"Your skin is fair, so you need to choose some colors with depth to make it look good. The colors you chose just now were too pale; combining them would lack emphasis and fail to attract attention," Feng Jin explained logically, then picked up a box of rouge and handed it to Lin Yuwei. "Try this rouge, and this is mascara. Applying it to your lashes will make your eyes appear larger. I'll help you put it on."
Feng Jin's hands were very skilled. After her modifications, Lin Yuwei's appearance instantly improved by a notch.
"You look so beautiful," Lin Yuwei could hardly believe the person in the mirror was her. She looked so much better than before.
"Sister Feng Jin, teach me how to use these things," Lin Yuwei said, pulling on Feng Jin's arm and shaking it playfully.
"Alright... alright, I'll teach you everything," Feng Jin quickly agreed to her request, dizzy from being shaken. She patiently taught Lin Yuwei how to use these items.
"You have to use this like this..."
"You've applied too much color, be lighter..."
"You've smeared the lip color outside the lines."
With Feng Jin's repeated corrections, Lin Yuwei finally managed to learn a little. Makeup also requires practice to become proficient; one cannot achieve mastery overnight.
"Sister Feng Jin, I'll take one of everything here, then wrap them up," Lin Yuwei said. She liked everything in the shop and couldn't pick and choose, so she decided to take one of each.
"You want them all? Have you struck it rich somewhere?"
"Alas..." Lin Yuwei sighed, "Don't even mention it. That scoundrel Chu Chenyi, all day long he's only thinking about my dowry. Sooner or later, I'll have it all taken away from him."
For a prince to be so poor, unable to even pay the monthly wages of his maids and servants. If not for the income from her shops, she wouldn't even have money to buy a piece of jewelry.
"If I had known he was this poor, I would never have married him." Lin Yuwei's anger could not be quelled, and she wished she could drag Chu Chenyi out and beat him severely.
"Alright, stop being angry. I'll have them send all these things to your manor. I do have a way to make money, are you willing to do it?"
"Willing, willing! As long as I can make money, I'll do anything," she said. She was truly at her wit's end and was going crazy from poverty. She had never worried about money before. Since marrying Chu Chenyi, she worried about money every single day. She didn't want to live like this without money anymore.
"I'm planning to open more branches, and I'm short on funds. Why don't you invest some money and help out? I'll give you twenty percent of the profits each month."
Lin Yuwei's mind began to race. The business in this shop was so booming; twenty percent of the profits was a substantial amount. Money just sitting there wouldn't grow much in decades. Investing in the shop would be different.
Lin Yuwei immediately agreed, "I'm willing. Sister Feng Jin, tell me how much silver I need to invest."
"How much money do you have on hand now?"
"I have about ten thousand taels of usable money. I can go back to Pingyang Marquis Manor and ask for more."
Anyway, it wasn't the first time she had asked her family for money. By the end of each month, she would usually go back for help. Over time, her mother simply had a maid send her some silver each month, saving her the trouble of going back to ask for it.
"I need twenty thousand taels of silver. You should find a way to raise the rest."
"Okay, I'll go right away." Raising ten thousand taels of silver would be easy for her; it was just a matter of opening her mouth at Pingyang Marquis Manor.
After Lin Yuwei left, Cai Qing asked, "Young Madam, we have enough money to open a few more branches. Why did you tell Jing Wangfei that you were short on funds? Besides, the shop made ten thousand taels of profit yesterday. Raising twenty thousand taels of silver will only take a few days."
"You must not mention this to Yuwei. I know she's not having an easy time, and I wanted to help her."
Instantly, Feng Jin's status in Cai Qing's eyes was elevated. The young madam was truly beautiful and kind-hearted.
...
"Why are you here again?" Pingyang Marquis Madam asked with a hint of exasperation when she saw Lin Yuwei. This was the third time this month she had visited so frequently; who could handle that? Pingyang Marquis Madam took a deep breath, clasped Lin Yuwei's hand, and said earnestly, "Yuwei, if you keep coming so often, your father and I will have to spend all our retirement savings on you. For your father and me, please come less often in the future."
Lin Yuwei's lips twitched uncontrollably, her eyes filled with resentment. "Mother, I am your own daughter. How can you treat me like this?"
"Alas! Yuwei, count how many times you've come this month. Every time you come, you leave laden with goods. My money box is almost empty. Your brother is getting married soon; you must leave him some money for his wedding." She was helpless; she really had no money. If this continued, even the Marquis Manor would be in danger.
"Is it that serious? I've only come a few times," Lin Yuwei grumbled in dissatisfaction.
"You should stop coming from now on. As the saying goes, a married daughter is like spilled water. You are already spilled water, and if you keep coming to your mother's house and draining her money, what kind of behavior is that!"
As soon as Pingyang Marquis heard from a servant that Lin Yuwei had arrived, he rushed over without even washing the ink off his hands. This daughter was here to collect her debts. Every time she came, she would skin him before leaving. If this continued, she would empty Pingyang Marquis Manor.
"Father, you've really changed. You never used to be like this. You yourself said that if I ran out of money, I should come to you and not let myself suffer. How long has it been, and you've already gone back on your word!" The words his father had said to her that day were still vivid in her memory, moving her for a long time. How long had it been, and he had already turned his back on her? It was so heartbreaking.
Pingyang Marquis truly regretted his impulsive words back then, which he would regret for life. Who would have thought this girl couldn't be persuaded? He had just said it casually, and she took it seriously, coming over whenever she pleased. Sometimes she was out of money, and other times she needed something. She used to come once a month, but now she came several times a month. This vast Pingyang Marquis Manor was almost being emptied by her.
"My dear daughter, please spare your father and mother. We really can't take it anymore," Pingyang Marquis said, almost begging. He just wanted to get her to leave quickly and not come back.