My wife is a concubine - Chapter 3

Faced with her sister Bao Si’s question, Bao Man explained unhurriedly:

“No one lacks me. My sister just thinks that preparing for a rainy day is not a bad thing. Isn’t our family relying on our mother? Seriously, what money do we have in our hands that we can use if we want to, without having to look up to others?”

Not really. Bao Si was speechless when asked by her sister.

“My mother and father are still young, and we may have more younger siblings in the future. Dad, you can’t count on it. Will we have to reach out to our mother for the money then?”

Bao Si shrank her perfect jaw like crystal jade and was knocked down by Bao Man’s words. She had never thought about the next step like this.

“Why are you so young, and your head is full of these melon seeds?” Bao Si’s words were cut off halfway. “Okay, even if we solve these problems, how will we sell these clothes? How can I get a buyer to come to my door?” The previous discussion was not a big issue. Did my sister think the most important thing was how to sell it?

Bao Man smiled sweetly, her eyes rolling. “I remember Mother left two shops, one of which was a cloth shop.”

Cloth shop is a nice saying, but it is actually a slightly larger tailor shop.

In her previous life, Bergman didn’t pay attention to the two shops left by her mother, and she looked down on these two shops that didn’t make any money at all.

In fact, since the death of her mother, those two shops had been neglected. Bao Zhengtao didn’t care. Bao Si, who is not from a professional background and had no one to teach her, was powerless. As long as the books sent by the shopkeepers could be balanced on a monthly basis, there was nothing else to think about. Therefore, the two shops in good locations finally lost Bao Zhengtao, the pillar of Bao Zhengtao. Bergman was anxious to take Xie Xiang’er’s boat, which was in urgent need of money, so she persuaded her sister to hastily lease the shops to others.

Bergman in this life thought about it and was choked.

Cloth shops, rice and grain stores, food, clothing, housing, and transportation—food and clothing account for two things—this is the basic plate of life. Yet it was replaced with silver like this, and the money was spent in vain.

In her life, she had two shops, and now in her eyes, they were two hens who could only lay eggs. She would never let these golden hens make money for others.

When her sister is old, her mother doesn’t seem to dare or think about looking at others for her sister and making plans for her lifelong events.

In her previous life, her sister was thinking about her, and in this life, she was asked to earn confidence for her sister.

Even if she can’t find the ideal person, at least she can have more choices.

Before relying on their father and mother, it is reasonable to help themselves first.

The four words “down-to-earth” had never been able to squeeze into her head in her previous life. Her mind was full of glory and wealth, but she never thought that the glory and wealth pie would fall from the sky out of thin air, and she would be hit by a person who had no inner self and was only beautiful.

It’s really a fool’s dream!

After being transformed and reborn, she must not live up to her third life! She wants to take great strides, live a righteous life, work hard, and harvest her life!

Bergman’s passionate planning vision moved Bao Si.

Although their grandparents also pitied the sisters, their grandfather’s family was in Baoding, and their grandmother’s family was in Tianjinwei.

To put it bluntly, the sisters depended on each other, and if they didn’t help each other, who would help them?

The name of the county magistrate’s daughter sounds good, but it is like a person drinking water, and no one understands the situation at home better than her.

Her sister has a heart—what is so good about Bao Si?

If they really can’t do it, it’s just a return to the original day, and there is no loss.

The sisters did as they said. Bergman asked people to bring paper and pens, and they sat at the table and drew several sets of costumes with upper and lower skirts like flowing water, a set of narrow-sleeved jackets with palace ribbons tied around the waist, and the collars, hems, and sleeves all decorated with inlays, rolls, and embroidery. How beautiful it would be to swim in the middle of grassy water.

The other set was bright red, the luxury style that was gradually becoming popular in this dynasty. It was not flashy with non-bright red wrapping, and the peony that bloomed loudly was eye-catching and gorgeous, showing the characteristics of elegance.

“Roughly like that. My sister’s painting foundation is much stronger than mine. These two sets of clothes will be left to you, and you can add or subtract the pattern design by yourself and play to your heart’s content.”

Looking at the two sets of clothes that didn’t look like any in the world, Bao Si also had an idea. “How about moving the Chinese painting landscape ink to the jacket and pomegranate skirt? What do you think?”

It should be feasible to add the leisure and elegance of literature into painting and painting into clothing.

Bergman excitedly took Bao Si’s hand and shook it wildly. “Sister, you are the muse!”

