Compared to the hustle and bustle on the first floor of the beauty salon, the second floor is much quieter. Five or six women who look over 50 but still have charm are sitting on comfortable sofas. Some of them are holding a glass of freshly squeezed juice, some are sipping freshly brewed coffee, and some are tasting a high-end tea that is very difficult to buy on the market. On the coffee table between them are various exquisite snacks and fruits.
"I was wondering what Xiulan had been busy with for the past six months. I haven't seen her all day. It turns out that she has quietly opened such a big beauty salon. It's really amazing." A woman with a bun looked at Ling Xiulan with an envious smile, her eyes shining: "It's different when you are a few years younger. If I were to start a business, I would neither have the energy nor the ability to do it."
"My daughter-in-law invested in a beauty salon. She has too much to do and doesn't have time to manage it. I'm idle at home too, so I might as well have something to do." Ling Xiulan looked at her with a cup of fruit tea and smiled: "Look at you, you act like you're much older than me. I'm only two years younger than you. If we go by birthday, it's only a little over a year."
"It's mainly because Ling Lan looks young, much younger than us. Actually, we are basically in the same class." Another one became more interested when he saw Ling Xiulan's smooth skin after the beauty treatment: "Xiu Lan, you said that beauty treatments can really make your skin look like yours."
Ling Xiulan touched her face and smiled, "I only have the condition I have now because I went to the beauty salon regularly in France. Do you remember when I just came back? You said my skin was as soft as a girl's. It's only in the past few years that I haven't had time to maintain my skin. Look at the fine lines at the corners of my eyes. The air in our capital is too dry. Applying skin care products alone is not effective at all."
"Then let's give it a try. We're bored at home anyway. We can come to your place and talk and drink tea." Those who are on par with Ling Xiu Lan's sisters are all wealthy. Their husbands are in high positions and they don't have to worry about their children. They usually go shopping or stay at home. Compared with Ling Xiu Lan, they all lack some energy.
Seeing that everyone was interested, Ling Xiulan smiled and said, "I'll treat you this time and let you have a good experience. If you need makeup or beauty treatments in the future, just come to the store. I took some girls to France for training. I guarantee that your money will be well spent."
"Then let's try it out. If it's as good as you said, not only will we issue you the annual pass you mentioned, we will also help you bring guests." Several people laughed and followed the staff waiting on the side to the locker room.
People who have money to spend on the second floor have some status and reputation, so the dressing rooms are independent. In addition to special wardrobes and sofas, there are also TVs and beds, just like a small living room.
After changing into a bathrobe, the service staff will guide the customers to the essential oil rack on the side to choose the essential oil of their favorite scent. Just drop three drops in the water and the whole bathroom will be filled with a faint fragrance.
The leisure hall on the second floor became quiet. Ling Xiulan ate two pieces of cake and drank the fruit tea in the cup. She closed her eyes and rested for a long time before slowly opening them. She walked to the French window and watched the line of people waiting for beauty treatments downstairs getting longer and longer. She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Being the first to try something new, Ling Xiulan and Zhenzhen took a big risk. Moreover, whether it was rebuilding the beauty salon or purchasing equipment from abroad, Ling Xiulan chose the best. She had invested more than 100,000 yuan before the opening. If the business was not good, although she had her own money to make up for her daughter-in-law's investment, her struggles in the past six months would become a joke. Now, looking at the bustling crowd downstairs, Ling Xiulan had a confident smile on her face. She was right.
Just as I was about to go downstairs to see what was going on on the first floor, the elevator door suddenly opened and the waiter walked in with Chen Xue, an actor whom I often saw on TV.
Ling Xiulan stepped forward and shook hands with a proper smile on her face: "Hello, Ms. Chen, welcome to Yiren Beauty Salon, how can I help you?"
Seeing Ling Xiu's outstanding temperament and the dress that was different from other service staff, Chen Xue smiled and asked, "You are the store manager, right?" Seeing Ling Xiu nodded, Chen Xue immediately stated her needs, "It's like this, I have an important banquet to attend this afternoon, so I need to dress up a little less... well... old-fashioned..." Looking at the blue coat on her body, Chen Xue was a little helpless, "I don't know how to put on makeup except for lipstick, so I'm sorry to bother you this time."
A movie Chen Xue starred in before was well received by many young people, and the clothes she wore on the screen became popular. I didn’t expect that her real-life outfit was so old-fashioned.
But after all, the concept has just changed, and it is normal that some people accept it quickly and some accept it slowly. But Ling Xiu Lan did not expect Chen Xue to take such a big step, jumping from blue clothes, black pants and pigtails to the stage of makeup and styling.
Ling Xiulan still had a decent smile on her face: "I wonder what kind of clothes you prepared? Would it be convenient for me to see?" Chen Xue blushed and handed over the bag in her hand, and said in a low voice: "There is a woolen skirt."
