Chapter 43
Jingyu took a step to the side, bent down, and prepared to accept it on Yuli’s behalf.
In Jingyu’s mind, according to Yuli’s personality, she would have made a big deal out of a small matter. And she had seen such scenes in the Duke’s Residence before. Although she was angry and resentful on Yuli’s behalf, she felt it was reasonable. She reached out her hand to accept it, but was held by Yuli’s wrist and pulled up straight.
“I, Song, have come today to apologize. The value of the gift I have offered is this much,” Yuli said, casually holding up a few fingers.
She pulled Jingyu behind her, making Jingyu stand even taller. “It is an honor that my flowers have won the third young lady’s favor, and it is also the result of my diligent research. The things I sell are the crystallization of my heart and soul and that of the people in my shop. Every flower is worth that price. The money I have earned is honest and upright. I will not accept this baseless reward. Please forgive me, Madam.”
Yuli bowed slightly, looked directly at the woman above, and saw her expression change from astonishment to hidden anger.
“I, Song, am a businesswoman. If the Madam is not placing an order, I, Song, am still busy. I will take my leave now,” Yuli said, smiled at them, and turned to leave.
Yuli was calm and at ease, her steps large and steady. She walked out of the courtyard without waiting for anyone to lead the way. Jingyu quickly followed.
Following the route from her memory, she quickly reached the second gate. Seeing the two cold-faced guards in black, Yuli felt an immense sense of intimacy. She let out a breath and walked over in small, quick steps.
“It was a close call. Let’s go quickly, back to our own territory.”
Jingyu followed behind, a silent smile on her lips.
After getting into the carriage and entering the city, Yuli said to Jingyu, “No wonder this family’s purchasing agent is so difficult to deal with. It turns out they have such a matriarch.”
Jingyu secretly looked at Yuli. She was extremely curious. Yuli was clearly from a small family. How could she have such a proud air?
“Is the Mistress not afraid of losing the order?”
“Heh, even if he wants to buy from me in the future, I won’t sell, unless the third young lady comes to choose in person.”
Seeing that Jingyu still had doubts, Yuli said, “Just now, I didn’t speak because I was afraid I would scold her. I walked so fast because I was afraid of starting a conflict in someone else’s home. In the future, if you encounter such a high and mighty person, you should also talk back like me.”
Jingyu pursed her lips, looking as if she didn’t understand, and didn’t dare to do so.
Yuli continued, “Look at her, surrounded by maids and old women, as if she were made of gold and jade. In fact, she’s not as good as me. I live by my own labor and brainpower. Even if I leave the Xie Residence one day, I can still live a stable life. But she may not. She is an appendage of her husband. Not only does she not think of danger in times of peace, but she also feels superior for not working and looks down on me for being self-reliant. Little does she know that if she were to fall on hard times one day, she probably wouldn’t even be able to survive.”
Yuli had even harsher words she didn’t say. The woman just now had such a strong hostility. Her life was probably very unhappy. Her husband might have several concubines, and the concubines were arrogant with his favor. She had to put on the majesty of a legal wife, and her harshness had become a part of her, a habit. It was just that she had used it in the wrong place today.
Actually, it was also quite pathetic. Yuli didn’t think any further.
In her past life, Yuli had also read some harem-fighting novels and had found it quite satisfying to see the heroine slap faces and abuse scumbags. But after working and seeing more of the ways of the world, she couldn’t get into them anymore. A group of women, trapped by the world, fighting to the death for the family business that the men had worked so hard to build outside, was really not satisfying.
Fortunately, she had not transmigrated into a harem-fighting novel and did not have to fight with weak women.
Hearing Yuli’s words, Jingyu was in a daze, as if she understood but also not.
Yuli said to her firmly, “Anyway, you just have to remember that you are stronger than them now.”
The carriage quickly returned to Huayan Fang. Jingyu was the first to jump out of the carriage and turned to help Yuli. Yuli held her hand, jumped down, and walked towards the door.
Just as she reached the door, she heard a sharp quarrel from inside.
“Your flowers are so expensive, yet you use inferior products to pass off as good ones, and they are different from what I ordered before! You made me wear them out and be laughed at! I’m not short of those few pennies. If you want to compensate, compensate for my face!”
Yuli quickly walked into the shop and saw that a silk curtain in the hall had fallen. A plump and voluptuous woman was standing in the hall, pointing at Lizhen and Xiyun’s faces, her spittle flying.
