Casting Nets to Catch a Husband

Chapter 126: The Liu family’s prosperous opening

Madam Zhou was also a sociable person. Feeling impressed, she praised Wei Shi’s embroidery shop endlessly. Zhou Qiongying and her two sisters-in-law couldn’t resist any longer. After exchanging a few words with the others, they went inside to look at the clothes and naturally struck up a conversation with Qin Shi and Lu Shuang.

Over at Liu Yu’s side, a girl named Xiao Rong from the Zhang family had also chosen her clothes. She was now calling Liu Yu over to measure her dimensions. Madam Zhou had keen eyes and recognized her as the magistrate’s young daughter. She also noticed that the two new wives from the masters’ families were all attended to by a girl named Liu Yu. She hurriedly said to Wei Shi, “Please go attend to your other guests first. We’re family here; we can chat later.”

Wei Shi was also concerned about business and smiled, “Sure, I’ll be busy first. Let’s talk later. Feel free to look around the shop.”

She then turned to Chen Shi and said, “In-law, please help me attend to them.”

Chen Shi naturally agreed. Wei Shi turned away. Madam Zhou smiled and glanced at Liu Yu, asking Chen Shi softly, “I heard Qiongying say that the girl from the Liu family has exceptional skills in making clothes. Are all the clothes in this shop made by her?”

Chen Shi nodded and said, “Not all of them, but she has designed and cut quite a few. Her craftsmanship is indeed excellent.”

“You’re fortunate. Chengxiao is talking about such a good marriage.”

As they chose their clothes with the two masters’ wives, Madam Zhang heard this and her eyes flickered. She made a note of the name and decided to return and ask her master if the third young master of the Lu family was called Lu Chengxiao. If so, the Lu and Liu families had indeed already gotten married.

With the information she wanted, Madam Zhang was in a good mood and she looked around, choosing another set for herself without informing Wei Shi. She directly let her housekeeper, who was following her, pick it up and she personally took it to Liu Yu’s side to measure her size.

Liu Yu had just finished measuring Zhang Xiao Rong. The girl was a little shorter than her sister and needed to adjust both her sleeves and her dress length. Liu Yu roughly mentioned her thoughts on the adjustment: “Normally, it wouldn’t take much effort to make these adjustments, but because we’re rushing to open today, the embroiderers stayed up until four in the morning last night and are still catching up on sleep. Could we deliver them to your mansion after we’ve made the adjustments tomorrow?”

Xiao Rong didn’t particularly enjoy sewing and thought the autumn clothes wouldn’t be worn for a few days, so she nodded. “That’s okay.”

Madam Zhang arrived while they were talking and smiled at Liu Yu, saying she had chosen another set. Naturally, the housekeeper took care of the measurements.

The youngest girl from the Zhang family saw Madam Zhang approaching, warmly pulled her arm and called her mother, leading Madam Zhang to see the two sets of clothes she had tried on, saying, “Do you think I look good in these two sets?”

Madam Zhang held them in her hand and looked at them. “Really, are you wearing both sets?”

The young girl nodded with great joy. “Yes, I want them both. They’re too big, so please ask Miss Liu to make them for me.”

She was only thirteen years old and had not yet fully grown.

Madam Zhang readily agreed. Clearly, she doted on her daughter. She called Liu Yu over and showed her the two sets of clothes, saying, “My daughter wants to order both sets. Please remember, I’ll have my housekeeper give you the measurements.”

Yu Ma was the housekeeper of the Zhang mansion. Liu Yu gladly accepted the task and returned to the counter to communicate with the housekeeper, taking notes and recording the custom orders on the small table for entertaining guests.

Fortunately, she had prepared her calligraphy skills back in May, so there was no need to add more trouble for the sake of modesty. As for the style of writing, she had spent less than two years in Liuxian Pavilion, where she had so many things to learn. Calligraphy wasn’t the most important. Her handwriting was just good enough. There was nothing unusual about it.

From bookkeeping to writing down the custom order, Wei Shi had long been accustomed to it and did not find it strange.

The shop was bustling with activity, but Madam Zhang had already come to pay her bill. She chose two sets, one for each of her two nieces and two for her daughter, totaling six sets. This went beyond her original plan of just showing support, but in fact, there was still some intention of it.

Wei Shi was not familiar with the price and style, so Liu Yu came to calculate. The Liu family was accustomed to bookkeeping. Liu Yu put a bundle of cloth in and folded a set of clothes into it. She reported a set, and Wei Shi wrote down the price and informed Madam Zhang. Her voice was not loud, so the other families could not hear clearly.

