Chapter 86: Infiltrating the Society of Socialites (Part 3)
When Su Luo returned home, the first thing she did was to take out the contract for the second setter and put it in her dressing box to ensure that she could find it at any time. Then she asked Bao Zixing to hire two maids to serve the Su family. Bao Zixing said that it was difficult to hire maids these days, so could he buy two? Su Luo felt that it was stupid to advocate equality for all in this era, so she nodded and agreed to be a human trafficker without much struggle .
This time, Su did not object. She accepted the two maids very happily and even asked if two were enough and whether she wanted to find two more.
Su Luo was puzzled. Before, Su had always been against finding a maid and insisted on the proletarian principle of working hard to feed oneself. Why did her temperament change so drastically today?
Su Luo was thinking about asking, but she was asked by the decorator to study the house renovation plan. She forgot about it when she came back. It was after dinner that Bao Zixing told her that Su saw Su Luo being excluded among the rich ladies today and no one paid attention to her. She thought that it might be because Su Luo did not have a maid by his side and was looked down upon.
Hmm... Su Luo scratched her head. It was not that there were no maids, but that she was treated as a maid. However, it seemed embarrassing to say this out loud.
It all came down to clothes. Su Luo actually thought that the clothes she wore today were nice. She just didn't know that the rich people now let their maids wear silk. Who said that the working people were exploited in the evil old society? If she could wear silk clothes and eat enough food every day, she would rather be exploited every day.
After searching for a long time in the house, Su Luo still couldn't find a piece of clothing that looked like a lady's, so she made an appointment with Su to go shopping and make two sets of presentable clothes.
The most famous cloth shop in Nanjing is called Xiangyunfang. From the cloth to the craftsmanship, it is the best in Nanjing, and the price is naturally not cheap. Su Luo used to pass by the door of Xiangyuntang and he always drooled. Today, he stepped into the door and became a god for once, and it felt pretty good.
Xiangyuntang 's storefront is not big, but it is exquisite in every aspect. Some small details in the decoration can make people linger again and again. Su Luo entered the store as if she was here to visit the decoration. She specifically glanced at the window frame at the door to see if she could borrow some ideas and bring them back to make Shiseido more attractive. After looking around and memorizing some small details, Su Luo focused on the cloth. However, Su was just looking at it with an expression of extreme love in her eyes, but she didn't even touch it. Su Luo walked to her side with a smile, "Mom, just pick the good ones you see. I have the money."
Seeing that the shop assistants were all watching, Su didn't say much, just smiled and nodded, and casually pulled a sample to compare it with her body. Su Luo went over to touch the material, which felt very good, but the color was a bit dark. Su was not very old, but wearing this color made her look old.
Su Luo asked the clerk to take out a few of the best-selling fabrics. Su Shi asked the price of each one in detail. The cheapest cotton cloth cost five taels of silver per piece. Su Luo was secretly shocked to buy thirty meters of cloth for several thousand RMB, not to mention Su Shi, who was always thrifty. No matter which one the clerk introduced, he shook his head and said he was not satisfied. He either said that the printing and dyeing was off-color or that the pattern was not good. He also found faults with the feel and weaving. Because the Su family was also in the fabric business, Su Shi knew more or less, and he was very knowledgeable when he found faults. Su Luo knew that Su Shi was afraid of spending money, but the clerk thought he had met an expert, and whispered The shopkeeper came to entertain him personally, and asked the clerk to go to the warehouse to get some new goods. His attitude was very cautious, and it seemed that he regarded the two as challengers.
However, they are strong and are not afraid of challengers. After a while, the waiter took out three pieces of cloth, one each of red, brown and green.
"These three pieces were just delivered this morning, and haven't been put on the shelves yet. I see that this lady is a connoisseur of fine goods, so I took them out specially for you to appreciate." The shopkeeper unfolded the bright red cloth, and even Su Luo, an amateur, could see that it was indeed a top-quality cloth. "Such quality cannot be made by other companies. Only one piece of each will be made. Madam, please give me some suggestions, so that I can give feedback to the weaving factory to further improve the quality."
Su Shi was in a dilemma, holding the cloth in a dilemma without saying anything. Su Luo compared the colors of the three horses seriously, pointed at the green one and said, "Mom, this one looks good."
