Yunling immediately recognized it as oral ulcers. The blisters on the tongue made the person sound like they had a lisp. This was easy to treat.
Have you seen a doctor?
The madam waved her hand, signaling the person beside her to leave. "This is such a minor matter, there's no need to see a doctor. A couple of days ago at the market, I heard someone say that cooking red dates and black beans would help, but the more I ate, the more it hurt."
"Black beans won't do. Do you have any special cooking utensils here?"
The madam nodded and gestured towards the private kitchen.
Yunling wasn't in a hurry to use the stove. Instead, she went to the market outside first. She bought two fish tails from the fish stall and an ounce of fermented black beans from the general store before returning to Fengyue Tower.
Yunling had never cooked before, but she knew how to make it and it shouldn't be too bad. She first had someone light the stove, add oil, put in three slices of ginger, and then put in the cleaned and dried fish tail to fry.
The fish tail doesn't need to be fried until golden brown on both sides, otherwise it will cause internal heat. Fry it until the surface is white and cooked through, and there is no blood. Then add water. After the water is half-boiled, add fermented black beans. You don't need to add any other oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, or tea. Just wait for the water to boil completely.
Yunling filled two bowls, placing one in front of the madam and keeping the other for herself. "I'd like to have a bowl of this. Mom won't mind, will she?"
The madam hesitated when she saw the bowl of yellowish-brown soup with a slight fishy smell, but seeing that Yunling had also eaten, she took a couple of bites herself. The taste wasn't as bad as she had imagined, but it was a bit greasy if she ate too much, so she put it aside for the time being.
"Young lady, you know what kind of business we do here, low-class stuff. We don't need your panties, you understand?"
"I don't understand. I only know that the young women here earn their money through their own abilities. They don't steal or rob, so they can't be considered lowlifes. If we had a choice in our birth, who wouldn't want to go to a place with money, right?"
The madam finished the remaining soup in her bowl and said with a smile, "If you want to sell something, you should say nice things. Fine, I'm beholden to your kindness, so I'll buy you a few. How much was it again?"
"Three items cost 95 coins, five items cost 155 coins."
The madam clicked her tongue. "Are you trying to rob me with a knife to my throat? It's just two pieces of cloth. Do you think I've been fooled?"
Yunling took out five folded medium-sized briefs from the bag, and then took out a large-sized one from the bag. She said happily, "Mom, please take a look. These are not just two ordinary pieces of cloth. They are elastic. Consider this larger size a gift for you. If you are satisfied with it, give Manager Zhou of Shengfu Restaurant a red string. I will come again."
The madam took the briefs, then had someone bring 155 coins, muttering to herself, "Consider this money a lesson learned; there won't be a next time."
Yunling smiled and accepted the copper coin. No matter what, she had already put in the effort. As for whether she would get the result she wanted in the end, that was up to fate.
But the result came even faster than she had imagined.
Two days later, when she and Yun Ruoxia delivered mushrooms to Shengfu Restaurant, Manager Zhou handed her a red string, and she jumped up excitedly.
"Ling-jie, is this red string you're using to arrange a meeting with your lover?"
Yunling couldn't help but roll her eyes at her aunt, "Aunt, what lover can compare to making money? Looks like we've found a way to get our panties."
Hearing this, Yun Ruoxia was naturally happy. She quickly calculated the amount of copper coins with Manager Zhou and followed Yun Ling. However, when they arrived at Fengyue Tower and saw Yun Ling going inside, her eyes widened in disbelief.
So this is blatant blatant harassment? What was Yunling thinking? Did her sister-in-law even know? Yun Ruoxia had a lot of thoughts running through her mind, but now was not the time to ask, so she could only follow Yunling into the building.
As soon as she entered, Yunling was surrounded by those young women, her arms tightly bound together, and she couldn't break free no matter how hard she tried.
"Young lady, you've finally arrived! Do you still have any of those briefs in stock? I'd like to buy a few pairs, right now."
"Don't listen to her, sell it to me first, I can pay you a penny right away, no bargaining."
"Everything is about first come, first served. I saw the young lady first, so if anyone's going to be sold, it should be to me."
"..."
Yunling was pulled around and made a little dizzy by them, but seeing their enthusiasm for the briefs made her happy, genuinely happy.
Finally, the madam came out and stopped everyone from drinking. She then invited Yunling and Yun Ruoxia to a private room upstairs, where Yunling was finally able to enjoy a bowl of good tea and two pieces of pastry.
“Young lady, I was blind to your true worth. What you said is indeed a way to make money. I was just ignorant and narrow-minded.”
Yunling took a sip of tea, rinsed out the bits of tea stuck between her teeth, and then spoke, "What did Mom mean? I don't quite understand."
The madam laughed and said, "That day I bought five pairs of briefs. I originally thought they wouldn't be of much use, but it just so happened that the courtesan's underpants were worn out, so I gave her one. Who knew it would work so well? The wealthy merchant who was passing by originally intended to stay one night and then leave, but now he's lingering and won't leave."
The madam lowered her voice and continued, "The courtesan said that the man just stared at her, and every now and then... Oh dear, never mind, you're still virgins, you can't say things like that. It's just that this pure cotton fabric looks too plain. If you could embroider something on it, or change to a different fabric, it might be even better."
This made Yunling's thoughts drift away. The madam was right; the panties should indeed be adjusted according to different customers. If she really wanted to run a brothel business, she would have to put more thought into these panties.
For example, embroidering flowers, words, or animals on pants, or changing the material to create openwork fabrics like lace by drawing yarn from cotton thread. However, if lace is woven by hand, it would probably take two years to make one piece, which is unacceptable.
If you use gauze to create a hazy, see-through effect, that would be perfectly acceptable. I imagine she could even make a corset so that they could be matched as a set.
"What does the young lady think?"
Yunling came to her senses and nodded, saying, "Mom is right. I'll think about it when I get back. But if we add embroidery, the price will probably go up again. Then Mom will say I'm robbing you with a knife to your throat."
The madam chuckled, "I was short-sighted before and couldn't see the long-term benefits. Now you can rest assured and just go ahead and do it. A higher price is fine too, but... you can't sell it to other brothels. I wonder if you can agree to this request?"
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