Chapter 263 Lin Yan
"Uncle Gao, if I remember correctly, the Lin family business should have its own clothing store, right?"
While sketching something on the paper, Lin Changning asked Mr. Gao Huan a question.
Mr. Gao Huan tilted his head and watched Lin Changning paint. He nodded and said, "There are clothing shops, but generally, the clothes of high-ranking officials and nobles are not bought from outside clothing shops. The clothes of wealthy young ladies are mostly custom-made. Lin's Trading Company usually only takes on clothes for maids and servants. As for those noble young ladies, they all have their own shops that they are used to."
Beneath Lin Changning's paper, a magnificent dress was slowly taking shape. Mr. Gao Huan tilted his head and widened his eyes, seemingly surprised that Lin Changning, a military officer, could design clothes.
"If I remember correctly, we should have brought some flowing cloud gauze this time. Summer is coming soon, and light and cool clothes should be very popular with ladies."
Mr. Gao Huan nodded silently, his eyes filled with undisguised amazement as he watched the dress slowly taking shape under Lin Changning's brush.
“Noble ladies mostly pursue beauty and preciousness in their clothes. Uncle Gao, they use white cotton gauze as the lining and a layer of flowing cloud gauze on the outside. The sea pearls we brought this time can be attached to the clothes. They are cool and transparent without losing their beauty. How about using cyan and blue as the base color?”
Mr. Gao Huan stared wide-eyed at the exquisitely drawn dress on the paper. He picked up the paper and examined it closely: "Summer is almost here, and the shades of blue and green are just right. If this dress can be made, the price will be no less than a thousand taels of silver!!! It will definitely make a fortune!"
Lin Changning smiled and picked up another piece of paper: "The set I just drew was the girl's version. This time, draw some matching accessories and make another set for women."
Lin Changning's idea was simple. He brought a lot of precious fabrics with him this time, and also brought a bushel of sea pearls from the Yuan family. If these things were sold individually, although it would be profitable, it would be difficult to connect with high-ranking officials and nobles.
However, the dresses and jewelry were a different story. She created a set of gorgeous yet tasteful matching outfits for the parents, which she used to build her reputation just before the Princess's birthday banquet.
The eldest princess has a daughter who is now in her prime. If the eldest princess's daughter can see this, and the eldest princess can give her the clothes to gain fame, and then the eldest princess can get close to her, and then the princess and the young lady can be rescued from the marquis's mansion. This plan can be broken.
Upon seeing the two gorgeous dresses, one large and one small, Mr. Gao Huan couldn't help but look at Lin Changning. He already understood what Lin Changning wanted to do.
"Young master, please give your instructions. If you need any materials, I will find them for you within two days."
Lin Changning nodded and put down his pen, then looked at Mr. Gao Huan: "This bushel of sea pearls will probably be used for clothing, but we can't just have clothing. Matching jewelry also needs to be made in the next few days. We'll use jade and emerald as materials. The key is to make a name for ourselves and attract the ladies of various families. Our real target is the Eldest Princess."
Lin Changning tapped his fingers on the desk: "These two outfits are not for sale. I will draw a few more that are not so good. I hope Uncle Gao can give those less desirable dresses to the daughters of officials we know in the capital. I have seen quite a few spring outing banquets recently, so we need to make a name for ourselves as soon as possible. We must make sure that these two custom-made outfits catch the eye of the Princess before her birthday banquet."
Mr. Gao Huan nodded and glanced at Lin Changning, then said, "Young Master is very talented. If he were to go into business, he would surely achieve great things."
Three days later—
Lin Changning and Mr. Gao Huan were a little nervous today. They gave away about six sets of dresses to the young lady of the Minister's family, two county princesses, two county princesses, and finally the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Jing'an's family.
Each of the six women received a dress. When I delivered the dresses yesterday, I barely had to say a word; the ladies immediately placed their orders for each dress, eagerly anticipating their dazzling appearance at the banquet.
However, the people Mr. Gao Huan sent out also said that this was not for making money, but only to make the Lin family's clothing shop famous in the capital. Therefore, they did not charge any money. They only hoped that when the young ladies asked about the clothes outside, they could say a few good words for the Lin family's clothing shop.
