Chapter 28: Grand Opening
The first customer who just went in was an aunt with a face full of pockmarks, about fifty years old, with droopy corners of her eyes, looking somewhat pitiful. But the woman now standing in front of them had sharp and spirited eyebrows and eyes, bright and piercing gaze, and fair, lustrous skin, looking like a young woman in her early thirties.
“This is like a completely different person, right?” People nearby discussed animatedly.
“It shouldn’t be. She was wearing this exact outfit when she went in earlier, the clothes haven’t changed, the shoes haven’t changed, only her head has changed.”
“I think it’s just a trick of the eye. Little boss, why don’t you remove her cosmetics, and we’ll see if it’s the same person.”
The first customer had been smug about the commotion she caused, but upon hearing they wanted to remove her makeup, she immediately became unhappy and said noisily, “Old lady paid money, why should I have it removed?”
“It’s her, no mistake about this voice.” The woman standing in the second position said, “I just spoke with her earlier, this voice wouldn’t lie, would it?”
The onlookers were endlessly curious. They split into two camps: half thought it impossible, the other half said it was the same person.
Su Yaoguang smiled and stopped their discussion: “Whether it’s the same person or not, the second customer can go in and try. By the way, the second customer can say one sentence to the third customer. After I finish her makeup, she can give you the code phrase. If it matches, it’s the same person. If not, it’s fake. Second customer, please get ready, we’ll start right away.”
“Her method works.” The second customer deliberately spoke loudly, wanting everyone to hear her voice. She said a whisper to the third person, the fourth person, and the fifth person respectively. “Alright, if I say the same words to you later, then it’s me.”
The second customer was a young girl, with a birthmark on her face, her appearance could be called plain. However, her features were still quite refined.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the second customer came out. She was young, with much better overall conditions than the first customer, so the transformation effect was even more stunning.
“Oh my god, this one is even more impossible, right? Look at this skin, so delicate it could be broken by a puff, even a baby couldn’t compare.”
“Beautiful, too beautiful. If it’s real, two copper coins to become like this, I’d be willing to come every day to transform.”
The second customer had also been stunned when she saw herself in the mirror earlier. Hearing so many people praise her, she felt both shy and excited. Because of this congenital birthmark on her face, she had been despised since childhood. She was already at marriage proposal age, yet no one was willing to come courting, making her the laughingstock of the village. Now dressed up like this, she looked even better than the prettiest cousin in the village. See who dares say she doesn’t look good anymore. She was just held back by this birthmark.
“What is our code phrase?” The third customer asked.
The second customer smiled and walked over, leaning in to say a few words to them.
“It’s her!”
“Too amazing!”
The second customer walked back and said to Su Yaoguang: “I look great like this. But once the makeup is removed, I’ll go back to my original appearance. Little boss, is there a way to make me stay like this forever?”
“Your features are excellent, it’s just this birthmark is congenital and can’t be removed. However, you can buy a box of this cosmetics, apply it daily to suppress it, and your skin will become lustrous like white porcelain.”
“I’ll buy it, how much?”
“This box of cosmetics is three hundred copper coins.”
“I’ll buy it.” She worked as a helper in the city, earning five hundred wen a month in silver. Three hundred copper coins was quite expensive for her, but she usually saved frugally and had some money saved up, so she could afford these three hundred copper coins. “Also give me one box each of the eyebrow liner, lip balm, and rouge.”
“Young lady, you can try this small bottle version, these three items are each two hundred copper coins, plus the cosmetics that’s nine hundred copper coins.” Zhou Wangshu introduced from the side.
“Alright, I’ll buy them.”
Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu exchanged a glance. Su Yaoguang curved her lips in a light smile, her eyes bright like stars at night.
The customers who had been secretly observing became even more excited. With the examples of the first two dramatic transformations, those queued behind were eager to know what they could become. Earlier there were only eighteen people in line, now it had become a long dragon, visually about fifty people.
“Everyone, please stay calm.” Zhou Wangshu shouted loudly. “Although there are only twenty low-price slots, five copper coins isn’t expensive either. These are new products, we’re selling at a loss to drum up business, just to let everyone know about our cosmetics faster.”
Su Yaoguang, busy inside the black curtain, had her lips curve upward.
It seemed she had found herself a very good helper.
“Dear customers, do you like the clothes on me? These clothes were bought from the ready-to-wear clothing shop behind. The shop owner is very honest, everyone interested can go take a look.”
Anyway, idle is idle, help the ready-to-wear clothing shop behind drum up business, the shop owner sells clothes and can give them a dividend.
Chun E, who was watching from this side, saw the ‘little girl’ so sensible and had an even better impression of this pair of sisters. Sure enough, heaven doesn’t mistreat kind people. Fortunately, she hadn’t driven them away earlier, or else she would have pushed away this god of wealth.
The third, fourth, fifth… customers came out one after another.
Su Yaoguang successfully aroused everyone’s interest with a pair of clever hands. She handled the makeup, Zhou Wangshu sold goods outside, and in no time they had sold over a dozen bottles.
They had only made seventy bottles in total.
“Young lady, we don’t have hands as clever as yours. Even if we buy it home, we won’t have your skill!”
“Auntie, if you don’t usually wear makeup, focus on skincare. Makeup is just embellishment; the most important is to condition from within. Let me tell you, this face cream really works well. Wash your face clean daily and apply a thin layer like this, smell how fragrant it is? Most importantly, after a month, you’ll find your skin becoming finer and tenderer, and the wrinkles on your face fewer. Pair it with this mud mask, and the effect is even better.”
“How much is this?”
“The face cream is a bit pricier: smallest is five hundred copper coins, medium bottle one tael of silver, large bottle two taels of silver. Auntie, buy according to your needs. If you’re not sure, get a small one first to try. If you want value, medium or large are fine. The medium has more than two small ones. The large far exceeds four smallest bottles.”
“I’ll get a smallest one first, if it works, I’ll definitely buy a large one.”
“Alright, I’ll package it for you.” Su Yaoguang put the face cream in a wooden box and gave an extra net bag she made herself.
“You made this? Such clever hands.”
Su Yaoguang pointed to the clothes on Zhou Wangshu and shouted: “Dear customers, these clothes were bought from the ready-to-wear clothing shop inside, everyone can go take a look.”