Ling Xiu Lan opened it and saw that the material was indeed good, but it looked like it was made in the past. It was so big and fat that it could fit into a sweater.
Ling Xiulan folded the clothes and asked tentatively: "This skirt doesn't look like it fits me. If Ms. Chen doesn't mind, you can also take a look at the various evening dresses we have prepared for customers in our store."
"Can you guys pick out clothes here?" Chen Xue looked around in surprise, thinking there was a clothing store or something like that. Ling Xiulan took her to the beauty room. As soon as she entered the door, there was a shoe rack that stretched from floor to ceiling. Pairs of exquisite shoes were placed on it. Under the light, they shone like Cinderella's crystal shoes. Next to the shoe rack was the world of handbags. Dozens of beautifully shaped handbags were placed in a grid in an orderly manner. Although Chen Xue didn't recognize the brands on them, she knew they were not cheap just by looking at the workmanship.
Seeing so many shoes and bags was already shocking. When Chen Xue saw the rows of beautifully tailored clothes hanging at the innermost part, she didn't know what expression to make.
These clothes were all selected by Ling Xiu Lan one by one. It can be said that she is familiar with each one of them. Although Chen Xue did not say much about the banquet, Ling Xiu Lan felt that it must be extraordinary to let an actor who dressed simply to style the clothes, so she recommended more formal little dresses.
Chen Xue was a little afraid to reach out for the beautiful clothes she saw. Ling Xiulan simply picked out three that best suited her according to her figure and asked directly, "Which one do you like?"
Chen Xue's eyes skipped the black and white dresses and fell on the bright red dress. Ling Xiulan handed the dress to the service staff. About ten minutes later, Chen Xue, wearing the red dress, walked out of the fitting room. She looked down at the hem of her dress with some uneasiness, and touched her exposed arm, seeming to be a little worried.
Ling Xiu Lan walked to Chen Xue and looked at her in the mirror: "If you are not used to showing your arms, I can help you with a coat." Chen Xue nodded immediately, and the waiter put the prepared coat on her. Chen Xue breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her arms were covered.
Ling Xiulan smiled and asked, "Is it convenient to untie the braid?"
Chen Xue nodded and untied her braids. Ling Xiulan used her hands instead of a comb to gather her hair together, and then helped her let it fall on her shoulders. The big wavy hair matched the red skirt. Chen Xue realized for the first time that she could be so dazzling.
"Can I wear this?" Chen Xue looked at herself in the mirror, her face flushed.
"Of course." Ling Xiulan smiled: "Look how beautiful it is!"
"Yes, it's very beautiful." Women dress to please themselves, and Chen Xue was also attracted by herself in the mirror. She turned her head and smiled sweetly at Ling Xiulan: "How much is this dress?"
Ling Xiulan smiled and quoted a price that made Chen Xue dumbfounded. It was obvious that Chen Xue was not very familiar with the brand. Ling Xiulan first briefly introduced the brand, and then said: "This is this year's limited edition new model. Not only in China, but also in the world, there are only a few pieces. This dress is mainly red in color, and the style is slightly conservative. It is more suitable for the Chinese people, so I bought it immediately when I saw it."
Chen Xue looked at herself in the mirror, and her love of beauty finally prevailed: "Then choose this dress."
The service staff smiled and led Chen Xue into the dressing room. After a set of processes such as bathing, skin care, makeup and hairstyling, Chen Xue could no longer recognize herself standing in front of the mirror. If she was an ugly gray duckling before coming in, she has now transformed into a beautiful white swan.
Ling Xiulan stood by and looked at Chen Xue, smiling and asked, "Ms. Chen, are you satisfied with your makeup? Is there anything that needs to be modified?"
Chen Xue came back to her senses, but her eyes were still reluctant to leave the mirror. She just nodded slightly: "I am very satisfied." She looked down at the high heels on her feet, tried to walk a few more laps in the room, and when she got used to the feeling under her feet, she felt a little worried again. This place was not far from the Imperial Capital Hotel, but Chen Xue was worried that dust would be blown onto her face when she walked over, as she was dressed so beautifully and had put on makeup. After all, it was spring, and the wind was strong and there was a lot of dust.
Seeing Chen Xue's concerns, Ling Xiulan smiled and said, "I don't know where Ms. Chen is attending the banquet. If it's inconvenient to go there, our beauty salon can provide a car service. In addition, your changed clothes and backpack can be temporarily stored in our locker. You just need to come and pick them up within three days. Or our service staff can deliver them to your home."
Chen Xue was overjoyed and said quickly, "Just put it here. I'll come get it tomorrow." The service staff immediately brought a brand new clothing bag and neatly stacked the clothes in it in front of Chen Xue. After Chen Xue took out a thick stack of money from her bag to pay for this expensive purchase, she went down the elevator with her brand new handbag and exquisite high heels.
