Chapter 181:
The next day, Yumian Tower’s private room.
Ye Beiyao stared at the more than ten uniformly sized strange Bamboo Tubes on the table…
They were polished quite exquisitely, and for a moment he was a bit puzzled.
“This is… a token sent to this Young Master???”
“Token my foot! Master Ye, please get serious! OK?”
Ye Beiyao sat up straight, “Alright!”
“It’s not impossible to give it to you!”
The Fat Woman narrowed her bright eyes, tapping the table with her finger while teasing.
“First tell me what this is?”
“Just open it and see for yourself.”
Ye Beiyao shook his head, gently pulled off the bamboo lid, and inside the Bamboo Tube was a red and glossy object, somewhat like a dyed pen, “Is this dye?”
“Hehe, guess again?”
He picked it up and sniffed it; it had a faint Floral Fragrance.
“Aromatherapy?”
Luo Zhi’er shook her head.
“Could it be Rouge?”
“OK, counts as you guessing half right.”
What is OK?
“Alright, stop beating around the bush, what exactly is it? How is this Young Master supposed to pay for it?”
Ye Beiyao leaned back, looking at her lazily.
Luo Zhi’er immediately widened her eyes, annoyed, and gave him a glare: “What do you mean pay for it? I’m pulling you in to make big money!!!”
“You should be secretly delighted!”
“Hehe, fine, you explain first.”
Luo Zhi’er cleared her throat, “This is called Lipstick, a kind of Cosmetics used to color women’s lips!”
Cosmetics???
“Owner, open the other Bamboo Tubes and see; each has a different color.”
Ye Beiyao followed her words, opened them one by one to look, and they were indeed different, with colors from light to dark, mainly red.
“Owner, please draw a line on the back of your hand with this Lipstick.”
Ye Beiyao did as told.
“Draw with the others too.”
Ye Beiyao drew with each in turn, and now the back of his hand was covered in a rich array of red colors.
“This first line is true red, second is Radish color, third is pink, fourth is purple tone, fifth is coral color… last one is Peach pink.”
Ye Beiyao hadn’t expected a small Rouge to come in so many colors?
“Because it’s now autumn, many Flowers have already passed their season; these Lipstick colors are made from all the Flowers I could currently find.”
“If it were spring, more colors could be made, and this Lipstick applied to the lips would be even prettier than Rouge!”
“So it’s made from Petals.”
Ye Beiyao suddenly understood; no wonder it had a faint Floral Fragrance.
“Yes, but it’s not just Petals; there are other materials too. Petals are just one important coloring material.”
“This outer Bamboo Tube is the Lipstick Tube; twist it like this and the bottom comes out, adjustable in length. After use, it stores and protects the Lipstick from breaking, and it’s convenient to carry, can be put in any Clothes pocket or small box.”
“Women can apply a bit when needed, on the lips or a touch on the cheeks, for a ruddy complexion, looking spirited and pretty anytime, anywhere.”
Ye Beiyao nodded, his eyes flickering, “But even applied on the back of the hand, I can’t really tell. Why don’t you try it?”
“For this kind of thing, you should find a Model to try the makeup!” Luo Zhi’er quickly said.
“Model?”
“Oh, it’s a Woman specifically to showcase this Lipstick’s colors.”
“In that case, couldn’t Shaoqing’s Cloth also hire specific Women to showcase it?”
“Of course; for men’s items, find male Models, for women’s items find female Models, and of course, they need good looks and figure!”
“Why?”
“Silly, that’s how it has an effect!”
“Everyone takes one look: wow! So pretty, naturally they’ll want to have it. Would there be a lack of Buyers then?”
Ye Beiyao was suddenly enlightened.
Just the other day Shaoqing was still worried; Hongfutai’s Cloth sold to Taoyuan Town had prices generally higher than other Cloth Shops’ Cloth, so sales were poor!
Could he share this idea with him?
“Then if our Yumian Tower wants to recommend Food across the Dongli Kingdom, any good ideas?”
Ye Beiyao thus thought of his own Restaurant, “Could we find a Model to showcase eating these Dishes?”
Luo Zhi’er pondered with her head down for a bit, “It’s not impossible actually, but does that mean finding a big Fatty as a Model?”
She glanced at her own figure; forget it, better for her to show off her culinary skills on the Street!
“First, I think we can find an artist who can paint to depict Yumian Tower’s signature Dishes, then use warm tones to dye appetizing colors, so everyone who sees it wants to eat!”
After all, she had mentioned the Flyer promotion mode last time, but Flyers are inevitably just black-and-white text without pictures; those who haven’t been to the Restaurant naturally wouldn’t know what the Dish looks like?
Ye Beiyao’s eyes lit up, “And then?”
“Do you have shops all over the country?”
Luo Zhi’er leaned closer, pretending to probe: “How many?”
Ye Beiyao puffed his cheek, figuring it was fine to tell her anyway; they were Partners, and she’d get a share.
“Only this Yumian Tower in Taoyuan Town is completely mine; the rest are held by bad people.”
“Bad people?”
Luo Zhi’er was puzzled.
It was the current Marchioness of the Marquis’s Mansion, Du Zhichan.
Du Zhichan was an unremarkable little Concubine’s daughter from the Old Xianyang Marquis Mansion; by her generation, Xianyang Marquis Mansion was already the fourth.
Speaking of it, she was a commoner, no different from civilians, but previously with the Marquis title succession, they still had quite the airs…
Dongli Kingdom allowed three generations of succession; the Marquis’s Mansion had no noteworthy descendants to support it, already a declining house!
Due to a chance opportunity, Du Zhichan saved her mother Gu Qingqing from public humiliation and seized the handle of the other’s framing…
Gu Qingqing was extremely grateful and admired her cleverness. Thus they formed a private friendship; the two got along well, and Gu Qingqing never looked down on her status as a Concubine’s daughter, even becoming sworn sisters with her.
After Gu Qingqing married, Du Zhichan often came to the Manor to see her, and his mother even taught her Doing Business.
Later, after his mother Gu Qingqing gave birth to Ye Beiyao, due to family matters she caught a Cold, and her health worsened until she passed away.
Back then, in temporary entrustment, she handed him and her Businesses to her for safekeeping, hoping she would pass them to her own child in the future.
Later, Du Zhichan naturally grew close to the Marquis Master, becoming the second Marchioness sixteen years ago.
Originally, the Marquis had promised the former Madam he wouldn’t have more children in this lifetime.
But sixteen years ago, due to an accident, he had the second Young Master; thirteen years ago, a little sister.
Then she dominated the Marquis’s Mansion single-handedly, with no secrets from her in the Manor; all were her informants…
From childhood to adulthood, he always called her Aunt, trusted her deeply, but—he played around from young to old, loved money, skimped on studies.
Rushing around recklessly with Father, later due to listening to slander and Bribery of the Teacher, he lost his imperial exam chance; who in the Capital City hasn’t heard of his Reputation?
In the Capital City, his name was already ruined, notorious.
Now, he was exiled to this remote Taoyuan Town to take over this mess, meant to make him fail utterly.
To tell the Marquis Master that he, Ye Beiyao, was rotten wood, unfit for Doing Business, not the material for it.
The ideas he proposed before were all halted midway and rejected.
He and Shaoqing were fellow sufferers.
Anle Marquis Manor in Ye Beiyao’s generation was the third; thus as the legitimate son, Ye Beiyao was to inherit the Marquis title.
Even without exams, he’d live worry-free this lifetime, enjoying wealth and honor.
But if the legitimate son was useless yet still inherited, wouldn’t that lead the once glorious Anle Marquis Manor to ruin?
