It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

Do you have some misconceptions about fashion designers?

Li Cheng almost suspected that the young lady in front of him was there to smash up the shop, but since she was the first legitimate customer since the shop opened, he temporarily gave up the idea of ​​kicking her out.

He looked up and rephrased his original question: "Miss Sophia, I wanted to ask more about your preferences regarding fabrics, colors, and so on... As for your suggestion, it's a bit too abstract."

"Can't you do it?"

Sofia was a little disappointed, but not disappointed. After all, it was just an advertisement she had glimpsed by chance in the newspaper, and she only went to inquire about it because it happened to be nearby.

Is your life a diode, with only "can do" and "cannot do" options?

Li Cheng suppressed the urge to complain and comforted him, saying, "I will take what you just said as advice, but I can't guarantee that I will follow it. After all, as fashion designers, our professional eye often surpasses that of our customers. We can usually discover beauty that you yourselves may not even notice, and thus design better outfits."

To demonstrate the persuasiveness of his words and enhance his professionalism, Li Cheng had Sophia sit up straight and spent five minutes completing a simple sketch.

This drawing ability was acquired from that man after the resurgence of his powers. After all, pure text is difficult to convey some knowledge, and pictures are more intuitive and clear—for example, it is much easier to just give a sketch than to direct a craftsman to make revisions for half a day.

The man's painting skills were indeed exceptional. Although there was a lack of reference, Li Cheng believed he was at least a master. With some polishing and packaging, he might even leave his mark on art history.

"Wow."

Seeing her image appear so quickly and clearly on the paper, Sofia exclaimed in surprise, "Is that me? How fast! How did you finish a portrait so quickly?"

"This is an essential professional quality."

Li Cheng casually explained, then stood up and handed the slightly modified portrait of Sofia to her: "Look here, your eyes are rather large, and your eyebrows curve downwards into crescent shapes. In addition, your cheeks and chin are slightly protruding. Therefore, compared to your current luxurious attire dominated by dark gold and black, perhaps bright yellow or pink would suit you better. Also..."

After a seemingly professional rambling, coupled with the astonishment of the portrait sketch, Sofia was convinced.

"You are truly a professional fashion designer."

"Thank you for the compliment."

The imposter Li Cheng smiled and nodded, then sat back down at his desk: "Wait a moment, it will take a little longer than usual—this is to save time. I'll draw up my ideas in a diagram for your reference."

So this time he spent a considerable amount of time completing a portrait of Sofia that resembled the popular prints of London.

In the portrait, Sofia wears a pale pink dress. Instead of using expensive embellishments at the hem and neckline that would have been too pricey even for nobles, the dress is decorated with a lot of ribbons, lace, and pleats of various sizes. This greatly reduces the cost and makes the dress more subtle and understated, without obscuring the wearer's beauty.

It was novel, beautiful, and surprisingly, it accomplished most of her suggestions.

Sofia's eyes lit up as she exclaimed, "It's so beautiful! I can't believe it's me!"

How could you not be beautiful? Putting aside the fact that this is a painted dress, I've already secretly boosted your looks by a notch. The effect is almost identical to Photoshop. If you're still not beautiful, then you'll have to get plastic surgery.

Li Cheng inwardly grumbled, but outwardly remained modest: "I'm glad you're satisfied."

No further persuasion was needed; this simple portrait was enough to win over Sofia's heart. The next step was to measure her physical dimensions—height, leg length, arm length, etc.—which were glossed over.

"Approximately how long will it take for me to receive the finished garments?"

After doing all this, Sofia couldn't wait to wear it to the next salon party and asked anxiously, "I hope it's as soon as possible."

"Hmm, if it's urgent..." Li Cheng mentally calculated the time, "Next week, you can come and take a look next week."

"Okay, I'll come visit again next week."

After exchanging contact information, Sophia happily got up to leave. But just as she reached the exit, she suddenly remembered something important she had overlooked, and hurriedly turned back, only to find Li Cheng still in the same position, silently staring at her.

"Sorry, I forgot."

Sofia apologized profusely, then asked, "How much is the deposit?"

She hadn't brought much money with her when she went out to the salon party, and originally planned to just check things out first, without even considering paying upfront. However, the professionalism of the fashion designer in front of her surprised her and instantly impressed her...

"You didn't ask about the price or pay a deposit, I almost thought you were just here to ask questions."

Li Cheng chuckled, then recalled the 20 Su coins he had lost and casually increased the amount by an order of magnitude: "Twenty Egyptian dollars, for a deposit."

I can afford it.

Sofia quickly bowed her head to thank him, and then left awkwardly after leaving behind twenty écu coins.

After watching her walk away, Li Cheng first tidied up his canvas and paints, and then went to the dining table to continue his lunch, which was halfway through. He sighed that running a small business was really hard, as he couldn't even get a hot meal at midday.

He suddenly remembered that he had seen a very interesting explanation of freelancing before—what is freelancing? It's a profession where you can work overtime anytime, anywhere, whether it's during mealtime or sleeptime.

"Mr. Aurunki."

The attempt to find joy amidst hardship lasted only a short while before Mrs. Hudson, the landlady, came over again to collect the lunchboxes: "Have you finished your lunch? It's a hassle to wash the lunchboxes after they've dried out."

"Wait a moment, I was just discussing business."

Li Cheng told her to calm down—didn't you see that I'm only halfway through eating?

So Mrs. Hudson, who couldn't take back the lunchboxes, wandered around the living room, checking the cleanliness as she pleased—and then she noticed a portrait painting carelessly tossed on the small table in the living room, and immediately couldn't take her eyes off it.

