Chapter 193: Starting an Interior Design Company
With a mouthful of the frosty shaved ice mixed with Wen Yao’s specially made fruit jam, Li Fu suddenly felt all the summer heat on his body completely vanish, leaving nothing but refreshing coolness.
“Comfortable! Girl, give me a bit more.” Carrying his bowl, Li Fu trotted over to Wen Yao’s side and spoke with a beaming smile.
Wen Yao, however, shook her head. “Mr. Li, there’s none left. It’s one bowl per person; you shouldn’t indulge too much in the cold.”
Li Fu smiled. “Why call me mister? I’m a few years older than Brother Wen, so just call me Uncle Li. We’re family; don’t stand on ceremony.”
This man truly didn’t treat himself as an outsider at all.
“Uncle Li, you really can’t eat any more. The weather hasn’t reached its hottest point yet, and eating too many cold things isn’t good for you.” In any case, it was already gone, so even if he asked for more, there was none to give.
Seeing that his attempts to act shamelessly were useless, Li Fu could only drop the matter. At his age, begging a child for food would be rather embarrassing if word got out.
Fortunately, Wen Yao had prepared other snacks for them, so he didn’t obsess over that single bowl of shaved ice anymore.
By the time the moon climbed to the tips of the willow branches, Li Fu called out to his son to leave.
“Yi’er, let’s go.”
Yet, Li Yi remained completely unmoved. Before he could even speak, Datou said, “Uncle Li, Brother Yi still needs to guide us in our schoolwork. Can he stay at my house?”
Wen Yao and Wen Xiuyi looked at Datou together, both of their heads filled with question marks.
What in the world was this little tot trying to do?
Li Fu looked toward his son.
Li Yi put on a face that suggested he had no choice in the matter either, saying, “Dad, why don’t you and the masters head back first? Your son will take good care of himself.”
Li Fu felt an absolute surge of envy.
Moreover, Xun Feng was still whispering in his ear about the knife-shaved noodles Wen Yao made for breakfast; he wanted to eat them too!
Just as Li Fu was preparing to ask if he could stay behind as well, Manager Qiu spoke up: “Since Yi’er wishes to stay, then let him stay. Let us leave. The road won’t be easy to travel once it gets dark. With him at Brother Wen’s house, what do you still have to worry about?”
Li Fu: He wasn’t worried; he just wanted to stay behind himself! Returning to the Qiu residence meant he could only face that bookworm Qiu Zhi, which wasn’t interesting at all.
Under the gazes of Divine Doctor Jin and Manager Qiu, Li Fu could only swallow his words back into his stomach. “Alright then, I’ll trouble you all to look after Yi’er.”
Then, thoroughly reluctant, he followed Divine Doctor Jin and Manager Qiu into the carriage to go home.
Old Madam Luo took her two daughters-in-law to clean up the area, preparing to head back as well. They still needed to have Lu Jiang drive the carriage to send the younger Old Madam Luo and Jiang Yueniang back to Cuijia Village.
Seeing the younger Old Madam Luo and Jiang Yueniang about to leave, carrying the leftover food packed by Old Madam Luo for the younger Old Madam Luo to take back, Wen Yao finally remembered what she had missed in the afternoon.
“Grandma, wait a moment!”
With a shout from Wen Yao, the footsteps of Old Madam Luo and the others were brought to a halt.
“What do you want to do now?” Old Madam Luo asked.
Wen Yao looked around the courtyard. Only her own family members were left. Of course, this excluded Li Yi, Jin Xiuyi, and Xie Anyi—these three outsiders. However, Wen Yao didn’t mind them either and spoke up directly, “Grandma, I remember what I wanted to say this afternoon.”
Old Madam Luo knew that if she didn’t let this girl speak her mind today, the family probably wouldn’t be able to return home. Even so, she still spoke up: “Whatever it is, talk about it in a bit. Let’s send your great-aunt and the others back first.”
Wen Yao hurriedly said, “No, no, no! Great-Auntie can’t leave either.”
This time, both Old Madam Luo and the younger Old Madam Luo were stunned.
Wen Yao continued, “Today, Second Brother and I went to see the shops. Although the yamen helped us build the structures, there is absolutely nothing inside the shops. The interior design and decorations all have to be taken care of by ourselves.”