Madam Zhang chose six sets of clothes, excluding the set chosen by Zhang Xiaofu, which cost one tael and three qian each. Most of the sets were priced around two to three taels each. While there were more expensive options in the store, Madam Zhang, who could use a red voucher worth one set of ready-to-wear clothing, did not even consider more expensive clothes. Liu Yu observed her attire and didn’t think Madam Zhang couldn’t afford more expensive options. It was likely out of kindness, fearing they would use the red voucher meant for a set of clothes to waive the most expensive item, which led her to choose mid-range clothes.

In total, the six sets chosen by the Zhang family amounted to seventeen taels and five qian. Wei Shi smiled and asked, “Madam, did you bring the red voucher for the opening of the new shop?”

Before Madam Zhang could respond, the housekeeper smiled and presented the red voucher. Wei Shi took it, pointed to the most expensive set of clothes, and said, “This set has been covered by the red voucher. The total for the other five sets is fourteen taels. We’re offering a twenty percent discount for the first three days of the new shop.”

After some calculation with the abacus, Wei Shi said, “Accepting eleven taels and two qian. Giving eleven taels will do.”

Even Madam Zhang was surprised that such fine clothes could be bought for eleven taels. She hadn’t expected to waive a set with the red voucher and receive a discount. She smiled and said, “Thank you very much, Mrs. Liu. We will definitely come back for more clothes in the future.”

“We are grateful for your patronage.”

The housekeeper quickly paid the bill. Liu Yu neatly packed the clothes into bundles and handed them to the little maid who was following the housekeeper.

Shortly thereafter, Madam Qin, along with the two masters’ wives, also made their purchases. Madam Qin had been paying attention to Madam Zhang’s actions. With Madam Zhang choosing six sets, she certainly wouldn’t overlook it. The mother and daughter chose five sets of clothes, with prices comparable to those chosen by the Zhang family. After using a red voucher worth one tael, they also received a twenty percent discount, finally paying twelve taels.

The two masters’ wives each bought two sets of clothes. After using a red voucher worth one tael each, one paid just over four taels, and the other just over five taels.

In this way, fifteen sets of clothes were sold in total. Although the profit margin was not high, they managed to collect thirty-two taels of silver in less than half an hour, which could be said to be a remarkable achievement.

Fifteen sets—small embroidery shops in the county might not sell fifteen sets of ready-made clothes in two to three days, let alone during the off-season, where they might not even sell that many in seven to eight days.

Madam Zhou, who had been paying special attention all this time, finally understood why so many people from the county government had come. It turned out that the Liu family had given red vouchers to colleagues of Liu Yanqing.

Impressed, truly impressed. Setting aside everything else, just today, these three families were bound to become regular customers of the Ruyi Embroidery Shop in the future.

After Wei Shi and Liu Yu escorted the guests out and the two carriages departed, along with the two masters’ wives, the front of the shop quieted down. Those who had been waiting to observe left, planning to come another day.

Returning to the shop, Wei Shi and Liu Yu rejoined Chen Shi, who congratulated them, “A prosperous opening!”

With only close relatives around, Wei Shi relaxed and thanked them with a smile.

Qin Shi, Lu Shuang, and Zhou Qiongying had long ago chosen their favorite clothes. However, Wei Shi and Liu Yu had been busy, so they held back their thoughts. Now that the important guests had left, the few of them didn’t have as many formalities as big families. Holding the clothes they liked, they went into the fitting room to try them on. Once they tried them on, they didn’t want to take them off.

The four women from the Lu family chose two sets each, while the three women from the Zhou family each chose one set. When it came time to settle the bill, each of the four Lu family members had a red voucher, and Wei Shi gave them a twenty percent discount. After rounding off the amount, Chen Shi generously paid for the clothes her daughter-in-law and daughter chose.

For a moment, Qin Shi and Zhou Qiongying kept complimenting Chen Shi. Madam Zhou also smiled and offered to pay for her two daughters-in-law. Wei Shi thought about how the Zhou family had sent gifts that day so she gave them three red bills worth one tael. As soon as the three red vouchers were returned, Wei Shi reduced their total by three taels.

Madam Zhou felt embarassed and felt that she got a bargain so she asked her two daughters-in-law to each choose another set.

