Although the Lu family's identities were not made public, all the important figures in Changzhou came today. In addition to County Magistrate Lu, other officials brought their families to show their support, and even the Prefect's wife brought a group of people to the store to look at the goods and happily selected several items.
This raised everyone's impression of the Lu family to a new level. Although they didn't know who the Lu family was, they were definitely not simple people and should not be offended easily.
Of course, there are all kinds of people in this world; some are filled with awe, while others are skeptical and want to take on the challenge.
On the afternoon of its first day of business, an incident occurred at the entrance of the Jiayuan Pavilion branch.
A woman was being chased and beaten by a group of men. When she reached the entrance of Jiayuan Pavilion, she fell heavily to the ground. Several men surrounded her and tried to take her away, but the woman used all her strength to stumble and rush into the store.
The shop was filled with joy. Even Jiang Jiuniang, who was pregnant, came to join in the fun. She was in a good mood and introduced the new products to the ladies of the house. On the first day of business, the business was much better than she had expected. As long as the products were good, she was not afraid of not having repeat customers. She couldn't stop smiling.
Just then, the disheveled woman rushed in front of her and knelt down at her feet.
"Madam, please help me! Have pity on me, save me!"
As she spoke, she kept kowtowing, making a loud thud on the floor, and her forehead quickly became bruised and purple.
Jiang Jiuniang frowned, took a step back, ignored the woman, and instead looked at the group of men who had chased in from behind.
What are you all doing?
Since recognizing Lu Baichuan, she no longer needs to hide her abilities as before. She can slap anyone she doesn't like, and it's been a long time since anyone has dared to cause trouble in front of her.
Realizing what she was about to do, Madam Sun quickly stepped in front of her and whispered a reminder: "Don't be impulsive, you're pregnant!"
As she spoke, she turned to the men and said, "It's not very nice of you to be making such a scene at our opening today. I don't care what grudges you have against each other, just don't cause trouble in my shop, or this old woman will not let you off the hook."
Seeing that Madam Sun intended to protect her, the woman hurriedly crawled two steps to hug Madam Sun's leg.
"Madam, please save me! They want to sell me into a brothel, but I don't want to go! Please give me a chance; I'm willing to be your slave!"
Upon hearing this, the men immediately laughed, adopting a friendly demeanor, and said, "If you're willing to buy her, that's fine too. It's all the same whether you sell her or not. One price, five hundred taels, not a penny less."
"How many?"
Sun thought she had misheard. After all, prices in Changzhou were not high. Some families could sell their children for a maximum of five or six taels of silver. This group of people were asking for five hundred taels. Was this woman made of gold?
The leading man laughed self-righteously: "What? Would a wealthy family like yours be reluctant to part with a mere five hundred taels? So many shops on the street are opening at the same time, making at least five or six thousand taels in a day. Five hundred taels isn't expensive for a person."
Sun's face immediately darkened, realizing that this group of people were after their family.
"Oh……"
Jiang Jiuniang, standing behind, sneered, looked down at the pitiful woman on the ground, and said coldly, "Alright, stop acting. If you can't cry, then don't cry. I feel sorry for you."
As she spoke, she reached out and pulled Mrs. Sun to her side, saying in a voice that everyone around could hear, "Ms. Sun, not everyone is worth our help. This woman has a clear objective. She knelt down before me as soon as she arrived, and she even knows your identity. She has obviously done her homework and investigated our family thoroughly. Otherwise, how could she be so accurate?"
"You're really good at scheming. You want to take advantage of our sympathy by spending a lot of money to buy someone and let that person infiltrate our shop. They can bring you good stuff from time to time and even get a substantial monthly salary. Doesn't it sound exciting?"
"The idea is good, but your acting is bad. You can only blame your lack of ability."
She clapped her hands, and immediately two people stepped forward and quickly tied up the group, preparing to drag them directly to the yamen (government office).
Out of respect for the Lu family, Magistrate Lu will certainly treat these people well.
The woman was caught off guard and panicked, blurting out incoherent things.
"Didn't you keep saying you wanted to find a way for women to make a living? Didn't you want to hire female workers? I'm already in such a miserable state, what's wrong with you helping me out? You have so much money, what's wrong with spending five hundred taels on me?"
"Liars, you're all liars! Hahaha, everyone look! These rich people are all hypocrites, saying one thing and doing another. They're just making money off us ordinary folks! You heartless bastards, you'll be struck by lightning!"
Many people were misled by her words and felt that the Lu family was indeed cruel. They hadn't done anything wrong, yet they took advantage of their power to tie people up and send them to the authorities. What a big deal!
Then someone stepped forward to speak up for her: "This isn't a big deal, is it? There's no need to treat her like this? I think that woman is really pitiful. How can the lady of this wealthy family be so cruel?"
Jiang Jiuniang glanced at him indifferently and said, "If you're so good, why don't you go and buy her for five hundred taels? You can bring her home to have your babies, and she can even do your laundry and cook for you. Wouldn't that be great?"
The man's face flushed with anger: "What nonsense are you spouting! What kind of good person would spend five hundred taels of silver to marry a wife...?"
At this point, he realized something was wrong and quickly shut his mouth. Jiang Jiuniang seized on this and began to mock him.
"Look at you, you wouldn't even agree to buy her home as your wife, so why should we spend five hundred taels to buy her to work in the shop? I have plenty of girls working in my shop, do I need one more? Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you. This is none of your business, so don't talk nonsense and cause trouble."
As Jiang Jiuniang spoke, she looked at the crowd around her, her words sharp: "We're in business, so of course we welcome any customer to come in and choose our goods. But if you want to cause trouble in my shop, please think twice, because the consequences are not something you can bear. Besides, we never intended to make money off ordinary people by opening these shops, so don't keep spouting those foul words. I'll let it go this time, but I'll teach a lesson to every one of them I hear in the future. If you're not happy, feel free to argue with me."
At this point, Jiang Jiuniang felt she could retire gracefully and was about to take Sun Shi back when she saw a familiar face emerge from the crowd and begin to disperse the crowd without regard for others.
"Get out of here, all of you, don't block our way from opening for business. What are you doing here if you have no money? You're just bad luck!"
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