“What does this have to do with whether your great-aunt goes home or not?” Old Madam Luo frowned and asked.
Wen Yao pulled the two women to sit down, and the rest of the Wen family naturally gathered around. Jin Xiuyi and Xie Anyi didn’t treat themselves as outsiders to the Wen family at all, eagerly squeezing in as well. Standing on the outside didn’t seem appropriate for Li Yi and Xun Feng either, so they simply joined the crowd too.
The group formed a tight circle around Wen Yao, making her the exact center.
Wen Yao looked at everyone before saying, “Didn’t Great-Auntie say that my eldest cousin knows how to do bricklaying work? In that case, why don’t we give the shops to Eldest Cousin to decorate? Dad, what do you think?”
Wen Xiuyi was the only one among the three members of their modern family who possessed complete memories of these relatives. He immediately thought about his eldest cousin and said, “Jiao Jian’s craftsmanship seems to be quite good. Auntie, I remember he studied under a bricklayer master for several years, right?”
The younger Old Madam Luo nodded. “Yes, he already finished his apprenticeship and is currently working outside with his master.”
Wen Xiuyi looked toward Wen Yao and asked, “Tell us your thoughts.”
Only then did Wen Yao say, “Our family has so many shops. If we hire outsiders to do the interior work, I’m thinking that rather than letting outsiders earn this money, it’s better to let our own family earn it. Doesn’t Eldest Cousin happen to know how to do this? Hand it over to him.”
The younger Old Madam Luo’s heart instantly leaped with excitement, but after considering it a bit, she still said, “But your eldest cousin only knows how to do brickwork, nothing else. Decorating a shop surely requires carpenters and such, doesn’t it?”
Wen Yao arched her eyebrows and looked toward Wen Xiuyi: “Uncle Zhang!”
Wen Xiuyi rubbed his chin, carefully mulling over the feasibility of this matter.
“That seems to be true. There are so many shops at the docks right now; there will definitely be no shortage of this kind of work in the future. If Jiao Jian and the others decorate our shops well, other families will definitely want to hire them once they see it. Won’t business come pouring in then?”
“Exactly! That’s exactly what I’m planning. We’ll just use Second Brother’s shop as a model showroom,” Wen Yao said.
The crowd was completely bewildered.
“Yao’er, what is a model showroom?”
They could somewhat grasp this suddenly uttered phrase, yet they also seemed unable to fully comprehend it.
Wen Yao explained the significance of a model showroom once more, and only then did the group understand.
“This… actually sounds pretty good.”
Looking at Wen Yao, a wave of warmth filled Old Madam Luo’s heart. This girl hadn’t forgotten her mention of wanting to help out her younger sister’s family.
Why did her nose suddenly feel a bit pricklish?
Suppressing the prickling sensation in her nose, Old Madam Luo looked toward Wen Xiuyi. “Eldest Son, what do you think?”
Wen Xiuyi considered it for a moment and said, “I think this matter is feasible. Jiao Jian is family, and Carpenter Zhang can be considered an old acquaintance of ours. If the two of them team up, they could indeed form an interior design team like this.”
Wasn’t this just starting an interior design company? Such things existed now as well, except that currently, the workers were all scattered. Either a single master led a group of apprentices, where the money earned was basically taken entirely by the master, leaving the apprentices with very little to show for it.
Jiao Jian was currently in this exact situation. No matter how well he worked, the money was ultimately earned by his master, and very little actually reached his hands.
In that case, it truly was better to work for himself. If he worked well and built up a reputation, anyone who needed house repairs or interior renovations in the future would come to look for them.
The younger Old Madam Luo was incredibly excited inside, her hands trembling as she held Old Madam Luo’s hand. She looked at Old Madam Luo: “Sister, can this really work?”
Old Madam Luo patted the younger Old Madam Luo’s hand reassuringly. “Eldest Son says it can work, so there shouldn’t be any issue. How about this: you go back tonight and mention it to Jiao Jian. Have him come over with you tomorrow. As for the specifics, let him ask Eldest Son himself once he arrives.”
The younger Old Madam Luo nodded repeatedly, looking at Wen Xiuyi with a face full of gratitude. “Xiuyi, then I’ll trouble you.”
Wen Yao: ?????
The one who came up with the idea was clearly her, okay?
