There are two ways to conduct a transaction, by directly buying and selling with the Hundred Treasures Silver Building, where after the buyer and seller set the price, no matter how much silver the Hundred Treasures Silver Building sells it for afterwards, it has nothing to do with Miss Wufu.
Consigning, on the other hand, allows Miss Wufu to set the price, and the amount it sells for, the Hundred Treasures Silver Building only takes a commission, acting like a platform.
This method actually applies to other small businesses as well, such as many people who complete handiwork or embroidery and consign it at familiar shops for a bit of commission.
Naturally, Miss Wufu prefers consignment, but the current situation is that even the jade ware she’s carved doesn’t entirely belong to her, Old Man Shen has a share in it too.
She could wait, but could others?
The old man spent his whole life, even lost a son, to get such a piece of jade, and Miss Wufu didn’t want him to wait any longer, especially not in vain.
Therefore, she wanted to trade directly with the Hundred Treasures Silver Building and then present it to Old Man Shen.
Shopkeeper Lin, being a businessman, immediately put on a utilitarian merchant expression upon hearing this. He carelessly flipped through the jade ornament, then glanced at Miss Wufu.
"These pieces of jade ware are nicely carved, but they’re too delicate and small, only suitable for young girls to play with. Here’s what we’ll do, Miss Wufu. For this jade bracelet, I’ll offer thirty taels, and for these other small pieces, a total of ten taels of silver?" Shopkeeper Lin smiled, you’re just a young girl, not from a major household, so many taels of silver should feel generous, right?
Tsk, tsk, what a businessman steeped in the world of trade, with his mix of praise and belittlement, he directly downgraded the standard of her jade ornaments by more than one level.
Top-quality Jadeite plus the work of a skilled craftsman, and he only offered forty taels to take it all?
His appetite is really not small!
Miss Wufu laughed out loud, casting a sideways glance at Shopkeeper Lin, "I thought that a shopkeeper who could come up with the idea of using ’quick-wittedness’ to save the situation would have a broader vision, but it seems I was wrong!"
Shopkeeper Lin’s old face flushed, the smile on his lips stiffened, please don’t be so blunt.
"Miss Wufu, you..." He wanted to argue, but facing the girl’s clear, piercing gaze, his words just vanished in his throat.
Miss Wufu toyed with the jade pendant in her hand, "Top-grade jade, not to mention the craftsmanship, just considering the quality of the Jadeite, it’s worth far more than forty taels, Shopkeeper Lin should be well aware of this, right?"
Shopkeeper Lin chuckled awkwardly, his lips quivering slightly.
"If you say this whole lot is only worth forty taels, Shopkeeper Lin is either joking with me or..." Miss Wufu narrowed her almond-shaped eyes, "either that or Shopkeeper Lin thinks I am too young and wants to deceive me!"
"That’s not the case at all, it’s really because they are small items and can’t fetch a good price!" Shopkeeper Lin coughed, managing with difficulty to regain his composure and shook his head.
Small items are hard to price, Miss Wufu knew that, everyone knows larger items are worth more, but forty taels was just too outrageous!
"Shopkeeper Lin seems to have forgotten, for a raw stone, you were willing to offer one hundred taels before!" Miss Wufu recalled the initial negotiations when he wanted to buy it for one hundred taels.
With that, Shopkeeper Lin seemed even more composed, and said, "That was an entire raw stone, with the skill of craftsmen in our area, a middle to large high-quality piece could be fully carved from a whole stone, those could be priced much higher. But now..."
He didn’t finish his sentence, but Miss Wufu understood what he meant; basically, he was suggesting she wasted the material by carving it into small pieces, therefore, it wasn’t worth much!
"Even so, Shopkeeper Lin is really going too far, cutting down from one hundred taels to forty, you’re truly a ruthless merchant!" Miss Wufu snorted.
What, ruthless merchant?