Hearing that they could save even more money, the three of them immediately followed Leon Chen to his friend's workshop.
This workshop was located in the countryside. It was called a workshop, but in reality, it was just a farmhouse in the village.
The land of a farmhouse isn't worth much, but the carpenter's backyard was quite nice. There was a simple shed for sheltering from the rain, and inside were piles of old furniture waiting to be refurbished. Some hadn't been restored yet, so they were scattered haphazardly on the ground.
As soon as the carpenter heard Leon Chen explain their purpose, he realized they were big customers and eagerly greeted Nathan Ye and his companions.
"Take a look, everyone! This table has just been refurbished—see how beautiful it is!" The carpenter patted a table he'd just finished and said, "A brand new one would cost one or two taels of silver, but this refurbished one is as good as new and only costs two hundred copper coins. That's eighty percent cheaper!"
William "Li Dong" Wang and the others examined the table. Although it looked a bit old, the quality was excellent—very sturdy.
"Boss, your craftsmanship is really impressive," William Wang commented.
The carpenter grinned, "Of course! My family has been in carpentry for generations. Sigh, business these days is tough. Just making furniture isn't enough to support a family, so I've started refurbishing old pieces to sell."
Belle wandered around the front and back of the house for a while, discovering that the carpenter's skills were indeed impressive. All four of his children were carpenters too, but Charleston was so poor and business was slow, so they helped their father refurbish old furniture for a living.
After Belle finished wandering, she whispered to Nathan Ye, "Minister Ye, I think these refurbished pieces are pretty good. The quality seems solid. Our academy doesn't have to use all brand-new desks and chairs—these refurbished ones would work just as well and save us money."
Nathan Ye nodded, "Yes, I think so too."
Nathan Ye didn’t beat around the bush and directly explained their needs to the carpenter, asking, "We need desks, chairs, and benches for our academy, all in similar sizes. Can you supply them?"
The carpenter’s eyes widened in surprise and he nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, yes! I know a few old colleagues—several of us carpenters do this refurbished furniture business. If we join forces, we can definitely supply you! And besides, we all..."
The carpenter paused, hesitated for a moment, then said through gritted teeth, "We'll price the new ones the same as the old ones. Honestly, I don't think we'll need many new pieces—the amount of refurbished furniture is plenty. Besides, we're carpenters ourselves. We can go to the back hills to chop some wood, or dismantle some materials from other old furniture and make it ourselves. The cost isn't much, just labor. Since you're giving us such a big order, we won't fuss over a little money."
Unexpectedly, the carpenter was so straightforward that Nathan Ye and his group quickly placed their second order of the day.
The carpenter was delighted to receive such a large order. He cheerfully saw his important customers out, then turned around and treated Leon Chen to a meal as thanks for the business referral.
By the time they returned in the evening, even Belle was covered in dust from running around the countryside, her face dirty. But the three were all in high spirits, because after a day of running around, they'd saved a lot of money on the project!
The three returned in high spirits. Nathan Ye went straight to the Ministry of Works, burning the midnight oil to recalculate the budget report.
After dawn, Nathan Ye rubbed his tired eyes and looked at the newly checked report, feeling very pleased.
The original budget of more than 3.8 million taels was directly cut in half. Now it's 1.9 million taels!