Chapter 169: Lucky Transfer Beads

Since Bai Zimu said to bring a teacup, Mother Lei didn’t dare to prepare just one. Since they were going to visit an elderly gentleman, they naturally had to show proper etiquette.

She prepared an entire set of high-end tea sets, and at Bai Zimu’s suggestion, brought some good tea leaves, riding together with him in the car.

Mother Lei wore a formal suit, holding the gifts as she sat in the car. Seeing Bai Zimu giving directions and discovering the car was actually driving towards the school, she felt very puzzled in her heart:

“Zimu, where are we going?”

Bai Zimu only smiled but didn’t answer.

When they turned into Master He’s studio, Mother Lei couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry, saying:

“Zimu, the senior you mentioned is Old Mr. He?”

Bai Zimu nodded:

“Yes, let’s park the car outside. Grandpa has many things in his yard and doesn’t let outsiders in.”

He got out of the car himself first, then went over particularly like a gentleman to open the car door, made a ‘please’ gesture, and said with a smile:

“Mother Lei, we’re here, shall we get off?”

Mother Lei wore a women’s suit today. The small suit jacket with shoulder pads made her look quite imposing, and for this, she had specially applied light makeup. Dressed up so grandly, she actually felt somewhat embarrassed in front of Master He.

Bai Zimu invited her twice before she got out of the car. Passing through the yard, she wished she could wash her face.

Bai Zimu held her back and said with a smile:

“Don’t, it’s very pretty.”

Mother Lei said awkwardly:

“…Stop looking at me quickly, I don’t even know how to walk now.”

After entering, seeing Master He in the small reception hall made her even more extremely nervous. After all, the other party had seen her bare-faced working in the supermarket before. For a moment, she felt somewhat restless.

Old Man He walked in with his hands behind his back. He wore an undershirt and a long gown, with one sleeve half rolled up. A pencil was clipped to his ear, and he had some gold and stone dust on his body. Seeing her, he took a few extra glances with an odd expression.

Mother Lei: “…”

Mother Lei said awkwardly:

“I’ll go wash my face outside.”

Old Man He waved his hand, telling her to sit:

“No need, going to attend some banquet later, right? You go ahead with your business. Why did you think of coming to my place today?”

Mother Lei’s face was flushed red, not knowing how to speak. Bai Zimu on the side brought the gifts over, unpacked the tea set, took it out and placed it on the table, saying with a smile:

“Grandpa, hurry and look, does this teacup look good?”

Mother Lei hurriedly helped set it up. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] It was a Kung Fu tea set, which she herself knew a bit about, and helping to brew tea eased her tension slightly.

Although Old Man He accepted the teacup, he was particularly unhappy:

“What, you smashed a big tea bowl of mine last time, and you’re compensating me with such a small one?”

Mother Lei hurriedly said:

“Old Sir, I prepared the items. I didn’t know… How about this, I’ll have the driver go buy one right now, you wait!”

She hurriedly went out the door, running in high heels without half a delay.

Old Man He didn’t manage to stop her, so he turned his head and glared at Bai Zimu:

“What trouble have you brought me again?”

Bai Zimu said innocently:

“Grandpa, Mother Lei is so good to me, how could she be trouble?”

Old Man He let out a snort.

He still remembered when Bai Zimu brought back a Lei Dongchuan when he was little. Even now, he was still responsible for tutoring that silly boy from the Lei family in brush calligraphy. Taught for so many years, and he only learned a bit of the superficial knowledge. Letting him distinguish a painting was like he was blind, simply unable to tell true from false.

Bai Zimu sat over and coaxed him:

“Grandpa, I brought good things for you. Didn’t I plant some Job’s tears (grass bodhi) in the countryside last time? Saved for a long time, and finally gathered a string of the best beads.”

He took out the Job’s tears braided bracelet from his pocket, slipped it onto the old man’s wrist, propped his face up and smiled, “I picked the best to save for you.”

What gold, silver, and treasures hadn’t Old Man He seen? But he just happened to like these weird and bizarre things, especially since they were the painstaking efforts of his grandson, naturally making them different from those of others.

