"Ladies, come in and have a look. Our shop just got a new batch yesterday …" The fat shopkeeper greeted them with a smile. He watched these women walk past him and stop in front of the shop next door.
The fat shopkeeper had already made an inviting gesture. The smile on his face froze. He stood there stupidly, like a statue standing in the autumn morning breeze.
"This is Ruyi Workshop?"
The group of women stood at the entrance of the shop, and when they saw the three words on the signboard, a few of them immediately revealed shocked expressions. "Flowing like the clouds and flowing water, lively and lively, just like a swimming dragon. The style of these three words is already unique, but I've never heard of it before. Could it be that Young Master Li created it himself?"
Hearing this, a woman asked doubtfully, "But didn't they all say that Li's literary talent is brilliant, but his calligraphy is unsightly?"
"It's just a rumor. It may not be credible." Another woman curled her lips and said, "Scholars have always despised each other. They are jealous of Li's talent, so it's not strange for them to belittle him."
Several women discussed in a low voice at the door. Suddenly, one of them turned around and looked at the figure standing stiffly in the wind. She asked doubtfully, "What … happened to him?"
"A new batch of … new goods …" The owner of the cloth shop said what he didn't finish just now in a daze. In the autumn wind, only the sound of heartbreak could be heard.
…
…
Inside the shop, Li Yi had just put the new batch of Ruyi dew that he had rushed to make yesterday on the counter. He was planning how to promote it after today.
In the past two days, he had crammed some knowledge about business and sales. Now, he was no longer as ignorant as he used to be.
Ruyi dew was a new thing that had never been seen before in this world. It was not easy for people here to accept it.
There was a sound at the door. Li Yi turned his head and saw the girl who had paid the deposit yesterday coming in from outside. She should be here to take the Ruyi dew. He stood up from his seat. Just as he took a step forward, he was stunned on the spot before he could speak.
Looking at the sudden appearance of more than a dozen women in the shop and their eager eyes, Li Yi's heart trembled. He suddenly felt like a sheep entering a pack of wolves.
What's going on?
Could it be … they are going to rob me?
It's over. Li Yi felt some regret. If he had known that the security in Qing 'an Prefecture was so bad, he should have brought Fang here today. It didn't seem like a good idea … Fang could handle several men at once. As for women … Thinking of his cowardly manner in front of his wife, it was very likely that he couldn't handle such a big scene.
If only Ruyi was here. At the very least, he wouldn't be in such a passive position … While Li Yi was observing these women, they were also observing him.
"This Young Master Li, the shopkeeper, is indeed a man of striking appearance." A certain lady's beautiful eyes shone with anticipation.
"It's him, it's him, it's him!" A talented woman who had seen him at the Mid-Autumn Poetry Meet felt her heart beating wildly.
"So he's Young Master Li. I didn't recognize him yesterday and lost the initiative. What a pity, what a pity …" The woman surnamed Chen sighed, and her heart was filled with regret.
"Young master, don't be alarmed. We are here to buy Ruyi nectar." A woman walked up and said with a smile.
"Young Master, there's no need to panic. We're here to buy Ruyi Dew," a woman walked up and said with a smile.
Her words were half-truths. Even though buying the Ruyi Nectar was one of her goals, the most important thing was to meet this legendary talent. Of course, after the previous incident, they didn't dare to be too enthusiastic. If he flew away like last time, where would they go to find him?
"Young master, don't be alarmed. We are here to buy Ruyi nectar …" These words made Li Yi uncomfortable. Who was alarmed? Which eye of theirs saw him alarmed? He was clearly very calm all the time, okay?
He put down the teapot with one hand and moved the other hand away from the abacus. His expression calmed down and a smile returned on his face. "Miss, this way please …"
He led the women to the counter where the Ruyi nectar was placed and began to introduce it to them carefully.
Early in the morning, there were so many people here to buy Ruyi nectar. This was beyond his expectations.
It seemed that as long as the item was good, he didn't have to worry about not being able to sell it. Among these women, there was a woman he had seen two days ago. She was the first customer of the shop. It seemed that she had actively advertised the shop. He would give her a cost price later to show his gratitude.
Li Yi didn't know that for these women, Ruyi nectar was only secondary. The main reason was that they were here to meet the elusive number one scholar of Qing 'an Prefecture … or perhaps, the number one scholar of the Jing Kingdom.
As these women listened to his introduction, their gazes swept across the shop. Very quickly, they were attracted by the paintings hanging on the walls.
Among them, they were either young ladies of wealthy families or talented women of some renown in Qing 'an Prefecture. They had received a good education from a young age and knew at least a little bit about poetry and painting.
Although the many paintings in front of them were average in terms of meticulous brushwork and did not stand out, they looked so real. They had never seen anything like this in their lives. Thinking about the other person's identity, they more or less understood that he must have taken a different path and walked out of the traditional pattern of painting. It was rare to see someone with this kind of spirit and courage among the many scholars of Qing 'an Prefecture.
Most people in the prefectural city probably thought that Li of "Shuidiao Getou" was only good at poetry. They didn't know that his skill in painting had already reached a higher level, and his calligraphy had truly entered the realm of a grandmaster.
It was laughable that those people had spread rumors that Li wasn't good at calligraphy. They didn't know that just the three words "Ruyi Workshop" was enough to shut everyone's mouths.
But there was one thing they couldn't understand. Since he had such talent, why didn't he pursue an official career and instead chose to be a small shopkeeper here?
Could it be that at such a young age, he had already seen through all this and was a reclusive genius?
With this doubt in their hearts, their interest in him grew.
At the side, Li Yi's mouth was dry from talking. He turned his head to look at these women and found that they were all looking around, clearly not paying attention. He couldn't help but feel a little depressed. Were these women really here to buy Ruyi Dew? Could it be that they were sent by other shops to cause trouble?
Luckily, these women didn't disappoint Li Yi. After a while, he bought one bottle and I bought two. If you bought three bottles, I bought four. If you bought five bottles, I bought ten. Very quickly, the Ruyi Dew that they had rushed to make yesterday was all sold out again.
"Ladies, if you think this Ruyi Dew is useful, you might as well introduce it to your acquaintances. If you buy more than twenty bottles at one time, you can give me another two bottles for free." Seeing these women taking out silver from their purses without even batting an eyelid, Li Yi immediately realized that these were the true customers of the Ruyi Dew, so he said with a smile on his face, "Alright, alright.
For young ladies like them, which of them didn't have a few close friends in their boudoir? Just like that, the rumors spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred. Once they opened up a sales channel in this circle, everything else would follow naturally.
Their publicity was naturally much better than hiring people to advertise on the street.
"Of course, this Ruyi Dew is very beneficial to women like us. Even if you don't say it, we will tell other sisters." A woman smiled sweetly and said, "It's getting late. We won't disturb Li's business anymore. We will leave first."
"Ladies, goodbye. Welcome to come again next time."
Li Yi stood at the door of the shop and waved goodbye with a smile on his face. They took the initiative to advertise for him. These women were all good people …
After a moment, a puzzled expression suddenly appeared on his face.
"That's not right. How did they know my surname is Li?"
Beside him, a shop away, the fat boss of the cloth shop looked at him with a big face full of envy.
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