The next day, Xiaoyue, Xu Fanyuan, Li Qianqian, and Gao Lei went to the county town. The journey was no different from usual. Once in town, they went straight to Wang Huitou Clothing Shop.
Xu Fanyuan drove the carriage to the shop entrance. Xiaoyue lifted the carriage curtain and saw that Wang Huitou Clothing Shop had opened for business.
So Xiaoyue and Li Qianqian pushed open the door and entered the store. The store's stock had become noticeably more limited. Where there used to be all sorts of items, now only about 80% were on display.
Xiaoyue walked inside, looking around as she went. She saw a young waiter attending to a female customer. Xiaoyue then looked for the dress that had been delivered to her before the New Year, but found that it wasn't in the lobby at all.
The only ones were embroidered dresses; the ones Xiaoyue and the others sewed were made without embroidery, simply by cutting and sewing the fabric.
The shop assistant also saw Xiaoyue and Li Qianqian, nodded to them, and continued attending to the female customer. Finally, after the female customer picked out two dresses and paid, the shop assistant waved to Xiaoyue.
Xiaoyue approached the young waiter and noticed that his clothes had clearly changed. She asked curiously, "Did the head manager promote you?"
The young shop assistant, beaming, replied, "You could say that. My monthly wage went up, but Manager Ning still hasn't returned. The head manager is planning to assign me a junior assistant, so I'll become the assistant manager."
Upon hearing the young waiter's words, Xiaoyue excitedly complimented, "Congratulations, shopkeeper! What should I call you from now on?"
The young waiter was as approachable as ever, saying, "Just call me Miao Wu."
"Miao Wu?"
"Yes, actually my mother gave birth to five sons, but only one survived."
"Okay, Manager Miao, after you open, will you still need custom-made clothes and shoes?" Xiaoyue changed the subject.
Miao Wu pondered for a moment and said, "We still have some spring goods, but we are short of jackets. So, I'll order twelve wide-sleeved, full-length jackets from you (three sets each of emerald green, lake blue, peach red, and rouge red).
Ten sets of short jackets and long skirts with scattered flowers (three sets of light blue tops and light green bottoms, three sets of lake blue tops and dark blue bottoms, and four sets of rouge red tops and peach bottoms).
"Ten narrow-sleeved jackets (three sets in light green, three sets in lake blue, two sets in peach red, and two sets each in rouge red). Let's order these for now and see how the court reacts before deciding whether to place a larger order."
After a pause, he asked Xiaoyue, "The sample store gave us the clothing designs. I'll give you a picture of each and a sample fabric scrap. Should we be able to finish these in a month?"
Xiaoyue looked at Li Qianqian, who replied, "Yes."
Xiaoyue went outside and found Xu Fanyuan, asking him to look at the contract. Then she handed the samples and pictures to Li Qianqian and said goodbye to Manager Miao.
The group brought Gao Lei to the academy. Xiao Yue and Li Qianqian waited at the foot of the mountain. After an hour, Gao Lei and Xu Fanyuan came up from the mountain. Xu Fanyuan waved to Xiao Yue, indicating that she should not ask any questions.
Xiaoyue asked Xu Fanyuan to drive the cart to the town. After paying the fare at the town gate, Xu Fanyuan drove the donkey cart through the side gate into the courtyard and parked it in the inner courtyard.
Xiaoyue deliberately went around to the shop front, saw that her shop was locked, and then entered the second courtyard at the back through the side door. Shi Lei was packing up the things that Manager Huang had left behind when he moved.
Upon seeing Xiaoyue and the others arrive, Shi Lei took off his apron and came out to greet them.
Li Qianqian looked left and right, feeling satisfied with everything. Shi Lei, Xu Fanyuan, and Gao Lei said, "You can wander around as you like." Then they led Xiaoyue into the main house.
The main room had been cleaned up and was spotless. Xiaoyue sat down on the armchair left by Manager Huang in the hall and said in a managerial manner, "You and Lu Xiaomei are getting married on February 6th, is that alright? Anyway, I plan to open this shop on February 8th."
Li Lei was immediately displeased when he saw Xiaoyue acting like a shopkeeper. He was also clearly unhappy that Xiaoyue was sitting while he was standing. Upon hearing Xiaoyue's words, he was so shocked he didn't know what to do: "I..."
Xiaoyue stood up in shock, not bothering with any pretense or affectation, and laughed, "This house can be used as a wedding room, right? You'll have to buy some wallpaper and plaster it with whitewash, but if you need money, just borrow it from me."
Upon hearing this, Li Lei suddenly bowed deeply to Xiaoyue, startling her so much that she jumped back, clutched her chest, and glared at Shi Lei.
He said very seriously, "You can stay in the house as long as you want. If there are any changes, such as if it would be better to keep you at home to raise chickens, then you will have to move back home without any reason. If I need people in the county, you will also have to move to the county."
I need to make things clear to you beforehand.
Shi Lei nodded heavily. Xiao Yue thought to herself that she had finally gotten her revenge. "You used to be so indifferent to me. You'll have to shut up today." She smiled secretly and walked to the door, calling out, "Li Qianqian, come here."
Li Qianqian emerged from the west wing and said with a grin, "I also want to live in one of the three large tile-roofed houses in the front yard."
Xiaoyue poked Li Qianqian's forehead with her finger and said, "Where are you going to put your sewing clothes? In the side room? You know the side room isn't well lit."
Li Qianqian thought for a moment and said, "That's right. One room can be used as a sewing room, another as a storeroom, and the middle hall can be used to entertain distinguished guests."
Xiaoyue smiled at Li Qianqian and said, "You're almost married, who knows what your in-laws are like? Will they still be able to let you work in town?"
Li Qianqian blushed and turned to go to the east wing. Xiaoyue followed her to the east wing. After entering the east wing, Xiaoyue said to Li Qianqian, "Your brother lives in the main room, your family lives in the east wing, and the west wing can be used as a guest room for the women."
Li Qianqian turned around, tugged at Xiaoyue's sleeve, and said teasingly, "You're just pretending, aren't you? You made room for me!"
Xiaoyue laughed and said, "Can't you just pretend you don't know? You should also make room for a man in the courtyard. For example, if Xu Fanyuan is late with his business, he won't be heading into the village."
"Okay, okay..." Li Qianqian looked at Shi Lei standing outside and called out loudly, "Brother, did you hear that?"
Shi Lei's face flushed red as he mumbled, "I understand."
Xiaoyue then said to Li Qianqian, "Tomorrow I will send them to town for you, Lu Xiaomei, and Xiaodouding."
After hesitating for a moment, he added, "We need to move the cabinets from the storeroom over, and also the kang cabinet you're used to using in the west room. We need to move those over tomorrow. We also need to bring your clothes and bedding; you'll be going back to the village soon."
"That makes them guests." Xiaoyue laughed and ran out of the house.
Seeing Shi Lei standing in the courtyard, he said, "You and Lu Xiaomei should discuss it. The sixth day of the second lunar month is a bit rushed. Why don't you wait, get the house ready, and then you can get married? Anyway, it's up to you two."
"I've discussed it with her, and she told me that we also need to arrange a room for Xiaodouding. If Shuiyue also comes back to town, you'll have to take care of their food as well. I'll give them a monthly allowance."
Xiaoyue then quietly said to Shi Lei, "When do you plan to go to Li Qianqian's in-laws' house? I've booked it after the spring planting season. I want to go first and launch a surprise attack to see what Zhu Yan's family background and character are like."
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