The Mute Wife Who Brings Prosperity-Chapter 781 - 743: Is Your Surname Lu? (Second Update)
The Prefecture was busy with business, and Wen Shun couldn’t stay for long. He came back for a New Year’s dinner and left again the next day.
Lu Yanqing went along with him.
When they arrived, a new batch of goods had just come into the shop. Two assistants were busy moving things inside. Seeing Wen Shun, they greeted him warmly with smiles, "The Young Master is here? Oh, where did you find such a good-looking assistant?"
Of course, Wen Shun couldn’t tell them he was picked up halfway, "He’s a relative of ours, just here to play for half a month."
As he spoke, he pulled Lu Yanqing up the steps, "You just stand here for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, and I’ll see how it works."
Lu Yanqing didn’t quite understand what he planned to do, but he didn’t say anything. He just stood quietly outside the shop, watching the two assistants move things in and out.
Soon enough, there were indeed women passing by who kept looking back at Lu Yanqing.
At this time, two young girls came in one after the other. The one in front had exquisite makeup, and everything she wore and carried was expensive. The girl behind her wore her hair in twin buns, and her clothes were much more modest compared to the girl in front, clearly a maid.
Seeing customers, Wen Shun put on a smile and skillfully took out a painted camphorwood rouge box to introduce, "This is our shop’s treasure, called ’Immortal Beauty.’ It comes directly from our workshop, eight taels and eight coins, an absolute bargain. Would you like to consider it?"
The well-dressed girl clearly wasn’t interested in the rouge, as Wen Shun noticed her glancing toward Lu Yanqing outside the door.
The maid, noticing her mistress’s untimely distraction, quickly stepped forward to divert Wen Shun’s attention, "I’ve never seen a man selling rouge before. You just look like a little kid. Can you even tell lip rouge from face rouge, or the steps of applying makeup that you dare to sell? And claiming it’s a shop treasure, also..."
The maid clearly looked down on Wen Shun, pointing at the camphorwood rouge box in his hand, "Do you know how this box of rouge is made? If you can answer, I’ll buy your rouge."
Wen Shun’s dark eyebrows rose slightly, "Are you serious?"
The maid snorted, "Of course, if you can convince me, I’ll buy five boxes at once!"
"Alright then!" Wen Shun smiled, "Listen carefully."
Seeing Wen Shun so calmly, the maid suddenly had a bad feeling, and heard the young master she called a "little kid" slowly say, "I don’t know how others’ lip rouge and face rouge differ, but our lip rouge can be used as face rouge. Just pick a little with a fine tail pin and spread it on the lips, like a frosty persimmon on a branch in winter, plump and moist. Pick a little more, dissolve it with a few drops of warm water in the palm, and pat it directly on the face, and it works just as well as the face rouge you buy separately.
As for the steps of women’s makeup, it’s simple: cleanse the face, apply lead powder, use face rouge, paint the eyebrows, and apply lip rouge. If you like, you can even paste flowers on your forehead and paint the corner of your eyes with slanted red."
The maid’s smile gradually crumbled, her eyes wide with shock as she looked at Wen Shun.
Wen Shun continued, "As for the origin of ’Immortal Beauty,’ I don’t mind telling you. We collect premium peony flowers in spring, add alum to pound into juice in a stone mortar, filter it through fine gauze, put the filtered flower juice into the rouge box, and store it in a basement. It can be used once it solidifies. It seems simple, but choosing the petals is very strict. Following high standards, less than half out of a hundred jin of petals can be used for rouge. A slightly unclean gauze during filtering renders the rouge inferior."
The finely dressed girl, who was initially absent-minded, was taken aback by Wen Shun’s words. She looked at him anew, opening her mouth after a long while.
Wen Shun spoke before her, "Are you testing my knowledge of rouge colors? Rest assured, if I can open this shop, I’m naturally knowledgeable in this area. The rouge color matches your complexion perfectly. If you don’t believe me, try it?"
He took a hand mirror from the cubby behind him and handed it to her.
The finely dressed girl hesitated as she accepted it. She opened the rouge box Wen Shun handed her, dabbed some on her lips and face, and checked herself in the mirror. Indeed, it was unique. After applying this lip and face rouge, she looked more spirited, and she was amazed, "It’s so magical!"
Wen Shun smiled, "It’s because you have a good eye, picking our shop’s treasure right away."
Eight taels and eight coins for a box of rouge certainly wasn’t cheap. A typical girl from an ordinary family could buy a box with just dozens of coins, and eight taels and eight coins could buy decades’ worth of rouge for them.
