Chen Xuan never mentioned buying some lipstick again. She even whispered to Wei Yin, "It's murderous."
Wei Yin smiled, "Lipstick is very expensive. Foreign products usually cost four or five yuan. Our domestic brands are cheaper, at two or three yuan a stick. However, a little lipstick on your lips does look good, especially in spring and winter. The weather in Beijing is very dry. Drinking water every day will make your lips dry and flaky. A little lipstick will make your lips moisturized and not dry at all."
Chen Xuan asked Wei Yin, "How do you know that it will stop working after just a little bit? Ah Yin, have you ever tried this?"
Wei Yin pulled Chen Xuan into his room, and glanced outside. Seeing that no one was outside, he took out a small lipstick from his box. Chen Xuan was almost scared to death. This, this, this is the expensive foreign brand lipstick she saw! Chen Xuan lowered her voice and said, "Oh my god, this is five dollars."
Wei Yin laughed softly, "I bargained and bought it for four dollars and fifty cents."
“That’s expensive too.”
"I've already bought it, sister-in-law, come here, let me try it for you."
Although Chen Xuan felt sorry for the money, she did not object to Wei Yin's request to let her try it. She sat up straight and asked Wei Yin to apply lipstick on her. After applying some lipstick, she took a look at herself in the small round mirror in Wei Yin's room. Chen Xuan pursed her lips and whispered, "Don't say it, this four and a half dollar thing is really moisturizing. After applying it, I feel that my lips are very moisturized. The color is also good, red, and it makes people look more energetic."
"Of course." Wei Yin said, "This is foreign product. If you apply it like this, the color won't fade even if you drink water or eat. It will only fade if you wash with soap."
"No wonder it's so expensive." Chen Xuan kept looking at herself in the mirror.
"You get what you pay for." Wei Yin said to Chen Xuan with a unique consumption concept, "I think I can use this lipstick for a year. Sister-in-law, think about it, although four dollars and fifty cents is a lot, if you spread it out over 360 days a year, one cent is just a little over one cent. Can we be so reluctant to spend one cent a day on ourselves?"
"Don't mention it. Although this thing is small, it saves more money than vanishing cream."
"That's right, the size of your mouth is determined by the size of your face."
Chen Xuan looked at Wei Yin and said enviously, "Yin, your mouth is smaller than mine, you are so lucky." This made Wei Yin laugh non-stop, and even the old lady in the next room heard it. Wei Jin said loudly, "What are you talking about? You keep laughing."
Chen Xuan quickly took a handkerchief to wipe off the lipstick on her mouth, fearing that Wei Jin would suddenly come over and see it. Wei Yin felt very sorry and said to Chen Xuan, "I dare not use it during the day, for fear that my mother and elder sister would know and scold me. I only use it before going to bed at night and wash it off in the morning. However, there will be a little red residue. Second sister-in-law, don't apply it too hard, a little red will also look good."
Chen Xuan looked back at the mirror and felt that her lips would look better if they were a little redder.
However, the sky-high price of four dollars and fifty cents is enough to buy three boxes of vanishing cream!
Chen Xuan was reluctant to spend such a large amount of money on lipstick, so she discussed with Wei Yin about printing the calendar. Wei Yin made the draft, and Wei Nian helped to contact the printing factory. Actually, this printing factory was arranged by Cheng Su. It was the first time to print such a beautiful calendar, so the two of them did not print more than 500 copies.
Wei Yin unexpectedly found a job. Nowadays, most calendar cards are painted in Chinese style. Of course, there are also some Chinese and Western painting styles. Chinese painting style is a bit rustic in this era of worshipping foreign things. Chinese and Western painting styles are not as lifelike as the characters painted by Wei Yin. Just as Chen Xuan said, they look more like real people than those taken by a camera. Cheng Su showed the calendar cards painted by Wei Yin to the editor-in-chief, and the editor-in-chief simply asked Wei Yin to help draw the calendar cards to be published in the newspaper this year.
Wei Yin was still a little unsure, because this job opportunity was brought back by Wei Nian. Wei Yin asked Wei Nian's opinion and also wanted to hear what his father and eldest brother thought. Old Master Wei said, "What do you think?" and asked his two sons for their opinions.
Although Wei Shi usually wears a long gown and a jacket, he is not inflexible. Just seeing that he can fight for his daughter's opportunity to go to school, you can tell that he is not old-fashioned. Wei Shi said, "This job is not bad. Not to mention the salary from the newspaper, at least I don't have to show my face in public, which is elegant."