“Don’t give me goosebumps!” Although Bao Si didn’t know what a muse was, she could take it as a compliment.

“I just say that three stooges are better than one Zhuge Liang.” Bergman laughed from ear to ear.

“What a stooge…” Bao Si had rarely seen such a warm expression since her sister grew up. Because it was so precious, she made up her mind to make these outfits the best so as not to live up to her sister’s sincere smile.

Because the power was full, Bao Si didn’t insist on it. She asked Yiyi to go to her mother to get the key, and the sisters went to the warehouse to rummage through the fabric.

She was not discouraged, so she asked Yiyi to stay behind and asked someone to prepare a carriage to take her sister and Yinyin to her mother’s dowry shop by the housekeeper.

After entering, she picked out two pieces of lake silk and a piece of silk, astonishing the shopkeeper and staff, and paid the housekeeper to carry the cloth onto the carriage.

Back in the house, Yinyin took the four girls—Ah Ru, Chenxiang, and Yiyi—to Bao Si’s yard to buy things, and the cutting and sewing were all done by the two sisters themselves, without the help of others.

Ancient clothes are loose and have no pattern; the structure is simple, and the hardest part is to dig a semicircle on the collar, then dig out a piece from the bottom of the two sleeves, and then sew each side up. The test is patience rather than skill. Bergman added modern elements here, starting from the selection of fabrics. She was very particular; the style was based on Bao Si’s figure as a template, the layout suitable for the personal body shape, and the cut fits well so the clothes would look beautiful. To make a piece of clothing look good, it must be drawn and cut again.

Because she was too serious, when it was over, Bergman raised her head and found that her shoulders and hands hurt. But her part was finished, and the rest was nothing to do with her.

The embroiderer is the most important part.

Embroidery needs to be done quietly for fear of being disturbed, of course, it was all left to Bao Si. Bergman went directly back to her yard, relaxed, washed, disassembled hair accessories, and fell asleep after bathing.

Ten days later, the two sisters invited Shopkeeper Li of the cloth village to their home.

Li Quan was in his early sixties, with a head full of silver hair, but he was in good spirits, with a straight waist. The young man he had seen that day was his son, Li Da.

“I didn’t have time to say hello to the two ladies that day. Li Da has seen them.” The young man had an ordinary appearance, but he had a stable and calm temperament all over his body, and he felt like a person who could get things done.

“Brother Li doesn’t need to be polite.” Bao Si sat there, gesturing, advancing and retreating like a porcelain-carved jade figure, which could only be seen from a distance.

Li Da glanced at her and quickly lowered his eyelids. Although he still couldn’t hide the throbbing in his half-closed eyes, no one could see his emotions flipping.

He is a servant, and the girl is a master. What thoughts could he have? What’s more, he had a wife and two children. Even though his mind was still in turmoil, he immediately strangled the thoughts he shouldn’t have, and keeping his duty was the mentality he should have.

No one in the room knew about Li Da’s reverie, and no one would pay attention.

Bao Si is too beautiful—so beautiful that she is untouched by the world. As long as she is a normal man, who would not have thoughts about her? But she is low-key and usually stays at home. Except for the maids, grandmothers, and old concierges in the house, there are really not many people who can see her true face in Lushan with their own eyes.

In the past two years, because Bao Si has entered the family, she finally had a female family member to socialize with, and she no longer had to face refusals, which made people daydream and sigh.

Bao Zhengtao was very insistent on this, so he didn’t care what others thought. He was self-aware, and his daughters couldn’t go out easily.

With that kind of appearance, it was better to wait at home quietly to get married.

But as a father, he was conflicted. In a small place like Tong’an County, what good partner could he find for his two top-notch daughters? Especially the eldest daughter; as Bao Si got older, his troubles deepened.

Li Quan was excited. This eldest girl was almost the epitome of the eldest lady before, but her appearance and attitude were first-class, even better than the previous eldest lady.

Li Quan, a companion of Bergman’s mother, who was close to Mi’s family, had watched Mi grow up since childhood. He really had no thoughts about the beauty of the two young ladies, Bergman and Bao Si, except for nostalgia and emotion at the beginning.

The eldest and second girls had rarely come to the shop to walk around, and he understood that girls couldn’t go out at will when they reached a certain age.

He believed that this was the master’s trust in him, and he had to go all out to run the shop’s business. But it was a pity that his ability was limited. No matter how hard he worked and was active, with the entire Qing Street surrounded by various cloth shops and embroidery workshops, the shop’s business was bleak.

