Cui Wanyun's eyes widened, and she thought she had misheard.
To buy a few dresses, she had to spend a thousand taels to buy a card first, and she was only given a discount of two hundred taels. In other words, the dresses were not given to her as a gift, but she had to pay for them herself!
He clearly just wanted to swindle her money, but he made it sound so nice!
She really wanted to say she didn't want them anymore, but those dresses were so beautiful that she didn't want to give them up so easily.
But eight hundred taels is too much; she simply doesn't have that much money. Last night, her mother only gave her two hundred taels.
She felt embarrassed, but still forced a smile and said, "Thank you so much, Miss Lotus."
She cursed Lianhua in her heart, thinking, "Are all the Lu family members so petty?"
He's rich and powerful, yet he's so stingy with her; it's obvious he looks down on her!
She was about to send the maid back to get the money when the maid hurriedly pulled her aside and said, "Miss, you mustn't! This amount of money is far too much; Madam will be angry."
Yesterday, the jewelry I bought cost 150 taels of silver, and my wife was so distressed that she kept crying. She refused to give me the money for a long time, which almost made the jewelry shop's servant laugh at me.
As for the two hundred taels given later, it included the expenses during this period. If he had gone back to get eight hundred taels as soon as he came out, he would definitely have been beaten to death by the madam.
Cui Wanyun then realized that eight hundred taels was indeed a lot. Her family was practically empty now, with very little money. Eight hundred taels would be enough for their entire family's expenses for a year, and her mother certainly wouldn't give that much.
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
Cui Wanyun bit her lower lip. She always felt that she couldn't show weakness in front of Lianhua, otherwise it would seem that she was inferior to Lianhua.
Lianhua is just an orphan girl from the countryside, so why can she live a more respectable life than the young lady of the Earl's mansion?
"There's no need to get that card. If Miss likes something, buying one or two items will be enough. We can bring Madam out another day to buy it for Miss."
The young maid was more astute than her; if you don't have money, don't try to be tough, saving face isn't important.
Before she could make a decision, Lianhua said, "Miss Cui, have you thought it through? These dresses are all one-of-a-kind. If you don't sell them now, someone else will buy them later. I really think these dresses suit your temperament very well. It wouldn't be worth missing today's special offer!"
Hearing that she only had one set, Cui Wanyun wanted to buy it even more. If she bought it and wore it out, she would be unique and one of a kind, and no one could compare to her.
In that case, when she appears next to Lu Zilei, wouldn't Lu Zilei be unable to see anyone else?
"Go back and get the money! Tell your mother that these dresses are very important to me and can help me win Lu Zilei's heart!"
She gave the maid a push, and the maid looked on incredulously. "Your mistress is wavering already?"
She wanted to say something more, but the young lady wouldn't listen to her anymore, glaring at her fiercely, the kind of person who would beat her if she dared to speak.
The maid was very aggrieved and went back home with no other choice.
Cui Wanyun turned to Lianhua with a smile and said, "I don't have that much money on me. I'll have the maid go back and get the money. We'll open a card when we get back!"
Lotus said with a sense of self-reproach, "If it's inconvenient for Miss Cui, you can buy a set to try first. If you like it, you can come again next time. However, the discount will not be as good as the gold card."
Lotus's manner was as if she knew the girl had no money and was blaming herself for recommending so many beautiful dresses to her.
If it were a normal person, they would definitely think that Lianhua was right and that they should act according to their abilities. But Cui Wanyun was clearly not a normal person. She felt that Lianhua was looking down on her by saying that, and she felt offended instantly.
“Miss Lotus, there’s no need to say such things. It’s just a matter of a few hundred taels of silver. Do you really think that I, the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Chang’an, can’t afford this amount?”
She was a little angry, and her attitude wasn't as good as before.
Lotus looked at her apologetically and said, "No, no, that's not what I meant, I just..."
"Alright, alright, Miss Lianhua, you don't need to say anything more. I know what you mean, but since you're running a business, you can't treat your customers so harshly. If it weren't for our good relationship, I would be angry today."
"Okay, I understand."
Lotus nodded repeatedly, as if she were truly frightened.
Cui Wanyun instantly became smug, thinking that Lianhua was ultimately from the countryside and was too timid to be of any use.
After that, Lianhua stayed with her and talked to her, seemingly apologizing to her. She was very kind and even had a maid bring tea and snacks while she kept her company and waited for the maid to arrive.
When the maid returned home, she told Madam Hu what had happened. Madam Hu was so angry that she almost smashed the teacup, feeling that her daughter was spending money too extravagantly.
But after hearing what the maid had said about Cui Wanyun, he felt that he couldn't catch a wolf without risking his cub, so he gritted his teeth and paid the money.
The maid took the money back, and Cui Wanyun readily topped up the card. Although she only gave eight hundred taels, according to Lianhua's instructions, the card still had a limit of one thousand taels. She bought five dresses, and after the discount, the total cost was eight hundred and eighty taels, which startled Cui Wanyun.
She originally thought that recharging her card once would be enough to buy clothes for a whole year, but she didn't expect that buying five sets would cost so much!
She couldn't smile anymore; her family's entire year's expenses had been squandered!
The Lu family's shop is like robbery!
She felt so sorry for him, but for the sake of her pride, she had to pretend that she didn't care at all.
Lotus, standing beside her, exclaimed with admiration, "Miss Cui truly lives up to her wealthy background. It's an eye-opener. I was narrow-minded just now; I shouldn't have been like that!"
That simple sentence instantly made Cui Wanyun feel good; she straightened her back and was very proud of herself.
What are your plans for today?
After finishing her shopping, Cui Wanyun changed the subject, mainly trying to subtly inquire about Lei Zi's whereabouts.
"The shop is quite busy today, so I'll help out here. If Miss Cui doesn't mind, you can sit here for a while longer, and I'll have someone prepare some fine tea and snacks for you."
This is no lie, because today is the day the shop has new products, and many people have come to buy things. In just a short time, no fewer than ten people have recharged their gold cards.
Not only that, but there are also regular customers renewing their cards, or casual customers buying one or two items at random, spending very generously.
There are many wealthy people in the capital, and Cui Wanyun was insanely envious as such large sums of money flowed into the Lu family's pockets.
She absolutely must marry into the Lu family!
"Then you go ahead and do your work, I can wait for you here."
She was all smiles, showing no sign of wanting to leave.
Lotus didn't stand on ceremony with her and went straight to her work.
Cui Wanyun had thought that Lu Zilei would come to find Lianhua later, but Lu Zilei didn't show up until dark. Lianhua was also busy and didn't have time to eat.
Lianhua had no time to eat, let alone care about Cui Wanyun. Cui Wanyun just waited there hungry, her eyes red with anger.
It seems that Lu Zilei wasn't really that interested in Lianhua; he might have just been putting on an act for her yesterday!
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