Chapter 563: Chapter 550: Getting Involved with Peach Blossom

Zhuang Qingning has a better spinning machine and loom here?

Mrs. Meng paused after hearing this, took a moment to regain her composure, “Did you mean, Ning, that you have a spinning machine and a loom, and you want to open your own weaving workshop?”

“Aunt, you’re half right.”

Zhuang Qingning saw Mrs. Meng’s confused look and chuckled, “Indeed, I want to open a weaving workshop, but it’s not for me to open it alone, I wish for you and aunt to join in.”

What?

Mrs. Meng was stunned once again.

—-

When Zhuang Qingning bid farewell to Zhuang Yutian and Mrs. Meng, it was already late in the afternoon.

As she expected, Zhuang Yutian and Mrs. Meng were very interested when they heard that she intended to open a weaving workshop with them and had improved looms and spinning machines.

It’s no surprise, after all, they are seasoned business people who can readily calculate whether they can make money and how much they can make.

Weaving their own cotton fabric, and according to Zhuang Qingning, making more cloth from the same amount of cotton, which is twenty percent more than what’s attained in Songjiang . In this case, weaving cotton locally saves the trouble of transporting it back and forth, giving them a huge advantage over buying cloth from outside.

In this way, not only will there be no fretting about future stock for the shop, but if it’s done right, this fabric could supply the entire county town.

Zhuang Yutian and Mrs. Meng agreed to this plan on the spot, and even decided to follow Zhuang Qingning’s suggestion – to produce the spinning machine and loom based on these diagrams she had, in order to test them and get a better understanding of their operation.

Once this topic was introduced, the conversation could hardly be stopped, and it wasn’t until late that Zhuang Qingning excused herself to leave, and Mrs. Meng and Zhuang Yutian hastily bid her farewell.

Politely declining Zhuang Yutian’s offer of a carriage ride home, Zhuang Qingning strolled around the streets, bought some food and other items, and then headed home.

Over the next few days, watching over the workshop, occasionally going to the shop in town, and doing some daily tasks from Mrs. Five that could earn hardworking value, Zhuang Qingning’s days were as busy and fulfilling as ever.

And in her hustle, there were plentiful rewards.

Such as Cheng Ruize’s visit, bringing the good news from Yangzhou’s fragrance tasting conference.

Moon Incense, because of its delicate and lasting fragrance, won second place at the fragrance tasting conference.

Although it didn’t win the first prize, for any fragrance to rank in the top three, it would definitely skyrocket in popularity and be sought after by people.

The rare Moon Incense is loved by the literati, winning second place was a remarkable achievement.

And at the end of this fragrance tasting conference, there were already business people inquiring about purchasing Moon Incense, the local businessmen in Yangzhou admired the Cheng family even more.

In the future, Moon Incense’s massive sale is inevitable, and the resulting profit for Zhuang Qingning is also bound to happen.

Cheng Ruize was happy that Cheng’s business was about to bloom in Yangzhou, and Zhuang Qingning was quite pleased that she could make money for her hard work by just sitting around.

“By the way, I almost forgot about this.” Cheng Ruize brought over a cloth bag from the side and handed it to Zhuang Qingning, “Before coming here, I made a trip to Cheng’s pharmacy, Doctor Zhuang must have heard that I am visiting Manager Zhuang, and asked me to bring this for Manager Zhuang.”

“Doctor Zhuang said that he knows Manager Zhuang likes to cook for herself, so he has prepared some medicinal ingredients that could be used for cooking meals, suggesting that Manager Zhuang cook some medicinal dishes in spring, which would be decent in taste, would lower inflammation, and would nourish the body.”

“Doctor Zhuang also mentioned that he was supposed to deliver this when he comes back, but he’s been too busy in his pharmacy and didn’t have free time, so he asked me to bring it for him.”

Upon hearing this, warmth filled Zhuang Qingning’s heart.

She has to say, Zhuang Wencheng is indeed a very good brother.

“Thank you, Manager Cheng, for your trouble. When you go back, please thank Brother Wencheng on my behalf and send him my regards. When I have time to go to the county town, I will visit him.” Zhuang Qingning accepted the gift and thanked him.

“I’ll be sure to deliver your message,” Cheng Ruize said, laughing, “It’s fine for Manager Zhuang to ask me to deliver a message, but if you plan to visit Doctor Zhuang, you might want to wait for a while.”

“Why is that?” Zhuang Qingning asked, somewhat surprised.

“Well, Doctor Zhuang recently…” Cheng Ruize touched his nose and laughed, “well he’s had some ‘women issues’.”

“Huh?” Zhuang Qingning’s eyes widened, and then she covered her mouth and laughed, “Brother Wencheng is having a love affair?”

“Whether it is fate or not I am not sure, what I do know is, for our pharmacy, it might be a disaster.”

Cheng Ruize sighed a bit helplessly, seeing Zhuang Qingning’s confusion, he quickly explained, “It’s sort of a coincidence, my aunt’s youngest daughter, the youngest Cousin Yan, snuck out of the house during the Lantern Festival to have fun. She was brave enough to run out, but not to wander around, so she only came to find me and hang out here.”

“That day she went out shopping, saw candied hawthorn in the market and bought it because it appealed to her sweet tooth. Unfortunately, she tripped and choked on the fruit, passing out on the spot. Doctor Zhuang happened to be passing by and helped her dislodge it. This fortunate coincidence saved Cousin Yan’s life.”

“Cousin Yan was full of gratitude and wanted to give Doctor Zhuang a generous reward, but Doctor Zhuang didn’t accept her offering of valuable gifts. Cousin Yan then argued that even a small favor requires a grateful response, let alone the favor of saving someone’s life. So, she offered to help Doctor Zhuang as an assistant as a way to repay his kindness.”

“Especially once she found out that Doctor Zhuang worked in Cheng’s pharmacy, Cousin Yan felt more at ease. She now goes there daily to help grind medicine and prepare medicinal herbs. However, Cousin Yan is not the meticulous type, and she’s been causing quite a commotion in my pharmacy these days.”

“No matter how much I try to advise her, she doesn’t listen! Justifying by saying she is showing gratitude and doing something meaningful, and I should not treat her as frivolous…”

“But anyone with eyes can see that my cousin is not trying to show gratitude at all. She’s clearly taken a fancy to Doctor Zhuang, hence, she’s been clinging on.”

Cheng Ruize was somewhat whimsical, “Moreover, I don’t know where she got the idea from, but she firmly believes that to tug at someone’s heartstrings, you have to start with those around him. Now in the pharmacy, be it the doctors, shopkeepers, or even the handyman, everyone tries to avoid her because she is constantly bringing them food and drink, and constantly fussing over them.”