Chapter Five, Cui Jiuniang of De Yi Lou

Jiu Niang glanced at the young man sitting opposite her and then chuckled lightly, "Little brother, although the brothel is considered a lowly profession, you must not think that the people in our brothel lack knowledge. This charcoal of yours is not beast charcoal."

Before leaving, Jiu Niang bought all the "beast charcoal" from Li Xin's backpack, totaling about one guan of money. Li Xin carefully accepted the string of copper coins and cupped his hands towards Jiu Niang, saying: "After talking for so long, I still haven't had the chance to ask for your name, sister"

Li Xin lowered his head somewhat shyly to express his gratitude

After Li Xin walked away, the frail girl following Jiu Niang finally spoke softly: "Jiu Niang, you are being too kind to this Li Xin."

At this point, Jiuniang lowered her head to look at the piece of beast charcoal on the table and said to Li Xin with a half-smile, "However, little brother, this beast charcoal of yours, although carved into the shape of a large insect, is still quite different from genuine beast charcoal."

Upon hearing this, Jiu Niang's smile grew even wider as she personally rose to escort Li Xin to the entrance of De Yi Building

Li Xin took a few deep breaths, reached out, and picked up the piece of beast charcoal. This piece of beast charcoal had an ancient design, was completely cool to the touch, felt slightly heavy in hand, and emitted a faint fragrance. Both its appearance and craftsmanship were far superior to those of the items Li Xin had clumsily crafted.

Li Xin carefully examined the object, roughly memorizing its appearance. He then stood up and cupped his hands in salute to the beautiful woman before him, saying: "Sister, I have already committed this object to memory. I should be able to create something quite similar. Once I have made it, I will come to the Delight Pavilion to seek an audience with you."

The beautiful woman is surnamed Cui, and her real name is known to no one. People from the ten-mile Qinhuai all call her Jiu Niang

Li Xin bowed his head in gratitude, not being polite, and stuffed the piece of beast coal into his sleeve

Li Xin pressed his lips together and said softly, "Sister can sprinkle some fragrant powder in the fireplace."

More remarkably, although this substance is made from a mixture of carbon powder and fragrant powder, when Li Xin picked it up and played with it, his hands did not get a single trace of black residue.

Li Xin lowered his head and coughed softly, his face slightly flushed

A piece of beast charcoal can burn for three days and three nights

At this moment, in a private room on the third floor of the Deyi Building, a beautiful woman dressed in a crescent white jacket sat gracefully beside a low table, her face beaming with a smile. Opposite her, a young man in tattered clothes, with coal dust still clinging to his hair, also knelt on a soft cushion, his expression calm and composed, neither servile nor arrogant.

Li Xin smiled broadly at Jiu Niang, revealing his snow-white teeth

Seeing Li Xin's face turn red, Jiu Niang covered her mouth and smiled, then said: "Alright, I won't tease you any longer, young brother. Your manner of speaking suggests you are not an ordinary person. It seems you have fallen on hard times due to a loss of fortune, leading you to this state. Although your bamboo charcoal may not be of the best quality, it can still be used to deceive those wealthy individuals who lack discernment. The De Yi Building will buy these at fifty wen each, considering it a way to befriend you, young brother."

This sister, this is not beast charcoal; there is no beast charcoal in this world that costs one hundred wen for a piece

Li Xin coughed lightly, pointed at the piece of charcoal on the table, and said calmly: "Although it is not beast charcoal, its appearance resembles that of beast charcoal. For someone in your profession, as long as it looks similar, that should be sufficient, shouldn't it?"

Jiu Niang is not the owner of Deyi Building; she is merely the general manager of Deyi Building. After all, given the scale of Deyi Building, there must be a very powerful backing behind it. Otherwise, as a mere woman, it would be impossible for her to establish herself in the capital.

In fact, although Li Xin's idea is good, it loses its value once expressed, as Jiu Niang could easily bypass Li Xin's involvement and directly commission the woodcarvers in the capital to do the work, which would also be more cost-effective

However, it wasn't long before the woman in front of him made him see her in a new light

Li Xin slightly bowed to Jiu Niang and said: "Thank you, Jiu Niang, for the meal."

The beast charcoal produced by Li Xin weighs approximately one pound when two or three pieces are combined. Excluding the scraps removed during the carving process, one pound of charcoal can yield at least two pieces. The price of charcoal in the capital is roughly ten wen per pound, so even if it is sold for fifty wen per piece now, the price has increased tenfold.

