Chapter 70 Take a close look at me—do I look like a fat sheep to you?

Over the next few days, Fang Ning was busy teaching the female members of the Fang family how to make velvet flowers, including Fang Ling and Fang Fei.

As for the stuffed toys, Madam Chen recommended Li Shi, the wife of Zhao Baoquan, as Li Shi was said to be very deft with her hands.

Since Zhao Baoquan’s leg had not yet healed and he was unable to do field work, making stuffed toys for the Fang family was a perfect fit for him.

Their daughter, Zhao Taohua, also came along to help.

Li Shi expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Fang Ning, "Ningning, thank you so much for helping us out."

"Aunt Zhao, let's skip the polite formalities. My third aunt told me you have great craftsmanship, but our customers have very strict requirements for this batch of toys, so you'll have to bear with my pickiness," Fang Ning made her stance clear beforehand.

Li Shi nodded, "I understand. I will try my best to make decent-looking toys."

"Then try making one based on this first," Fang Ning took out a small tiger that Fang Hong had picked out and handed it to Li Shi.

After examining it for a while, Li Shi felt confident, "Should I stuff these cotton fibers into it after sewing?"

"That's right."

"Alright, let me make one and you can see how it turns out."

Li Shi immediately got to work.

Leaving the mother and daughter to their task, Fang Ning went over to focus on teaching Old Madam Fang and the others how to make velvet flowers.

Velvet flowers looked easy, but making them well was quite difficult.

Aside from Madam Zhao, whose hands were a bit clumsy and struggled with the craft, both Old Madam Fang and Madam Chen learned very quickly.

Fang Ling and Fang Fei had their minds set elsewhere, so naturally, they had no interest in learning.

Especially Fang Fei, who would work for a moment and then run over to Zhao Taohua to chat.

Zhao Taohua had a fair, clean complexion, spoke slowly, and was very gentle.

All the girls in the village liked Zhao Taohua.

Li Shi sewed the stuffed toy even faster than Madam Chen. In less than half an hour, she had completed a small, lifelike tiger.

"Ningning, do you think this is okay?" Li Shi brought the little tiger over.

Fang Ning was pleasantly surprised, "Aunt Zhao, your craftsmanship is just as good as my third aunt's!"

"Your third aunt is much better; she taught me quite a few things beforehand."

"In that case, I'll leave these fabric scraps with you. As for the wages, small ones will be twenty wen each, medium ones forty, and large ones sixty. How does that sound?"

"Re—Really?"

Li Shi widened her eyes, hardly believing what she had just heard.

There were so many fabric scraps here; once she finished making them all, she could earn at least around one tael of silver!

Previously, even when Zhao Baoquan wasn't injured, saving up one tael of silver would take grueling months of hard labor!

"Yes, but I have a requirement. I will give you patterns; can you make them?"

"Yes."

Li Shi nodded without hesitation.

Although Zhao Baoquan's life wasn't in danger, a family of four still needed to eat, and medicines cost money too. Their family savings had long been almost depleted.

Now that Fang Ning had suddenly handed her an opportunity to make money, she was going to seize it no matter what.

"Young Master, bring out the patterns you drew!" Fang Ning shouted at the top of her lungs.

Both Li Shi and Zhao Taohua were stunned.

They knew that the young master of All-Flavor Tower was staying at the Fang family to recover from an illness.

But who was the young master?

Wasn't Fang Ning afraid at all?

Ordering him around just like that?

Both mother and daughter worried that Si Yuheng would be angry.

Yet, the members of the Fang family were long used to it.

In fact, they would find it strange if Si Yuheng didn't listen to Fang Ning's orders.

Before long, Si Yuheng came out holding the twelve zodiac animal patterns Fang Ning had drawn.

The zodiac animals Fang Ning drew were in a cartoon style, completely different from the stereotyped images everyone had in mind.

Even Si Yuheng found them novel.