Although the painting lacks a background and is quite simple overall, the girl in the painting has a lively and natural expression, a lifelike demeanor, and the proportions of her body parts are just right, undoubtedly the work of a master.

"what is this?"

Mrs. Hudson exclaimed in surprise, not because of the dress, but because of the painting itself.

The layman sees the spectacle, the expert sees the craft. Although Mrs. Hudson wasn't an expert, as an amateur enthusiast, she had actually put pen to paper and understood the skill required to create such a portrait.

Lines, colors, composition, human anatomy...

Could it be that... I, the tenant who just moved in, am actually a hidden master painter?

Just as Mrs. Hudson was lost in thought, Li Cheng, who had heard the question, stopped eating and asked with a surprised expression, "Why are you staring at the painting my friend gave me?"

"It was a gift from your friend."

Mrs. Hudson was taken aback, feeling a sense of wasted surprise.

“Yeah, these are his old practice pieces. If you like them, I’ll give them to you,” Li Cheng said casually.

"Is it alright?" Mrs. Hudson hesitated a little.

"Can it be used as payment for meals?" Li Cheng asked upon seeing this.

“A month… no, a week, this painting can cover a week’s food expenses,” Mrs. Hudson said through gritted teeth.

"A week? Okay, take it."

Li Cheng finished his cold lunch in a few bites, put the utensils back into the lunchbox, and then handed it to the landlady along with the painting, solemnly instructing her, "Also, remember to buy more meat."

Chapter 259 This Advantage Is On My

London.

In Anderson's medium-sized but extremely comfortable villa, a large number of servants were moving back and forth between the rooms, each with a busy expression.

Normally, servants would only be this busy when Earl Anderson was hosting a grand banquet, but today was different; they were preparing Anderson's luggage for his long journey.

This busy work continued for most of the day. Only after confirming for the third time that everything was prepared did the old butler come to the garden to report to Earl Anderson:

"Sir, preparations for the trip to Paris have been completed, and we are ready to depart at any time."

Upon hearing that preparations were complete, Anderson put down the "Wenya Mercury News" in his hand, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "Well done. Go back and rest up. We'll set off again tomorrow."

Looking at Anderson, who seemed full of confidence, the old butler hesitated several times before finally speaking:

"Sir, is this really necessary?"

“The people at United Textiles don’t want to wipe us out; they’re willing to accept us.”

The price war in London, which lasted for six months during the autumn and winter seasons, finally came to an end. This price war, which was initiated by Anderson, ended with Anderson giving a French military salute.

Generally speaking, price wars involve both sides losing money until the other party can no longer accept it and withdraws. Anderson is quite confident about this, after all, he has been in business for so many years and should have an inherent advantage in terms of channels and costs.

But what he never expected was that after United Textiles adopted the new type of loom, the cost was greatly reduced. Even at a price that would have been a loss for Anderson, they were still making a profit, which made him somewhat unbearable.

The other side is making money while you're losing money. No matter how much money you have, you can't afford to burn through it like that!

It wasn't that our army was weak; it was that the enemy was cheating... Faced with a complete bottomless pit, Anderson had no choice but to give up and bring the price back to its original level, which was tantamount to admitting defeat.

It's okay to fail; it's not a big deal.

As the saying goes, if you can't beat someone, join them. Look at how Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union lost a generation after World War II, while France and Italy, who chose to join, actually fared quite well.

Moreover, United Textiles was originally a large group of merchants who gathered together after following the rules, and they would not mind if Anderson joined them. On the contrary, they would welcome Anderson, who has channels and resources, to join them—as long as he is willing to abide by the rules set by United Textiles.

But Anderson refused. He turned down the offer from Union Textiles, chose to sell off some of his remaining assets, and packed his bags to head to Paris to look for other options.

The old butler knew Anderson knew all this, so he simply mentioned it, hoping Anderson would change his mind.

Although professional butlers usually don't interfere with their owners' decisions, this person had been with Anderson for over a decade and had developed a strong attachment to living in London, so the sudden decision to move to a foreign country was indeed a bit hard to accept.

"You're absolutely right."

Anderson shook his head slightly after hearing this, "But I really can't swallow this anger - although there are reports that that bastard named Li Cheng has gone missing, the thought that United Textiles is the company he founded makes it hard for me to accept the choice of surrendering."

“In comparison, I still have some connections in France, and I can start from scratch with my past connections.”

Anderson stopped halfway through his sentence. It turned out that in his field of vision, a girl was running towards the location, lifting the hem of her skirt, her long, smooth, bright red hair cascading down her back and bobbing up and down with her movements.

Louise.

Upon seeing his adorable daughter, Anderson smiled kindly: "Have you packed all your luggage?"

"Everything is packed."

After Louise obediently answered the question, she hesitated and said, "But, Daddy, do we really have to go to Paris? Louise doesn't speak any French."

"There's no need to worry about that."

Anderson chuckled and said, "I'll hire a professional French teacher to teach you. Louise is so smart, she'll learn it quickly."

"..."

Louise racked her brains for a moment before speaking again, "But Louise doesn't like French food."

Anderson shrugged casually: "I'll bring my family chef with me to Paris to ensure an authentic, original British flavor."

"But, but..."

All the excuses she made were disproven one by one. In desperation, Louise clutched the hem of her skirt and couldn't help but blurt out the truth: "But if we go to Paris, my brother won't be able to find Louise when he comes back!"

"..."

Anderson's forehead throbbed violently, and his hatred for Li Cheng increased by another 1.

If Li Cheng were still alive and kicking, he would definitely be furious this time, but now that bastard has been gone for more than half a year, there is really no need to lose his temper with his daughter over a dead person.

On the contrary, Anderson comforted Louise.

"Do not worry."