I bring bad luck to my husband, you bring bad luck to your wife.

Yang Tongchuan won't be back tonight.

Xiangxi and his family ate simply; they cooked a pot of soup and ate some flatbread with it.

Xiang Ge cooked egg noodles separately for Xue Bao, and Xue Bao ate quite a lot of them.

"Brother Xiang, if there's nothing else, go to sleep early. You don't need to guard the door anymore. When Master comes back, I'll go open the door." Xiangxi coaxed Xuebao to sleep and then sat in the room waiting for Yang Tongchuan.

Yang Tongchuan did come home late tonight, but fortunately he didn't drink much, so the alcohol wasn't strong.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Yang Tongchuan was somewhat surprised to see Xiangxi open the door.

"I've been waiting for you. Is it all sorted out?" The two walked back into the house side by side.

"Yes, it's all taken care of." Yang Tongchuan changed his clothes and didn't say much. It was all just polite talk from the dinner table, which Xiangxi would find annoying.

"Is Xuebao asleep?" Yang Tongchuan peeked at the child; he looked so cute while sleeping.

"He went to bed early. I took him to visit his parents today, but he got bored and went to bed early tonight."

Xiangxi helped Yang Tongchuan put his clothes aside, saying that Xiangge would wash them tomorrow.

"What's wrong? You look troubled." Xiangxi could feel that the frown lines on Yang Tongchuan's forehead were about to burst out.

"During dinner today, Brother Wang mentioned that our current County Magistrate Du didn't have a very good reputation when he served in other places."

"What's wrong with it? Is it greed?"

"He's not greedy, but he's a bit ambitious but incompetent, and stubborn." Yang Tongchuan is most afraid of this kind of leader, because if this kind of leader causes trouble, he will definitely be the one to take the blame.

"How did you know, Brother Wang? You're not lying to me, are you?"

"He traveled all over the country, so he naturally heard a lot of things."

Judging from what Brother Wang said, Du Boming was most likely driven to Changxing County.

"Are you worried that you won't be able to do this job?" Xiangxi poured Yang Tongchuan a glass of warm water to warm him up.

"It's not that bad. Let's keep doing this job and see what kind of person he really is. We've worked so hard to get to this position, we can't just quit like this."

Yang Tongchuan thought that he should be more careful in the future, so that he wouldn't be tricked without even realizing it.

-------------

Duan Ziqiu has been away from Shuanghua Pavilion for a few days, and Xiangxi will be spending more time at the shop than usual during these days.

He and Yue Wu are working together very well now, and the other two girls who do the work are also easy to get along with.

That day, a wealthy lady with floral appliqués came to the shop. She looked every bit the matriarch, and she was accompanied by four servants.

Red floral ornaments adorned with small pearls were pasted on both sides of the hair bun, clearly not the attire of a small place like Changxing County.

Yue Wu gave Xiang Xi a look, and Xiang happy stepped forward.

"This lady looks unfamiliar. Is this your first time visiting Shuanghua Pavilion?"

Yue Wu hurriedly brought out a grand chair for the distinguished guest to rest, and at the same time arranged for another young lady in the shop to brew flower tea.

"I just happened to be browsing around here. Do you have any colorful ropes (five-colored cords) for the Dragon Boat Festival?" The old lady had visited several shops today.

Small places are small places, and the things they make are also small-scale and unappealing.

"Yes, madam, please come upstairs with me to the second floor. There are quiet private rooms there, and I'll immediately arrange for someone to prepare the best of our shop's finest soy sauce and bring it up for you to choose from."

At this moment, Xiang Xi admired Duan Ziqiu's foresight.

Baisuo wasn't originally a regular item sold in his shop, but Duan Ziqiu still stocked it up, and that's why he took advantage of the business opportunity.

Xiangxi led the distinguished guest upstairs, only to discover that the lady had a scar on her temple, which had even become raised and thickened.

[It turns out that the floral appliqués were used to cover up scars.]

Xiangxi suddenly remembered that Yang Tongchuan had told him that the wife of County Magistrate Du had a scar on her face and did not want to see guests.

Could it be such a coincidence?

Regardless of whether she was Madam Du or not, Xiangxi treated this lady as Madam Du for the time being, since there were only a few wealthy families like this in Changxing County.

Soon, Yue Wu personally brought over several trays, each containing six strands of silk, emphasizing an exquisite presentation.

The white silk cords commonly worn by ordinary people are generally woven from silk threads of five colors: blue, yellow, red, white, and black. They are about the same length as a belt and can be wrapped around the arm.

(This is different from the colorful ropes we wear now.)

Duan Ziqiu's five-colored rope is even more exquisitely made, and it is also equipped with concentric knots and small beads, as well as flowing tassels.

In Changxing County, this is considered a unique high-end product.

Duan Ziqiu's idea was simple: it didn't matter how much this thing sold for, since the cost wasn't high—it was just the labor cost.

If they can't be sold, they'll end up being given away as freebies to big customers who buy a lot of goods; they can keep them as nice little things.

"Is that all?"

Upon hearing this, Xiangxi knew that the other party still looked down on these things.

"Madam, you may not know this, but our family mainly does custom-made products. These are just to show our customers the quality and color scheme of our products. Take this one, for example." Xiangxi took out the most expensive one and explained it to the old lady.

"If you feel the love knot here is too plain, we can change it to gold thread. The beads below can also be changed to pearls, or for the Dragon Boat Festival to ward off evil, you can change them to cinnabar beads." Xiangxi's current sales pitch was taught by Duan Ziqiu.

We can do anything as long as the customer can afford it.

"As for the price, if you have suitable accessories, we can design and manufacture it for you, charging only a labor fee. Or if you find that troublesome, we can purchase the accessories according to your needs, redesign and manufacture it, and calculate the cost. If you are satisfied after reviewing it, you can buy it; if not, your deposit will be fully refunded."

Xiangxi finished speaking in one breath, still a little nervous.

"Your little shop is quite interesting."

Finally, the lady ordered five white silk cords from the shop, two men's and three women's. Yue Wu came up and helped recalculate the price.

The other party didn't haggle and readily paid the deposit, but the time was set rather urgently, with the maid coming to pick it up the day after tomorrow.

"Make sure you make the things carefully, or I won't want them."

"Don't worry, if you're not satisfied with the product, we'll refund your deposit immediately."

"What's a deposit? I want the product, and I can't let it delay my use." The old lady snorted, too lazy to say another word.

Xiangxi thought to himself: There's still some time before the Dragon Boat Festival, so no matter how anxious I am, it won't delay my use.

Of course, I couldn't say that; I could only repeatedly assure them that the product would be made well.

After seeing off this distinguished guest, Xiangxi and Yuewu both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Manager Yue, why do you think this lady is in such a hurry to place the order?"

"I guess it's going to be given away. By the way, keep an eye on things at the shop this afternoon, I need to go find the workshop people to get these things ready." Yue Wu checked the order several times, and after confirming that there were no problems, he packed his things and prepared to leave.

"Okay, you go ahead. I'll close the shop when the drum sounds at dusk this afternoon." Xiangxi will be going home late today.