The abstinent and powerful minister is cold and aloof during the day, but he adores her in his dream

Chapter 47: Just ask your cousin, and you'll find out.

Zhiwan was unaware of what happened at Lanyuan after she left.

After leaving the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, she and Shuang'er went directly to Hexu Bookstore.

Just as Ouyang Zhenzhu had said, the bookstore owner, upon seeing her arrive, warmly invited her to the inner hall and served her fine tea.

When she was out and about, Zhiwan didn't dare to drink the tea that others served her.

Even though this Manager Jin seems very kind, and we have a business relationship.

She didn't drink the tea, but instead took the paintings from Shuang'er's hand and handed them to Manager Jin.

"These are the drawings I've made these past few days. Please take a look."

Manager Jin's eyes lit up, and he immediately took it. Remembering something, he handed her a picture album as well.

"These are the paintings you sold to us last time. We've already made them into a catalog, and they've started selling them these past few days."

Upon hearing this, Zhiwan immediately accepted it as well.

Upon opening them, I found that they were indeed all my own drawings.

Seeing her paintings made into a beautiful picture book, Zhiwan felt excited and happy.

She looked at it several times and loved it very much.

Manager Jin finally finished looking at the paintings she submitted and was very satisfied. Seeing that she liked the album very much, he said, "Since you like it, I will give you this album as a gift."

"Thank you very much, Manager Jin." Zhiwan did not refuse and handed the album to Shuang'er to keep.

Shopkeeper Jin smiled and said, "The paintings you submitted this time are very good, but two of them look somewhat similar and seem repetitive." As he spoke, he took out two paintings and handed them to Zhiwan.

Zhiwan took them and looked at them. She found that they were indeed somewhat similar, so she said apologetically, "Then I'll take these two back first."

"You gave me a total of twenty paintings this time. If you take away the two you just gave me, then there are only eighteen left. I'll still give you the same price as last time, ten taels per painting, which is one hundred and eighty taels in total. What do you think?" Manager Jin asked politely.

Upon seeing this, Zhiwan's heart stirred.

Although Manager Jin didn't mention the sales of the catalog over the past two days, his enthusiastic attitude towards me suggested that it must have sold quite well.

In addition, Manager Jin asked her for her opinion on the price.

It is evident that her paintings must have brought considerable profits to the bookstore.

After considering it for a moment, she didn't answer directly, but instead asked, "How are the sales of this picture book these past two days?"

Shopkeeper Jin stroked his short beard, his smile somewhat meaningful. "They're selling quite well, so just bring us your paintings, however many you want. We and Xu Bookstore will both take them."

Upon hearing this, Zhiwan was genuinely curious and couldn't help but ask, "Besides making my paintings into albums, does the bookstore have any other uses for them?"

"So far, we've only made picture albums." Manager Jin's eyes flashed, and seeing her curious look, he added, "These kinds of picture albums are very popular in our bookstore, and comic books also sell very well. If you're interested in comic books, you can also draw some and sell them to us."

Zhiwan knew that the other party was hiding something from her, but she didn't care much.

In any case, she did not reveal her identity. If something went wrong, she would simply go to another bookstore.

Thinking of this, she said, "Since Manager Jin said my picture album is selling well, then the remuneration should also be increased."

Manager Jin readily agreed, "I'll give you an extra ten taels of silver for each painting, and for eighteen paintings, that'll be three hundred and sixty taels."

Zhiwan suppressed her shock and forced herself to remain calm, saying, "Then I'll trouble Manager Jin to settle the bill."

After she took the money and left, the shop assistant said in bewilderment, "Actually, if the shopkeeper hadn't raised the price, this girl probably wouldn't have taken it on her own initiative."

Manager Jin glanced at him and said, "What do you know?"

Although the picture album sold well in the bookstore, the majority of the sales came from the gifts given by that esteemed person.

That noblewoman has always loved looking at these picture books. The paintings by the original painters in the bookstore could no longer satisfy her. Now that a talented painter has come along who can paint what the noblewoman likes, how could he not try to win her over?

You should know that every time a new picture book is presented to a VIP, the VIP will reward the recipient handsomely. This time, the reward is even greater than the bookstore's monthly profit.

So he didn't feel the slightest bit reluctant to raise the artist's price.

Compared to the big sum, that little bit of money was nothing. Shuang'er had followed Zhiwan far away from the bookstore and was still somewhat dazed.

The young lady sold one of her paintings for twenty taels of silver.

"Miss, I... am I dreaming?" she murmured.

Not to mention her, even Zhiwan felt like she was dreaming.

She didn't expect that Manager Jin would actually raise the price for her, and by ten taels at once.

But the fact that Manager Jin agreed so readily shows that the benefits her catalog could bring him are far greater than he had imagined.

However, she wasn't envious.

After all, that's her skill; she can make money from it, which is why she's willing to pay her such a high fee.

Adding the one hundred taels from last time, she earned four hundred and sixty taels by selling paintings.

After the initial excitement, she calmed down.

Seeing the maid's stunned expression, he said with amusement, "If I pinch you and it hurts, then it's not a dream." With that, he actually pinched Shuang'er's arm.

She didn't use much force; it just hurt a little.

Shuang'er felt the pain and immediately calmed down, saying happily, "Miss, I'm really not dreaming! You're so amazing!"

Zhiwan was also very happy and took her hand, saying, "Let's go for a walk."

"Okay," Shuang'er readily agreed.

As I passed by a shop, I saw that it was already empty, and there was a "for rent" sign on the door.

Zhiwan's heart stirred, and she stopped in her tracks.

She couldn't let anyone know that she was drawing for the bookstore, not even her aunt.

She was afraid her aunt would think she was improper.

Once she had money, she could no longer accept money from her aunt, so she needed a legitimate source of income.

Opening a shop is a good way to do this.

Thinking of this, she took Shuang'er and walked over.

The shop owner happened to be inside, and upon seeing someone looking at the shop, he immediately greeted them warmly.

"Is the young lady looking to rent a shop?"

"Let's just take a look around," Zhiwan said, glancing inside.

The shop wasn't big, but it had a courtyard in the back.

"If you're interested, young lady, you're welcome to come in and have a look," the shopkeeper greeted her warmly.

Seeing that there were still several men carrying things inside, Zhiwan thought for a moment and then politely declined, saying, "I'll bring my brother with me to take a look tomorrow."

The shop owner looked somewhat disappointed upon hearing this, but still nodded warmly, "Then you must come tomorrow, young lady. I'll be waiting for you in the shop."

Zhiwan nodded perfunctorily and then pulled Shuang'er away.

After the shop owner went inside, Zhiwan walked to a stall not far away and asked, "Auntie, I'd like to ask, why isn't that shop doing business anymore?"

The old woman glanced at the shop, and seeing that the owner wasn't there, she whispered, "That shop is unclean; someone died there. Why are you asking about that, young lady?"

Zhiwan was startled. When she tried to ask more questions, the old woman shut up and said nothing.

Zhiwan had no choice but to leave with Shuang'er first.

Back at the manor, she suddenly realized that if someone had actually died at that shop, she could find out by asking her cousin.

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(End of this chapter)