What was the purpose of calling him this time? Wasn’t it because of his own incompetence?

He suddenly couldn’t sit still.

“Please come here, there are a few sets of clothes I want you to see.” After saying that, the girls hung the sets of clothes on Western-style hangers, then took them out and hung them on the screen.

These days, there were no Western-style hangers, only trusses, most of which could only hang one piece of clothing at a time. This took up space and was inconvenient, so Bergman turned her mind and used modern, easy-to-use hangers to borrow flowers to offer to Buddha.

She saw that these three clothes were made by the eldest girl, who had taken the three pieces of fabric from the shop. The tailoring was novel and special, and the embroidery was even more exquisite and dazzling.

He had been selling cloth for many years, and could count many stitches—for example, the stamens used lock needles, the magpie feathers used a single set of needles and scale-carving needles, and the magpie’s feet used tie needles.

This also stumped him; he had never seen this kind of embroidery on any fabric.

Knowing is knowing, not knowing is not knowing. He wiped his hands, pointing to the unique places left blank. “Dare I ask the eldest girl? I have never seen this kind of embroidery. Can you ask the eldest girl for guidance?”

“This is called a waterway. Does Uncle Li think it’s not good-looking?”

Li Quan waved his hand randomly. “No, no, it’s so beautiful.” The formal layout is like a landscape painting, with overall leisure and elegance, forming a unique painting-and-embroidery style.

At this time, Bao Si didn’t know that because of her sister’s idea of making money, she had unintentionally opened the precedent of blank-space techniques in later generations.

“If these three sets of clothes are put in the shop for consignment, can they be sold?”

“Our shop has never sold ready-to-wear clothes. I don’t know how much the eldest girl asks.”

“Hmm.” She glanced at Bergman. “Lieber will sell it at the current price, and sell as much as you want.”

“No, just start with one hundred taels of silver.” From the moment Li Quan and his son entered the door, they were responsible for listening attentively. The second girl of the Bao family, who occasionally distracted herself, spoke surprisingly.

If such an embroiderer and such tailoring methods can’t be sold, she would cut off her head and use it as a chair for her sister to sit on!

Li Quan quickly grabbed the armrest of the chair, sweat on his forehead. “Second girl, can this really be sold?”

One hundred taels of silver is not a small amount. Not to mention that this is a remote small county in Tong’an, not a big city—could anyone really pay such a high price to buy a set of clothes?

“Try it and you’ll know.” If you don’t even try, it will be a waste of hard work for her and her sister day and night.

Bergman still got up on time every day to eat and sleep; otherwise, she would wander around the house, go to Xiao Ye Shiyuan to chat with her sister, be a female celebrity, and when she came back, she would hold a booklet and sketch. Even Ah Ru would not let her see it. She seemed to do whatever she needed to do without delay at all. But Ah Ru, who had been with the second girl for almost twelve hours, didn’t think so.

She always felt that since the second girl and the eldest girl made three sets of clothes that were too beautiful to be ordinary, she seemed to have started paying attention to something.

Bao Si watched her sister still come to her with a smile, as if she had put aside the matter of bringing Li Quan back to the clothes. Her sister was younger than her but calmer than her. On the other hand, Bao Si did not show it on the surface, but in fact, she was a little restless, always wondering if anyone had a good eye for those few clothes. What if they couldn’t be sold? After thinking about it, starting the embroidery work under her hands was not as straightforward as before.

She didn’t know how many times she had used the wrong needle, so she simply stopped to see what her sister was messing with.

It was so quiet, it was a little suspicious.

Bergman was so focused that she didn’t notice her sister’s gaze at all.

“What is this?” Bergman was concentrating on fiddling with the things in her hand, and a thin white hand stretched out unguardedly and pulled away a stack of drawn paper from the desk.

“Hey…” Someone didn’t come back to her senses because she was suddenly interrupted.

Seeing the things on the paper clearly, Bao Si’s face suddenly turned red, her fingers trembled, and her voice was fierce. “You are actually drawing such a shameful thing, Bao Yaya! Your skin is itchy!”

Ever since she was a child, her sister would call her like this whenever she was angry.

Bergman glanced at Bao Si, who was blushing and almost ripe, and calmly took the paper back, looking like she didn’t think there was anything wrong. “Shame? Sister, is there something wrong?”

Seeing her sister’s puzzled face, Bao Si almost used all her strength to finish speaking. “This… this… this… this is the main waist! How can you, a girl who has not been out of the cabinet, draw such a thing?”