The elevator door opened, and the people in the waiting area looked up at the same time. Facing the gazes from all directions, Chen Xue became nervous again, and subconsciously reached out to pull the skirt beside her legs, but as soon as she leaned over, Ling Xiulan grabbed her hand. Turning her head to look at Ling Xiulan's graceful and generous attitude, Chen Xue took a deep breath, raised her head and chest and kept smiling.
"Is this Chen Xue?" Someone finally recognized her. "Wow, she's even prettier in person than on TV. Isn't her hairstyle so beautiful?"
"The skirt is also beautiful. The red color is really nice. It must be made of satin. It looks very smooth."
"This hairstyle is really nice. I originally wanted to get a cauliflower perm this time, but now I've decided to get the same as Chen Xue's."
"Me too. When the weather gets warmer I'll buy a bright red skirt. It will definitely be fashionable."
More and more compliments made Chen Xue's smile more and more confident. She turned her head to look at Ling Xiulan and said sincerely, "Sister Ling, thank you."
"You're welcome. Come over next time when you're free." After Ling Xiulan sent Chen Xue away, before she could even get upstairs, a woman in her fifties grabbed her hand and said, "I was queuing outside when Chen Xue came. She looked like two different people now. Do you think I can look good if you guys tidy me up when I get upstairs?"
Ling Xiulan smiled: "We also have dresses suitable for your age, but the services above are more expensive."
"It doesn't matter if it's expensive. I've got the money. To be honest, this is my first meeting with my in-laws tonight. They're from Shanghai and just came back from overseas a few years ago. My son said that they were dressed in an old-fashioned way, so I have to sell them to them. I can't embarrass the people of the capital." She took Ling Xiulan's hand and walked towards the elevator: "Just help me with the business. My son has made a lot of money in the past few years selling electrical appliances."
Ling Xiulan looked at her with a smile on her face, and only whispered after the elevator door closed, "Sister, our upstairs is really expensive. If you want a whole set like Chen Xue, it will cost 1,800 yuan."
"That's not cheap." The aunt was a little hesitant, but when the elevator door opened and she saw the environment inside, she gritted her teeth and followed in: "People already look down on my son because he is a self-employed person. If I dress sloppily, it won't work. Just dress me up like Chen Xue did. I can't let my son's marriage fail because of me."
Ling Xiulan smiled: "Then come with me to choose clothes!"
*****
A year passed in a flash. Several designers of the garment factory finally made a name for themselves. The sales of their new clothes were very good, catching up with the celebrity-themed clothes. The beauty salon was even better. It was crowded every day since its opening a year ago. Although the cheapest beauty treatment cost ten yuan, it still couldn't stop people from the capital. Just like Ling Xiu Lan said, going to Yiren Beauty Salon has become a fashion and a trend, and it is an honorable thing to tell others about it.
Many young people from provinces and cities near the imperial capital also come here to visit. If you come to the imperial capital for your honeymoon, getting a beauty treatment at Yiren Beauty Salon has become a must. Otherwise, when you go home and talk about it, people will say that you have made a wasted trip to the imperial capital.
After the garment factory and the beauty salon were on track, Zhenzhen's mind was on work. Mrs. Li saw that she had been married for more than a year and her belly was still not moving, so she couldn't help but urge her again. Zhenzhen still smiled and told her: "Don't worry, it's still early."
Just when Mrs. Li was about to talk to Xi Junjie and ask him to do some ideological work on Zhenzhen, Xi Junjie received a work notice to work in France for three years. Zhenzhen immediately submitted an application to the China News Agency and took the initiative to apply to work in the French office.
The agency took Li Mingzhen's actual situation into consideration, and her work performance into consideration, and quickly approved her application for overseas posting. When Mrs. Li heard that Xi Junjie was going abroad for three years, she couldn't help but worry about what the couple would do if they were separated for so long. But after Zhenzhen's application was approved, Mrs. Li felt reluctant to let her go, because Zhenzhen had never left her side since she was born.
Zhenzhen was also worried about Old Lady Li, so she discussed with Mingdong, Mingxi, and Mingbei, and decided that the three brothers would take turns to live in the courtyard every month to accompany Old Lady Li and their parents. In order to let Old Lady Li adapt in advance, Mingdong's family moved in first.
Zhen Zhen saw that Old Lady Li was unhappy, so she held her hand and coaxed her: "Three years will pass quickly. I will call you once a week. I promise that when I come back from France, I will give you a beautiful great-granddaughter."
Old Mrs. Li sighed again when she heard this: "You said your brothers all have two or three children each, but you have family planning, and you only have one. You'll be so lonely."
Zhen Zhen gritted her teeth and said, "When I come back, I promise to give birth to twins, a boy and a girl."
