Chapter Ninety-One: Soap

"What kind of grand finale outfit is it? What does it look like?"

Money was a trivial matter. Would the city lord's daughter lack money?

What she cared about was that final dress.

Ever since she had gotten that cheongsam, Miss Oriol's standards had been raised in an instant. Now, every one of her old dresses looked unpleasant to her no matter how she judged them. Coming here today, she had also wanted to ask Qin Zhen when he would begin making the clothes he had promised her before.

She had not expected an unexpected delight.

"I can't say that, but I can promise you one thing: no matter what, it will be better than the cheongsam I gave you."

At those words, Miss Oriol was greatly shaken.

That cheongsam had already astonished her beyond measure. If the dress were even more beautiful than that, would it not truly be a garment from the heavens, a robe of immortal grace?

Without the slightest hesitation, she made up her mind on the spot that she must obtain that final outfit!

"Can't I buy it in advance?" Miss Oriol looked at Qin Zhen imploringly, with a faint note of appeal in her eyes. "I can pay more!"

Of course she trusted Qin Zhen's taste.

How could a dress even he praised without reserve be anything less than extraordinary?

"No." Qin Zhen shook his head very directly. "If Miss Oriol wishes to buy it, you'll have to wait until the shopping festival. There will be an auction then, and the highest bidder will win."

Qin Zhen's refusal left Miss Oriol a little at a loss.

Raised with a silver spoon in her mouth, she had always gotten whatever she asked for since childhood; no one had ever dared refuse her to her face!

This could not help but stir something subtle in that cool and proud heart of hers.

"Then you must promise me you won't sell it to anyone else before then."

"Of course!" Qin Zhen said again. "By then, there won't be only this final outfit. There will also be three immortal dresses and five azure robes up for auction together. All are welcome to come and admire them! A friendly reminder: only members of the Fish Fan club may participate in the auction."

Bang!

A gold ingot was pressed heavily onto the table by Miss Oriol.

"Reserve the best seat for me!"

Even Qin Zhen could not help being stunned by her extravagance.

He hurriedly tucked the gold ingot into his robes and said solemnly to Miss Oriol, "Rest assured, Miss Oriol! I will definitely arrange the finest private room for you!"

As if she had thought of something, Miss Oriol bit her lip and suddenly leaned in, lowering her voice by Qin Zhen's ear.

"When the clothes arrive, can I take a look first?"

She was simply too curious.

Her warm breath brushed Qin Zhen's ear, making it itch. Perhaps she also felt that doing so was a little improper; Miss Oriol quickly drew back, a faint blush rising on her fair, translucent cheeks.

Qin Zhen looked somewhat torn.

"In principle, that wouldn't be allowed..."

Hearing that, Miss Oriol was a little disappointed.

"But if it's Miss Oriol, then all right."

Qin Zhen finally nodded.

Miss Oriol was pleasantly surprised. That turn from disappointment to delight gave her the feeling of something lost being recovered.

She had never experienced anything like it in her life.

Overjoyed, she jumped up and down. "Then it's settled! You are not allowed to lie to me!"

After receiving his definite promise, she left beaming, even humming a little tune on the way back.

"Benefactor, what did Miss Oriol say to you?" Little Daiyu asked curiously.

"A secret."

After Miss Oriol left, the crowd, unable to hold themselves back any longer, instantly swarmed over the stall.

Every one of them wanted to become Fish Fan members.

Of course, there were many women among them.

Not to mention anything else, just the discounts available after becoming Fish Fan members were enough to make these women, who loved shopping above all else, flock here like moths to a flame!

What did a fifty-percent discount from the start mean? Buy one and get one free! In and out, it was practically a gift! Who would not want a piece of that? Whether from a noble family, a modest household, or an ordinary commoner, everyone was now jostling to elbow their way in and give the young Boss Qin a lesson!

Let alone the chance to take part in the auction of fine clothing!

Even if they could not afford to buy, merely feasting their eyes would be enough to brag about later!

In an instant, the stall in Little Fisherman's Village was nearly trampled apart.

"Hey, woman, why are you cutting in line!"

"Open your dog eyes! I'm just shifting over. Don't grab me! I'm telling you, I am not to be trifled with!"

"Stop pushing, stop pushing, let me out!"

Qin Zhen had clearly underestimated people's enthusiasm.

The shopping festival was a novelty. Human beings loved nothing more than joining in the excitement. When something fun that might let them pick up money came along after all this time, how could they not rush toward it?

Qin Zhen could never have imagined it.

The matter of his holding a shopping festival spread from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, growing more and more fervent. Miss Oriol's appearance pushed the whole affair to an unprecedented height.

Not only did everyone in Near-Sea County know about it, but people from other counties and districts also received the news and hurried to Near-Sea City one after another, wanting to broaden their horizons.

"This Qin Zhen certainly never runs out of tricks!"

Upon hearing that Qin Zhen was going to hold a shopping festival, Huang Dalang's expression darkened.

It was not only because Qin Zhen had seized business from the Huang family, but also because the Fang family had actually, without a word, entered into cooperation with Qin Zhen!

One could imagine that once this shopping festival succeeded, the blow it would deal to the Huang family's textile business would be severe enough to wound muscle and bone.

"We absolutely cannot let this happen!" Huang Dalang thought of an idea. "He Qin Zhen can hold a shopping festival, so why can't I? He can discount and promote; we can lower our prices too!"

Qin Zhen could only sell clothes, after all.

But the Huang family's business was diverse in every respect.

"Spread the word. We're holding a Good Goods Festival too! Let's test our strength against Qin Zhen!" Huang Dalang said coldly. "I refuse to believe that with such a huge Huang family, we can still be beaten flat by him!"

That night, Qin Zhen, worn out after a day of work, returned to the inn in exhaustion.

Today he had personally witnessed what the frenzy of ancient people really looked like!

"My clothes were almost torn apart. Too savage." Looking at his bedraggled reflection in the bronze mirror, Qin Zhen let out a wry smile and said thoughtfully, "No, once there are too many people, I'm afraid something will go wrong. If a trampling incident injures someone, that would be terrible... I should ask Chen Kuai whether he can come help then."

As he was thinking, Little Daiyu walked past carrying a basin of clothes.

Qin Zhen took a look. They were the ragged garments from before.

"Why are you keeping those clothes? Don't you have new ones to wear?" he asked in puzzlement.

"My mother left these clothes to me. I can't bear to throw them away..." Little Daiyu lowered her head, looking a little forlorn. "Don't let how torn they are fool you. When my mother gave them to me, they were beautiful! It's just that now they won't wash clean anymore..."

Looking at the mud and filth on the ragged clothes, Little Daiyu recalled the hardships of the journey she had endured and the figure of her late mother. Her eyes could not help growing faintly red.

"Why wouldn't they wash clean? Just use soap, wouldn't that do it?"

"Soap?" Little Daiyu looked completely baffled.

Qin Zhen, meanwhile, slapped his forehead hard.

How had he forgotten this?

Soap!