She wanted to drill a hole in the ground to hide her shame, but her sister actually drew this kind of thing when she wasn’t paying attention.

Bergman finally understood what her sister was struggling with, and her white little face showed disapproval. “If my sister says that this main waist can make money, do you believe it?”

Just like this, her sister looked like she wanted to dig a hole and bury herself, and she hadn’t even taken out her lace bra yet! No wonder that the main waist in ancient times was the most intimate clothing for women, and in modern times, it is collectively referred to as underwear. If you accidentally look at it, sorry—even if the other party is toothless, a camel, or blind, you have to marry… uh, her mouth is too fast; the blind can’t see, it doesn’t count.

Bao Si felt that she was about to be smashed by her sister who opened her mouth and closed her mouth recently. Obviously, she hadn’t seen a single jumper yet, and she had put a lot of her body into it, right?

Based on her instinctive reaction, she opened her mouth to object. “Even if you can make a lot of money, you can’t do it!”

Her sister’s reputation is more important than anything else. If people knew that she was making such a thing, how could she marry? What does it mean to talk about money and accumulate and destroy bones? The mouth can kill!

“Sister, look at this waist from a woman’s perspective. Don’t look at it with colored eyes. If you don’t feel moved, I won’t say anything. If you think it’s good-looking, won’t those noblewomen in the county like it too?” It doesn’t make sense to reason with Bao Si; she knows more than herself.

Bergman is a lover of underwear in modern times, and the comfort of good underwear is different from that of cheap goods.

So she racked her brains to design a combination of modern bras and the main waist style popular among women in the Yongding Dynasty.

The so-called main waist is also an undergarment, which is simple and complex in form. At this time, underwear was mostly tied between the chest and abdomen with two straps, and at most some simple patterns were embroidered.

In the long history of underwear, apart from the naked bodies of primitive people, since women could raise silkworms and weave cloth, they have paid attention to their inner beauty, and there is a two-sided thing.

As the name suggests, a bandeau can cover the br3asts on top and the stomach on the bottom, so it is also called a tummy wipe.

She made the bandeau she knew into a diamond-shaped belly pocket, which could hide things and incense, with a bag on it. It was worn around the neck, with two other straps around the waist tied behind the back, forming an inverted triangle below that covered the navel, and the longer one reached the lower abdomen.

If this batch of intimate underwear is popular, she will consider developing cup-style underwear.

Well, she didn’t know if the women of the Yongding Dynasty would be highly receptive to inner beauty.

Seeing that Bao Si was still pursing her mouth and not speaking, she gestured to her sister according to the pattern and told her how to wear the main waist. The most special thing is that she also designed a cushion that can set off the br3asts, which can not only prevent sagging but also improve the effect.

She glanced at her sister’s br3asts, which were not too prominent. Her sister was not very old, and her br3asts still had room to grow.

She was a person who had lived in modern times, with hundreds of years more historical knowledge than these people. She didn’t expect to make money on her own in her previous life; she just wanted to climb under a big tree for shade. Although she did not dare to think about turning stone into gold now, it must be no problem to save some private houses and no longer be subject to others!

“I haven’t even made a look yet, and I heard you foam at the mouth. It doesn’t count.” Bao Si agreed with Bergman’s underwear in disguise, which made her excited. “Also, who taught you this picture of your colorful mimi?”

“Where is the color? Sister, didn’t you come to discuss it with your sister? I will try it on first, and then launch it if you agree.”

“It’s all your words. Why don’t I know so many of your words?”

“Oh, don’t talk about this. The girls in your house are first-class; let them be responsible for tailoring. You are in charge of embroidery. The patterns should be special, beautiful, thought-provoking, etc…”

Bao Si raised her hand and rewarded her sister with a chestnut burst on her forehead. “What is in your head? It’s all these unorthodox thoughts.”

Unexpectedly, Bergman’s forehead immediately had a red mark.

The person who started it regretted it so much that she forgot her sister’s fragile skin. As long as she used a little force, it would leave a mark. Thinking about it, her other hand quickly reached out and gently squeezed it for her.

Bergman enjoyed her sister’s kneading, half-squinting her eyes, like a very comfortable kitten.

Bao Si’s facial features softened. “We did everything for you. What about you?”

“Secretly lazy, in a daze… oops!” Bergman sighed exaggeratedly because Bao Si’s fingers moved to her armpits. “Don’t say no, don’t say it. After the finished product, isn’t there still sales?”

