The surroundings instantly fell silent, and all eyes focused on her.
Even Li Sheng, who was still busy at the counter, pricked up his ears.
Here it comes!
That so-called blind box game the Eldest Miss talked about!
Li Sheng quickly rushed over, snatched the red paper from her hand, took a glance, and made an exaggerated expression.
My goodness!!!
Holding a large megaphone, Li Sheng's voice was pitched high.
Miss! You've won a prize!!!
You hit the jackpot!!
This is the golden legend that County Princess Xu mentioned!
This is the hidden grand prize of our Lemin Hall: a free cotton coat!
Someone come! Bring up the prize!
Several shop assistants immediately ran over carrying a tray.
On the tray sat a thick, blue cotton coat, stuffed with at least three catties of cotton. It looked incredibly warm!
Li Sheng shoved the coat into the girl's arms and shouted loudly.
This is yours!
The young girl hugged the cotton coat, completely dumbfounded.
She felt like she was dreaming.
She had originally planned to spend her last two hundred copper coins to buy some cloth to forcefully endure this late spring chill, but to her surprise, she was given a cotton coat worth a whole tael of silver on the market?
This... wasn't this too magical?!
Is... is this really for me? the young girl asked, stuttering.
Of course! Li Sheng patted his chest. Our Eldest Miss said, this is what you call a surprise!
The entire venue fell silent for a second.
And then.
Everyone went absolutely crazy.
The reason was simple: for the ordinary commoners of the Great Qian Dynasty, a good, ready-made cotton coat was a significant expense.
And for impoverished tenant farmers, it could even be considered a family heirloom.
...
Zhuque Street was paralyzed.
It was truly paralyzed; not even a fly could hope to fly in.
The entire street was packed tight with crowds of people. A lost yellow dog belonging to an unknown family was even hanging from the crooked old locust tree at the entrance of Lemin Hall. It was looking at the sea of heads below with a face devoid of the will to live. It hadn't climbed up there itself; it had been forcefully squeezed up by the flowing crowd behind it.
At a quarter to six in the morning, a large group of young ladies and young wives wearing makeup suddenly surged into the line of uncles and aunties who were originally just there to snatch up cheap cloth.
Their goal was not just the hundred-coin cloth, but more importantly, the man standing on the steps.
There were no war drums and no spotlights.
Xu Zijin wasn't even wearing the Liang Shanbo opera costume that made him famous.
He was only wearing a washed-out, moon-white scholar's robe, ironed very smoothly. His hair was casually tied up with a wooden hairpin, and he held an old folding fan in his hand.
He just stood there quietly, the winter morning light spilling over him, radiating a sense of fragile beauty.
A shop assistant handing out number tags? He was clearly an exiled immortal in distress!
The impact of this lofty flower forced to descend to the mortal realm was even more fatal than him singing opera on stage.
Whether male or female, everyone was astonished by his aura.
Fellow townsfolk, please do not push.
Xu Zijin spoke in a gentle voice. It wasn't loud, but it instantly quieted the noisy crowd by thirty percent.
He bowed slightly, picked up a wooden tag with a number on it from the tray behind him, and handed it to the auntie at the front of the line.
Auntie, the weather is freezing, you have suffered. This is number one. Please take your time, the steps are slippery.
The auntie held the wooden tag that still carried Young Master Xu's body heat, her whole body turning to jelly. She just grinned and giggled foolishly, only taking a couple of steps forward because the people behind her pushed her.
Next was a Fat Auntie from a branch of the Wang family, weighing at least two hundred catties and sweating profusely from the squeezing.
She rushed in front of Xu Zijin, her hands trembling.
Xu Zijin showed not a hint of disgust; instead, he took a step forward and gently supported the Fat Auntie's arm, his eyes extremely sincere. Be careful, Sister, don't fall.
Sister?
Young Master Xu called me sister?!
The Fat Auntie only felt a surge of hot blood rush straight to the crown of her head. Her eyes rolled back, and her body fell straight backward.
It's worth it... This life is worth it...
With a thud, the Fat Auntie fainted in bliss.
The scene instantly exploded.
Ahhh! I want to faint too! Young Master Xu, catch me!
Don't push me! My makeup is ruined! Let me take one look at Young Master Xu!
These screams converged together, shaking the roof tiles of the teahouse opposite so much that they clattered down.
A few hooligans and scalpers in the crowd, who had originally planned to take advantage of the chaos to snatch more number tags to resell, were now being pushed left and right.
One of the leaders was just about to act tough: Get the hell out of my way! Who dares to steal my...
