Chapter 304 Teaching the Maid a Lesson
Therefore, when Tong Huaqiong stepped into the rouge shop, it was crowded with young girls and wives from the city.
Lu Zhaozhao and her maid personally went to greet everyone.
It was a long time before Lu Zhaozhao noticed Tong Huaqiong and others.
"Aunt Tong, you're here." Lu Zhaozhao came over with a smile.
"You go ahead and do your thing first, I'll just take a look." Tong Huaqiong said.
"Aunt Tong, I won't be polite with you. There are just too many people these two days. Please take a look. By the way, that row of shelves contains rose rouge and rose powder from Shengjing. They are unique in our city. Aunt Tong, please take a look and see if there is anything you like. I will bring it to you later." Lu Zhaozhao pointed at a shelf nearby and then went to greet other guests.
When Tong Huaqiong heard that these were good things from Shengjing, she walked over to look at and smell them one by one.
As expected, Shengjing’s rouge and powder are different. They smell refreshing and not pungent at all.
There was a row of small bottles on the shelf with the words "Trial" written on the labels.
Tong Huaqiong was happy. She thought Lu Zhaozhao was really good. She had learned the tricks of her peach blossom dessert.
Just say that which woman can resist the temptation of cosmetics? Once you apply this rouge and smell the fragrance in the shop, who can resist buying it?
Tong Huaqiong thought that if she placed lanterns or night-shining pearls on the shelf to create lighting, the trial effect would be doubled.
Later she would remind Lu Zhaozhao to use this method.
Anyway, the Lu family has no shortage of night pearls.
"Mom, this rouge is so pretty."
A young woman dressed simply took a layer of rouge from the trial box carefully and applied it on her face, then looked at herself in the mirror. Her daughter standing next to her clapped her hands happily.
"It's very expensive." The young woman looked shy, picked up the rouge box, shook her head and put it down again.
In the past, the Lu family’s shop only served noble ladies from the city, but now anyone can enter the shop. This simple young woman couldn’t help but come in after passing by several times.
She thought it would be better to just try it out instead of buying it.
But after applying it on her face, she couldn't walk.
This rouge has a light fragrance, completely different from the low-quality smell she uses everyday.
After applying rouge on her face, the dust and dirt from a day's work disappeared.
In the mirror, I still look so young with my fair skin and rosy complexion!
She held the box in her hand, hesitating whether to buy it or not.
"Oh, isn't this Master Wen?" Chen Sufen patted the young woman's arm with excitement.
When Mrs. Wen saw Chen Sufen put down the rouge box, she happily called out, "Sister Sufen."
Seeing Tong Huaqiong not far away, he greeted her in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Boss."
Wen is the only female pastry chef at Taohua Dessert in Fucheng.
She always wore a mask and a headgear in the shop, so Tong Huaqiong did not recognize that the person trying on rouge next to her was Wen.
"Is this your daughter?" Tong Huaqiong asked.
Mrs. Wen nodded and said, "I brought my daughter here for a walk after work."
Tong Huaqiong said: "Your daughter is right, this rouge sets off you very well."
Wen smiled shyly and whispered, "I just came to give it a try. This box of rouge costs one hundred coins, which can buy several kilograms of rice."
Tong Huaqiong knew Wen's family situation. Her husband was sick and had to take medicine all year round, and she also had to support her parents-in-law. The whole family depended on her to work and earn money.
A box of rouge at one hundred wen was indeed very expensive for her.
"If you think it's expensive, don't come in."
Tong Huaqiong was thinking of an excuse to give Wen a box when she heard someone muttering.
Tong Huaqiong turned around and saw two girls with bright makeup standing together. One of them, the girl in red, was complaining to the girl in purple.
Rather than complaining to the girl in purple, it would be more accurate to say that the girl in red was deliberately mocking Wen.
"I wonder why the lady wants to have a trial, letting so many people who want to take advantage come in, try it but don't buy it, it's a waste."
"Before, we only entertained the daughters and wives of wealthy families. Now we have to deal with these people who can't afford it every day, and they won't buy even if we talk them through their lips."
The girl in red kept complaining.
"Stop complaining. The lady has already said that we should treat every customer warmly." said the girl in purple.
Tong Huaqiong understood that these two girls were the "saleswomen" of the rouge shop.
The girl in red, Tong Huaqiong, who would order dishes to customers, was not uncommon in later generations.
When she was an undergraduate, she and her classmates went to the mall and timidly tried on lipstick in front of the big-brand counters. Some salesgirls would make sarcastic remarks when they saw their student-like attire.
When Wen heard the sarcastic words from the girl in red, her face turned red with shame.
She shouldn't have come in!
Tong Huaqiong came up and said to the girl in red, "Are you the clerk of this shop?"
The girl in red saw that Tong Huaqiong was well-dressed and smiled, saying, "Yes, I'll introduce you to something you want."
Tong Huaqiong was indifferent to the red-dressed girl's smile and said, "As a shop assistant, what shop's rules are there for you to gossip about customers behind their backs?"
"Since your shop doesn't stipulate who can enter and who can't, then everyone who comes in is a customer. Since your shop has trial packs, then every customer who comes in can try them out. Who stipulated that everyone who comes in must buy, and everyone who tries the products must buy? According to what you said, everyone who comes in must buy, and everyone who tries the products must buy, then that's forced buying and selling."
Tong Huaqiong criticized the girl in red mercilessly.
Of course, she lowered her voice and tried to speak behind people's backs, because she knew she couldn't ruin Lu Zhaozhao's business because of this.
But if it was her servant, she would have chased him away long ago.
At Taohua Dessert, even her own daughter-in-law Liu Yue'e doesn't dare to say anything bad to the customers.
The girl in red bit her lip as Tong Huaqiong scolded her, looking unconvinced.
Seeing this, the purple-clothed girl stepped forward and said, "Madam, what you are teaching us is that we did not do enough. On behalf of Ruoyu, I apologize to you and this sister-in-law."
This clerk knows the rules.
Then he smiled at Wen and said, "Sister-in-law, you have fair skin. I think this rose rouge is more suitable for you. Come, let me help you try it on."
As he spoke, he opened the rose box.
"This box is very cost-effective. Many young ladies and sisters-in-law like it. It costs fifty cents a box. In fact, it is not worse than the rose rouge you just tried. The rose rouge is expensive because the box is carved. We buy rouge to use it, not to appreciate the box. Don't you agree?"
Tong Huaqiong nodded. If this girl in purple was not Lu Zhaozhao's employee, she would have poached her.
When she heard that rose rouge cost fifty cents, Mrs. Wen's expression relaxed.
"Mrs. Chen, you're here? A batch of rouge and powder from Shengjing just arrived in our shop today. Please ask me to try on your makeup." The girl in red called out coquettishly, attracting Tong Huaqiong's attention.
I saw a graceful and elegant lady walking in, surrounded by maids and servants.
The girl in red smiled sweetly and went up to hold the lady's arm.