“You don’t want to go out and show up for business, do you?” She was afraid this would turn the world around when this news reached her father’s ears.

“I’ll find a way to do this.”

Bergman considered this issue, and it was absolutely not okay to show up based on her sister’s appearance. Heck, it’s also a problem to be beautiful… In short, she had to think of the best of both worlds!

Thus, the matter was decided.

The big girls in the two yards flirted with each other again.

Several people were busy in full swing, and Ba thought that the sisters were just tinkering with some women’s affairs. They didn’t pay much attention, so they went to the warehouse again.

Nowadays, there is no 100% polyester fabric, which does not smell, can absorb sweat and wick moisture, and has anti-UV function to prevent mold growth.

As long as you get the hang of the main waist, the next step is very easy, and the result is also quite satisfactory to Bao Si, a pure ancient woman. She saw in the mirror that her little steamed bun looked plumper and rounder after her sister’s push and adjustment. Several girls looked at it intently. Even the unenlightened Ah Ru wanted to make one to wear through, maybe so she could hold her head up and be a human being.

Just when the two sisters were too busy to think about anything else, Li Da came and brought a ticket for the capital to communicate with the four seas.

“My father went to the world to ask. This ticket is true.” A full 1,200 taels, twelve tickets for one hundred taels each.

Where did the wronged boss come from? The more the better, not… Quick speech is really a problem, easy to make mistakes. It should be said that he is the sponsor.

Her three sets of clothes are beautiful and special, but are they so precious and rare that they need to spend so much money? She offered a hundred taels at the time, and she felt that it was sky-high!

“Do you know which lady bought it?” To be honest, there are only a few rich families in the entire Tong’an County, and very few officials and eunuchs who have surpassed her father.

“I don’t know. The guest officer is also very mysterious; his tone is very tight, and we can’t find out anything.” The goods had only been on the shelves for a few days. Although many rich wives said they liked it, when it came to the price, they flinched. Some even said that it was not made of real silk, or that it looked a little more novel, and the embroidery was a little special. Such a high price was simply deceitful.

He almost didn’t reply, but he was a seller. There were no customers in the mall who were not, so he could only continue to smile and swallow those words.

One morning, when he opened the store, a man who was short and had an ordinary appearance—he would not be noticed if thrown on the street—came in and said he wanted to see the three sets of clothes.

When Bergman heard this, she muttered in her heart for a long time. A man? Well, it was obviously women’s clothing. Could it be that the lady of the family was inconvenient to come forward and sent someone below to buy it…? This is not right; there are more girls and housekeepers under the lady, so why use men?

She couldn’t guess why for a while, so she didn’t get entangled and threw it aside first.

“Since it was sold, you and Uncle Li have made a lot of contributions.” She happily pulled out two of the twelve tickets. “This is a commission for you.”

It’s not that Li Da hadn’t seen two hundred taels, but it’s not his, and his hands were still shaking a little when he took it. “Thank you, second girl.”

Magnanimous, Bergman liked Li Da’s fearless personality. There were still places where she needed to reuse him later.

Li Da put the silver bill into his collar, and his attitude was even more respectful. “The villain’s father said to ask the two girls to buy more clothes of different styles. The three sets of clothes were sold in one go, and there should be many hot-eyed wives and daughters-in-law coming to the door later.”

A Jew once said, “If you want to get rich, you must first understand women. Women spend money, men make money.” Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the women’s market, such as clothing, jewelry, food, makeup… These women are big spenders.

When it comes to cosmetics, perfumes, rouge, and fragrances are also a good way to make money… Wait, pull it back, she digressed!

“I know.”

Li Da left, and Bergman turned her head to give dividends to Ah Ru and Agarwood, giving fifty taels each. “This is yours.” She was not the kind of stingy master. Her two girls had contributed a lot to those three clothes. As for Yin Yin and Yiyi, her sister rewarded them.

Fifty taels is a huge wealth for a girl who serves, and the two of them could take this money to redeem themselves and live a simple life.

In this life, her career was still in its infancy, and she could only temporarily compensate them with a little money.

The two of them were grateful to Da De, and their hands holding the tickets were shaking. But they are not stupid. How could they really redeem themselves? They might be able to live a comfortable life after being freed, but what about the end? They don’t know anything but serving people.

Ah Ru is not stupid. The two girls in the house treat them well, and the second girl treats her especially well.

If such a good master doesn’t follow, they are fools, and they will make money by following their master!