Deadly Game: Almighty Boss’s Guide to Making Money

Chapter 1345. Yunjin Tailoring Workshop (2)

Lin Xi grabbed Bai Yueming's wrist.

"Don't tear it. This kind of old paper tears easily. The words might be on the back."

She took out her magnifying glass from her backpack.

"May I have a look?"

Zuo Ting immediately took out her phone, turned on the flashlight, and focused the beam on the yellowed paper.

Under the magnifying glass, the blurry writing gradually became clear. In addition to "Do not force, do not disassemble," there was a line of extremely small regular script: "If you misplace, it will be chaotic; if you place it correctly, it will be smooth."

"Mismatched buttons, or perfectly aligned buttons?" Lin Bei's gaze swept over the eight cheongsams on the wall. "The button styles on these eight cheongsams are all different!"

Xiao Qin seems to know a lot about this.

Xiaoqin has a great temperament and is very suitable for wearing cheongsam.

—If Xiaoqin came in wearing a cheongsam, she would be scolded to death.

— This game is definitely not suitable for wearing a cheongsam.

—This dungeon is alright, not particularly thrilling.

—It's not disgusting at all, it's good.

Yesterday's dungeon was really disgusting.

As everyone gathered closer to examine them, they indeed discovered that the buttons on the collar of each cheongsam were all uniquely designed.

The plum blossom cheongsam has double ring buttons, and the ones embroidered with orchids on the side are pipa buttons, followed by butterfly buttons, gourd buttons, ruyi buttons, grape buttons, and flower basket buttons. The innermost plain-colored cheongsam with a dark pattern has a simple single-button closure.

Eight cheongsams were lined up in a row, each with a unique style of button, and the stitches were so fine that they looked as if they were machine-sewn.

However, during the Republic of China era, such craftsmanship was definitely the work of veteran artisans.

Xu Youyou couldn't help but reach out and touch the edge of the gourd-shaped button. As soon as her fingertips touched the fabric, she heard a soft "click" and the cheongsam display rack shook slightly.

Startled, she immediately withdrew her hand: "W-what's going on?"

"Don't panic." Old Qiu stepped forward to inspect the display shelf and found that the base was fixed to the floor. "This shelf is movable, but we have to follow the rules. 'Three-buttoned cheongsam' might mean we have to find three cheongsams with related buttons."

Lin Xi crouched down to examine the bottom of the display shelf.

Each of the eight cheongsams is displayed on a separate rosewood base with intricate carvings.

Besides the plum blossom cheongsam base with the note attached, the other seven bases also have faint engravings, but they are covered by dust.

She took out a wet wipe from her backpack and carefully wiped the base of the orchid-patterned cheongsam, revealing a small "two".

“There are words here!” she called out to the crowd. “Each base is numbered, from one to eight.”

Everyone immediately divided up the tasks.

Han Xinyi and Zuo Ting were responsible for wiping the base.

Lin Bei and Bai Yueming recorded the cheongsam styles corresponding to the recorded numbers.

Lu Ze and Ye Hanzhou organized the information, while Lao Qiu searched around the store to see if he could find any other clues.

Soon, the numbers of all eight bases became clear: No. 1 Plum Blossom Double Ring Buckle, No. 2 Orchid Pipa Buckle, No. 3 Butterfly Buckle, No. 4 Gourd Buckle, No. 5 Ruyi Buckle, No. 6 Grape Buckle, No. 7 Flower Basket Buckle, and No. 8 Plain Single Buckle.

"A three-button brooch, is it connected by a number or a pattern?" Han Xinyi pondered. "If it's a number, is it one, two, three? Or three, five, seven?" "We'll find out if we try."

As Ye Hanzhou spoke, she reached for the double-ring buckle on the number one cheongsam, but Lin Xi stopped her again.

“‘Don’t force it, don’t remove it.’ Xu Youyou reacted just from a slight touch, so we might not be able to fasten it by force.” Lin Xi pointed to the gap in the double-ring clasp. “Look at this buttonhole, it seems there’s a thread connecting them inside.”