Before he could finish his sentence, an embroidered shoe inlaid with gold and jade kicked him right in the face.
Xue Hong had arrived with her group of noble ladies.
This wealthiest woman in Jiangnan didn't ride a sedan chair today; instead, she brought dozens of burly servants and personally stepped in to maintain order.
You dare to act wild in front of Young Master Xu? Beat them up!
At Xue Hong's command, the noble ladies' servants swarmed up and gave those scalpers a severe beating.
Dare to cut in line? Break their legs!
Dare to resell the tags handed out by Young Master Xu himself? Chop off his hands!
In less than the time it takes half an incense stick to burn, the scalpers were beaten black and blue and dragged away.
Under the dual suppression of wealth and handsome looks, order miraculously returned.
The commoners who got the first hundred numbers crossed the threshold of Lemin Hall with their heads held high, under the envious and jealous gazes of the thousands of people behind them.
However, as soon as they entered, everyone was stunned.
This... this is a fabric store?
There were no lofty counters, no assistants who always looked down their noses at people, terrified that you might dirty the fabric.
What they saw were massive shelves placed against the walls.
Snow-white cotton cloth was piled up like mountains without any barriers, placed right where everyone could reach it.
They even left spacious aisles between the shelves for people to walk around freely.
This completely exceeded the understanding of these Great Qian commoners.
In the past, when buying cloth, you had to beg the assistant to take it down for a look, and if you looked a bit too long, you'd be scolded not to touch what you couldn't afford.
Now, this was... just grab whatever?
An old farmer wearing a torn padded jacket tightly clutched the number one tag in his hand.
Looking at the snow-white cotton cloth in front of him, he raised his hand, covered in calluses and dirt, but pulled it back halfway.
He was afraid.
Afraid that he couldn't afford to pay if he dirtied it, afraid of being pointed at and cursed as a pauper.
Just then, Li Sheng, who was standing by the shelves, roared:
Uncle! Touch it! Why are you pulling your hand back?
The old farmer trembled in fright. I won't... I won't touch it, I'm just looking...
Look, my foot! Li Sheng walked over, grabbed the old farmer's rough hand, and firmly pressed it onto the snow-white cotton cloth.
Our County Princess Xu said! Once you enter this door, everyone is a guest!
This cloth is for us common folks to use! If you don't touch it, how will you know if it's good or bad? If you don't touch it, how will you know if it's thick or not?
Touch it all you want! Pick whatever you like! If you fancy a bolt, just carry it away yourself and pay at the door!
Our Lemin Hall doesn't guard against thieves! Because we trust the elders and townsfolk of Great Qian!
Trust...
That word struck hard at the old farmer's heart.
He had lived his whole life, seen countless eye-rolls, and heard endless mockery.
This was the first time someone told him, I trust you.
Treated him like a human being.
The old farmer's hands were trembling. The soft texture traveled from his fingertips to his heart; it was so warm that it made him want to cry.
Good... such good people...
The old farmer suddenly burst into loud sobs, clutching the bolt of cloth tightly to his chest as he cried.
"This is our cloth! Don't anyone try to fool me!"
His crying prompted the tears of several women nearby, who had previously been timid and hesitant, to fall as well.
This feeling of being respected was even more intoxicating than those one hundred copper coins.
"Buy it! Buy it all!"
"Don't let County Princess Xu lose money! We can't just take advantage of her for nothing!"
"Hurry and grab it! Let's make new clothes for the kids at home!"
Their initial apprehension instantly turned into a crazy buying frenzy.
People desperately stuffed cloth into their arms, and the bolts on the shelves quickly vanished.
Li Sheng stood to the side watching this out-of-control scene, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. He thought to himself: Eldest Miss's psychological tactic is simply more ruthless than killing.
Just as everyone was frantically fighting over the cloth, a sharp, trembling gasp of surprise suddenly came from a corner.
"What... what is this?!"
"A ready-made cotton-padded coat?! How is it so thick!"
The crowd looked toward the voice and saw a young man standing in the ready-to-wear section, holding up a blue cotton-padded jacket.
The jacket looked bulging, clearly stuffed full of cotton, with stitches so tight that not even the wind could get through.
"Shopkeeper! How much... how much does this piece of clothing cost?" the young man asked, stuttering. "This must sell for nearly a tael of silver, right?"
Li Sheng, who was busy counting money, didn't even lift his head and casually replied:
"That? That's a new first-edition product from our factory. It's not expensive."
Li Sheng held up three fingers.
"Three hundred coins."
"How much?!"
