Chapter 160 Flowers Bloom in Spring
Time flies. Another month has passed since Su Luo received the gift.
Spring has come, and the clothing store is the first to open after the New Year. The scale of this opening ceremony is much smaller than that of Luoyang, and except for the first unveiling ceremony which is held in public, the subsequent clothing show and cocktail reception are all held independently in the backyard of the clothing store, and no other guests are allowed to join, which completely raises the high-end image of the clothing store. In other words, guests without invitations can only move around in the sales area after the unveiling. And the number of invited guests is only 60. For this list, Su Luo can be said to have taken great pains.
The guests that must be invited are of course Emperor Wanli and his second aunt, the princess. The remaining fifty-eight invitations are held by Su Luo and Su Jiang, half each. Su Luo is responsible for selecting officials in the court, while Su Jiang is responsible for selecting wealthy merchants in Beijing. With Emperor Wanli in charge, only Su Luo and the others are not invited, but the wealthy merchants are not invited. Note that only wealthy merchants are mentioned here. No matter how rich those big merchants are, they have to rely on the "power" of officials, so the merchant group is not the problem, but the officials in the court are the problem.
Officials of the Ming Dynasty were notoriously difficult to serve. Not to mention an invitation from Su Luo, they would dare to point at the emperor and scold him in the Golden Palace. It was common for them to bang their heads against the wall and protest to death if scolding was not enough. Therefore, Su Luo's list would definitely be more troublesome.
Su Luo sat in the pavilion in the garden, worrying about the list on the stone table, biting the pen in her mouth... Alas, it would be great if Li Rusong was here to help her with advice.
Su Luo thought of him, and her heart suddenly became heavy. She threw down her pen, sat on the fence of the pavilion, squinted her eyes and looked at the sky. What happened to those two people? They said they would meet in the spring, but now spring is almost over.
Never mind! Su Luo stood up, grabbed the list on the table, crumpled it up, and went into the palace with the invitation.
Recently, she and Concubine Zheng have been on very good terms. In addition to letting Concubine Zheng serve as the spokesperson for the clothing store in Beijing, she also delivered all the beauty products delivered from Nanjing. Facts have proved that sometimes flattering one person is more effective than flattering a group of people. Since she got close to Concubine Zheng, she didn't even have to flatter Wanli. Naturally, Concubine Zheng whispered in Wanli's ear. According to Concubine Zheng, as long as Su Luo worked harder, she could persuade Wanli to recognize Su Luo as a godparent, which would be much more profitable than being a godparent of a princess.
Of course, whether the marriage can be successful depends on Su Luo's performance. The key is that Su Luo's money has been used up. If the clothing store is not open, where can she get the money to "perform"? So she has to get the list ready as soon as possible and strive to create momentum for success. As for the arduous task of selecting people... She thinks Concubine Zheng is capable of it.
As the most favored concubine in Wanli's harem, Concubine Zheng knew which officials were corrupt, which were honest, which were exploitative, and which were upright. And this was not without benefits. Su Luo left the invitations with Concubine Zheng, who distributed them. Any interested official who wanted to go would naturally receive benefits from Concubine Zheng. Su Luo intended to let Concubine Zheng make a small fortune.
Sure enough, Concubine Zheng agreed immediately, thinking it was a profitable business with no investment.
Su Luo's side was settled, and Su Jiang's side was almost done. Twenty of the twenty-nine invitations had been sent out, and the remaining nine were kept in hand. It was said that they would be auctioned publicly three days before the opening.
Who doesn't know that all the people present that day were royal relatives and nobles? They were all people that merchants wanted to make friends with but couldn't find a way in. For the sake of an opportunity, these nine invitations should have no problem selling.
Although Su Luo had used this trick before, auctioning off the invitations to Qin Huai's blind date, this time it was obviously different from that time. Apart from other things, Su Luo knew that she could not have selected twenty outstanding merchants from the entire capital city in such a short time who would be beneficial to the future development of the clothing store. This one choice alone showed Su Jiang's ability to judge people. She was really born to be a business person.
Su Jiang smiled softly after hearing Su Luo's praise, "You are not good at dealing with businessmen, just like I am not good at dealing with officials. If I were to enter the palace to deal with Concubine Zheng, I'm afraid it would only make a mess. It is right to employ people according to their talents."
