Chapter 186: Imperial Procurement Officer
Su Yaoguang was tinkering with new products in the backyard. Seeing Jiang Jing come in, she called out to her, “Come take a look at the quality of this new rouge I made.”
Jiang Jing was extremely anxious and pulled her toward the outside. “Several very troublesome people have come to the shop. Everyone is at a loss on how to deal with them. Go take a look quickly.”
Su Yaoguang was puzzled. “What people?”
“I can’t quite say. Anyway, it’s that young owner Cui Rong from Jin Le Fang who brought them. They look somewhat difficult to deal with.”
While the two were talking, Su Yaoguang had already come from the backyard to the shop in front. She had been making cosmetics, and the clothes she wore were convenient for movement, so they were somewhat casual.
As soon as she stepped into the shop hall, she saw that delicate and pretty young owner Cui Rong.
The reason he was described as delicate and pretty was that this young owner had a ruddy complexion like a young lady, with fine, tender, and fair skin, not to mention those watery eyes that seemed to speak. He loved to dress up, wearing luxurious clothes, like flawless white jade, pursuing perfection.
People like this disliked most those who were ‘sloppy’ like Su Yaoguang. Especially since Jin Le Fang had suffered a big loss at Su Yaoguang’s hands, he disliked her even more.
Su Yaoguang’s gaze stopped on several young men beside Cui Rong.
These young men were also quite good-looking, but somewhat effeminate.
“Distinguished guests have arrived, please forgive me for not welcoming you from afar.” Su Yaoguang smiled and came over to greet them. “Young Master Cui, are you introducing distinguished guests to my door?”
Cui Rong said with a face full of disgust, “The distinguished guests are here. Whether they can be satisfied depends on Boss Su’s skills.”
After jabbing at Su Yaoguang, Cui Rong said politely to the few people beside him, “Gentlemen Imperial Procurement Officers, Peach Blossom Workshop is the most famous rouge shop here. Boss Su is famous for her skilled hands. I believe she can satisfy the requirements of you benefactors.”
“Imperial Procurement Officers?” Su Yaoguang asked the people beside her. “What are Imperial Procurement Officers?”
The others shook their heads.
“Really a countryside village girl, not even knowing what Imperial Procurement Officers are.” Cui Rong said with a face full of disgust. “Imperial Procurement Officers are lords who go out of the Imperial Palace to find items for the benefactors inside. Sometimes the benefactors get tired of the things in the palace and want some rare items from outside. The Imperial Procurement Officers want to procure a batch of cosmetics for the benefactors in the palace, something special. Since Peach Blossom Workshop satisfies the local people so much, I brought the Imperial Procurement Officers to your shop. Boss Su, such a good opportunity—let’s see how you grasp it.”
“So that’s how it is.” Su Yaoguang understood upon hearing it was for use in the Imperial Palace, and looking at these people again made it clear.
No wonder she felt these people were effeminate—they were all eunuchs from the palace.
One of the Imperial Procurement Officers pinched his orchid fingers and said, “Since it’s the best cosmetics locally, bring out your best items here for us to take a look.”
Zhang Zhaodi and Zhang Yingdi brought out the best-selling cosmetics sets.
The several Imperial Procurement Officers inspected the goods on the spot.
“A small place is just a small place. This common cosmetics is also worth such praise? What a waste of our time.” The leader, Wang Gui, disdainfully put down the item in his hand.
Zhang Zhaodi was unconvinced but, seeing they were from the palace, didn’t dare speak out of turn.
Su Yaoguang smiled and said, “We are just running a small business, of course we can’t compare to the cosmetics blended by master craftsmen in the capital city. However, we’ve developed several nice spices. You benefactors can take them to scent your clothes—consider it for a bit of elegant fun.”
As Su Yaoguang spoke, she gave a look to Jia Chunni.
Jia Chunni immediately brought out the best-selling incense.
Su Yaoguang then had Zhang Zhaodi bring over several skincare sets and cosmetics, directly giving them to the Imperial Procurement Officers under the pretext of letting them take them back to consider slowly.
After sending off those Imperial Procurement Officers, Zhang Zhaodi said heartbrokenly, “They’re not buying anything, and we gave them so many good things for nothing.”
“These are people running errands for the palace. Do you think after they take a liking to something, they’ll pay for it?” Su Yaoguang said. “It’s good that they look down on it like now! We just want to do a small business to make a living. We don’t want any involvement with those big figures. We only lost a bit of stock earlier—being able to get out of trouble with some money loss is good.”
“I thought that young owner from Jin Le Fang had a change of heart and was really introducing business to us. Turns out he’s just bringing trouble to our door?”
“If we catch the eye of these palace people, they’ll probably come here often to take things for free later. Young Master Cui certainly wouldn’t be so kind-hearted. He’s just trying to divert the trouble.”
“Then why did you give them so many cosmetics just now?” Zhang Zhaodi said. “Since you knew they wouldn’t pay even if they liked it, you should have given them some bad stuff.”
“What we gave them were all best-sellers, and best-sellers mean the common people like them. Those from the palace always think highly of themselves—how could they possibly be willing to use the same products as ordinary people? I was just going through the motions to shut their mouths and avoid trouble from them. Alright, everyone continue with your own tasks. Don’t get flustered.”
After those Imperial Procurement Officers left, Su Yaoguang went back to developing new products.
Zhang Zhaodi was chatting happily with customers.
“Shop owner, you know about the thing where the Boss Zhong’s wife across the street drove away her daughter and son-in-law, right?” The woman beside her said while picking products.
“Of course I know. We’re right across from them, so we know everything that happens over there. Sister Wang, why did you suddenly bring up the matter across the street?”
“I passed by the ruined temple yesterday and saw that young couple still sleeping on the floor there! I heard that in the middle of the night, several beggars came in and scared that young wife into crying.”
“Tsk tsk, really pitiful. It’s been several days since they were driven out—why are they still living in the ruined temple? They’re not young anymore, and they have hands and feet. Don’t they know to find work?”
“Everyone calls him the Shit Xiucai scholar! Before, people still asked him to paint murals and write articles, but now he doesn’t even have chances to copy books. That Jiang Yihuan does pretty good embroidery work. I heard she’s already found work doing embroidery. I think it won’t be long before their life gets much better.”
Su Yaoguang was greeting customers nearby. Hearing Granny Wang’s words to Zhang Zhaodi, she felt a bit emotional for a moment.
In her previous life, she found work at a rouge shop to earn money to support him and fund his studies. She and her mother toiled day and night, paying without complaint or regret, only to end up with that result. Back then, Jiang Yihuan had secret trysts with him. While she labored hard, the two were lovey-dovey. Now Jiang Yihuan was living the life of earning money to support Xiao Yanci. Wasn’t this karmic cycle?
She really wanted to know if the two, who worried daily about making ends meet, could still continue as devoted lovers inseparable in life and death. If so, she was willing to admit she was the loser.
