ye Zhuo returned to her room, picked up the stone on the table, and began carving it with a knife. She had basically mastered the basic techniques. Now she needed to grasp the "shape". Today, she wanted to carve this stone into a teacup.

  These stones are the leftover waste without jade from the jade carving, Ye Yuqi specifically bought them back for her to practice with, their hardness is the same as jade. Ye Zhuo's wrist strength is now sufficient, her knife rises and falls. Stone chips fall one after another, after a meal's worth of work, a tea cup has appeared in Ye Zhuo's hands.

  Ye Zhuo looked at his first work and smiled bitterly.

  This teacup is neither round nor square, its wall thickness is uneven, and it doesn't even have a handle, really ugly.

  However, even the best jade carvers have their skills honed step by step. Ye Zhuo had too many such learning experiences in her past life, so she didn't feel discouraged.

  She picked up another stone and started carving again.

  While outside, Autumn Moon and Autumn Chrysanthemum finished cleaning the yard and kitchen, then followed Zhao into the house to learn embroidery; Guan went to the backyard to tidy up the vegetable garden and feed the chickens. Everyone in the household had something to do, each doing their part to live a good life.

  At dinner time, Ye Yiqi returned with a piece of jade stone that was over a foot wide and spherical in shape. The quality of the jade was not good, with many impurities, low transparency, and no water head. Because of this, the jade stone did not cost much, only one or two silver coins.

  "The jade carver has been found." Ye Yuqi said with a smile as he handed the jade to Ye Zhuo, and then gave another good news.

  Ye Chou was taken aback: "So soon?"

  "Yes, it's really a coincidence. Didn't we have someone over for dinner yesterday? The news of the change in ownership of Ruyi Fang spread quickly. When I went to the workshop today to explain the opening and renovation schedule to those friends, there was one person who came to ask if I wanted a jade carver. I tried him out and found that his craftsmanship is not bad, not only are the ornaments carved well, but also the flowers, birds, insects, and fish are engraved well. And the price he asked for is reasonable, and he even brought an apprentice, which immediately solved our problem. I think we don't need to make jewelry, having a master like this is enough. Let's first make one or two decorative pieces to test the market reaction, and then take on some processing work in our spare time, as long as we can earn back their wages, it's fine."

  "That's best." Ye Zhuo nodded. After thinking for a moment, she asked again: "That jade carver, are you familiar with him? Is his character okay?" For someone like this who came to her on their own initiative, she always had some worries that it might be because of character problems and was fired by the original master.

  Ye Yiqi's smile on his face faded: "I'm worried about this issue. This jade carver, no one in the town knows him. According to himself, he was originally from our town. Because he had relatives doing jade carving in Nan Yun City, so at the age of 13, he went to follow his relatives and became an apprentice. After becoming a master, he has been working as a jade carver in Nan Yun City. Now it's because his parents are old, that he wants to come back and take care of them nearby."

  Ye Chou furrowed his brow. Nanyun City was not far from here, only 50 or 60 miles away. But to go there and back would take two days. It wasn't worth going so far just to ask about one person, especially since accidents could happen on the road; besides, none of the people at home were suitable for traveling long distances.

  "Grandfather, do you have acquaintances who often run to Nanyun City? Can't they be entrusted to go to the workshop where that person used to work and ask about his background?"

  Ye Yiqi shook his head: "I've thought about this, first, it's hard to find the right person to help ask around; secondly, because of his good craftsmanship and arrogant attitude, he said he'll wait for an answer tomorrow morning. If I'm not willing to hire him, he can go ask other families. With skills like his, and a salary that's not too high, if we let him go ask elsewhere, he might be hired away by someone else. We're currently in need of people like him... " He glanced at Ye Zhuo, but didn't continue speaking. However, the implication was very clear - he wanted to keep this person.

  Ye Zhuo furrowed his brow and thought for a moment, then looked up and asked: "Grandfather, I'd like to ask you, if someone brings jade material for processing, but the jade carver accidentally damages it, who is usually responsible for compensation? The owner or the jade carver?"

  "Divide the account into four and six parts. The jade carver will compensate for 40% and the East House will compensate for 60%." Ye Yuqi understood Ye Zhuo's meaning, so he added, "When customers bring in jade materials, it is generally up to the East House to decide whether or not to process them, so the East House has a greater responsibility. However, the East House is not always there, they have to go buy jade materials and sell goods. Therefore, when the East House is not present, the jade carver also has the right to decide whether or not to accept the job."

  Ye Zhuo nodded: "That's it, just in case, when you sign the contract with him, write this clause, if you're not there, he can't take on the job. Otherwise, if something happens, he'll have to compensate for everything."

  She thought and thought, the greatest risk of opening a workshop was none other than this. If that person's craftsmanship was poor and they ruined the jade material worth thousands of taels of silver brought by the customer, the big house would not have the ability to compensate. Unless, she went to gamble on stones again.

  But if she were to go gamble on the crest of that stormy wave, she would probably invite even greater disaster.

  "This won't do, this won't do!" Ye Yuxi shook his head. "If we do it like this, we'll ruin the rules of our jade carving workshop. It's not just that we can't keep him, in the future, I'm afraid no one will dare to come to our workshop to be a jade carver. As the boss, you don't take any responsibility, when you make money, you take the lion's share, but when there's risk, you let the jade carvers bear it, who would follow you?"

  "What should we do then?"

  "Alright then, let's hire him. At worst, I'll just spend more time in the workshop from now on."

  Ye Zhuo sighed: It can only be like this!

  After dinner and a bath, Ye Zhuo returned to her room, repeatedly polishing the jade stone that Ye Yuqi had brought back, then holding paper and pen to write and draw until the hour of midnight, when Gu Shi came to urge her twice, only then did she go to bed.

  Since it was decided to hire the jade carver named Luo Jing Sheng, Ye Yu Qi hurriedly went to the Jade Carving Workshop. As soon as Luo arrived, he immediately signed a contract with him - in the past, Huang Shi Fu thought that since they were acquaintances, being from Ruyi Fang and Zhou Lao Ban's place respectively, they only made an oral agreement and didn't rush to sign a contract, who knew that someone would take advantage of the situation. Therefore, this Luo Jing Sheng wanted to quickly sign the contract, in order to prevent any unexpected events from happening.

  Naruo Jing Sheng was also a straightforward person and quickly pressed his handprint on the contract.

  "When will Jade Carving Workshop open for business?" Lu Jing asked again, putting his copy of the contract into his pocket.

  "I had someone check the calendar for me, and apart from today, there's another good day five days later. Master Luo, you can take a good rest at home these few days, and come back to work five days later." Ye Yuqi said with a smile.

  "That's perfect, I can stay at home and accompany my parents."

  "Master Luo is the master craftsman of our Yu Zhuo Fang, and as your parents' junior, I should pay my respects. Is it convenient for me to visit today? I'll follow you to see them." Ye Yuqi said this also to confirm what Luo Jing Sheng had told him about his family situation. Although the contract was already signed, understanding a bit more would make one feel at ease.

  Luo Jing Sheng readily agreed, saying: "What's not convenient about it? Mr. Ye please." He stood up and followed Ye Yu Qi out the door to hire a horse carriage heading south of town.

  There are many things to do at the end of the period, and today is late again, with only one update. From now on, it may be possible to update every other day, please forgive me. Thank you clx01, Time 1107, The Other Shore 18, Snail xx for your pink votes, muah~~~~