Su Luo had never known what humility was. After thinking about it, he felt that this was indeed the truth and readily agreed with this statement.
In fact, it is needless to say that with the example of the Luoyang Garment Store, the branch store in Beijing will not be too bad. Not only that, from the perspective of the guest lineup and purchasing power, it is even higher-end than Luoyang. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to lose money.
Su Luo suddenly felt that there was no point in doing business this way. Customers did not come for the quality of the products, but just to curry favor with the current emperor. Even if Su Luo got a bunch of Renzhonghuang to sell, it was estimated that no one would be willing to buy it.
It turns out that the right way is to be the No. 1 in the hearts of the people. Su Luo has thought about it, but now is not the right time, and she is not strong enough.
"Today's auction is spectacular, isn't it?" Su Luo asked Su Jiang with a smile while biting a piece of cake. Su Luo had no reason to be absent from such a lively occasion, but she was called into the palace by Concubine Zheng to discuss the last few invitations and missed it.
"It's like choosing an oiran." After a few months of getting used to each other, Su Jiang had completely relaxed in front of Su Luo. She sat next to Su Luo and casually took a piece of cake. But even though they were both eating, Su Luo's eating style was a little more generous.
"So powerful?" Su Luo pounded his chest and stamped his feet. "I should gone to the palace at all. Do you know why Concubine Zheng asked me to go?"
Su Jiang shrugged, and Su Luo said angrily: "She may be too rich to handle, and she feels a little embarrassed, so she asked me to share some of the benefits with her today."
Su Jiang laughed, "You're complaining even though you have money to earn."
Su Luo smiled awkwardly, then asked with great interest: "Let me guess what the highest price for today's post was."
Su Jiang pursed her lips and smiled. Although there was doubt in her eyes, she let Su Luo guess, "You will never guess it."
Su Luo was not convinced. The starting price of the post was five thousand taels of silver. She estimated that the lowest price would be at least twenty or thirty thousand. The highest price... "Fifty thousand?"
Su Jiang shook his head.
"Eighty thousand?"
Su Jiang still shook his head.
Su Luo raised his eyebrows, "Could it be one hundred thousand?"
Su Jiang still shook his head.
Su Luo was going crazy. Would anyone pay such a high price just for an admission ticket? With this amount of money piled up at the doorstep of any official, he could go online whenever he wanted and chat privately whenever he wanted. Why would he have to go through so much trouble buy a pass?
"Who on earth has such a big head?"
"I want to ask you something else."
Su Luo was stunned, "What do you mean?"
Su Jiang smiled gently, "The auctions for the first eight lots went very smoothly, with the highest price being 68,000 taels. When it came to the last lot, the bids were obviously much more restrained. This is because they all knew that the last lot would definitely get the highest price, so they were not in a hurry to bid."
Su Luo was anxious, "Let's skip these and get to the point."
"The point is... the person who took the last photo was not the boss, but more like a servant. Once he opened his mouth, no one dared to raise the price."
Su Luo was so anxious that she grabbed her hair and asked, "How much is it?"
“It doesn’t matter how much.”
"You...you want to piss me off to death!" Su Luo glared at Su Jiang with a pouty mouth.
Su Jiang seemed very happy and smiled, "I said it's not important because he didn't give any money at all, so the number is of course not important."
"Ah?" Su Luo was stunned for a long time, "What's going on?"
"That man said that his master's payment had already been delivered to you."
"Ah?" Su Luo frowned and thought for a long time, "No, I didn't take any money. Were you cheated?"
Su Jiang shrugged, "It doesn't seem like what he said was false. Think about it again. He said it was delivered before the Chinese New Year, and it was snowing lightly that day."
"Before the New Year... Xiaoxue?" Su Luo was stunned for a while, and suddenly screamed, "Is it a bottle?"
Su Jiang shook his head and said, "I don't know about that. He just said that you must know it."
Su Luo suddenly jumped up, his face filled with irrepressible joy, "I know, I know. He said he would come back in the spring, and I knew he wouldn't lie to me!"
Su Jiang asked curiously: "Who is it?"