Lizhen was covered in dust, and Xiyun’s face was still calm, but her eyes were slightly red. Zhile and the two apprentices were at the back door, not daring to show their faces.
Yuli and Jingyu entered the door, and the two tall guards also came in. The light in the hall dimmed for a moment.
The woman followed Lizhen and Xiyun’s gaze and looked over. Her furious expression froze for a moment, and she sneered. “You must be the famous Shopkeeper Song. These two clerks of yours can’t make a decision. You tell me, how are you going to compensate for my face?”
Jingyu secretly said to Yuli quickly, “Mistress, go to the backyard. I’ll take care of this.”
Yuli acted as if she hadn’t heard and walked to the woman, forcing a kind smile. “Let me first understand what happened. Please wait a moment, noble lady.”
Yuli turned to Lizhen. Lizhen recovered her composure and quickly explained what had happened. “This customer ordered a green peony at the end of last month. The delivery was scheduled for five days ago. It was the customer’s husband who came to pick it up. I explained the lack of silk thread, and the customer’s husband had no objection. He was willing to take the peony with the changed color and also signed the order. Today, the customer came to the door, insisting that we used inferior products to pass off as good ones…”
“You did use inferior products to pass off as good ones!” the woman became agitated. “That deadbeat of mine must have been bewitched by you! You used fake and rotten flowers to fool me. This flower is so vulgar, it’s exactly the same as the fake flowers outside. Do you know how long I was laughed at today when I wore it out?!”
Yuli tried to interrupt, but the woman didn’t stop. “Now everyone outside is saying that your Huayan Fang is about to close down. You must have deliberately come to cheat us of our deposit and are going to run away with the money!”
Yuli stood in place, smiling faintly as she waited for her to finish. During a pause, she quickly said, “If the Madam wants flowers, you can choose freely in the shop. How about I, Song, give you whatever you like?”
“Who cares about these broken flowers of yours!”
The woman spat out some saliva. A few cool drops landed on Yuli’s face. She wanted to retreat but couldn’t. The two guards stood a little closer to her, almost blocking her in the middle.
“Oh, so you’re so great with your guards. You want to bully people with your power, huh? Come on, hit me!”
Yuli felt a headache. A difficult purchasing agent, a two-faced merchant, at least they still talked about reason and profit. But to encounter someone like this, who was emotional, wouldn’t listen to anything, and just wanted to vent her anger, was really difficult to handle.
No wonder Lizhen and Xiyun had been so out of sorts just now. It turned out they had encountered a shrew.
Yuli took a deep breath and took a step closer to the woman. “They are just doormen. They won’t do anything.”
The woman snorted coldly.
“Then how about this? I’ll give the Madam a double refund of the original price?”
“I said I don’t care about those few pennies!”
“Then what does the Madam want?”
“What’s with your attitude?”
Yuli couldn’t smile anymore. When it came to attitude, she was really at a loss. She was not in the service industry in her modern life. No matter how difficult the clients were, they were all decent people. She had never encountered someone who was purely venting their emotions.
Yuli could only force a laugh.
The woman became even more aggressive. “You, a merchant, dare to laugh at me!”
The woman was large. She walked towards Yuli. The two guards wanted to make a move but were stopped by Yuli. The guards stood in front of the woman, their faces ashen.
The woman was also a little scared, but seeing that Yuli did not dare to offend her, she took a half step back and actually slapped Jingyu.
With a crisp sound, the hall fell silent for a moment. A string of people rushed out from the back door, including Zhile and the three of them, the dyer Ye Weiqing and the old dyer from the dyeing workshop, plus the original four people and the two guards in the room. They all surrounded the woman.
“You shrew!” Xiyun couldn’t hold back and pulled Jingyu behind her, saying angrily.
“Xiyun,” Lizhen frowned and pulled Xiyun behind her. “Madam, don’t be offended…”
Before Lizhen could finish, the woman swung her hand again with gritted teeth, but was blocked by a slender arm.
The woman pushed Ye Weiqing away with her other hand and actually pushed him to the ground.
With a thud, Ye Weiqing fell to the ground, coughed twice, and couldn’t get up for a moment.
The woman was also stunned, as if she had finally calmed down. Yuli squeezed out from behind the two guards and bowed to the woman. “Madam, don’t be offended. We are all proper business people. This is my brother. He is seriously ill but is still dyeing silk threads in the shop. There was a problem with a few colors of silk threads, which we explained to the Madam’s husband before. It is not that we are deceiving the Madam. It must be that the Madam’s husband was busy and was negligent, and forgot to inform the Madam of this matter. The green peonies sold from my shop recently are all this color. As for those fakes outside, the Madam can take a closer look. They are no match for our peonies.”
