Phi-Fic Chapter 119 They Came Knocking!
Chapter 119 They Came Knocking!
When Mu Xinyao arrived at the jewelry shop, she found it already surrounded by a huge crowd!
Mu Xinyao naturally dared not speak as the shop owner anymore, so she stood on the outside and peered intently inside.
The shopkeeper and his waiter were surrounded by a group of guards and attendants, who seemed ready to deal with them.
"Miss Yang, please speak properly. These jewelry pieces are perfectly fine. What are you trying to do?" This Yang Yu'er is the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Anguo's mansion; she's not someone we common folk can afford to offend!
"Hmph! You dare to argue with me? Look at this yourselves! What is this?" Yang Yu'er said, and the maid beside her threw a set of pure gold jewelry on the counter.
"Look at this yourselves! You call this top-quality pure gold jewelry? You're clearly making a fool of us! Our young lady has always trusted your shop completely, but we never expected you to sell such inferior goods at such a high price. I think you're doing a dishonest business!"
The maidservant beside Yang Yu'er was also quite eloquent, and she explained the matter clearly in just a few words.
"Good heavens, they actually passed off inferior goods as superior ones? You know this is the young lady of the Duke of Anguo's mansion! They really have some nerve!"
"What do you know? If they can't pass off inferior goods as superior ones, who will they make money from? Aren't they just after the Duke's mansion's money? It's easy to make money from them."
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper immediately broke out in a cold sweat. "Miss Yang, you mustn't speak carelessly. What is wrong with this jewelry? If the color and shape don't suit your taste, just tell me, and our shop will naturally make a new one for you."
"Bah! You shady shop dare to claim you'll remake it?" the maidservant said, hands on her hips. "There's a saying: seven parts green, eight parts yellow, nine parts red, and yellowish-white with a hint of gray mixed with half gold. Look at the purity of this jewelry, isn't this nine parts red?"
Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper immediately took the jewelry and examined it carefully. As for gold, reddish-yellow is considered the best, with a purity of 95% or higher; pure yellow is around 80% purity; bluish-yellow is around 70% purity; and yellow with a slight gray tinge is around 50% purity. This is why there's the saying: "Seven parts bluish-yellow, eight parts yellow, nine parts red, and half gold with a yellowish-white tinge and gray."
The shopkeeper took a look and realized that the color was indeed a bit off, leaning slightly towards green!
To be honest, such jewelry wouldn't be a big deal if it were sold to ordinary people! After all, how many ordinary families can actually afford pure gold jewelry? But this kind of gold jewelry is clearly of medium quality, and it would look rather unsightly on the young lady of the Duke's mansion!
The shopkeeper thought it was unlikely. He had personally checked the gold and found it to be of excellent quality. How could there be such a problem?
When Mu Xinyao saw this scene, she really wanted to slap the shopkeeper twice!
It turned out that Mu Xinyao needed a lot of cash on hand because of the clothing shop! But the jewelry shop couldn't produce any more cash at the moment. After all, they needed to keep the business running, right?
So, Mu Xinyao remembered something she had heard about gilding in modern times, and she told the shopkeeper about it. It meant that when making jewelry, they used lower-quality gold inside, but plated it with a layer of high-quality pure gold on the outside. This made it look shiny and dazzling, and naturally, it could be sold at the price of pure gold jewelry, but the cost was much lower! This way, the jewelry shop's profit could potentially be much higher!
In fact, Mu Xinyao was thinking of using brass plated with gold. As the name suggests, it means using brass to make a blank, and then plating the surface with gold. This way, the jewelry will be gold inside and out, and the jewelry will be bright and retain its color for longer!
However, her suggestion was too audacious and risky; the shopkeeper and the craftsman would never dare to do such a thing! If discovered, it would be a serious crime! It would mean imprisonment!
Mu Xinyao cursed them inwardly for being cowardly and useless, but there was nothing she could do. She couldn't very well go into the shop herself and make the jewelry, could she? She could only go along with them and use lower-quality gold for the rough pieces. Even so, her profit was still quite high!
The shopkeeper was already sweating profusely! He cursed his new master in his heart countless times! He had said long ago that this method wouldn't work, but look what happened? In just over ten days, they had come knocking on his door, completely ruining his reputation!
"Miss Yang, please don't worry. Perhaps our waiter made a mistake. As you know, our shop has an excellent reputation. Maybe they just gave you the wrong thing. Please don't be anxious. I'll have someone go check the back right away. What do you think?"
There was nothing the innkeeper could do; things had come to this point, so he could only shift the blame onto the waiter. What else could he do? Say that we did it on purpose? That would be suicide!
"A mistake? The pattern is clearly made exactly as I described at the beginning. How could you have gotten the wrong one? Besides, if mine was a mistake, does that mean my cousin's was also a mistake?"
Luo Yingying, who had remained silent until now, nodded. "That's right! If my cousin made a mistake, does that mean the gold peony phoenix hairpin I specially ordered from you was also mistaken? You know, this is a birthday gift for my mother! Luckily, we discovered it in time, otherwise, wouldn't I have become the laughingstock of the entire capital? Not only that, I'd probably be branded as unfilial! If your shop doesn't give us an explanation today, then don't blame us for being ruthless!"
The shopkeeper was terrified when he heard this! Judging from their posture, the two young ladies were going to smash up the shop!
But there was something even worse!
The people outside originally came to watch the spectacle, but now that they heard there was a problem with the quality of the jewelry, people kept bringing over pieces of jewelry, and some even started scratching at the wooden door to see if the quality inside was the same as the outside!
"Shopkeeper, bring us the touchstone! We need it to test our gold!"
"Yes! We need the touchstone! Go get the touchstone now! If you don't produce the touchstone, we'll report you to the authorities and accuse you of deception!"
This method of testing gold involves rubbing a gold plaque (a gold plaque whose purity has been determined by the government) against the jewelry being tested on a touchstone. By comparing the colors, the purity of the gold jewelry is determined. This method is used in all jewelry shops and even money shops.
The shouts from the crowd grew louder and louder. The shopkeeper was helpless! He did have the touchstone, but in the current situation, could he possibly retrieve it and compare it one by one? That would be suicidal!
Upon seeing this, Mu Xinyao inwardly cursed and, taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, quickly and quietly left.