Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Can the Sketch Fetch a Good Price? Chapter 59: Chapter 59: Can the Sketch Fetch a Good Price? Qi Yougui had sent everyone away, and the others, naturally not wishing to linger, had to get up and leave. Even Lady Zhang, who had been enjoying the commotion, and a few other women, could only leave full of regret.
As Lady Zhang was leaving, she did not forget to stretch her neck and say to Ye Xinyan, “Ye Zi, you should know that we’re all family. If you want to teach someone how to make rice tofu, you should teach your own family first, you know?”
“Oh…” Ye Xinyan drawled, “So Aunt knows we’re family? I thought Aunt was our Second Branch family’s enemy.” But internally, she found it amusing. How shameless must one be to trip someone up one moment and ask for favors the next?
After sending the villagers away, Qi Younian dropped his polite smile and, feeling completely exhausted, turned around to return home and invited Nanny Jin and Ye Xinyan inside.
“Ye Zi, this pedal bicycle we made is just a toy for children to play with. Why would Sixth Master take such an interest in this trinket and send someone to inquire about it?”
“Does Nanny know why?” Ye Xinyan turned her gaze toward Nanny Jin.
The original owner was clueless about such matters. She had few useful memories of Prince Yu, and her understanding of Jinrong was even less than Ye Xinyan’s current knowledge. Nanny Jin, who had been dealing with such a troublesome charge, likely had to understand many things and personal relations, and might know something about Jinrong.
After thinking for a moment, Nanny Jin replied, “Sixth Master is known for not worrying about serious matters, but he does show interest in many trivial ones. He probably really likes the bicycle that Old Master made.”
Ye Xinyan pursed her lips but said nothing more. A children’s pedal bike was simply a toy, and one without much technical content once the first is made. As for Prince Yu, since he could devise ways to discard imperial power, it wasn’t strange for him to feign interest in trivial playthings as a diversion.
Qi Younian and Ye Xinyan discussed, “If Sixth Master visits our stall again and asks about the pedal bicycle’s draft, should we just give it to him?”
Ye Xinyan was nonchalant, “Sure, give it to him. It’s just a toy for children, no big deal.”
While she said that, Qi Younian still felt a pang of regret. He wasn’t a common farmer who toiled year round. He understood how novel and ingenious the idea for the bike was and the great business potential it hid. To give it away was hard for him to accept.
Ye Xinyan laughed, “Grandpa, this thing is hard to come up with, but there’s no real secret to it. As soon as Qi Jia rides it around outside, it won’t take long for imitations to appear. Who can we stop from making and selling them for silver? Instead of letting others copy it, we might as well give the draft to Sixth Master early and curry some favor.”
Maybe we could even sell it for silver. In this era without patent rights, giving the draft to Jinrong as soon as possible was the best outcome.
When Qi Younian thought about it, it did make sense. He couldn’t help but smile wryly, “I really am shortsighted, not seeing as clearly as you do. Tomorrow when we set up the stall, we’ll bring the draft. Xiao Jiajia’s bike is mostly finished. If we hurry today, it’s just the assembly left. With or without the draft, it’ll be fine.”
But what Ye Xinyan was considering was how much silver Prince Yu might throw her way once he got the draft. She was calculating the money Prince Hongzhi had previously spent on breakfast, paying one tael of silver for a bowl of rice tofu and a triangular pastry. A few pieces of folded paper also brought in a handsome sum of silver. The bicycle draft, which she had drawn with great effort, should be able to sell for tens of taels of silver, right? What a great deal, much more lucrative than the rice tofu business.
Hongzhi galloped the whole way, arriving at his master’s temporary residence in high spirits. As soon as he entered, he greeted Jinrong cheerfully but did not speak immediately.
Jinrong teased him, “You rascal, what have you found out? Be careful not to let your mouth run so wide you can’t close it again.”
Only then did Hongzhi say with a grin, “Reporting to Sixth Master, I went to the Qi Family Courtyard and saw the old master working on something that seemed to be the item from the sketch. I asked him directly about it. The old master said the sketch was drawn by Miss Ye from the Ye Family, and the object was called a ‘bicycle.’ A child sits on it and alternates stepping on the two pedals in front of the wheel, and the bicycle moves. It’s a little cart for children to play with.”
“You didn’t hear wrong, the sketch was indeed drawn by Ye Xinyan from Duke An’s Family?” Jinrong asked, astonished.
This, this was too… too unimaginable, too shocking, wasn’t it? Since when did the women of the Ye Family possess such talent? If a foolish and rash woman could develop such savvy after being shamed, losing virtue, and discarded by her husband’s family, then… being a foolish woman might not be such a bad thing.
“Replying to Sixth Master, I heard it clearly, the father-in-law of the Qi family said the sketch of the bicycle was drawn by Miss Ye from the Ye Family.”
As he spoke, Hongzhi stepped forward and pointed at the incomplete sketch on the table, “The parts that can be stepped on are on either side of this wheel.”
Jinrong looked at the front wheel of the bicycle in the sketch and imagined the stepping motion. It seemed like it could actually work.
After all this fuss, it turned out to be just a toy for children.
Jinrong couldn’t tell if he felt disappointed or relieved. He stared at the sketch for a while, then realized Hongzhi was still gazing at him expectantly, an undisguised longing in his eyes.
Impatiently waving his hand, Jinrong said, “Look at that pathetic look of yours, no wonder you can’t find a wife. Go on, go to Uncle Wan and receive ten taels of silver as a reward. Scram, and stop embarrassing me.”
After Hongzhi had run off like a wisp of smoke, Jinrong remembered he hadn’t asked Hongzhi how far along the old man from the Qi family was with that item.
Jinrong stroked his chin, considering that although the thing was for children, it was still an ingeniously designed item. Should he ask the father-in-law of the Qi family to make another one? Or perhaps he could simply ask if that runaway wife from the Ye Family could make another copy of the drawing, so he could get a craftsman to make a more exquisite version?
Or maybe, he could take a trip to Clear Water Village and have a look at the actual… ‘bicycle.’ Only by seeing the real thing could he assess whether this object had real value, whether it was worth finding a craftsman to remake it.
Young Boy Jiang? Right, Jiang Yifan was very annoyed with Ye Xinyan, dreading her entanglements, wasn’t he? Then he would take him along. The thought of making Jiang Yifan look foolish or vexed filled Jinrong with genuine joy.
His Highness Prince Yu felt gratified for coming up with the idea, taking pride in such quick wit.
One could not say His Highness Prince Yu wasn’t generous. He never thought of forcibly taking the sketches from Ye Xinyan. He was merely interested in what her family could create and thought of replicating a copy.