With all the effort and arrangements made to reach this point, how could I give up now?
It’s not as if we’re asking Marquis Mu Houchu to play the role of a cheating husband for real, just using that title a bit. He shouldn’t be too angry about it, Xin He reassured herself.
But her main reason for being so confident was that this man didn’t hassle her yesterday because she fell asleep, which meant she could continue to act spoiled for a bit longer.
If she could still keep his temper in check, then it meant that this matter wasn’t difficult to handle. Yes, that’s right, she just needed to placate him well.
After reasoning it through, Xin He’s mood brightened again. She picked out a beautiful vermilion hairpin from her jewelry box, tried it in her hair, and declared, "I’ll wear this one today."
"Yes." Shulan breathed a sigh of relief seeing the improvement in Xin He’s mood.
Perhaps it was the fatigue from yesterday, but even though she went to bed early, it was already late morning when she woke up. By the time Xin He had finished dawdling, it was noon.
While eating lunch, Xin He said, "I need to pay a visit to the Winding Pavilion later. Preparation for the Summer Fashion Show has started, and I need to check on it. I’ll also need to stop by the workshop."
Shulan looked surprised. "Aren’t we supposed to go to Qing Shui Temple today?"
Xin He laughed richly, "Do you think Yi Ling would come looking for me this early? If we go this early, how will she be able to drag me back home late at night? How would we be able to discover the illicit affair?"
Shulan smiled with understanding, "You’re absolutely right."
------
After finishing lunch, Xin He set out for the Winding Pavilion.
Manager Jin had received news that Ji Xinhe would be coming today, and had been waiting early. As soon as she arrived, he welcomed her respectfully into the private room upstairs.
"Have the embroideries and jewelry designs I chose for the summer collection started yet?"
"Don’t worry, we have already arranged for those to be rushed to production. There won’t be any delay."
"Don’t rush them too much. Better to have less than to have bad quality products. We at the Winding Pavilion will never compromise."
"Right, right."
"In addition to those, rush these designs as well." Xinhe handed over several design sketches.
Manager Jin immediately accepted them, smiling, "I thought you wouldn’t be involved in the design this time."
"I’m not entirely comfortable leaving everything to others. We were lucky this time to select some quality pieces. I should be able to trust you all more in the future. For this summer’s show, we’ll present half of the designs from the embroidery women and half of mine. You instruct everyone to work according to this arrangement. I hope that by the time of the Autumn Fashion Show, the designs by the embroidery women and craftsmen will be better than mine. I really hope they can become more independent and take the lead."
Manager Jin laughed, "With your words, everyone will surely strive to do their best."
"The Summer Fashion Show is just a month away. Shall we start sending out invitations? Are the arrangements all set?" Xin He asked.
A look of worry crossed Manager Jin’s face, "The invitations are prepared, but distribution is an issue. We can’t meet all the requests for attendance. The reputation of the Winding Pavilion is growing and whenever we organise a show, all the wealthy ladies of Yu State flock here. Even before this show has begun, many people have asked about it, including some aristocrats from nearby regions. I’m afraid we might offend someone by missing out on them."
"What is your initial plan for the distribution?"
"Since the Winding Pavilion mainly serves the people of Yu State, we aim to invite the celebrities and distinguished locals first. Almost all the aristocratic families of Yu State should receive an invitation. As per the old Winding Pavilion tradition, we also distribute to our regulars and those from the Flower Filled Building. After that, we would select a few influential families from outside Yu State who we cannot afford to offend. What do you think?"
Xin He frowned slightly and shook her head, "No."
A shiver ran down Manager Jin’s spine, afraid he had overlooked something, he quickly asked, "What would you suggest?" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
"We cannot discriminate between the aristocrats from Yu State and those from elsewhere. The Winding Pavilion does not only target business from Yu State. Since I’m not planning to open branches, it’s necessary for us to expand our clientele from other regions. When distributing invitations, prioritize those who have made the highest purchases from the Winding Pavilion and then consider the social status of the aristocratic families. The local and out-of-town aristocrats should be treated the same. We don’t need to bother about the Flower Filled Building’s customers."
Initially, to promote the Winding Pavilion, the unwritten rule was that all the customers of the Flower Filled Building would receive an invitation from the Winding Pavilion. But now, Ji Xinhe felt it was time to abolish this rule.
After half a year of operations, the Winding Pavilion had gradually become independent from the Flower Filled Building. Now, most of the visitors were ladies or wives from established families rather than men coming to admire the beauty. The Winding Pavilion and the Flower Filled Building had become two separate entities. The only collaboration left was that all the girls for the Winding Pavilion’s shows were from the Flower Filled Building.
Although both were her enterprises, she felt there was no need to bind them together. Otherwise, more entanglements would lead to an increase in conflicts of interest.
Manager Jin hurriedly took notes, "Alright, I will follow your instructions. However, what about Madam Chen?"
As he spoke, Manager Jin gave a somewhat embarrassed smile. As a businessman, he understood the need to maintain good relationships. Madam Chen managed the Flower Filled Building and he managed the Winding Pavilion. Although they had separate responsibilities, they shared the same proprietor. Keeping good relations made things easier.
For this round of invitation distribution, Manager Jin had purposely also counted the customers from the Flower Filled Building. This was not solely to maintain the unwritten rule but also because Madam Chen had raised this issue with him. Some customers of the Flower Filled Building had already started asking Madam Chen about invites to the Winding Pavilion’s summer show.
Madam Chen had also specifically requested that he set aside a few extra invitations for her.
Even for the sake of maintaining a good relationship, he had to help keep some aside. But now that she had said that there was no need to consider the customers of the Flower Filled Building, how was he going to explain this to Madam Chen without offending her?
Xin He understood the dilemma at once and smiled, "Don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to Madam Chen about this issue. You don’t have to trouble yourself with it."
Relieved, Manager Jin quickly expressed his gratitude, "Thank you so much! Understanding our challenges truly makes it easier for us to work."
Xinhe stood and headed toward the exit, "Then you get back to work."
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