"Young lady, you have good taste." The shopkeeper said some words that sounded like flattery, and then said seriously: "This one is the best quality among the three. The price is one hundred and fifty taels of silver, and it is only sold in a piece." After that, he introduced to Su Luo the workmanship and dyeing of the material. It was said that it was embroidered with hidden patterns that could only be seen in the sun.
Su Luo said that the horse was good-looking simply because he thought the color suited the Su family. It was neither old-fashioned nor out of place. Of course, his heart trembled when he heard the price. A famous store is a famous store, and a big city is a big city. If such a price was marked in Zhuxian Town, it might make people think they were crazy, and the person who bought it would be even crazier. You have to know that in this era, two taels of silver were enough for an exploited class to live for a year, and one hundred and fifty taels were enough for a person to live for seventy-five years, and it might even include funeral expenses.
Su Luo didn't know whether he should lament that labor was too cheap or that rich people were too good at spending money.
"Miss, do you want this material?" the shopkeeper asked with a smile.
Su Luo ignored Su's hand that kept pulling at her sleeve and asked, "Can it be cheaper?"
"Haha..." The shopkeeper laughed modestly and said that the customers who come here are all politicians and business celebrities in Nanjing. If you hadn't been lucky enough to come, this material would never be taken outside for people to see. It would be sent directly to various governments.
Su was almost shocked by the price, but Su Luo gritted her teeth. She could agree to a banquet with a price of 200 taels per table, so why couldn't she buy 150 taels of fabric? It was a bit expensive, but Su Luo was willing to spend the money to understand that her mother had suffered for so many years without a decent piece of clothing.
"Buy it!" Su Luo broke free of Su's hand that was holding her, "I'll pick another one and send it home with me later."
"Very good." The shopkeeper's eyes smiled into two crescent-shaped lines. "To be honest, young lady, the last time I went to make clothes for the prefect's wife, she was very satisfied with the pattern of this material. However, the fabric was still being made at that time, and the finished product only arrived today."
"Is it true?" Su Luo muttered as he touched the material again. "Since this is the material the wife of the prefect likes, how can you explain to her if you give it to me? I think you said this just to raise the price."
"How could that be?" The shopkeeper picked up the brown material. "If the young lady wants this one, our shop can't sell it. The wife of the prefect has always liked calm, warm colors."
Su Luo looked at the brown material again and asked, "How old is the prefect's wife?"
"About fifty."
"That's not too old..."
Su Luo was mumbling when several women in gorgeous clothes and shoes came in. One of them was about 24 or 25 years old, with a pretty face and a small black mole on her lips, which made people take a second look. After a closer look, you will find that although this woman's appearance is not stunning, she is very attractive and should be the kind of beauty that you will notice at second glance. Moreover, she has a good temperament and a calm expression, which makes her look very elegant.
"Miss Jimei." The waiter from Xiangyuntang hurriedly stepped forward to greet her. The shopkeeper also signaled to Su Luo, put down the cloth in his hand and went forward to greet her.
Su Luo's heart moved, and he was considering whether to approach and strike up a conversation, but he heard someone ask, "Boss, has the fabric that Miss Ji Mei ordered arrived?"
The person who spoke was not the maid beside Miss Ji Mei, but another noble lady, about 30 years old, also very impressive. She was very different from the socialite from the business community that Su Luo had seen in front of the Qin Mansion. She was probably also a family member of an official.
The shopkeeper quickly took the brown fabric that Su Luo had just looked at. The lady saw Su Luo and her daughter in front of the counter, and without even bothering to look at the fabric, she started to bully the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, the fabrics we are wearing are all from your shop, and Miss Ji Mei has been very caring towards Xiangyun Hall. You knew that this fabric was to be given to the wife of the prefect, but you gave us the leftovers from others?"
The shopkeeper hurriedly explained that Su Luo had ordered the green one, and the brown one was placed there just by the clerk when he picked up the goods.
Before the noble lady could speak, Miss Ji Mei beside her said calmly, "It's okay, Madam Sun, don't take it too seriously. We still have to hurry to have lunch with my aunt, so don't waste time." After that, she told the shopkeeper, "This horse has a nice color, pack it up and send it to my aunt."