Wei Nian also said, "If Ah Yin thinks it's okay, then take it. I think the one you drew earlier is pretty good."
Wei Yin said, "I'm just learning to paint. My family owns the hat shop, so it doesn't matter if it's good or bad. I'm not afraid of the newspaper here. There are many people in my class who paint better than me."
"They hired you after seeing the calendar cards you drew. If they didn't work, they wouldn't hire you at all." Wei Nian said, "Well, let me negotiate for you. They pay you quite a bit, fifty dollars. You're a newbie, and if you become famous in the future, you can get more money."
Wei Yin saw that her two brothers said so. Since she started learning to paint, she not only went to class every month, but also painted and learned French every day at home. Maybe it was because she had never been to school before, but a spoiled girl like Wei Yin was not afraid of hard work and worked very hard. Even the painting teacher Lin praised Wei Yin's progress. Of course, it also cost a lot of money. The paper for sketching alone cost more than ten yuan.
That is the Wei family. Old Master Wei has no relatives and no brothers or sisters, so he pays great attention to his children. Therefore, there are people like Wei Jin who can come to her parents' home every day to make money after getting married. As for Wei Yin, since he loves to study, Old Lady Wei just complains about the money spent on paper and paint, but she is not really reluctant to spend it.
Of course, the investment can now be recovered.
When Mrs. Wei heard that she could earn fifty dollars for a few broken paintings, she was moved for days. Even Wei Jin thought to herself after she found out that she should not send her son to that foreign school, but let him learn painting. He could make a lot of money by painting calendar cards in the future!
Wei Yin got a new job, and Sun Yan also got this new assignment because the editor-in-chief of the newspaper had seen the calendar cards that Wei Yin had previously drawn and thought the model in the drawing was good, so he specifically asked Sun Yan to be the model for the newspaper's calendar cards again.
Moreover, the newspaper gave a generous model fee of five dollars. After receiving the money, Sun Yan said to Wei Yin, "Sister Yin, if you come back to me in the future, I won't charge you for painting for your shop."
Wei Yin smiled, "Just give me a cheaper price."
Sun Yan had her own ideas, so she just smiled and said no more.
Naturally, the makeup expenses this time were also paid by the newspaper.
It can be said that the real change in Chen Xuan's consumption concept was due to the influence of Rong Yang.
Although the calendar cards were printed, they could not be distributed to anyone on the street. Chen Xuan planned to give one of these good calendar cards to every customer who came to the store to buy a hat or a sweater. Moreover, Chen Xuan was inspired by the idea of the calendar cards. She not only printed the calendar cards, but also went to the market to buy red paper and brought it home. Every day, she and her uncle used a ruler to cut the red paper. After cutting, Chen Xuan went to the market to find an old man who wrote couplets, negotiated the price, and gave the old man five dollars to ask him to write 300 pieces of blessing characters and 300 couplets. The money for the red paper was not included, but the money for the pens and ink was included.
Of course, whether it is the word "Fu" or the couplet, the name of their hat shop must be written clearly in regular script.
Chen Xuan knew Rong Yang was coming to Beijing, and she met him at Dong'an Market. Ever since she used the foreign lipstick that Wei Yin bought for four or five yuan, Chen Xuan was reluctant to part with it, but she would come over from time to time to take a look. Just like that, she met Rong Yang while walking.
Rong Yang was listening to the store manager talking. When Chen Xuan saw that Rong Yang was busy with business, she wanted to leave quietly. Rong Yang had already seen her and waved at her. The manager immediately stopped talking. Chen Xuan went over and wanted to say hello but was worried about disturbing Rong Yang, so she didn't know what to say for a moment.
Rong Yang pointed to the sofa for entertaining guests and said, "Mrs. Wei, please sit down first."
Chen Xuan sat down, and a waiter brought coffee. Chen Xuan thanked him quietly and took it. Rong Yang continued to listen to the manager talk about the business situation of the store. After about a quarter of an hour, Rong Yang whispered a few words to the manager, and then invited Chen Xuan to go to the room upstairs to talk.
"What a coincidence, I met Mrs. Wei."
"Yes, I didn't expect to meet Mr. Rong."
The manager brought a cup of black tea and a cup of coffee. Rong Yang thought of something and ordered, "Mrs. Wei's coffee should be replaced with milk tea."
Chen Xuan quickly said, "It's okay, it's okay, I drink coffee too."
The manager bowed slightly, put down the black tea, took the coffee away, and quickly replaced it with a cup of hot milk tea, which Fang went down respectfully.