Both sides were polite, and everyone was happy in the end. Chen Shi wanted to show her support to the Liu family and was willing to spend. She paid more than ten taels, while the two daughters-in-law of the Zhou family chose clothes worth one to two taels each, paying six taels after discounts.

This resulted in an income of more than ten taels of silver.

In just over an hour, they earned more than fifty taels of silver. When Madam Zhou bid farewell and left the embroidery shop with her two daughters-in-law, she sighed, “This Ruyi Embroidery Shop is remarkable.”

Madam Zhou’s eldest daughter-in-law said, “This is the first day of opening, with some guests. There should be fewer people in the future, and at this rate of discounts, there won’t be much money to be made.”

Madam Zhou glanced at her and said, “You still don’t understand. Being able to attract so many people to the opening is also a skill. Even if they don’t make a profit this trip, their reputation will spread. They’ll make plenty of money in the future.”

As she spoke, another mule carriage approached head-on. The mother and daughters stopped in their tracks, staring as the carriage passed by and indeed stopped at the embroidery shop’s entrance. Getting off the carriage were a mother and daughter duo whom she recognized—they were the wife and daughter of the household clerk.

Madam Zhou looked back at her eldest daughter-in-law and said, “See that red voucher? Valid for three days. I’m afraid every official in the yamen has received one. This move is truly clever. With that skill and business acumen, the Liu family is set to prosper.”

Madam Zhou had already made up her mind. When her daughter returned, she would privately instruct her. It was imperative to foster a good relationship with Liu Yu, her daughter-in-law. It would surely bring nothing but benefits.

~

The opening day of the Liu family’s business was lively and bustling. By noon, another red voucher returned after being sent out by Liu Yanqing. She treated all the female workers to two meals, paid their wages, gave them red packets, and sent them home. In the afternoon, when the shop wasn’t as busy, Chen Shi visited again and spoke quietly with Wei Shi.

Liu Yu had been pondering over patterns in the tailoring room when Wei Shi called her out with a smile. She asked Chen Shi to speak privately, then retreated to the back herself.

Liu Yu was initially puzzled, but when Chen Shi explained the purpose, her face flushed with warmth.

Chen Shi explained that on the first day of business, she wanted to place a special order with Liu Yu—for her wedding gown and for the formal attire of Lu Chengxiao’s grand wedding. If Liu Yu was willing to undertake this, it would all be custom-made at the Ruyi Embroidery Shop.

Chen Shi’s face was all smiles as she said, “Originally, I was going to order them from Yuanzhou’s Jinxiu Manor, but since you’ve opened this one, there’s a custom here in the south for girls to make their own wedding gowns. I just wanted to ask if you’d be willing. If you are, it’ll be quite a memorable occasion.”

How could Liu Yu not be willing? However, when it came to making Lu Chengxiao’s attire, she was a bit flustered. She said, “I’ve never made men’s robes before.”

Chen Shi took this as agreement. She was delighted and said, “No rush. In about ten days, your uncle will go to Hongdu for purchases. He’ll stop by Yuanzhou first. You have a keen eye for these things. He and I discussed having you accompany him to look at samples at the Embroidery Shop, where they specialize in custom wedding attire.”

For this order, Chen Shi generously handed over eighteen taels of auspicious money.

Liu Yu took the silver, feeling it almost burn her hands. Chen Shi, still beaming with joy, was about to leave when Liu Yu remembered something and called out, “Aunt, you haven’t given me Lu Chengxiao’s measurements for his clothes.”

Chen Shi slapped her forehead and exclaimed, “I completely forgot! He hasn’t been living at home for so many years, and he buys his clothes outside. I’ll have that boy come over, and you can take his measurements.”

Liu Yu blushed deeply. She hurriedly said, “No, Auntie, you… can write them down for me.”

Chen Shi was happy to foster closeness between the young couple. Seeing Liu Yu’s embarrassment, she sincerely shook her head, “I’m really not good at making clothes. I wouldn’t be able to measure properly. How about you ask one of the tailoring ladies at your embroidery shop?”

Her words sounded sincere, but the master tailors who measured for men’s clothing in the embroidery shop were all men. How could Liu Yu let some tailoring lady measure Lu Chengxiao?

Chen Shi chuckled and left, saying she couldn’t be separated from her two grandsons. Despite trying to hide her smile, it was clear on her face.

Liu Yu looked at the eighteen taels of silver in her hand and felt the warmth linger for a while.

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