However, Jiu Niang did not do so, which indicates that she was willing to provide Li Xin with this opportunity. Li Xin also realized this, and therefore, before parting, he expressed his gratitude with those words.

The beautiful woman smiled charmingly: "I am surnamed Cui, and my name is Jiunang. May I ask how you, young sir, are addressed?"

This piece of beast charcoal is sufficient for an ordinary family for a month's consumption, and Li Xin consciously put it back; otherwise, he might not even have the chance to walk out of the De Yi Building.

Sister Jiu smiled slightly and said, "Just so happens that I have a few pieces of beast charcoal here. Since you possess this skill, why not take a look? If you can produce a rough shape, our Delight Pavilion will purchase it from you at the price you set, one hundred wen per piece."

but rather to make friends

Sister Jiu covered her mouth and smiled: "Little brother, you certainly know how to talk, but being eloquent is of no use. This charcoal of yours is either wood charcoal or bamboo charcoal, which can be found everywhere on the street for ten wen per jin. How can it possibly be reasonable to sell it for one hundred wen per piece?"

Jiu Niang turned gracefully and smiled lightly at the maid behind her, saying: "Ping'er, you must understand one thing: our purpose in opening this Delightful Pavilion for the master has never been to make money"

Jiu Niang observed all of Li Xin's actions, then she reached out to pick up the piece of beast charcoal from the table and placed it in Li Xin's hand, smiling as she said: "Since the young lord wants to create some replicas, they naturally need to be as similar as possible. This piece of charcoal is not a rare item; it would be fine for you, young brother, to take it back and use it as a reference."

This is the beast charcoal in the capital, which seems to be priced as if only the wealthy and noble families can afford it

The beautiful woman gracefully rose to her feet, retrieved a box from a cabinet behind her, and then took out a palm-sized object from the box, placing it in front of Li Xin. The object was dark in color, yet it possessed its own contours, forming the shape of a fierce tiger.

I am Li Xin

The brothel industry, especially high-end establishments like the De Yi Lou, places utmost importance on maintaining a high standard; otherwise, it cannot attract genuine wealthy patrons. Consequently, most of the offerings in De Yi Lou are of the finest quality. However, it is quite challenging when it comes to the charcoal used, as genuine beast charcoal can be equivalent in value to silver or even gold. Such high-end materials are beyond the means of De Yi Lou.

On the low table lies a dark, tiger-shaped object, which is not a true sculpture of a tiger, but rather a piece of charcoal carved in the shape of a tiger. The beautiful woman, undeterred by the dirt, reaches out to pinch the charcoal, and soon her fair hand is adorned with a striking black soot.

Jiu Niang slightly shook her head: "Real beast charcoal, when burned, emits a unique fragrance. Those who come to De Yi Lou are either the sons of nobility from the capital or the newly wealthy from the examination halls. They are all well-exposed individuals and can immediately discern the difference."

Jiu Niang was momentarily taken aback, but soon reacted, clapping her hands and chuckling softly: "This is the point. For our line of work, it doesn't matter whether it is genuine beast charcoal or not, as long as it looks the part. If we burn a few pieces in the young ladies' rooms and sprinkle in some fragrant powder, those foul men may not even be able to tell the difference between real and fake."

However, being able to survive in the Qinhuai River for so many years, the abilities of this Jiuniang are naturally self-evident

This beautiful woman appears to be just over thirty years old, not much different from Li Xin's age in his previous life. Moreover, after so many years of navigating the workplace, Li Xin naturally understands the principle of "sweet words, ruthless heart, and steady actions." Therefore, whenever he meets someone, he always addresses them as "sister" when he opens his mouth and "younger sister" when he closes it.

Due to its location in the capital, all buildings in the capital must not exceed the height of the palaces within the imperial palace. Therefore, the Deyi Building is not particularly tall, consisting of only three stories in total

However, the area occupied by the Deyi Building is quite large, taking up a full mile in the most prosperous section of the Ten-Mile Qinhuai.

He has never seen what the beast charcoal of this era actually looks like, so he can only carve it according to the shape of the tiger-shaped jade pendant he saw in his previous life. However, genuine beast charcoal is always made with a mold, and what Li Xin has produced clearly does not resemble that.

Having said that, he placed the piece of beast charcoal in his hand back on the table

Jiu Niang has prepared a box of this item here, which is not surprising, as Deyi Building is located in the capital, and from time to time, noble guests come to visit. This box contains approximately ten to twenty pieces of beast charcoal, likely prepared by Jiu Niang for the esteemed guests in the capital