"Really?" Old Lady Li squinted at her and said, "You can't fool me about this."
"Really!" Zhen Zhen patted her chest and said, "I promise."
The people around them were laughing at the conversation between the grandparents and grandchildren. Mingxi couldn't help but interrupt and said with a smile: "It's not guaranteed that you'll have twins. This is all hereditary. There's no precedent of twins in my family, and neither is Junjie's family. I think this is a very unlikely thing."
Old Lady Li was not happy. She stretched out her walking stick and hit Mingxi with it: "Shut up, you know nothing!"
Mingdong pinched Mingxi from behind and quickly agreed, "Grandma is right. Mingxi is a scientist. He doesn't know anything and just talks nonsense. Zhenzhen, when you and Junjie come back from France, work hard and try to have twins in one try."
Others made jokes and the sadness of parting dissipated a lot. When Zhenzhen left, Grandma Li was still smiling. Mingxi and Mingbei were afraid that Grandma Li would feel uncomfortable, so they didn't dare to leave. They volunteered to play mahjong and sing opera with Grandma Li. Although Grandma Li was depressed, she felt that her life was complete when she saw her grandchildren and great-grandchildren crowded in front of her to make her happy.
*****
After getting off the plane, Xi Junjie took Zhenzhen to an agency to pick up the keys, and then went directly to the Xi family's apartment in Paris. Because Xi Changbo had already leaked the news of the overseas assignment, after the tenant's contract expired, Xi Junjie did not renew the contract with the agency and took it back early.
Pushing open the door, Zhenzhen looked at the furnishings inside curiously. Because the house had been rented out for a long time and had been used for a long time, the sofa and dining table in the house were a little old. But fortunately, the previous tenants who lived in this house were relatively clean, so the house was tidy and there was no trace of oil smoke in the kitchen.
The couple cleaned the house again. Zhenzhen quickly put the bedding and pillows into the space while Xi Junjie was taking a shower, and took out a new set to spread them out. The sofa and dining table were fine, but Zhenzhen couldn't get over the hurdle of sleeping on bedding that had been used by others.
Zhenzhen spread out the sheets and pillowcases she brought with her, without taking the time to admire her new home, and quickly updated the map in her mind. This time she applied to come to France, one was to gain work experience, and the other was to buy back as many Chinese cultural relics as possible before they were sold at sky-high prices.
When the Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens was destroyed by the British and French allied forces, many of China's cultural relics and treasures were blown across the sea. Some ended up in museums, and many more ended up in the hands of private collectors. Zhenzhen was quite confident about getting the treasures. She would buy what she could and exchange what she couldn't. Anyway, according to Zhenzhen's observation, there were many treasures in the land and sea of France.
Zhenzhen went to the study, opened a notebook, and wrote down the more important and precious cultural relics that she saw in her mind. When Xi Junjie came to find her after taking a shower, Zhenzhen had already filled ten sheets of paper.
"What are you writing?" Xi Junjie leaned over curiously: "Qianlong's jade seal, the bronze statues of the animals from the Old Summer Palace... What are you writing about?"
"I'm going to buy some cultural relics." Zhenzhen smiled: "You know I like to collect these things."
It was not until after they got married that Xi Junjie found out that Zhenzhen actually had a room full of collections. Although he did not recognize those cultural relics very well, he saw that Mr. Xu Mengguo always came to the house to see the collections and would stay there for the whole day without wanting to come out, so he knew that there were many precious cultural relics in it.
Xi Junjie has always been supportive of Zhenzhen's hobbies. It's just about spending money, and neither of them is short of money anyway. Xi Junjie held Zhenzhen in his arms and kissed her on the lips affectionately: "Go take a shower, I'll take you to eat something delicious."
"What about after eating delicious food?" Zhenzhen looked at him with shining eyes.
Xi Junjie thought about it and smiled again: "Then I will hand over all my financial accounts to you, and I will wait for you to give me pocket money in the future."
"Don't you feel bad about handing over all your secret treasury?" Zhenzhen smiled and tapped Xi Junjie's chest with her finger.
As early as when he was in the imperial capital, Xi Junjie truthfully reported his assets in France to Zhenzhen. Although it was not as much as Zhenzhen's wealth, it was still a considerable fortune.
Looking at Zhenzhen's nervous expression, Xi Junjie smiled: "You are all in my heart, why should I worry about money?"
"Slippery tongue." Zhen Zhen stood up from Xi Junjie's body and said seriously, "After dinner, don't bother with your account. Accompany me to buy a bottle of 1982 Lafite." Seeing Xi Junjie's bewildered look, Zhen Zhen waved her hand domineeringly, "Let's buy it all for him!"
The author has something to say: Because I don’t like Western plots very much, I will finish writing about one or two chapters and jump back to China.
Update first, then come back to catch bugs!