Chen Lan asked Shopkeeper Tong how much the item brought today, Mr. Zhang Daqian's ink painting "Jia Ou Tu" and the gilded "Zizai Guanyin" seated statue, cost in total.
Shopkeeper Tong explained that this small ink painting by Mr. Zhang Daqian, "Jia Ou Tu," only cost 300 taels of silver.
The gilded "Zizai Guanyin" seated statue, made during the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty, also required 300 taels of silver. Sudan Novel Network
Chen Lan said that it would be acceptable to give him two large gold bars for the goods and commission.
Shopkeeper Tong nodded happily and replied, "Thank you, young lady, for your generosity!" Then he called out, "Miss," and fell silent.
Seeing that Shopkeeper Tong seemed to have something to say but hesitated, Chen Lan asked, "Shopkeeper Tong, if you have something to say, just say it. Don't hesitate. What trouble are you in? If I can help, I will. Of course, if I can't, don't blame me. Tell me now?"
Shopkeeper Tong said, "Miss, I would like to ask you for a job. Can you help me with this favor?" Chen Lan looked at Shopkeeper Tong with confusion.
Shopkeeper Tong quickly explained, "Miss, it's not for me. It's for the young man, Lin Mao, whom you met at our pawnshop that day when you went to the pawnshop."
"What about him?" Chen Lan asked Shopkeeper Tong.
Shopkeeper Tong replied, "That child is a tragic figure. His parents died early, and he and his sister depended on each other. To support herself and her brother, his sister sold herself as a maid at the age of ten. Now that the country has been liberated, the government requires everyone to be equal, and there can be no maids or servants in families. Now, both the brother and sister are idle at home with no source of income. They came to me for help. I don't know anyone in the government, nor do I have any connections in this regard. So, I have come to you. Do you know of any way to help this brother and sister?"
Chen Lan asked very seriously, "Shopkeeper Tong, tell me the truth. Can you vouch for the character of this brother and sister?"
Shopkeeper Tong quickly and solemnly replied, "No problem, I can vouch for them."
Chen Lan said to Shopkeeper Tong without thinking, "There are ways, but I don't know if they are willing to go?"
So, Chen Lan told Shopkeeper Tong about her entire family preparing to move to Jilin.
Shopkeeper Tong hesitated, saying, "This is a big matter, and I cannot make the decision for them. I must go back and ask the brother and sister."
"Alright! Then I'll trouble Shopkeeper Tong to go back and ask them."
Shopkeeper Tong quickly replied, "It's my duty, it's my duty!"
After seeing Shopkeeper Tong off, Chen Lan went to the small room where Wen Rou Niang, Liu Mama, and Yu Zhen usually did needlework. Seeing the three of them engrossed in their work, each holding a needle, Chen Lan suddenly remembered something. A sewing machine, yes, a sewing machine.
Chen Lan immediately turned and walked back to her bedroom. She looked at the two children. Fortunately, they were still asleep.
Chen Lan used her mind to control the system, selected "purchase," and then "sewing machine," comparing various performance indicators.
Chen Lan chose a portable, lightweight, compact household portable sewing machine. It also came with a complete set of sewing threads.
This sewing machine cost 230 yuan each. Chen Lan bought three at once. With one for each of them, she believed they could finish their work quickly. Hehe!
Chen Lan excitedly carried the three sewing machines back to the room, smiled at the three women, and mysteriously opened a carton, taking out a sewing machine and placing it on the worktable for making clothes. The three women looked at Chen Lan blankly.
Chen Lan chuckled triumphantly and said smugly to the three, "Beautiful ladies, look, look quickly, what is this?"
The three women didn't move, still looking at her, waiting for Chen Lan to explain. This made Chen Lan speechless, and she couldn't show off anymore, so she had to explain to them that this was called a sewing machine.
When the three heard this, they were even more confused. Their eyes were full of question marks? They still stared at her blankly.
Before Chen Lan completely lost her composure, heaven was kind, and someone finally chimed in.
Hu Yuzhen asked weakly, "What is this thing for?"
Chen Lan finally found an opportunity to show off and explained to the three, "This is a sewing machine, a sewing machine used for making clothes and bedding. Do you understand?"
Seeing that the three still didn't understand, Chen Lan decided to demonstrate.
Chen Lan placed the sewing machine flat on the worktable. Just as she was about to operate it, she realized a problem: she had bought an electric sewing machine. She had overlooked this issue when buying it. Fortunately, this was the capital city, and electricity had been supplied to homes years ago.
However, it wouldn't work in Jilin, let alone in the sparsely populated mountainous area near the Changbai Mountains, where Chen Lan's entire family was going.
This made Chen Lan feel extremely embarrassed and depressed.
What to do? Chen Lan clenched her fists. If there are conditions, we must go; if there are no conditions, we must create them. So be it. She would worry about the Jilin issue later.
The priority now was to teach them how to use the sewing machine as quickly as possible.
Chen Lan took out the product manual that came with the sewing machine's packaging. She explained it to the three women while operating it herself, then guided them to operate it individually. The three women were very interested, as if they had found a new toy. They all followed Chen Lan's instructions diligently and quickly got the hang of it, and began to sew.
Seeing that there was nothing for her to do, Chen Lan strolled back to her bedroom.
As she walked, Chen Lan thought, Jilin is located in the northernmost part of China's temperate zone, approaching the subarctic. It has dry, windy springs, hot, rainy summers, clear autumn skies, and cold, long winters.
Jilin is located in the transitional zone from the Changbai Mountains to the Songnen Plain, in the relatively high southeastern part.
In this way, there would be no obstruction to sunlight and wind speed.
Chen Lan pondered and muttered to herself, sunlight, light, wind speed? Got it... solar... wind...
Great! She would buy a wind-solar hybrid generator.
Chen Lan quickly opened the system to check the sales price of medium-power wind-solar hybrid generators.
After multiple comparisons, Chen Lan found that the 15kw wind-solar hybrid generator produced by Dongshan Province Generator Factory had a high cost-performance ratio.
Chen Lan decided to buy five units wholesale. Each wind-solar hybrid generator cost 110,000 yuan, so five units would be 550,000 yuan. It really hurt!
Seeing the price, Chen Lan decided not to buy for now. She would wait until she found a master electrician before buying.
With something on her mind, Chen Lan was restless and eagerly awaited dinnertime. She wasn't hungry; she was eager for the brothers Xiang Dong and Xiang Xi to come home soon to discuss matters.
Chen Lan eagerly waited for the two brothers. As soon as they entered the door, Chen Lan enthusiastically rushed to greet them, scaring Xiang Xi into retreating repeatedly, which made everyone burst into laughter.
Xiang Xi quickly stopped Chen Lan from rushing forward and said, "Little Lanzi, if you have something to say, say it. Seeing your enthusiasm makes me nervous and scared. I'm afraid you'll scheme against me again."
"Little Watermelon, you're looking for death! Explain who schemed against you? Huh?" Chen Lan yelled at Xiang Xi, hands on her hips.
"Little Lanzi, I'm scared, I'm scared! You speak, you speak!" Xiang Xi, with extreme survival instincts, replied.