The shopkeeper quickly agreed and asked his clerk to pack the cloth quickly.
Miss Ji Mei turned around and was about to leave. Before leaving, she glanced at Su Luo. Su Luo quickly retracted her gaze, thinking that she had attracted attention by staring too blatantly. Unexpectedly, Miss Ji Mei did not look at her. Instead, she looked at the two remaining pieces of cloth in front of her and said, "The blue one is not bad."
Su Luo almost had the urge to give her the blue cloth, but then he changed his mind and nodded to Miss Ji Mei, then turned back and told the shopkeeper, "Please pack this piece of cloth for me as well."
The shopkeeper wanted to ask Su Luo if he wanted to continue looking, but Su Luo shook his head and said, "If it's convenient, please deliver the fabric to my house." Then he gave the address of his mansion.
Su Luo said this deliberately just to see Miss Ji Mei's reaction. Sure enough, when Miss Ji Mei heard that Su Luo wanted to pack the clothing materials, she had already walked towards the door. When she heard the address, she paused, turned back to look at Su Luo again, and then left.
Su Luo was secretly proud of herself. Miss Ji Mei had such a close relationship with the prefect's family. Now she had this reaction. She must have known that the prefect had "given" this house to the general of Xuanfu. Su Luo didn't want to use Li Rusong's name to cause trouble again. She just wanted to attract Miss Ji Mei's attention. It seemed that she succeeded.
After Miss Ji Mei left, Su Luo settled the bill and wanted to go out. She saw that the shop assistant was wrapping two pieces of cloth in the same packaging, so she pulled Su back and stayed in the shop for a while before leaving with the delivery assistant.
Although Su Luo placed the order first, the cloth destined for the prefect's wife must be delivered first, so the brown cloth was on top and the green cloth was on the bottom, placed on a small wheelbarrow pushed by the clerk.
After leaving Xiangyun Hall, Su Luo followed the waiter for a few steps, and suddenly called the waiter and said, "Excuse me, my mother suddenly feels dizzy, can you help me get a sedan chair?"
The guy hesitated for a moment and wanted to push the wheelbarrow away. Su Luo smiled and said, "Are you still afraid that I will steal the cloth? Put it down and I will help you watch it."
The guy felt embarrassed, so he pushed the wheelbarrow to the side of the street, parked it, and ran to find a sedan chair.
Su was just wondering why Su Luo said that, when she saw Su Luo standing on tiptoe to look the direction where the man disappeared, then turned back and changed the order of the two pieces of cloth on the cart.
"Luo'er..."
Su Luo put his index finger in front of his lips and made a "hush" sound, then stood back beside Su.
After a while, the clerk came back with a sedan chair. Su Luo helped Su get on the sedan chair, thanked the clerk, and said, "We already have a sedan chair, so you don't need to help us. Put our cloth on the sedan chair."
The man agreed immediately and gave Su Luo the lower piece of cloth.
As soon as the waiter left, Su Luo asked Su to get off the sedan chair and go home first, and she asked the sedan bearers to carry the cloth straight to the prefect's residence. The two sedan bearers naturally ran very fast with the empty sedan chair, and Su Luo trotted beside the sedan chair, urging them to go faster.
The prefect's residence was not as glamorous and luxurious as imagined, and even its location was on the edge of the inconspicuous wealthy area. Su Luo's house was also on the edge, but on the other side, where the wealthy area and the commercial street meet, so it was very lively, but not on this side. It was also true that if people who worked for the government were too ostentatious, it would be disadvantageous for promotion. After all, the prefect was not a big official, nor a small one, and there was still a lot of room for promotion.
After knocking on the door, Su Luo said that he was a clerk from Xiangyuntang and came to deliver cloth to the lady. He also wanted to meet the lady and ask her what style of clothes she wanted to make.
The gatekeeper informed the housekeeper, who in turn informed the prefect's wife. After a while, Su Luo was asked to take the cloth to the back hall.
Su Luo followed the housekeeper holding the cloth, the corners of her mouth raised uncontrollably, and she made a small "V" in her heart. However, she could not relax yet. She had to make a quick decision and leave here before Miss Ji Mei arrived.