The people in the mansion naturally responded without hesitation.
Thanks to Mr. Gao Huan, Lin Changning was able to obtain an invitation. The banquet was to be held at the Xie family's estate in the suburbs of Beijing.
Early in the morning, Lin Changning was dragged out of bed by Mr. Gao Huan. This time, instead of changing into the attire of a Confucian merchant, he changed into a blue brocade robe with a jade belt around his waist, and wore a piece of warm white jade. His hair was also tied up with a jade hairpin of the same color.
Mr. Gao clicked his tongue twice as he looked at Lin Changning, who was dressed up. Being good-looking is an advantage. You can only look like yourself no matter what you wear. Although Lin Changning is a very important person to attend the banquet today, it would not be appropriate for her to dress too poorly.
As the saying goes, "Clothes make the man," and Lin Changning, with his handsome face, looks like a young master when dressed in nice clothes. He's dressed up properly today to attend the banquet, and it'll also be a good opportunity to see how well these clothes are selling.
"This is how you should dress. Most of the people attending the banquet today are either rich or noble, so young master should watch his words."
Lin Changning nodded. He knew that men and women were now seated separately, but fortunately, Yueji was going with her today. They had already received news that Princess Chaoyun, the daughter of the Eldest Princess, would also be attending the banquet.
Once a reputation is established and Princess Chaoyun's attention is attracted, the matter will be more than half accomplished.
As for the young lady from the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion, sending clothes was merely a way to lower the guard of the people in the mansion.
After all, the Lin family business's goal was simply to expand the sales of their own clothing, and it would be difficult for ordinary people to associate saving people with selling clothes.
After Lin Changning and Mr. Gao Huan arrived at the outskirts of the capital by carriage, Lin Changning got off the carriage and immediately saw a young girl who had gotten off the carriage in front of him staring straight at him.
Lin Changning politely nodded slightly to the person, but unexpectedly, the girl opposite him walked straight towards him. Lin Changning was a little suspicious, but still cupped his hands in greeting.
Miao Sangsang saw Lin Changning, especially noticing the resemblance between Lin Changning and Lin Changqing in their features, and couldn't help but walk up to Lin Changning and curtsy: "Young master, do you know a young master named Lin Changqing?"
Lin Changning's eyebrows twitched. He never expected to run into someone Lin Changqing knew in this place. However, since he was using the alias Lin Yan, he naturally couldn't be recognized.
Lin Changning smiled slightly, a hint of confusion flashing across his handsome face. After a moment, he returned Miao Sangsang's greeting: "I am Lin Yan of the Lin Family Trading Company. I do not know Lin Changqing, whom you mentioned, but since we share the same surname, he may be from a branch of the trading company."
After receiving the answer, Miao Sangsang nodded, a hint of regret flashing in her eyes. She had thought that this position was related to Changqing.
Even now, her father and mother still have reservations about her marrying Changqing, mainly because the two are not a good match and Changqing's family is extremely poor.
Now, his younger brother and mother in the provincial capital are also a burden. His mother only visited his home once and gave up the idea of arranging a marriage between the two of them after she returned.
He had just noticed that this young man's features were very similar to Changqing's, and he thought the two were related. If Changqing could have a powerful relative, things between the two would probably be much simpler.
A hint of disappointment flashed in Miao Sangsang's eyes: "It was Sangsang's presumption, please forgive me, Young Master Lin."
Lin Changning smiled gently at Miao Sangsang and said, "It's alright."
Miao Sangsang looked up and saw Lin Changning's handsome face, and blushed. The maid behind her saw her mistress and then saw Lin Changning smiling like a peacock spreading its tail, and hurriedly came over to shield her mistress behind her.
"It's you again, you lecherous scoundrel!!!"
Miao Sangsang hurriedly pulled her maid away, and Lin Changning apologized before pulling the maid into the garden.
As he left, he glanced at Lin Changning with a slight nod, thinking to himself that this young master of the Lin family business was even more handsome than Changqing, and his overall demeanor was unlike that of an ordinary person. He should have no connection with Changqing's family.
She had been too hasty. Now she could only hope that Changqing could achieve a certain ranking on the list of successful candidates in two years, so that her father and mother would not object.
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