Chapter 2332: Customized Invitation Card

Editor: Atlas Studios

All the staff watched Qiao Mei leave and then heaved a sigh of relief. They all knew how serious this current issue was and this was also the first time they had seen Qiao Mei so stern.

“Congratulations, Deputy Manager Molly!” everyone said in unison.

“All of you are too kind! We’re still colleagues. There’s no need for us to be so formal in private,” Molly said humbly.

After Qiao Mei left the restaurant, she did not go straight home. It had been a long time since she went to the antique market. After the economy opened up, many people scrambled to sell their hidden treasures to make some money and have a better life. Qiao Mei wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to buy more antiques while the price was still low.

“Boss, long time no see!” Qiao Mei walked to the entrance of that particular antique shop with a big cloth bag in her hand.

“You haven’t come by for a long time! You have brought along such a big cloth bag this time! I see that you’re here to stock up again!” the antique shop owner said with a smile.

He did not mark up the prices of the items in his shop by a lot, so he did not make much money. He just really liked antiques and he had made many like-minded friends among his customers. Qiao Mei was one of these friends, so whatever she wanted to buy, he was more than willing to sell! Although he felt very reluctant to part with the items, he was even more unwilling to see these valuable antiques wasting away in a corner like pearls covered in dust.

“Let me see all the nice things you have acquired recently. Bring them out and I’ll buy them all,” Qiao Mei said resolutely.

“That’s a lot of things. Are you sure you can cope?” the antique shop owner asked.

“I drove here!” Qiao Mei said as she patted her chest.

The antique shop owner looked at Qiao Mei with some admiration. In this era, there were very few people who had cars, which meant that there were even fewer people who knew how to drive. In the capital, women who knew how to drive numbered less than 20!

As soon as she entered the shop, Qiao Mei saw three big boxes and rummaged through them. In the end, Qiao Mei bought a total of two boxes of items and headed home with them. She was really satisfied with her purchase this time round.

“If you have such nice items in the future, keep them for me! If you don’t have space in the shop, then give me a call! Even if I can’t come over, I’ll arrange for someone to come and pay for them!” Qiao Mei said.

“Alright! I’ll definitely keep nice things aside for you!” the antique shop owner said.

“When you have time, let me treat you to a meal. Then I can also show you all the other nice things in my house!” Qiao Mei said happily.

“That’s even better!” the antique shop owner said with a smile.

Qiao Mei was about to leave when she suddenly thought of something. She had almost forgotten that she had an important task!

“Boss, do you know any old master who knows how to make gold foil?” Qiao Mei whispered.

This was not an easy skill to learn. There were probably only very few people in the capital who knew how to do it now and they had hidden themselves away in various alleys. They would only showcase their skills for people they knew!

The good thing was that Qiao Mei was very lucky. This antique shop owner used to be a very masterful goldsmith. He left the trade only because he suffered an injury.

“How much gold foil do you need? What do you need it for?” the antique shop owner asked.

“I need a lot, but I’m not in any hurry,” Qiao Mei said.

Qiao Mei wanted to make a batch of invitation cards out of gold foil since these would look very grand and classy. If diners came to the restaurant with the invitation cards in hand, the restaurant could retain the cards and recycle them. This way, it would not be too wasteful. Anyway, it did not matter even if the guests retained the invitation cards. She just had to price the cost of making them into the banquet charges.

“Do you have pen and paper here?” Qiao Mei asked after looking around.

“Yes.” The antique shop owner brought Qiao Mei to the study room in the back. She took a piece of paper and started to draw. Soon, she finished drawing a bookmark and an invitation card. The antique shop owner had never seen these two items she designed. It was not that he did not know what these two items were, but more that these two designs were ingenious and caught his attention.

“My hand is injured and I can’t do such detailed work, but my son can,” the antique shop owner said after looking at the design.

“Sure! I’m not in a hurry! You can take your time! The price is negotiable!” Qiao Mei said excitedly. She had thought that it would be a very troublesome problem to solve, but she did not expect it to be resolved so easily!

After discussing the price and quantity, Qiao Mei paid the full sum to the antique shop owner without even signing an agreement.

“You trust me so much? Aren’t you worried that I’ll run away with the money and simply abandon this shop?” the antique shop owner asked in disbelief as he held the money in his hand.

“We’ve known each other for so many years. If you wanted to scam me, you would have done it long ago. Is there a need to wait until now? Besides, it doesn’t matter even if you run away with the money. I’ll definitely be able to find you,” Qiao Mei said.

“Young girl, you’re actually quite sly! Don’t worry, I’ll definitely do a good job for you!” the antique shop owner said.

Qiao Mei left the antique shop with the two boxes. After three days, the first sample was ready. This was just a simple version and there was no gold foil on it yet.