Su Luo smiled mysteriously, "You'll know on that day." After that, she turned around happily and floated out the door briskly, humming a song. She was in a very good mood.
Su Jiang sat alone in the room for a long time, and suddenly smiled bitterly, "Could it be... him?"
Su Jiang was obviously not in high spirits these past two days, and was absent-minded in everything she did. In contrast, Su Luo was full of energy and went out every day until the morning of the opening day, when she came to Su Jiang with a set of men's clothing. The workmanship was very delicate, and the blue and white colors were very refreshing.
"How is it? Does it look good?"
Su Jiang was stunned, "You did it?"
Su Luo laughed, "How is that possible? I asked the master in the shop to rush to make it. When he comes back, I will give him a new set of clothes to celebrate his new life. What do you think?"
Su Jiang felt even more disappointed after hearing this, but she still smiled and walked forward to twist the fabric of the clothes, "Not bad, the style is new, but it would be better if it was changed to black."
Su Luo frowned and looked at the clothes for a long time. "Black? Does it look good?"
Su Jiang carefully picked out a small piece of thread from the corner of his clothes and said, "I think he would like black."
Just as they were talking about this, Su came over and told the two of them that it was time to go to the shop. Su Luo responded and walked out while shaking the clothes in her hands, shaking her head, "I think he would like blue... Hmm? Why don't you leave?"
Su Jiang quickly put away the bitterness in her heart and followed him, "He will definitely like the one you like."
Su Luo was in a daze for a moment, then he frowned and sighed, "It's really hard. It's getting harder and harder to choose."
Su Jiang didn't understand these words, and now she didn't want to understand them. She followed Su Luo and the others all the way to the garment shop, and then she focused on greeting customers in order to have peace of mind.
Su Luo had been waiting for people at the door until Wanli came in disguise. Su Luo welcomed him into the lobby and then went out to wait for people.
Su Luo was getting so anxious waiting, but the person she was waiting for never showed up. When the auspicious time came, after the unveiling ceremony of Wanli, everyone surrounded Wanli and went to the backyard. Of course, everyone showed their passes. There were sixty invitations, but only fifty-nine were received.
This press conference was still held in the evening, and the night would cover up the flaws and leave a better impression. Listening to the beautiful music coming from the backyard, Su Luo knew that the press conference had already begun, but that person had not appeared.
Did I guess wrong? Or did he break his promise? Or...his problem has not been solved at all, so why can't he show up in public?
Su Luo couldn't tell what she was feeling. Disappointed? Or worried?
Although I am worried, I am more disappointed.
Su Luo stretched her legs. They were a little numb from standing. It was time for her to go in, because she had to take care of Concubine Zheng's "surprise" appearance tonight.
Su Luo turned around and looked back as she entered the door, trying to find the familiar face among the crowd outside the clothing store , but she was always disappointed. She sighed heavily, which was a sign of frustration and also a signal to cheer herself up. She shook her head and was about to take a step when there was a commotion outside the crowd.
In fact, there are no ordinary people present today. In view of the special nature of the invited guests, this most prosperous street in the capital has long been under martial law. Only officials or merchants who have been checked and confirmed to be fine can come in to congratulate the opening of the new store.
Because of the commotion, Su Luo immediately stopped and looked back on tiptoe. A sedan chair separated the crowd and stopped in front of the clothing store. Su Luo's heart was pounding, and he looked at the sedan chair in front of him and didn't dare to move, as if he was afraid to scare the person in the sedan chair.
I don’t know how long it took, maybe just a moment, a warm and deep voice came from the sedan, "Boss Su, long time no see."
Su Luo had imagined countless times the scenario of meeting again, all of which were beautiful and romantic. She had never thought that she would rush over like a madman, pull open the curtain of the sedan chair, and Qin Huai smiled at her with his lips pursed, "Do you miss me?"
Su Luo stood in front of the sedan chair, holding the curtain, with this sentence in her mind. It was really Qin Huai, with no missing hands or legs, and he appeared in front of her unharmed, asking her "Do you miss me?"
Su Luo nodded, her eyes gradually became wet, but she was smiling, crying and laughing at the same time, she didn't know how to react.
Qin Huai bowed and stepped out of the sedan chair. He leaned down slightly and gently hugged Su Luo, "I... missed you so much."