Seeing the manager being so respectful, Chen Xuan sighed, "So the extremely expensive cosmetics here are from your business, Mr. Rong."
"I'm just an agent. Since I'm in Beijing, I came to take a look." Rong Yang asked Chen Xuan, "Is Mrs. Wei here to buy cosmetics?"
"I came to take a look, they're all so expensive." She quickly explained, "I was just saying, they're all really good things, worth the money. But I won't buy them. Mr. Rong, please don't give them to me for free, or I won't be able to talk to you anymore."
Rong Yang understood what Chen Xuan meant, and Rong Yang said, "I haven't asked Mrs. Wei yet, how is the hat shop business?"
"Not so good. Although there is business, the monthly income is not enough to cover the rent, electricity, and wages of the shopkeeper. We have been losing money every month since we opened." Chen Xuan is not the type to take things for free, nor does she like to take advantage of others. However, she thought that Rong Yang was a smart and knowledgeable person, and maybe Rong Yang had an idea that would work in one go. Chen Xuan told Rong Yang, "A Yin and I also put ads in newspapers, but it didn't work very well because we don't have much money and can only put up small ads. But those small ads in the cracks are basically not read by anyone. We just printed some calendar cards for next year, with pictures of beauties wearing my hats and the address of my hat shop. I also asked someone to write 300 Chinese New Year blessing characters and couplets to give to customers who come to our store to buy things. This method is better than the small ads in newspapers, but it won't work immediately. Mr. Rong, you are a hundred times smarter than me. Do you have any good ideas?"
Rong Yang put down the tea in his hand and said, "I have never done the hat business, but Mrs. Wei's business is somewhat similar to the cosmetics business downstairs."
"How is that the same? Mr. Rong's goods here are all high-end foreign goods."
"No, I mean, it's all women's business."
"No, we also sell men's hats in our store."
"But it's still mostly women who buy hats for men, isn't it?"
Chen Xuan finally understood what Rong Yang meant and nodded quickly, "Yes."
"Women's business is the business of aesthetics. For example, the cosmetics store downstairs can be attributed to the business of aesthetics. In Shanghai, women would rather eat candy and vegetables every day to save money and buy a lipstick in the store."
"Why?" Chen Xuan couldn't understand.
"For beauty." Rong Yang commented objectively, "Mrs. Wei, you are such a rational person, which is rare among women. Most women are like what I said. In order to have skin as white as cream and waist as thin as silk, women can diet for a long time and starve themselves to lose weight. Pearl powder and jade cream are not to be mentioned. Women in the past even used mercury, □□, and lead powder. These things are highly toxic if taken in excessive amounts. Thin waists are popular in Europe, and some women have died in order to make their waists thinner. All of this is for beauty."
Chen Xuan was stunned. Rong Yang continued, "Of course, this is an extreme example. Mrs. Wei, please answer a question for me first. If you don't consider the price, do you think cosmetics are good or bad?"
"Of course. I've seen women in beauty salons putting makeup on people. It's amazing. They can make people look very beautiful in just a few strokes. Who doesn't like to be beautiful? I like to be beautiful too."
Rong Yang casually placed his forearm on the armrest of the sofa. After hearing Chen Xuan's direct words, his smile, which was always as gentle as the breeze and the moon, seemed to have something more. Rong Yang said to Chen Xuan, "If Mrs. Wei wants to do women's business, she must first learn to understand women's aesthetics. Beauty is a big subject. If you understand this word, a hat shop is just the beginning."
Chen Xuan frowned and thought for a while, then suddenly picked up the cup of half-warm milk tea that she had not had time to drink, and then raised her head and drank it all in a few gulps. Putting down the exquisite English bone china teacup in her hand, Chen Xuan looked at Rong Yang gratefully, "I should treat Mr. Rong to dinner today, but my heart is thumping now, and I'm not in the mood for that. I'm leaving first, I have to go back and think about what you said, Mr. Rong. I'll treat Mr. Rong to dinner next time!" After speaking, Chen Xuan stood up, bowed solemnly to Rong Yang, and went downstairs.
Rong Yang was a little confused by the bow he had to give Chen Xuan, but luckily Chen Xuan walked away quickly and didn't see it. Rong Yang thought, next time I have to remind Mrs. Wei not to bow to him at a 90-degree angle for no reason, making it like a farewell party.
The author has something to say: ps: The third update is here~~~~~~~~~~~The long review by Angry Matcha Wang, there will still be three updates today, good afternoon everyone~~~~~~Thanks to the mines and rocket launchers at home~~~~
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