Handsome shopkeeper Ziqu

There's a handsome young man in town.

Qiao Ziqiu received several overseas merchants from Guangfu early in the morning, who were running to Nanyang. From April to August is the best season in the southeastern sea with calm winds and waves. After negotiating some urgent orders they needed, he had to hurry to load them onto the sea ship. As he approached the door, he felt two intense gazes sticking to him. Even when he was in the capital, he was afraid of being surrounded by young ladies from various families. Can't escape even in this remote place? Qiao, the second son of the Qiao family, adjusted the fake smile on his face, turned around to follow the gaze, ready to politely ask the young lady to step back. However, the owner of the gaze was unexpectedly a little girl? Wearing a slightly oversized fine blue jacket, a common plant-dyed indigo fabric often seen on the surrounding mountain people. With a half-empty medicine basket on her back, she should be a common mountain child here to buy goods. But what kind of eyes were those? Standing there with a dumbfounded expression, her ink-black eyeliner, accompanied by long and slightly curled eyelashes, slightly raised, staring up with clear and bright eyes filled with disbelief and admiration. Looking at his face, rapidly filling with tears and misting up, hanging on the long eyelashes without dropping, it seemed to be staring at his face while looking through this face to the depths of the soul. Lips slightly trembling, calling out "Dad," her voice trembled, carrying a hint of probing and a lot of grievances.

"Miss, were you calling me just now? Who is your dad? Is he your relative or friend? Do you want to come inside the shop and have a look?" Qiao, who hadn't seen this girl before, usually dealt with large bulk goods from north and south or maritime trade. She probably wasn't here to make a purchase. But at this moment, Qiao, the second son, didn't want her to leave. He hoped that he was the person she was looking for.

"I'll come in," Xiangbei woke up when the other person spoke. This person wasn't her dad, just someone who looked like him. More precisely, he resembled her dad when he was young and hadn't married yet. The same tall figure, gentle and elegant smile, with a rhythmic baritone carrying warmth. But he wasn't her dad; he didn't have the familiar affectionate look in his eyes. Unexpectedly, his eyes were accompanied by the restrained excitement and joy when a young man saw his favorite girl. Her dad didn't travel through time like herself, but based on this face, Xiangbei firmly believed that her beloved dad, in this life and the next, had arranged their encounter in the mysterious twists of fate. Her dad would appear, accompany her to grow up, "Does the shopkeeper have silk cocoons?"

"Yes, yes, Miss, please come in. Did you call me 'Dad' just now? Who is he? Are you looking for him?"

"Dad is my family. You look a lot like him, and I made a mistake just now. I'm sorry."

"That's a big coincidence. I'm surnamed Qiao. If you have a chance to come to town, remember to visit our shop and introduce us. We can get to know each other." Qiao Er led Xiangbei to a table near the window, where silk cocoons were laid out by size and color on a wooden tray, "Our shop has been open for a few months, and the staff is not yet complete. We have only done some procurement and bulk shipments. The staff is currently organizing the goods and preparing to open for business at the end of the season. So the store is in chaos now, and I apologize for the inconvenience. It will take another month for this year's spring silkworms to come down. These are last year's old cocoons. Shall we see if they are suitable?"

"Mr. Qiao, can I buy just 2000? Do you sell silkworm eggs?"

"2000 is no problem, but we don't sell silkworm eggs. However, to understand these silks, I will get some silkworms from the suppliers and raise them. If the lady doesn't need many, I can give you some."

"That's great, thank you. Mr. Qiao, I have some stationery items here that I want to show you. Can you take a look to see if any merchants might be interested?"

Xiangbei moved the cocoon tray away and took out items such as rice paper, goose feather pens, small blackboards, chalk, carbon copy paper, pencils, and bamboo sections containing pancreas, arranging them one by one. When using the three-layer rice paper to sandwich two sheets of carbon copy paper for the triplicate forms, Xiangbei used Arabic numerals to list a series of goods, indicating quantity, unit price, total price per unit, and finally, the total amount in Chinese characters. After extracting the carbon copy paper, offsetting it from the triple rice paper, using the goose feather pen dipped in ink to sign it, gently molding the sulfur pancreas from the bamboo section, rinsing her hands in the nearby clear water copper basin, she sat down and quietly watched Qiao Ziqiu.

"Miss, could you explain a bit to me?" Xiangbei saw that he first picked up the carbon copy, revealing a surprised and eager expression, so she smiled.