Qiu Yan looked around but couldn't find any trace of her second uncle, so she asked Jiang Liu, "Sister Jiang, when did my second uncle leave yesterday?"
Jiang Liu looked at the group of workers and said, "He left after he finished repairing the roof."
Qiu Yan was even more puzzled, but she thought that her second uncle was a grown man and would surely be alright.
As the two were talking, a number of women came in to buy ready-made clothes.
These people were all Jiang Liu's regular customers, and they were all women she knew well.
Some of them came to buy clothes, while others had pre-ordered ready-made garments and were just waiting to pick them up.
When Qiu Yan saw that customers had come to the shop, she went upstairs to check how the clothes were being ironed.
"Shopkeeper, is the purple dress I ordered last time ready yet?"
"I specifically requested last time that the skirt be embroidered with lucky bamboo. Please trouble the shopkeeper to get me the clothes, and we'll settle the payment now."
"And mine, is my pink dress ready yet?"
"..."
The shopkeeper sat stiffly on the counter, "Ladies and gentlemen, ready-made clothes..."
He was wondering whether or not to tell the women about the water damage to the garments.
If I were to say so, it could very likely lead to a mass return of goods and also damage the shop's reputation.
"Uh..." The shopkeeper looked at Jiang Liu, who also had a headache.
With so many ready-made garments, it would be impossible for her shop's existing tailors and embroiderers to finish them in a short period of time.
The shopkeeper thought for a moment and said, "Ladies and misses, all the clothes you order will be ready-made. However, our shop will iron them before sending them out. Please leave your addresses first, and our staff will deliver the clothes to you one by one in the next two days."
After the clothing store owner said this, some people agreed:
"Since the shopkeeper has said so, then we'll head back now."
Then the others followed suit and left.
However, as soon as this group left, another group of people came to buy clothes.
Seeing that there weren't many clothes, they eagerly began to look at them.
The shopkeeper started to worry again.
"Shopkeeper, give me two sets of the same clothes."
Shopkeeper: "Madam, there is only one set of each of these clothes available for now."
"Out of stock?"
"Sigh, why don't we go check out another place?"
"..."
"I want this set."
"I was the one who took a liking to it first."
Because the clothing store had fewer and fewer clothes, and when the customers heard that there was only one set of clothes left, two rich young ladies who already disliked each other started to quarrel.
The shopkeeper tried to persuade them for a long time, but still didn't know who to sell the clothes to.
Hearing the argument downstairs, Qiu Yan went down to the second floor and smiled at the two women, saying, "Sisters, please stop arguing. You have the clothes."
This scene reminded Qiu Yan of the modern-day scarcity marketing strategy.
She had barely finished speaking when she saw Hu Ying leading a group of her girlfriends over to buy ready-made clothes.
Upon seeing this person, Jiang Liu clenched her delicate hands into fists.
She came at this exact moment, of all times; her purpose is obvious.
What Qiu Yan was thinking was, what was this woman's background?
As soon as Hu Ying arrived, she bowed to Jiang Liu. Facing Qiu Yan, she suppressed her anger and said to Jiang Liu:
“Madam, these are my girlfriends. They heard that your shop has excellent ready-made clothes, so they thought they would come and buy a satisfactory outfit.”
She looked smugly at the few available garments, thinking to herself, "Jiang Liu is going to break her promise this time."
Before Hu Ying could finish speaking, the women all bowed to Jiang Liu.
"So this clothing shop is owned by Madam Tang. I suppose these clothes must be quite nice."
"If we had known this was Madam's shop, we would have come to support her much earlier..."
"..."
As they talked, they all started buying clothes in a frenzy.
Given Jiang Liu's status, it would be extremely difficult for these people to even get close to her normally. Now that they have the opportunity to interact with her, they would definitely want to make a good impression on her.
Just as Jiang Liu was about to shoo them away, Qiu Yan stopped her with a look.
Doing so would only please Hu Ying and damage the reputation of the clothing store.
She stood in front of the counter and said loudly, "Everyone, please be quiet."
After she finished speaking, everyone looked at her, including Jiang Liu and the clothing store owner.
Qiu Yan nodded to the guests and then said, "Ladies, our clothing shop has started to rush to make new clothes for the New Year. From now on, some clothes need to be pre-ordered."
She thought to herself, these are guests that Aunt Hu brought for free, it would be such a waste not to do business with them.
Her words immediately drew the attention of all the women to their new clothes for the New Year, and they began to discuss them amongst themselves.
Qiu Yan stopped speaking again, "Everyone, don't worry, you can pick up your clothes in a little while. Our clothing store has recently launched a new promotion: anyone who orders a garment now will receive a free lunch at Xingyuelou Restaurant."
Furthermore, if you refer a friend to have their clothes custom-made here, you will also receive a complimentary meal.
Those interested can come to our shop to see the sample garment patterns and place an order.
After Qiu Yan finished speaking, she took out the menu she was carrying with her.
The meal boxes at Xingyuelou have become famous lately. Who wouldn't want to take advantage of a good deal? After hearing Qiu Yan's words, many of the women became interested and began to look at the menu.
Many of them had never ordered food from Xingyuelou before.
When Hu Ying saw the woman she had finally found looking at the menu at Xingyuelou, she felt a lump in her throat, unable to swallow it, and almost lost control of her emotions.
At this moment, Madam Ding also arrived. Upon arrival, she first greeted Qiu Yan, and then said to Jiang Liu:
"Madam Tang, do you still have that lotus-root colored dress I ordered last time? My eldest niece really likes the embroidery work of your embroiderers. She said the patterns on it are very beautiful."
At this point, she glanced at the bustling crowd inside the shop and remarked, "As expected of Madam Tang, her business is booming."
Because the fabrics and silks in Jiang Liu's clothing shop were all custom-made from Zhang's Cloth Shop, Jiang Liu only charged Madam Ding a processing fee every time she came to buy clothes.
Jiang Liu's smile froze for a moment, then she quickly called over the clothing store manager.
"Quickly check if Mrs. Ding still has the clothes she ordered last time."
Before the clothing store owner could speak, Madam Ding walked straight to where Hu Ying was, in the lotus-colored dress she had mentioned.
She had just picked up the clothes when Hu Ying pulled them away with both hands, saying, "Madam, I was the one who liked these clothes first."
Madam Ding thought to herself, "You were clearly looking at a different dress just now, but when you saw me, you tried to take it from me."
She grabbed a corner of his clothes, and the two confronted each other, vying for the fabric.
Jiang Liu glanced coldly at Hu Ying, showing her absolutely no respect, and snatched the clothes from her hands, handing them directly to the tailor. "Quickly wrap them up for Madam Ding."
Hu Ying stamped her foot. Actually, she really liked all the clothes in this clothing store. The workmanship and the fabric were among the best in the entire Baiyang City.
Unfortunately, this shop was owned by Jiang Liu.
After Mrs. Ding took the clothes with satisfaction, she said, "Mrs. Tang, next month is my niece's birthday. I was thinking of having two more sets of clothes made for her. How long does it take your embroiderers to finish these at the fastest?"
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