The rooster's crowing woke Xiaoyue and Li Qianqian in the morning. Li Lei was cooking, while Xiaoyue and Li Qianqian packed their things to take to the county.

Xiaoyue and Li Qianqian packed the clothes into a large basket. Just as they finished, Liang Qi arrived at Xiaoyue's front door and cracked a loud firecracker.

The two men saw Liang Qi's oxcart through the window and carried out a large basket. Li Lei followed behind and stuffed a bag of food into Li Qianqian's hand.

The oxcart traveled quickly for about an hour, and when they arrived in the county, Liang Qi drove the oxcart directly to the entrance of the Wanghuitou Clothing Shop.

After securing the oxcart, Xiaoyue peered through the glass window and sensed something was amiss. Her gaze, passing through the rows of clothes racks, landed on the young waiter standing there.

The young waiter was bowing respectfully with his back to Xiaoyue when a man in a blue robe, a gray rabbit fur vest draped over his shoulders, and a money pouch with a magnolia flower on his waist stood with his back to Xiaoyue. His face was not clearly visible through the blurry glass window.

Xiaoyue pushed open the shop door and her gaze fell directly on the man opposite her. He had a cold, jade-like face, his eyebrows were furrowed into a deep frown, his lips were tightly pursed, his hands were behind his back, his right foot was upright, and his left foot was touching the ground with the toes.

Hearing the door open, the man glanced at the person who came in, then immediately turned his face away.

The young shop assistant turned around and saw someone enter the shop. He immediately turned to greet Xiaoyue with his usual smile.

Seeing Xiaoyue, Li Qianqian, and Liang Qi each carrying two bags as they walked in, the shop assistant recognized Xiaoyue and hurriedly went to greet them.

The cold-faced man glanced at Xiaoyue and the other two as they entered the store, then walked behind the counter with his hands behind his back.

Xiaoyue and her two companions placed the packed clothes on the counter, opening them one by one. The man with the cold expression glanced at the six garments on the counter. The robe was made by Xiaoyue; the man merely pinched a corner lightly with his index finger and thumb.

He picked up a corner, looked at it, and then put it down again. He looked at the three robes one by one. When he saw the clothes that Li Qianqian had made, the man paused, then pinched it with two fingers, and then picked up the upper garment with his other hand and stretched it out on the counter.

The man stared at the clothes, looking at one side, then turning them over to look at the other, turning them over three times in a row. He then turned the clothes inside out, carefully examining the stitches, loose threads, and scratches.

He then turned over the eight pieces of the horse-face skirt, examining each seam meticulously, from the waist to the hem of the skirt. He even ran his fingertips over the stitches, closing his eyes to feel their smoothness.

Xiaoyue watched the man examine her piece by piece, her palms sweating, her heart pounding with anxiety. She kept a close eye on his every move. After a long while, the man looked up at Xiaoyue and the other two.

A cold, serious voice asked, "Who made this woman's clothes?"

Fearing something might go wrong, Xiaoyue quickly stepped forward from the group of three towards the counter: "It's me."

The man put down the clothes, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his hands, and gave Xiaoyue a smirk: "The stitching is good, and the style is good too. The skirt can be made into ten or twelve pieces."

Xiaoyue secretly exhaled and pushed Li Qianqian in front of that person, saying, "I made the robe, and she made the top and skirt."

The man turned to look at Li Qianqian and asked in a cool voice, "If I gave you this dress in your size, could you make it?"

Xiaoyue also looked at Li Qianqian. It was Li Qianqian's first time in the county town, and she blushed deeply at the cold tone of the stranger's question. After a long pause, she could only nod.

At this moment, the young shop assistant introduced to Xiaoyue, "This is Manager Ning, the second manager of our shop."

The young shop assistant bowed slightly to Manager Ning and continued, "Manager Ning submits the clothing purchase order for the next quarter every quarter and checks the sales figures for each quarter's clothing."

Xiaoyue nodded generously to Manager Ning after hearing the young waiter's words.

"Are you the leader?" Manager Ning asked Xiaoyue in a cold tone.

Xiaoyue nodded.

Just then, the sound of the shop door opening rang out again. Manager Ning waved to the shop assistant, who then invited Xiaoyue to a reception room in the back. Xiaoyue led Li Qianqian and Liang Qi into the room.

The waiter then tidied up all the clothes Xiaoyue had taken and placed them on the table in the reception room. He then led Xiaoyue to a chair in front of the table facing the man. The man sat in the main seat, while Li Qianqian stood next to Xiaoyue.

Liang Qiyuan sat down at the entrance.

At this moment, the man pointed to the style of clothes on the table and said in a cool tone, "I need thirty of these clothes, in one month's size. Can you make them?"

Xiaoyue thought for a while and decided she could ask Sister Yang or Sister Ge for help, and then find someone through them. She nodded, ignoring Li Qianqian tugging at her clothes from behind.

Xiaoyue pressed her hand down on Li Qianqian's hand, and Manager Ning's eyebrows rose, a hint of relief slowly appearing on his face.

Manager Ning pulled out a contract from under the table and said, "Alright, let's sign a contract. One tael and five mace of silver for each spring garment, delivery at the end of December."

"Okay." Xiaoyue turned to look at Liang Qi, who walked over. Xiaoyue handed him the contract: "Take a look at the contract." Liang Qi glanced at it, nodded to Xiaoyue, and Xiaoyue took the contract and signed it with Manager Ning.

After leaving the reception room, the young waiter paid Xiaoyue for the clothes she had brought, according to the price she had paid last time, for a total of seven taels and five mace of silver.

Xiaoyue accepted the money, and the three of them said goodbye to the shop assistant and left Wanghuitou Clothing Shop.

Xiaoyue went to Xingfei Textile again and bought two bolts of white lining fabric. Xiaoyue asked for the best quality lining fabric at 200 coins per bolt and bought two bolts, spending a total of 400 coins.

As they left the shop, a light snow began to fall, and the three of them hurried home.

When they arrived at the door, the little boy was all alone, shivering outside the gate, his little face red from the cold.

Xiaoyue hurriedly jumped off the oxcart. Li Qianqian took the things into the house, and Xiaoyue bent down to pick up the little boy, wiped his runny nose, and went into the house.

Upon arriving at the east room, Xiaoyue took out the gloves that Li Qianqian had made for Xiaodouding and personally put them on him. Xiaodouding timidly said, "My mother told me to come and find Aunt Xiaoyue. From now on, I will live with Aunt Xiaoyue and she won't let me go home."

Upon hearing this, Xiaoyue's heart skipped a beat, as if her heart had been ripped out. Xiaoyue put the little boy on the kang and said to Li Qianqian, "Get the little boy something to eat. I'm going to check on Ge Sanlin's family."

Xiaoyue put on her hat and said to Li Qianqian, "Whichever Liang Qi or Li Lei comes back first, you should tell him to go to Ge Sanlin's house to find me."

Upon hearing Xiaoyue's words, Li Qianqian quickly grabbed Xiaoyue's hand and shook it vigorously, saying, "Don't go. I'll go find my brother and have him go with you."

Xiaoyue pried Li Qianqian's hands away: "If we don't go now, it will be too late."