He touched the Job’s tears bracelet on his wrist, and saw the Eighteen Arhats on it. Every texture was half-melted into each round Job’s tear. The Arhats’ sitting postures were different, their clothes dancing, coincidentally matching the black and white textures on the Job’s tears, knowing this was something the child spent great effort to search for.

Old Man He didn’t say anything, but his expression softened a lot, asking him:

“You made it yourself?”

Bai Zimu smiled and said:

“Mn, Uncle Lu gave some pointers from the side, and I figured out a bit myself.”

Old Man He touched the bracelet and said:

“Why didn’t you come ask me?”

Bai Zimu blinked:

“Of course not, if Grandpa knew early on, wouldn’t there be no surprise?”

Old Man He let out a snort, and glanced at him:

“What surprise, completely bringing me a shock, bringing people here today…”

Before he finished speaking, he saw something else in Bai Zimu’s pocket. Bai Zimu shoved it in, and Old Man He asked sharply:

“What’s that? Why do you still have another string in your pocket?”

Bai Zimu said:

“That’s saved for Mother Lei.”

Old Man He said unhappily:

“Look at her wearing gold and silver, definitely won’t care for this, leave it for me.”

“That won’t do.”

“I’ll take something to exchange with her.”

“Grandpa, do the Lei brother’s family a favor, okay?”

Old Man He raised his eyes to look at him, crossed his arms and sneered:

“I knew it, it’s that boy surnamed Lei again. What magic potion did that Lei boy pour into you, making you make a special trip to put in a good word for him?”

“…”

Bai Zimu took his arm and whispered:

“Grandpa, Mother Lei is usually very plain. She specially dressed so grandly today to meet you. Look, she’s even embarrassed.”

Old Man He nodded:

“That’s true. I just remembered her coming to see me carrying rice bags herself. Seeing her dressed like this today, even I was startled.”

“Right? Mother Lei is very good, it wasn’t easy for her to open that supermarket.”

……

Bai Zimu sat there and whispered persuasion for a while, pleading softly for a long time. Finally, he stuffed the other Job’s tears bracelet into Master He’s hand, barely coaxing the old man to relent.

Old Man He asked:

“Speak, what do you want me to help them with?”

Bai Zimu said:

“Grandpa, I want some gold jewelry.”

Old Man He knew he would say this, his face carrying a bit of pride as he said:

“Sure, your Grandpa might not be good at other things, but this craftsmanship can still be considered something. Really want it? Grandpa will make a few pieces for you.”

Bai Zimu hesitated for a moment, and still said:

“I want Uncle Lu’s.”

Old Man He flew into a rage out of humiliation, immediately slapping the table:

“What?! Say it again, whose do you want? What’s wrong with mine, you don’t want mine, you want Lu Ping’s? Then go tell Lu Ping, what are you coming here for!”

“I naturally have to ask Grandpa first.”

Bai Zimu said righteously, “If Grandpa is unhappy, I won’t want it.”

The little flame in Old Man He’s heart was extinguished before it could even burn up, but looking at him he was still glaring:

“Speak clearly.”

Bai Zimu sat there and explained for a while before Old Man He finally understood that what Bai Zimu wanted was Baohua Silver Building’s gold jewelry, and ordinary Three Golds (gifts from groom to bride) used for marriages at that.

These things naturally didn’t require Master He to personally make them.

Old Man He said:

“I don’t care about the affairs of Baohua Silver Building, and I have no right to care.”

He bounced his leg, and after a moment couldn’t help but ask, “How many do you want?”

Bai Zimu said:

“Two hundred sets.”

Old Man He looked at Bai Zimu, furrowing his brows:

“For such a trivial matter, couldn’t you just go ask Lu Ping?”

What difficult matter did he think it was? Not to mention Lu Ping was busy right in the yard, even if he returned to Pingjiang City, for such a trivial matter, one phone call from Bai Zimu would probably have them delivered directly.

Bai Zimu poured him a cup of tea, placed it by his hand, and said:

“I am Grandpa’s grandson, Uncle Lu will definitely listen to what I say, but I also don’t want to make things difficult for Grandpa.”

Old Man He’s brows relaxed, he patted his hand and said:

“Alright, this little matter won’t go as far as making things difficult for Grandpa. Go call your Uncle Lu over, Grandpa will watch you tell him.”

