Chapter 2473: Haute Couture Client

Since it involved an acquaintance, He Xiaoyue couldn't help but be concerned: "Then didn't Manager An get into trouble?"

"The Qu family's Advisor Xia came to the door to condemn him and even beat his shop assistants. It ended up in the Public Security Court."

"How was the case judged?" He Xiaoyue asked quickly.

"Condone evil slaves to beat people in the street; this is disturbing public order. The Chiefs hate such things the most. The judgment was that the slave who beat people was to be whipped forty times in public, the Qu family was fined one hundred yuan, and an additional fifty yuan was to be paid as compensation to the beaten assistant."

"What about Lianjie?"

"The judge said these are separate matters. Missing persons are reported to the police station first. Besides, the Qu family couldn't prove that Manager An abducted Lianjie."

"That's satisfying." He Xiaoyue breathed a sigh of relief. She hated those bullying evil slaves and powerful servants the most.

"But Manager An won't be able to do get the Qu family's business anymore." Guo Xi'er sighed. "The loss isn't small. I heard his family buys over a thousand yuan worth of fabric every year alone. A lot of it is business done with Ruihexiang."

"That much?!" He Xiaoyue was shocked. As a high-income earner in Lingao, her annual income was only a few hundred yuan. "Didn't Manager An lose big?"

"Yes. But he has no choice." Guo Xi'er lowered her voice mysteriously and said, "His daughter was the mastermind... The Qu family is staring at his house demanding the person! How can he muddle through?"

"It was... An Jiu?!" He Xiaoyue was truly shocked this time. She had seen this girl at school; she studied textiles. After coming to Wanzi Pavilion, she had met An Jiu several times because of dealings with suppliers, so she counted as an acquaintance.

An Jiu was different from He Xiaoyue and Guo Xi'er; she was a generation that had grown up almost entirely in the "New Society." Her speech, temperament, and thinking all had the style of a Senator, often making He Xiaoyue envious.

Although shocked by her boldness, she also felt some admiration in her heart.

"What guts!" she said sincerely.

"Mm-hmm, I heard Lianjie was abused by the First Wife in the Qu family. An Jiu couldn't stand it, so she took action. But no one can say clearly what happened now; anyway, Lianjie has disappeared—I guess An Jiu hid her."

"She must be hiding to avoid the storm," He Xiaoyue said. "Such things have happened before."

The plan implemented back then to attract gentry and wealthy families from the mainland to buy houses and invest in Lingao had become increasingly successful in recent years with the spread of war on the mainland and the great development of the Senate. The high-end detached housing projects developed by Li Xiaopeng's real estate company were sold one after another, making a pot full of money. The Senate also gained a large amount of investment and population.

But problems came with it. One of the more prominent issues was the problem of runaway concubines.

Free life, an open atmosphere, opportunities everywhere... tempted those concubines in deep courtyards who were not very favored or even suffered abuse. Many wandered and hesitated for a long time, finally summoning the courage to leave one day.

The wealthy families naturally wouldn't let it go. The runaway concubine might have long lost her beauty, or perhaps he already regarded her as a worn-out shoe, but she was his "property." No one would be willing to lose property for no reason.

Calling the police was useless because the police system, adhering to the Senate's instructions, adopted the "principle of party autonomy" for such missing person cases. Even if the person was found, they would not be easily handed back; the party's wishes had to be consulted. Unreconciled wealthy families would use their own servants to search and arrest, and sometimes they would hire local indigenous people.

Undoubtedly, this kind of pursuit, akin to kidnapping, was bound to cause various conflicts and criminal acts. Such news appeared from time to time in the social news section of the Lingao Times.

"Amitabha, I hope Lianjie can be safe and sound, find a good family in the future, and have a good job..." Guo Xi'er put her palms together.

He Xiaoyue had mixed feelings. Although she was not a runaway concubine, she had similar experiences. She remembered escaping from the danger of the Chastity Institute and finally returning to Guangzhou, only to be deceived by a prodigal son and nearly falling into the dust.

Although Lingao was not Guangzhou, it was not a heaven on earth either. If Lianjie had no one to protect and guide her, she would fear becoming prey...

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but sigh softly and said, "I only hope An Jiu can send the Buddha to the West and not give up halfway. Leaving her with no good end!"

"No, no." Guo Xi'er shook her head. "I know Miss An well; she values loyalty the most and hates evil! She is also a proper disciple of the Son of Heaven of the Senate. By the way, she is also very close to the Li sisters..."

"The Li sisters?"

"They are Senator Li's Life Secretaries," Guo Xi'er said.

He Xiaoyue felt relieved upon hearing this. She didn't say anything more but took down the No. 36 ready-to-wear garment and hung it on the display rack in the center of the room. She removed the cover. The morning sun from the roof shone down through two layers of frosted glass skylights, filtering out most of the ultraviolet rays and turning into a non-glaring soft light scattered on the clothes.

