Su Shunci didn't panic at all. She stood up and said to Su Qingyu, "Sister, please sit down for a moment. I'll go out and see what's going on."
Doing business involves interacting with many people and encountering many things. At first, she panicked every time she encountered such a thing. Later, Lin Wuchen taught her that the more panicked she was, the harder it would be to handle such a situation, as people would think she was guilty.
Later, under Lin Wuchen's guidance, she gradually understood the intricacies of the business. So now, no matter what happened in the shop, she could calm herself down quickly and handle it calmly.
Su Shunci turned around, lifted the curtain separating the small flower hall and the shop, and walked out calmly.
Su Qingyu also stood up and stood by the door, looking outside through the crack. She recognized the person coming in; it was Liu Qianning, the daughter of Liu Chen, the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Household Department. Previously, when the Crown Prince held a banquet at his villa outside the capital, Su Shunci had humiliated Liu Qianning.
Su Shunci walked slowly to Liu Qianning. Because she was half a head shorter than Liu Qianning, she looked up at her.
"Miss Liu is such a rare guest. If you have anything to say, just tell me directly. There's no need to shout so loudly. If someone doesn't know, they might think we have a country bitch in our shop."
Su Shunci's calmness formed a sharp contrast with Liu Qianning's ferocious expression.
Liu Qianning's expression froze. Although Su Shunci was looking up at her, she inexplicably felt a sense of oppression as if a dark cloud was pressing down on her head.
"You...you are the shrew. Tell me what to do with this material first?"
As he said this, he placed the material in his hand on the square table beside him.
He then explained to the onlookers outside, "Please judge for yourself, everyone. My maidservant bought some brocade a few days ago, and I had it cut yesterday. But when I cut it open, I discovered the material wasn't brocade at all. It's much thinner than brocade, and it tears easily when I pull it. And they're selling this material for thirty taels of silver a piece. This is a shady shop."
When Liu Qianning said this, a look of grievance appeared on her face.
"You all don't know, but my father was a minor official who passed the imperial examination and was promoted to the capital from the countryside. My mother is not well, and my father's salary has been used to buy her medicine. I originally bought this fabric to make clothes for my mother's family as a birthday gift. Now the fabric is ruined, and I don't have the money to buy more."
"Even the money I used to buy the material was saved bit by bit from my embroidery work. Now, it's all gone."
Liu Qianning was originally a daughter of an official, and the common people had not taken Su Shunci's accusations seriously. However, her subsequent words directly narrowed the distance between her and the common people.
Someone was whispering.
"It turns out that even the daughter of an official family has to endure the wrath of these profiteers."
"That's not true. It's not easy for a minor official to come to the capital from the countryside."
Su Shunci was pushed to the opposite side of the people and became a black-hearted profiteer who would do anything to make money.
Liu Qianning's lowered eyes were full of smiles. She didn't take a little girl of thirteen or fourteen seriously.
The words of the onlookers did not affect Su Shunci's mood. She knew these people too well; they were just fence-sitters who spoke without thinking.
Su Shunci walked to a table nearby and picked up the remaining half piece of fabric.
"Did Miss Liu buy this in our shop? On what day? At what time? Who bought it?"
Liu Qianning was stunned. She thought Su Shunci would drive away the onlookers and start hysterically cursing at her.
But I didn't expect Su Shunci to be so calm and asked three questions in a row.
Liu Qianning was speechless for a moment, and replied casually: "Of course I bought it in your shop. My maid came to buy it the day before yesterday morning."
Su Shunci suddenly smiled. Before, she had a baby face, and her two dimples were particularly cute when she smiled. In the past six months, she has gradually become more girlish, and when she smiles, her profile is bright and lively.
"Miss Liu, would you like to reconsider this? Was it really the morning before yesterday?"
Liu Qianning looked at Su Shunci suspiciously. Why was she asking that? Then she thought, with so many people coming and going in this shop every day, she didn't believe Su Shunci could remember everything. She was probably asking her this to be mysterious.
Then he said firmly, "Of course, I remember it clearly."
Then he asked, "Shopkeeper Su is not going to default on his debt, is he?"
Su Shunci laughed twice. "How could that be? If it was really bought here, I will definitely give Miss Liu an explanation."
"It's just that my mother caught a cold the day before yesterday, so I didn't come to the shop this morning. One of the two shop assistants took a leave of absence, and the other had diarrhea. We didn't even open the shop the morning before yesterday."
After saying this, Su Shunci turned around and looked outside. "My uncles and aunts all walk around this street often. I'm sure someone will remember that we didn't open the door the morning before yesterday."
"If you can't remember anything, we can ask the neighbors. They can also testify."
At this moment, someone in the crowd suddenly spoke up, "I remember that Huajin Pavilion was indeed closed the morning before yesterday."
Then, someone else followed suit.
Liu Qianning looked flustered. "Then I remembered it wrongly. It was the afternoon of the day before yesterday. Yes, it was the afternoon of the day before yesterday."
Su Shunci no longer paid attention to her words, but picked up the half piece of material and looked at it carefully.
Liu Qianning's face was burning with anxiety. She wanted to say something but was afraid of saying the wrong thing. Seeing Su Shunci looking seriously at the material she had brought, she felt even more unsure.
"What happened? Why is Sister Qian Ning here?" Su Xiangling suddenly walked in from outside. "I was just passing by and saw so many people gathered, so I came in to see what's going on."
When Liu Qianning saw Su Xiangling coming in, the corners of her lips couldn't help but curl up.
She explained what had happened in a wronged manner, and then said, "Sister Su, I'm not here to cause trouble. It's just that my family doesn't have much spare money, and I really can't bear to see the material I spent so much money on wasted like this."
"Sister Su, you don't know. When the tailor was making the dress yesterday, he didn't directly say the material was bad. But then he just pulled it lightly and it broke."
"There were other people in the mansion at the time, and my mother and I were completely humiliated."
"I came here today because I want Fourth Miss to give me an explanation. If nothing else, I want to give an explanation to my mother."
Liu Qianning's tone was gentle and sincere, like a powerless girl from a poor family who was bullied by unscrupulous businessmen and had nowhere to complain.
Su Xiangling immediately comforted her, "Don't worry, Sister Qian Ning. Although Fourth Sister is no longer a member of the Su family, if it is truly her fault, our Su family will not stand idly by."
She looked at Su Shunci again and said gently and warmly, "Fourth sister, don't worry. If you can't come up with the money to pay, I will help you."
As he said that, he took out the purse from his waist and actually wanted to compensate Liu Qianning with silver.
It seemed as if it directly confirmed Su Shunci's mistakes, and she became a sensible and polite sister.
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