A glint of excitement flashed through Qi Jingyi’s eyes, "You hunted this? You’re quite something, girl. First a black bear, now a tiger. What will you hunt next?"
Yang Ruxin chuckled, "That will depend on my mood... But this time, we all hunted it together..."
Qi Jingyi nodded, then raised his hand.
Weng Ji hurriedly handed over a stack of silver notes. Qing Jingyi took them without even looking and stuffed them into Yang Ruxin’s hands.
Yang Ruxin glanced at the silver notes, a hundred taels each, six in total, and there were four more worth fifty taels. That summed up to eight hundred taels. The price did slightly surprise her. Without saying much, she tucked the silver notes into her bosom.
Qi Jingyi promptly instructed Weng Ji to take the tiger to be dealt with; Weng Ji, hurried along with Uncle Lao Kuang and the mule-drawn cart.
The tiger’s hide was intact, just perfect to be sent to the palace along with the bear skin from last time. Gifts for the Empress Dowager and my father’s birthdays were now settled. As for the tiger bones, those could be used to make plasters—eight hundred taels might seem high, but when one really considered the value of these items, it was still much too low. But what could one do, given that this was a small town? Even this was an exorbitant price.
"When will our business start?" Qi Jingyi was most concerned about the furniture business, "I’ve looked at that contract of yours, completely agree with it. When do we sign and get started?"
"Making furniture is meticulous work; it can’t be rushed." Yang Ruxin chuckled, "I’m working on a catalogue these days, sketching out the designs for the furniture that we are going to make. Once the contract with the craftspeople is signed, we will start building the workshop in the village first. Afterwards will be when you need to step in..."
"That’s good." Qi Jingyi smiled relievedly, "It’s almost noon, I’ll treat you, let’s have a meal at Baiwei Restaurant."
"Not Baiwei Restaurant, let’s go to Quanshun Building." Yang Ruxin didn’t object, but she wanted to snub Baiwei Restaurant.
"Alright, Quanshun Building it is," Qi Jingyi agreed cheerfully.
Little Liuzi and Tie Dan had never stepped into a restaurant for a meal in their lives, and although they knew the tiger had sold for a good sum, they didn’t feel it had anything to do with them. Now following along for the meal, they seemed somewhat uneasy.
"Relax, Brother Liuzi, Brother Tie Dan. We are here to eat as guests, why the nervousness?" Yang Ruxin tried to contain her laughter at their manners, "We are the ’customers’..."
Little Liuzi and Tie Dan nodded quickly but did not relax much.
"Xinxin, what exactly is a ’customer’?" At that moment, Han Baichuan came in with a smile, "How come you didn’t tell me you were dining out? You had to have the waiter inform me. Are you looking down on your uncle here?"
"Oh, Uncle Han, you flatter me too much." Yang Ruxin laughed, "Today it’s Young Master Qi who is treating us to a meal, so we didn’t want to trouble you..."
Han Baichuan hurriedly nodded and smiled at Qi Jingyi, "What would you like to eat? Would you care to try our local specialty, the Divine Sauce?"
Yang Ruxin inwardly smiled at Han Baichuan’s seasoned sales pitch, "Uncle Han, this Eighth Master is not short on cash. Bring out your special dishes; don’t worry about us not finishing. Whatever is left can be packed up..."
Han Baichuan chuckled and went down to make the arrangements himself.
Qi Jingyi’s mouth twitched slightly; this style was indeed very much like Xinxin. Her straightforwardness made him feel more comfortable, and at the same time, it stoked his envy of Gu Qingheng. How did such a splendid and unique woman end up with him first?