Hearing about the maid’s private decision to order five boxes, the finely dressed girl felt a slight pinch at her heart.
The maid awkwardly said, "I didn’t expect this shopkeeper to be so articulate, knowing more about women’s cosmetics than I do, so... miss, why don’t we just buy five boxes and gift them to cousin girls?"
The finely dressed girl wasn’t actually angry and eventually paid the money and left.
After respectfully seeing the customers off, Wen Shun weighed the dozens of taels of silver in his hand and smiled in satisfaction.
Indeed, having a live signboard makes a difference, with a prosperous first opening day of the new year.
He hid the silver, went outside, and saw Lu Yanqing still standing there. Patting him on the shoulder, he said, "Hey, Brother Nameless, you’ve made great contributions on your first day today. What do you want to eat later? It’s on me."
Lu Yanqing turned his head, gazing at Wen Shun for a moment, and asked, "Why don’t you take the imperial exams and do this kind of business?"
"What’s fun about being an official?" Wen Shun admitted frankly, "I’m not suited for it anyway; I just want to earn money. Have you heard the saying, ’With money, you can travel the world’? Once I save enough silver, I’ll visit the Capital under the Emperor’s feet to see what it’s like."
Lu Yanqing said, "With your current ability, you could go."
"I know, but I can’t go right now."
"Why?"
"You don’t know, I have a brother-in-law. I used to look down on him, but now he’s accomplished and holds a high office in the Capital. I’m just moderately successful now, and if I go like this, he’d definitely mock me. I need to earn more money so that when I expand to the Capital, I can meet him with confidence."
Lu Yanqing asked, "Were you always so ambitious as a child?"
Thinking of the foolish things he did as a child, Wen Shun felt a little guilty but remained unfazed, "Of course, I inherited my father’s skills. I intend to become a wealthy tycoon in the future."
...
In the following days, Wen Shun, following what was written in the contract, didn’t let Lu Yanqing do any work. Every day, he cleaned up and dressed him to look handsome, and standing him at the shop doorway quickly attracted a large number of female customers buying rouge.
Within a few short days, Wen Shun made a fortune, and the only things Lu Yanqing could do every day besides watching the sky were watching the customers come and go outside the shop.
He almost turned himself into a statue, remaining indifferent even to the sight of the most beautiful girls passing by.
Most of Wen Shun’s customers were women, and knowing the concept of "aesthetic fatigue," he invited Lu Yanqing inside on the tenth day, telling him he didn’t need to stand anymore.
Lu Yanqing’s face remained unchanged, cool and detached, and he didn’t speak warmly, "The contract isn’t finished." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
"Even if it’s not, I don’t want you to stand anymore." Wen Shun was really afraid that if he stood any longer, it might negatively impact his business, "We agreed before, you attract business for me, and I find someone to help you look for your father. But after all this time, I’ve found no clue. Can you not think of any identifying features, or better yet, a name? Then I’m sure I could find him."
Lu Yanqing shook his head, "No need."
Wen Shun, "Huh?"
"I’ve already found him." Once again, Lu Yanqing resumed his brief, selective speech.
"When did you find him? Why didn’t you tell me?" Wen Shun was utterly surprised. If he remembered correctly, in all the days they’d been in the Prefecture, Brother Nameless had been doing nothing but standing outside or remaining in his room. When did he have the time to look for his father? Could he possibly possess some form of bilocation?
It was no surprise that Wen Shun received no answer from Brother Nameless.
Half a month later, on the sixteenth day, Wen Shun kept his word and personally escorted Lu Yanqing back to the county town, heading straight to Father Wen’s shop.
Upon seeing this familiar young man again, Father Wen asked him, "Have you found your father?"
Lu Yanqing pressed his lips, stepped back two steps, and knelt down before Father Wen, kowtowing three times on the ground.
Wen Shun was utterly stunned, "What are you doing?"
Mrs. Zhou was equally puzzled and looked at Father Wen.
Before Father Wen could react, the young man had already risen, said, "Thank you for your hospitality these past two weeks, farewell,"
Then he took out thirty-five taels of silver, left five taels for expenses, placed the remaining thirty taels on a wooden stool, and strode away.
Father Wen was immediately filled with waves of astonishment, chasing after him and asking, "Child, is your surname Lu?"
Clearly, the rapidly retreating figure of the young man couldn’t possibly answer him again.