The woman saw Ye Weiqing being helped up by Xiyun and Zhile, standing unsteadily with great effort. Afraid of getting into a life-and-death situation, she finally calmed down completely and did not interrupt Yuli again.
Yuli always bowed, her face smiling. “The people the Madam mentioned are the ones who have no eyes. I have the most beautiful flowers here, which have not been sold outside yet. If the Madam wears them out, they will surely make them envious.”
“Alright, this broken shop of yours, I don’t want to stay here for another moment!” the woman said, turned, and left.
After the woman walked out the door, Yuli caught a glimpse of Chu Hong and Shopkeeper Liu standing at the door.
Yuli didn’t know how long they had been watching or what they were thinking. She slowly straightened up. “Go and call a doctor to have a good look at Mr. Ye.”
“I’m fine,” Ye Weiqing said, and then began to cough again.
“You’re too thin. I told you to eat more, but you didn’t believe me. Look at you, you fell down with just one push from that shrew,” Xiyun muttered.
“Yes, I’ll eat more in the future.”
“Xiyun,” Lizhen said seriously. “You can’t call a customer a shrew.”
“Not even behind her back?”
“Neither in person nor behind her back,” Lizhen said.
Xiyun was still a little resentful but nodded.
The scene was still chaotic. Yuli had no time to pay attention to the two people standing at the door who had not left. She insisted, “Go and call a doctor to see Mr. Ye, and also Jingyu…”
Before Yuli could finish, Jingyu suddenly knelt down in front of her with her head bowed and prostrated herself on the ground. “It’s all this servant’s fault.”
The two guards also knelt on one knee almost at the same time.
Lizhen, Zhile, and the others were all stunned. Xiyun felt that Jingyu was overreacting, but thinking of the Young Master in the residence, her legs also trembled a little.
Yuli was so shocked she didn’t know what to do. “Get up quickly. How can you be blamed? Get up, all of you.”
Xiyun knelt down with a thud. “Yes, blame me. I was the one who scolded her.”
Yuli was dizzy. “Are you not angry enough with me?”
Jingyu raised her head. Yuli’s face was tired, but she still forced a smile. “Get up quickly. This is a small matter. Everyone has been wronged. No one is at fault.”
“It is this servant who has wronged the Mistress,” Jingyu said, her face still swollen, and her eyes red again.
Xiyun interrupted, “It’s me, it’s me!”
Lizhen also came over. “I didn’t handle it well either…”
Yuli felt helpless. She looked at the dazed Ye Weiqing on the side and smiled. “Then you should go and thank Mr. Ye. It was he who sacrificed himself to scare that madam. Otherwise, my bowing and scraping and apologizing would have been useless.”
“Right, Mr. Ye?”
Ye Weiqing looked at Yuli. “I, I suppose so.”
Lizhen, Zhile, and the others all burst out laughing. Seeing that the heavy atmosphere had been dispelled, Yuli helped Jingyu and Xiyun up one by one, and the two guards got up by themselves.
“I’m thirsty from all that talking. Let’s go to the backyard for some tea first,” Yuli said, giving Lizhen a look. Lizhen first went to help Jingyu. “Let’s go, let’s see how you’re hurt.”
Lizhen, Zhile, and the others pulled the few of them apart. The chaos finally ended. Yuli saw that the people at the door were still there.
Yuli straightened her back. “Young Master Chu, please come in.”
Chu Hong had his hands behind his back, his expression deep. “Is Madam Song really not going to reconsider?”
“Young Master Chu has seen it. Although my Huayan Fang is in a difficult situation now, our hearts are united. It’s not the end yet. We will not give up easily.”
Chu Hong paused, then smiled. “Four-six, I get four, you get six. I can’t go any lower.”
Yuli realized what he was talking about and smiled faintly. “Young Master Chu is used to being domineering. I don’t dare to do business with you as a partner.”
“Shopkeeper Song, please calm down. I am not taking advantage of your misfortune. I just appreciate Shopkeeper Song and don’t want these unnecessary difficulties to break Shopkeeper Song’s spirit. Our cooperation is a strong alliance, beneficial and not harmful. Why must you head for a dead end because of a moment of anger?”