Under a magnifying glass, a very thin red thread was indeed hidden in the buttonhole of the double-ring buckle, extending along the neckline of the cheongsam into the fabric, which was almost invisible without careful observation.

The buttons on other cheongsams are the same; each buttonhole has a corresponding silk thread, and the colors are different: No. 1 is red silk, No. 2 is blue silk, No. 3 is yellow silk, No. 4 is green silk, No. 5 is cyan silk, No. 6 is purple silk, No. 7 is pink silk, and No. 8 is white silk.

"Do the silk thread colors correspond to the button styles? Or do they correspond to the numbers?" Qiu Ze looked at the eight cheongsams with a puzzled expression. "Or is it related to the 'three' in 'three-button cheongsam'?"

Lin Bei walked to the counter and picked up the copper iron that Ye Hanzhou had just put down.

After the dust was wiped clean, the four characters "三扣连襟" (three-button lapels) on the bottom of the iron still seemed to have fine lines around the edges.

She turned the iron over and examined it closely in the light.

"Look, there are faint patterns around these four characters, like three different styles of Chinese knot buttons."

The others gathered around and, sure enough, saw three miniature button patterns engraved around the four characters "三扣连襟" (Sankou Lianjin): one was a double-ring button, one was a butterfly button, and the other was a ruyi button.

"The double-ring buckle is number one, the butterfly buckle is number three, and the ruyi buckle is number five," Han Xinyi immediately matched the numbers. "One, two, three? No, it's one, three, five?"

"Could 'brother-in-law' refer to fastening the three frog buttons in a specific order?" Lu Ze guessed. "Or according to some kind of pattern?"

Lin Xi walked to the number one plum blossom cheongsam and gently pinched one end of the double-ring buckle.

This button is extremely exquisite, with each ring interlocking yet not too tight.

She pulled gently, just like she normally would, and the double buckle came undone without making a sound.

Just as the clasp was opened, a soft "click" sound came from the counter.

"There was a response!" Xu Youyou immediately ran to the counter. "It looks like the drawer moved just now."

Everyone gathered around and discovered that the drawer that Xu Youyou had tried to pull open was now slightly ajar.

There were scratches next to the brass handle of the drawer before, as if it had been pulled repeatedly, and now there seems to be something stuck in the gap.

Lin Bei carefully pulled open the drawer. Inside, there was a dark red velvet cloth, a small pair of copper scissors, and a folded piece of letter paper.

She picked up the letter and unfolded it. It contained handwriting in brush ink, the ink slightly blurred.

"On the seventh day of the third month, we received an order from the Shen family to make a wedding cheongsam for the young lady. We selected the finest Yun brocade, embroidered with a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix, and the buttons were to be of three styles: double rings, butterflies, and ruyi, arranged in the order of the character '囍' (double happiness). However, when we were halfway through making it, the Yun brocade was stolen. Fearing that the wedding would be delayed, we had to find another fabric to replace it. If any detectives come, they can check the storeroom in the backyard; perhaps there will be some clues."

"Is this a letter left by the boss?" Zuo Ting asked.

"The order of the character '喜' (happiness)?" Lin Xi stared at the words on the letter. "How can the three designs—double rings, butterfly, and ruyi—be arranged according to the character '喜'?"

Bai Yueming leaned closer, picked up the letter, and shone the flashlight on it: "There seem to be words on the back."

Sure enough, there were faint writings on the back of the letter, written in pencil with very light strokes: "The ring is above, the butterfly is in the middle, the meaning is below, the three are linked, and joy comes naturally."

"The ring is on top, the butterfly in the middle, and the ruyi (auspicious symbol) at the bottom!" Lin Bei immediately matched the numbers. "The double ring buckle is number one, on the far left; the butterfly buckle is number three, in the middle; and the ruyi buckle is number five, on the right! These three positions are arranged exactly as top, middle, and bottom!"

She walked quickly to the number three butterfly-buttoned cheongsam and gently unbuttoned it.

There was another "click," this time the sound came from the backyard, like the door lock being opened.