Bai Zimu went to the yard to invite Lu Ping over, and told him a bit about the matter of setting up a gold counter in Baichuan Hypermarket. Halfway through listening, Lu Ping started laughing, his thinking already diverging, and he said excitedly:

“Master, are you saying for me to move Baohua Silver Building over?”

Old Man He hadn’t swallowed his mouthful of tea, almost choking on it, and glared:

“Bullshit, I told you to bring two hundred sets of jewelry over to sell, who told you to move the building over!”

Lu Ping was somewhat disappointed.

Bai Zimu said:

“Uncle Lu, the Lei family doesn’t have much money for turnover right now, and wants to discuss with Baohua Silver Building to supply the gold jewelry first, and settle the payment later, is that okay? I can mortgage some things to Uncle Lu.”

Before Lu Ping could reply, Old Man He beside him waved his hand and said:

“What could you have? Alright, Grandpa will provide whatever deposit is needed for you.”

Bai Zimu took out a folder he brought, pulled out a few design blueprints from inside, and handed them over, saying:

“Uncle Lu, take a look at this first.”

He gave them to Lu Ping, but how could Lu Ping dare to look at them alone? He took the blueprints and went to study them with his Master. The gold jewelry drawn on the blueprints was very simple, just a hollow small gold ball with a diamond-shaped pattern on the exterior. Because it was hollow in the middle, it made that single small gold ball appear a bit larger.

Lu Ping looked at the annotated values on the side, furrowed his brows and said:

“Such a ball is only made to a weight of about 1 gram?”

Bai Zimu said:

“Right, threaded with a red string, making a bracelet or a ring.”

“No need for a ring setting… That’s right, it’s hollow in the middle, just threading and braiding it will do. This is actually a good idea!”

Lu Ping looked for a while, looked up and asked, “Zimu, what is this called?”

Bai Zimu said:

“‘Lucky Transfer Beads’ (Zhuanyun Zhu). I also saw them over there when I went to the capital to visit Grandpa Bai previously, but those over there were all agate texture. I’ve been thinking ever since I came back, using gold to make them might be better.”

Lu Ping slapped his thigh,

“This name is good! [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] And this item has a small weight, the price won’t be expensive, it will definitely sell well!”

When he looked at the blueprints again, he had already started analyzing the craftsmanship. This thing had no technical content and wasn’t difficult to make.

Bai Zimu said:

“Uncle Lu, I only want the business in Shandong Province. For the remaining Lucky Transfer Beads, I don’t want a cut, you take them.”

Lu Ping was a businessman. Having managed Baohua Silver Building for so many years, he naturally had some business acumen in him. He could also see that although this design was small, the profit wasn’t low, and he immediately declined:

“How can this do! Zimu, you’re young and don’t know, this thing will definitely sell very well…”

“Uncle Lu, for so many years, you’ve stayed here to take care of Grandpa, this is for you.”

Lu Ping was speechless.

He had watched Bai Zimu grow up before his eyes, but never thought there would come a day when this child would return favors on behalf of his Master.

How could Lu Ping dare to accept it? He looked up at Master He.

Old Man He evidently hadn’t thought of it either, looking at Bai Zimu in surprise. His brows furrowed and then relaxed, not saying a word.

Bai Zimu said frankly:

“Uncle Lu, this ‘Lucky Transfer Bead’ has no technical content and can be mass-produced by machines, but the hardness and gold content must be guaranteed. Also, to make the style convincing, it has to be Baohua Silver Building making them for everyone to dare to buy and be willing to purchase. To put it bluntly, this bead is just to seek good fortune, what I thought of was nothing more than an advertising slogan. The specific operation still needs you to handle it personally. Besides, there will definitely be other stores imitating it, there are too many tricks in here, I’m small and don’t understand these.”

Lu Ping laughed:

“You don’t understand? You’ve thought much more than I have.”

Bai Zimu also smiled:

“It’s what Grandpa taught normally, this is also my first time putting it into practice. Uncle Lu, look, can this blueprint serve as collateral?”

Lu Ping raised his eyes to look at Master He, and seeing his Master nod, he agreed:

“It can.”