Naturally, Li Shi and Zhao Taohua were no exception.

"So cute," Li Shi blurted out.

Looking at those adorable cartoon designs, Zhao Taohua couldn't bear to put them down. How could anyone draw the twelve zodiac animals in such a unique way?

"Right? Our young master is such a cute person," Fang Ning said with a smug look.

Si Yuheng gave her a warning look, telling her to behave.

Would Fang Ning listen?

She ran over and asked Li Shi, "Aunt Zhao, can you make them according to these patterns?"

"Yes, but Ningning, this is my first time seeing this style. Can I practice first?"

"Of course you can."

Li Shi breathed a sigh of relief and picked the rabbit.

Si Yuheng had already walked back into the room.

Zhao Taohua pulled Fang Ning aside and asked in a low voice, "Ningning, can I use some of my family's old clothes to make a little mouse like this?"

"Do you like mice?"

"No, no, my mother said my zodiac sign is the rat."

"Go ahead and make it then. You can pick any fabric you like here; consider it a gift from me. Of course, you have to do the sewing yourself."

"No need, my family has old clothes."

"Sister Taohua, my fourth brother said if he gives it to you, you should accept it, or he'll get mad," Fang Fei chimed in.

Zhao Taohua looked at Fang Ning, "Then I'll pick some?"

"Help yourself."

Anyway, these fabric scraps weren't worth much, and if the young girl liked them, she would let her pick.

Who wouldn't like a gentle and lovely girl?

Zhao Taohua was delighted.

Meanwhile, Li Shi was entirely absorbed in figuring out how to cut and sew to make the rabbit look more authentic, completely missing what Zhao Taohua and Fang Ning had been talking about.

After watching for a while, Fang Ning heard Madam Zhao calling her and hurriedly went over to guide Madam Zhao.

Time slipped by over the next seven or eight days amidst Fang Ning's reading, practicing martial arts, teaching people how to make velvet flowers, and occasionally checking on the cement production.

Following Fang Ning's advice, Liang An蓉 spent several days entering the city and finally found a suitable storefront, signing a three-year lease with the landlord.

Since Liang An蓉 was opening an eatery, it naturally needed remodeling.

As it happened, Big Stone's father was a carpenter and skilled at such work, so Liang An蓉 asked him to help with the renovations.

On the day the renovation started, Big Stone's father also brought the fifteen sets of chessboard sets Fang Ning had ordered. Ji Jiayan's stuffed toys were also completed, so they were sent to the city together.

Ji Jiayan had been waiting impatiently.

He finally welcomed Fang Ning's arrival.

Fang Ning had Fang Wenqin place the back basket right in front of Ji Jiayan, "Young Master Ji, these are the stuffed toys you wanted. Inspect them and see if they are to your liking?"

Ji Jiayan complained incessantly, "You are so slow! I thought you'd finish them today, and they actually had to be delivered along with the chessboards."

When he picked up the set of twelve zodiac animals, his eyes lit up, "Why have I never seen such a zodiac set before? Ah, they are so cute!"

Ji Jiayan had seen all kinds of fine goods, but he had never seen anyone make stuffed toys this adorable.

"Fang Ning, did you inquire about what I like and deliberately try to flatter me?" Ji Jiayan loved them so much he couldn't bear the thought of selling them.

Fang Ning rolled her eyes, "Young Master, I am very busy; I don't have the leisure time to find out what you like. If you think they're acceptable, pay up. But you know these look different from ordinary zodiac toys, so the price goes up."

"Stop nagging, name your price."

"Fifty taels of silver."

Ji Jiayan: "!!!"

He pointed at his own nose, "Fang Ning, take a good look at me. Do I look like a fat sheep ready to be fleeced?"

"Weren't you the one who asked me to name the price? Custom items naturally have a different price tag. Young Master Ji, if you want to make a profit off these, you are free to haggle. But if you can find someone else to make a second set, I can make another set completely different from this one!"