It was truly a stunning long skirt. Made from high-quality gauze bought from Suzhou and Hangzhou, and using silk woven by Phoenix Manor, it employed stereoscopic cutting. Dyed with unique Australian dyes, layers of purple in different shades were printed and dyed. Several white lotuses were embroidered on the skirt hem. The pattern was vivid and beautiful, completely different from traditional patterns yet having a unique flavor. An embroiderer hired from Suzhou took a full month to finish it. At a glance, it looked as ethereal and beautiful as misty clouds, yet without losing dignity and stability. It wouldn't exist anywhere outside of Lingao.

"It's so beautiful." He Xiaoyue clicked her tongue in admiration. "This design, this style... truly worthy of Senator Sun's handiwork." He Xiaoyue admired sincerely. "No wonder Zhou Suniang came five or six times in a row this month just to see the progress of this dress—once you see it, you definitely can't forget it!"

"This is the biggest single item haute couture order we have this month." Guo Xi'er nodded. "This purple dye is new from the Chiefs' chemical plant. The output is small and the cost is high. The dyed fabric is bright and beautiful, and it doesn't fade easily. It's only used for haute couture clothing now."

"It's cheaper than imported purple pigment. That is truly ridiculously expensive, and it's not easy to fix the color," He Xiaoyue said.

"High-end clothing can't be washed. Did you forget what Chief Sun said?" Guo Xi'er said. "She said top-level fashion in Australia can't be washed; you have to throw it away after wearing it a few times and it gets dirty..."

"What a waste!"

"Actually, clothes in wealthy families are like this too. Which female family member doesn't make seventeen or eighteen sets at once? I don't think they can even wear them all in rotation."

"Actually, it's not wasted. If they can't wear them, or if the color gets old after a few years, they award them to the maids and older female servants to wear," He Xiaoyue said. "Favored maids and servants naturally wouldn't wear them either; they take them out to resell or give as gifts."

"Being a maid in a wealthy family is so good." Guo Xi'er said. "No wonder so many girls are willing to go!"

He Xiaoyue laughed secretly: saying this, she had completely forgotten that essentially her sister was an "Australian chamber wife." She said seriously, "Naturally, it has to be a favored, respectable maid or servant to have this benefit. But for ordinary maids, as long as they don't fare too badly, mixing a few sets of clothes a year is never a problem."

"You know so clearly..." Guo Xi'er said. "Oh my, I forgot, you yourself came from a wealthy family as a Young Miss."

He Xiaoyue was very unwilling for people to bring this up and quickly denied: "What kind of Young Miss am I? My father didn't take me seriously at all! My mother and I couldn't even compare to favored senior maids and housekeeping women at home. We really didn't dare to breathe loudly in front of people." Saying this, she quickly changed the topic:

"What about the matching shoes and accessories?"

"The shoes were just delivered yesterday. Almost didn't make it." Guo Xi'er brought the matching embroidered shoes and a purple-series "high-end embroidered custom clutch." This was matched with the clothing. Don't look at it as insignificant; the price wasn't low. The profit, naturally, was also very high.

He Xiaoyue checked the items and found no errors, then continued to flip through the registration book to check the clothes to be delivered.

"Customer Number 4, Number 23... Xi'er, isn't this the Cute Rabbit series you designed? The size is so small."

"This is a prize Master Liu bought for his granddaughter. I heard that girl passed the Fangcaodi selection group..."

"Then isn't she going to be a companion to the Little Chiefs?"

"Yes. Otherwise, why would be buy this set of clothes? Master Liu is usually very stingy." Guo Xi'er laughed mischievously.

The two chatted while organizing, not feeling bored.

"The last set is done. The seven sets of clothes for this morning are all here." He Xiaoyue was sweating slightly. She picked up a fan and fanned herself, squinting at the row of fashions under the soft light. "Number 36 is still the best looking. Master Qu really dotes on Zhou Suniang. This 'Lotus Born in Yaochi' set sells for eighty yuan at the original price. Adding some detail changes and matching items, it's heading towards one hundred yuan."

The door of the VIP room was knocked twice gently. The door opened, and a female shop assistant poked her head in.

"Mrs. He is here, saying she's here to pick up clothes..."

"I'm coming right now." He Xiaoyue looked in the full-length mirror and quickly went out to greet her.

Just like that, starting from 8:30, customers coming to pick up clothes arrived in an endless stream. He Xiaoyue and Guo Xi'er welcomed and saw them off, having to answer questions and deal with customers perfunctorily. Time flew by, and in a blink of an eye, it was almost twelve o'clock. Six sets of clothes had been picked up, and quite a few matching products had been sold, but the owner of that lotus dress was late in appearing.

"It shouldn't be..." Guo Xi'er fanned herself, fine beads of sweat already on her forehead. Her mouth and lips felt like fire.

Wanzi Pavilion's rule was that measurements and pick-ups for "haute couture" required an appointment number. If one didn't arrive on the day, they had to make a new appointment, which could take from a week to a month to be rescheduled, and they had to pay a certain amount of storage fee. Moreover, one's rating in the Wanzi Pavilion VIP "Scorecard" would drop, which was intolerable for face-loving wealthy families. So very few people missed appointments.

"Oh my, why isn't this Zhou Suniang here yet? She's the only one left..." Guo Xi'er couldn't help but complain.

"Maybe she was held up by something."