……

Mother Lei drove briskly to buy a new tea set. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] She had known Master He for many years. Although the old man had an eccentric temper and they didn’t interact much, she had also heard a lot about his preferences from Bai Zimu, knowing he liked white porcelain teabowls, so she immediately bought an entire set of large teabowls.

While waiting for the salesperson to pack them, she hurried to grab a set of more casual new clothes, washed her face, and reverted to her usual plain appearance, only then feeling a bit more comfortable.

When she returned to Master He’s studio carrying that set of white porcelain teabowls, she happened to see Lu Ping rolling up a set of design blueprints. Seeing her, he greeted her warmly:

“Boss Fang is here, rest assured, this matter is on me.”

Mother Lei was stunned for a moment: “Ah?”

Master He sitting on the Taishi chair had already started using that Kung Fu tea set to drink tea. Seeing he had already been coaxed well by Bai Zimu, a smile revealed on his face.

Seeing her arrive, Bai Zimu went forward to help lift the tea set and put it on the table, saying with a smile:

“Grandpa, you make up for the tea bowl this time, right? I smashed one, and Mother Lei helped me compensate with an entire set.”

Old Man He nodded and said:

“Alright, alright, got it.”

This time without Mother Lei speaking, Old Man He said:

“This matter Zimu told me about. The specifics, you can go outside and discuss with Lu Ping for a while.”

“Ah yes, thank you Master He…”

Master He had an eccentric temper, and didn’t keep guests after finishing speaking:

“Alright, no need to say these. Zimu stay to keep me company and talk, you guys go out first.”

Mother Lei hurriedly said yes, and followed Lu Ping outside.

When she left, her heart was pounding. If they really had Baohua Silver Building’s gold jewelry, their hypermarket would be completely different, crossing an entire level!

In the small hall.

Old Man He said drily:

“Why did you think of giving the blueprints to your Uncle Lu? When did you draw them, why didn’t I know?”

“Drew them secretly of course.”

Bai Zimu stood behind and massaged the old man’s shoulders, “Grandpa, Uncle Lu has always wanted you to return to Pingjiang City for a visit. Look, I gave Baohua Silver Building such a big gift, how about during my summer vacation, we go back together? Uncle Lu will definitely treat me to the most authentic Sizzling Eel Paste.”

Old Man He was originally still somewhat moved, but hearing him say this, he was amused out of anger:

“So, it’s all just to eat Sizzling Eel Paste?”

Bai Zimu smiled and said:

“Not entirely. How about we go back during Mid-Autumn Festival? The crabs are fat during Mid-Autumn, they’ll definitely be delicious.”

Old Man He said:

“Not going…”

Bai Zimu coaxed him:

“Grandpa, accompany me back for a trip, okay?”

Old Man He said awkwardly:

“What are you going to Pingjiang City for?”

Bai Zimu raised an eyebrow and said:

“My Grandpa’s house, I definitely have to go take a look. Other kids go to their Grandpa’s house for summer and winter vacations, it’s just me who’s pitiful, never been there once.”

Old Man He pursed his lips, and after a while, mumbled a sentence indistinctly.

Bai Zimu’s ears twitched, and he deliberately asked him:

“Grandpa, what did you say? I didn’t hear clearly.”

Old Man He let out a snort and said:

“…I said crabs are more delicious than eels!”

Bai Zimu rested on his shoulder and laughed, reaching out to hook pinkies with him:

“Grandpa, it’s a promise then, going back to eat crabs during Mid-Autumn.”

Old Man He awkwardly hooked pinkies with him, making an agreement, but was unforgiving with his words:

“Asking for some gold jewelry isn’t a big deal, was there a need to bring an outsider all the way here to find me? Don’t bring people next time. If you really have to bring someone, just have Dongchuan come over and say the word.”

Bai Zimu agreed with a smile:

“Alright.”

On the other side, Lu Ping and Mother Lei had almost finished their discussion. Both managed many people under them, and once they hit it off, they didn’t drag their feet at all, quickly drafting a contract.

After seeing off Bai Zimu’s group, Lu Ping went to make a call to Baohua Silver Building, giving brief instructions for a bit.

After finishing work, it was already nightfall.