Chapter 804 --804

Chapter 804: Chapter-804

Her original plan had been to establish a grocery store with a stationery section. The grocery business would provide a steady income, while the stationery section could attract scholars, clerks, messengers, and other people who regularly moved through the capital’s administrative circles.

It was a practical arrangement.

There was only one problem.

Paper was ridiculously expensive.

The moment Heena began approaching wholesale merchants, she discovered just how costly quality stationery could be in this era.

Fine rice paper, carefully prepared ink sticks, and calligraphy brushes made from high-quality animal hair were luxury goods, primarily purchased by wealthy households, scholars, and the aristocracy.

Stocking an entire section with such products would require a substantial investment. Worse, several merchants seemed reluctant to conduct business with a disgraced member of the Lu family.

One merchant even looked at her as if she had walked into his shop to steal his entire inventory.

"I’m afraid I cannot supply you with goods in such large quantities, miss."

"Why not?"

"Our stock is limited."

Heena glanced at the shelves behind him, which were practically overflowing with paper.

"Limited?"

The merchant coughed.

"Well, there are certain considerations."

"Such as?"

He hesitated before answering.

"Your family circumstances."

Heena stared at him.

Then she smiled.

"Ah. So you have enough paper, but you don’t want to sell it to me."

"Miss, I never said that!"

"You didn’t need to."

She turned around and left before he could invent another excuse.

For a brief moment, Heena considered abandoning the stationery concept altogether. She could simply sell inexpensive household goods instead. Ceramics, storage containers, cooking utensils—there were plenty of practical products that ordinary people needed.

But after thinking it over, she shook her head.

"No. I’ll wait for the right supplier."

Stationery wasn’t merely about selling paper and brushes. It could bring all sorts of people into her shop, including those who worked in government offices or carried messages between important households.

And information was valuable.

She wasn’t going to abandon an entire business strategy simply because her first few attempts had failed.

However, that didn’t mean she needed to leave her shelves empty while waiting for a reliable supplier.

So Heena did something that would have seemed rather strange to the merchants of this era.

She started buying a little bit of everything.

From one shop, she purchased coarse-pressed soap. From another, she bought bundles of dried medicinal herbs and spices. She added cotton string, clay storage jars, and various other household necessities to her growing collection.

At one point, she even stopped to purchase several beautifully carved wooden puzzle toys from a street craftsman.

The merchant looked surprised when she picked up one of the toys.

"Are you buying this for a child, miss?"

"No."

"Then perhaps it’s for your younger brother?"

"I don’t have one."

The merchant blinked.

"Then why are you buying it?"

Heena turned the wooden puzzle over in her hands.

"Because it’s interesting."

"But it’s a child’s toy."

"And?"

The man had no answer.

Heena purchased several pieces and continued on her way.

People needed soap. They needed jars to store their food, string to tie their belongings, spices to improve their meals, and toys to keep their children occupied.

Why should they have to visit five different shops when they could purchase everything in one place?

She wasn’t interested in restricting herself to a single category of goods.

Instead, she intended to create a store where people could find the everyday necessities they needed without running all over the market.

A little grocery section here, household goods there, toys for children, and eventually stationery for scholars and clerks.

It might not have been a revolutionary concept by modern standards, but in this world, it was an opportunity worth exploring.

By the time she finished purchasing her initial inventory, she had accumulated an impressive collection of goods.

Unfortunately, that brought her attention to another problem.

The shop itself was falling apart.

Heena had discovered the extent of the damage during her cleaning session the previous day.

The wooden counters were warped, the medicine cabinets were weakened by years of dampness, and the shelving was riddled with termite damage. Several floorboards were so rotten that she didn’t trust them to support anything particularly heavy.

If she loaded those shelves with clay jars and sacks of grain, they would probably collapse before the first customer walked through the door.

That was hardly the kind of grand opening she wanted.

Welcome to my shop! Please mind the broken shelves, and if the ceiling falls on your head, do let me know.

No. Absolutely not.

With a resigned sigh, Heena headed toward Carpenters’ Alley.

The moment she entered the street, the sound of hammering and sawing filled her ears. Wood shavings covered the ground, and the sharp, pleasant scent of freshly cut timber lingered in the air.

After asking around, she finally found an elderly, broad-shouldered master carpenter who appeared experienced enough to handle a project of this scale.

The carpenter looked up when Heena approached.

"What can I do for you, young lady?"

"I need someone to repair a two-story building."

"How much repair?"

"Enough that it might be easier to rebuild the interior."

The carpenter raised an eyebrow.

"That bad?"

"The shelves are rotten, the counters are damaged, and I don’t trust half the floorboards to support a sack of rice."

The older woman laughed.

"Then you certainly have your work cut out for you. Come on, tell me exactly what you need."

Heena explained everything.

She didn’t want someone to patch a few broken shelves and call the job finished. She wanted the entire interior of the two-story building inspected and rebuilt wherever necessary.

The display counters needed replacing. The storage shelves had to be strong enough to hold heavy merchandise. The beds and furniture in the back rooms needed attention, too.

And most importantly, the front door had to be replaced.

The previous one had already suffered enough damage at the hands of the Lu family’s servants. Heena had no intention of allowing another group of troublemakers to stroll into her property simply because the entrance was too flimsy to resist them.

The carpenter listened carefully before inspecting the building’s measurements and calculating the amount of timber and labor required.

When she finally announced her price, Heena raised an eyebrow.

"Five silver coins," the carpenter declared. "Half in advance, and the rest when the work is complete."

Heena looked at her.

"Five silver coins for the entire building?"

"Unless you want me to use rotten wood and hope the shelves don’t collapse on your customers."

Heena considered that for a moment.

"Fair enough. But I have a few conditions."

The carpenter folded her arms.

"What conditions?"

"First, the shelves must support heavy jars and sacks without bending. Second, I want a sturdy front door. Third, if you use inferior materials, I won’t pay the remaining amount."

The carpenter studied her before breaking into laughter.

"You certainly know how to bargain, young lady."

"I know how to avoid paying twice for the same thing."

"Fair enough. I’ll use good elm and proper iron nails. Half upfront, the rest when I’m finished."

Heena reached into her robe and pulled out the required deposit.