"The boss, this is the young lady."
The servant made the introduction and then tactfully retreated.
"Are you looking for me? Do you want to check out some fabrics?"
The proprietress Yun Niang had a gentle smile on her face, which was her usual way of treating customers.
Long Yue took out a handkerchief from the basket and handed it over, "Proprietress, this is an embroidered handkerchief I made. I wonder if you would accept it here?"
"Your embroidery..."
Proprietress Yun Niang just glanced at it briefly and felt that the embroidery was exquisite, not inferior to those from provincial embroidery workshops. She was about to ask for the price when she heard a sarcastic voice from the side.
"Oh, a noble young lady, supposed to be living in luxury, ending up exposing herself to sell embroidery, how pitiable!"
Long Yue frowned, she disliked such a sarcastic tone, and the voice seemed somewhat familiar.
She looked over and saw a young girl in a pink skirt standing elegantly not far away, with a pointed chin raised arrogantly and disdainfully. Wasn't this the same Miss Lu she had encountered last time?
At that time, she had verbally mocked Long Yue, but was bitterly fooled by Li Qingmu and even scolded by Young Master Xiang, losing face.
So she held a grudge, eager to come up and mock Long Yue when she saw her down and out.
Long Yue smiled slightly, saying indifferently, "What about me exposing myself to the public? Is it really up to you to care? Oh, or do you think you're my daughter, so you're worried about your old mother's hardships? Haha, then thank you very much!"
"You..."
Being outsmarted by Long Yue made the already narrow-minded Miss Lu grit her teeth in anger. Finally, she gave Li Qingmu a fierce look and said, "That's because your man is useless and still has to rely on a woman to earn money. I... I even feel that standing under the same roof with you is a humiliation, hmph!"
She said this and pretended to take a few steps forward when Li Qingmu, who was originally lowering his eyes, suddenly looked up and said faintly, "Miss, be careful of your steps."
"Hmph, no need for your reminder, I can see just fine!"
Miss Lu said as she took another step forward, only to step on something and then stumbled forward.
"Ah—"
She let out a scream and fell flat on the ground, eating dirt.
"Ah, Miss!"
The maid who was carrying fabric back saw Miss Lu rolling on the ground and hurriedly rushed over to help her up. Out of a business instinct, Yun Niang also quickly ordered the servant to help.
"I told you to watch your steps, but you just wouldn't listen, tsk!"
Li Qingmu said faintly from the side, and Long Yue's mouth twitched. This person really... She was walking fine, but just because he called out, she randomly stepped on a small stone and fell flat.
"Mistress, we've done our utmost; this is not our fault, let's continue with our previous business!"
With that, he handed another handkerchief to the proprietress.
His fabric shop had unknowingly become a battlefield for others' disputes, originally putting Yun Niang in a bad mood, but when she saw that piece of embroidery, she was amazed, holding it and loving it dearly.
"Double-sided embroidery, you can actually do double-sided embroidery? We don't have that here, and your handiwork is so delicate with a very reasonable layout. This is a high-class embroidered piece..." She looked at Long Yue in surprise, "Are you really planning to sell these pieces to me?"
"Yes, if the proprietress likes them, I can make more in the future."
Long Yue took out the remaining handkerchiefs.
"Are they all double-sided embroidery?" Yun Niang inspected them repeatedly, growing more excited, her tone becoming a bit hurried, "These are treasures. Previously, such pieces could only be obtained from the provincial embroidery workshops, but often couldn't be procured, and yet you can make them yourself... That's wonderful!"
As she spoke, she immediately instructed the accounting room to get the money, then turned around and asked, "Little lady, what's your name? Are you willing to work here in my fabric shop?"
Long Yue saw the proprietress's reaction and knew she was straightforward, clear about love and hate, unlike that pharmacy shopkeeper who hides his emotions and cheats you.
Both sides had a good impression, which made later things much more convenient. Long Yue handed over eight handkerchiefs to Yun Niang and got two taels of silver in exchange.
This price was close to Long Yue's expected price, which pleased her greatly.
"Your craftsmanship is so good, using such simple fabric and thread seems a bit of a waste. By the way, I have some top-quality silk threads and silk handkerchiefs here; take them to embroider and bring them back when finished."
Yun Niang enthusiastically went into the back to get a basket of silk handkerchiefs and threads and handed them to Long Yue.
Long Yue didn't stand on ceremony, taking them while saying, "I'll bring them over when finished, and deduct this money then."
"Okay, we'll keep our accounts clear."
Both were businesswomen; it's good to have less emotional ties, clear accounts, and neither taking advantage nor being disadvantaged.
"By the way, I want to buy two sets of clothes. Does the proprietress have ready-made clothes here?"
Long Yue was about to step out of this "Jinxiu" embroidery workshop when she suddenly thought of changing her clothing, which was coarse and laundered to the point of being white and yellow.
Yun Niang nodded, "Yes, just recently finished some, they are in the inner room. Would the young lady like to take a look?"
"Yes, I'd like to take a look!"
Long Yue went inside and picked out a light blue and a light pink set of clothes, which consisted only of a top and a lower skirt, and being ordinary coarse cotton, they weren't expensive. Both sets cost only 300 cents in total.
Long Yue, eager to wear her new clothes, quickly dressed up and turned around in front of a large bronze mirror. The person in the mirror was so young and beautiful, full of vitality, that Long Yue smiled with satisfaction.
This smile made her look even more charming, and with the new clothes, she seemed like a fairy walking out of a painting. Li Qingmu, standing aside, was dumbfounded.
At this moment, the dazed Miss Lu, finally regaining her senses with the help of her maid, thinking how she was walking just fine and suddenly fell, felt it must be those two troublemakers' doing, and in her anger, she opened her mouth to curse.
"You wretch, no matter how beautifully you dress, you're just a phoenix plucked of feathers, worse than a chicken! Hmph!"
"A phoenix remains a phoenix despite its downfall, and one day the phoenix will be reborn and soar through the skies again, but you, you are just a chicken and will never rise to become a phoenix!"
"You..."
Each time they clashed, Miss Lu found herself at a disadvantage, making her so furious she was nearly driven mad, wanting to rush up and rip that little wretch Long Yue's mouth apart!
But when she looked at Long Yue standing next to Li Qingmu, she caught a glimpse of a fleeting coldness in his deep-set eyes, and she felt a chill run down her spine. She remembered how Young Master Xiang had warned her to keep a respectful distance from him, not wanting to provoke him.
Then she recalled how, after returning home on that day, Young Master Xiang suddenly went mad, chasing people with a kitchen knife in the manor, and how she had taken a fall just by being called by him, so she said, "You demon! Did you make Young Master Xiang go crazy? Yes, it must be you. I'm going to report you, have the government come and arrest you, rid the people of a menace!"