Yuli did not refute on the spot, as if she were really considering his words.
Chu Hong laughed. “You make a counteroffer. As long as it is fair and reasonable, I will definitely consider it carefully.”
A lot had happened today. Thinking of how she had just been spat on, Yuli suddenly felt extremely tired and began to doubt herself. What was the point of holding on like this?
After carefully weighing the pros and cons, if she made a counteroffer, she could return to a state of easy money-making. Everyone in the shop could be relieved of their burden, and the customers could also buy the most beautiful flowers. It seemed like a happy ending for everyone.
Yuli: “This is a major matter. I have to think about it carefully.”
Chu Hong was overjoyed. “Shopkeeper Song, take your time to calculate and think. When you’ve thought it through, come to Wanse Fang. I, Chu, will be waiting at any time.” He laughed twice, saw the unwillingness and fatigue on Yuli’s face, and then said in a low voice, “Or send someone with a message, and I will come to see you at any time.”
Yuli said calmly, “If Young Master Chu has no other business, please excuse me.”
After Yuli finished speaking, she turned and left. The two guards separated, one following her, and the other walking to Chu Hong, the meaning of seeing the guest out very clear.
Chu Hong was not annoyed. He looked at Yuli’s back for a few moments before turning around.
In the backyard, the others were still shaken. Lizhen had seen more and had recovered quickly. She comforted Jingyu a few words and then went out to watch the shop.
Yuli smiled at them and went into the north room by herself.
It was almost dusk, and the setting sun was bright. The few girls in the courtyard were still whispering.
They were indignantly complaining about the fat woman, and then comforting each other, especially Jingyu.
“It was clearly her who was crazy. You were beaten for no reason. Why did you kneel to the Mistress? I was scared too,” Xiyun said.
“Yes, Sister Jingyu, it was our bad luck to run into her. Don’t take it to heart. The Mistress won’t blame you.”
Jingyu was silent all along.
“If anyone is to blame, it’s me. I was the one who scolded her,” Xiyun said with a smile. “I even wanted to have the guards beat her out!”
“Sister Xiyun…”
“I was just saying. Thanks to Mr. Ye’s self-inflicted injury, he was also wronged.”
“Was Mr. Ye doing it on purpose…”
Yuli’s mood improved a little after hearing this, but not much. Such good clerks and a shopkeeper, why did they have to suffer such grievances with her?
Yuli sighed, ground her own ink, picked up a brush, and wrote the characters for “three-seven” on the paper. After thinking about it, she crossed them out and wrote “two-eight,” and finally “one-nine,” and smiled bitterly.
Not long after, Jingyu brought water and wrung out a cloth for Yuli to wipe her face.
Yuli saw that she had returned to normal and took it with a smile. She washed her face and asked her, “If I sell Huayan Fang to the second Chu, will it be much easier?”
Her face no longer hurt, but the fear and helplessness from her years of transmigration were still in her heart, making it difficult for her to straighten her back at this moment. Jingyu finally lowered her head and said, “This servant does not dare to comment.”
Yuli sighed. “You have all been wronged. Don’t take it to heart. It’s just that a lot has happened today. Tomorrow will be as usual.”
Jingyu agreed.
Although she said so, Yuli knew in her heart that she could still hold on before because her velvet flowers were unique. Even without developing new colors, she had a basic customer base. After the delivery period of the “Ronghua Lihua” had passed, her shop could still occupy a unique position among the jewelry shops.
But now there were imitations. Although the imitators had not mastered the complete process, they had already imitated 70% of it. In addition, they could buy silk threads from Wanse Fang, which could almost be compared to her inferior genuine products.
In addition, with the spring flowers blooming, all kinds of natural flowers would be on the market, and both velvet and silk flowers would be impacted. I’m afraid that after this summer, Huayan Fang would be like a meteor that had fallen after shining, and would be lost in the crowd.
Right now, it was indeed the best and last time to sell Huayan Fang.
Yuli buried her head in the desk, picked up a brush, and wrote down a few items: profit-sharing ratio, personnel placement, branch store investment…
She was engrossed in her writing and didn’t even notice when the backyard suddenly fell silent.
Until someone walked into the door and called her, “Yuli.”
The voice was low and deep, with a slight pant.
The tip of the brush stopped. Yuli looked up. As the person approached, the bitterness she had been suppressing in her heart suddenly surged out.
“Husband,” Yuli’s eyes turned red, and her voice was hoarse.