Shu Yan did not muddle in the matters between Zhang Huaxiu and Chen Fei any more. She had already said all that she could; any more would be excessive.
After all, relationships between people are hard to say. What if they were not happy with each other later on? They might even be upset at her for setting them up. Shu Yan did not want to be too overly involved in something thankless like this.
She didn't go to merchandizing last week so she must go this weekend. Many styles of clothes in her shop were short on sizes. She had contacted the driver a few days ago already. They would be going tonight. Along with her were the two women who had shared a car with her previously. And they've dragged one more with them, making it a total of four of them. Shu Yan shamelessly grabbed the passenger seat.
It was a bit cold to have the window open. If she kept it closed, the smell inside the car was overwhelming for someone who wasn't used to riding in a car. Shu Yan peeled an orange. Shu Yan did eat any herself but gave the carpel to the driver. She covered her nose up with the peel and was able to make it to City Han.
This time Shu Yan asked them and they had declined. So Shu Yan went by herself to get some rest at a motel room. One should be frugal in the right places and spent where necessary. Money should not be an issue when it came to her health.
When Shu Yan returned to the front entrance of the market feeling well spirited and saw the three tired-looking women, she could tell that she was being shunned.
Just because she went to rest in a motel room?
Or that she got a room for herself but didn't invite them to go with?
Shu Yan's lips curled. So they didn't want to pay the price but want to take advantage of her. That wasn't how things worked. So what if she was shunned? It wasn't like they have any sort of relationships with each other outside of merchandizing.
After the crazy fight over the merchandizes, Shu Yan also went over to her few regular shops to get some more. On their way back, the other three women were chatting and laughing out loud occasionally. Shu Yan rolled her eyes and fell asleep again with her nose covered. She slept all the way back to City Nan. When she got out of the car, she scanned over the three in the back seat and thought that they were very childish.
She found a spot in the storage to take a nap and it was already noon when she woke up.
"Boss Lady, a boss by the surname Zhang came looking for you. I told him that you were sleeping and he left." Zhang Huaxiu told Shu Yan nervously when she saw her.
Surnamed Zhang? Shu Yan thought about it for a bit and realized that it was Lao Zhang from the factory.
"Did he say anything else?" Shu Yan didn't have a lot of appetite and just had some soup for lunch.
"He said the clothes are ready and asked when you will be picking them up." Yingying looked at Shu Yan curiously. She was having clothes made?
"Okay, I get it. I will give him a call." Shu Yan had already put in the request to have a phone installed. Except it was not just expensive back then, but there was also a long wait. She made her payment 10 days ago and the phone still hasn't been installed yet.
"Boss Zhang, it's me. I went to merchandizing last night and took a nap today. You should have my employee woke me up. So the clothes are ready?" said Shu Yan politely with a smile.
"Yes, all done." Lao Zhang felt much better. He had worried that Shu Yan would drag it out.
"Okay. Should I come pick them up or will you be delivering them?" It was not Shu Yan's intention to drag it out and try to get a better deal.
"I'll bring them to you." Lao Zhang had someone load the truck up as soon as he got off the phone.
She had only paid the deposit back then and not the remaining balance. Shu Yan understood the situation with Lao Zhang's factory so she paid him right away after she had checked out the merchandizes.
"It's nice working with you, Boss Shu. Just let me know if you need any more work done in the future." Even Lao Zhang's voice was loudly after he received his payment.
After Shu Yan had saw Lao Zhang off, she had Zhang Huaxiu and Yingying brought over the shirts and mix and match them with all sorts of jackets, and other fall outfits and placed them where they were highly visible.
"Focus on these two styles and these fall outfits. Shirts go well with everything and work for women of all age range. They can be worn with cardigans, suits, windbreakers, or jackets. The selling point of these fall outfits are light, well-fitted, and warm. They won't appear too poofy even in the winder time. I think they will be popular among girls who want to look pretty."
Never mind about their customers, even Yingying and Zhang Huaxiu, upon hearing that, were tempted.
Even though City Nan located in the west but their winter was still cold. Girls like to look pretty and don't like wearing wool pants and shiver from being cold all the time. These kind of fall outfits won't make them appear too poofy.
"Would these be too thin though? It will be even colder when it snows." When it's truly cold, wool pants would still be necessary.
"This is the style for early winter. I will try to get my hands on another one with velvet added. That way they will work in deep winter as well." Shu Yan touched the pants. "Set the fall outfit at $38 a set. $35 for the shirt. Make a note on these when you create the invoice, I will give you 2% on commission."
Zhang Huaxiu and Yingying exchanged a look. They could see encouragement in each other's eyes.
That afternoon, many customers who came to shop tried on the shirt after seeing it on the mannequins. Many of those who were here for a jacket would pick one up as well. A few purchased the fall outfit as well. These few were regulars at Shu Yan's shop and were confident in Shu Yan's taste.
"Boss Lady, can these fall outfits truly keep me warm? My mom has been nagging me to put on wool sweaters and pants. They were heavy, prickly, and ugly." The girl's entire body showed how resentful she was toward wool sweater and pants.
Shu Yan chuckled and said. "They will be sufficient for early winter. I will bring in a set with velvet that will even work for snowy days."
"Okay, Boss Lady. Hurry up then. We will for certain be back for them." Each of them bought two sets and even promised that they would refer them to others if they like them.
Even though City Nan located in the west but their winter was still cold. Girls like to look pretty and don't like wearing wool pants and shiver from being cold all the time. These kind of fall outfits won't make them appear too poofy.
After they chitchatted a bit, Shu Yan went to tend to other customers after she finished packing the merchandizes up for them.
The little girl who gave Shu Yan the folk prescription was back too. She bought two more sets of clothes when she saw the new styles along with the shirt and the fall outfit. Then she asked Shu Yan if she had tried the folk prescription yet.
"I have been so busy lately and needed to bring out new styles and take care of my two children so, no, I haven't had the chance to try it out yet. I have almost forgotten all about it until you brought it up again just now. I will try it out tonight." Shu Yan stroked her cheek. She had barely had any good rest since she has arrived at City Nan. And, along with her diet, she had already lost over 20 pounds. She weighted herself a couple of days ago and she now weighted around 140 pounds. It's always easier at the beginning then get harder and hard. But Shu Yan was quite happy at her current weight already. At least she could somehow see her own contours.
She needed to keep working on losing weight, but she also needed to figure something out about her spots. The timing was bad when she came across the folk prescription. She was kicked out by her landlord; she needed to look for a new place; to take care of her two children; and she was busy with her shop, and then it was now.
There were two prescriptions. One of them for internal use and one was a powder. The powder was to be mixed with egg white and applied directly onto the face. She cooked the herbs for over an hour and the entire house smelled like Chinese medicinal herbs. The two kids hide inside their room and refused to come out. The smell of it made Shu Yan wanted to puke. She finally pinched her nose and drank it all down in one go. She immediately rinsed her mouth and had a candy to suppress the taste.
"Mom, what is this?" JingJing pinched her nose and looked at the pot of medicine in horror.
"Chinese herbal medicine." Recalling its taste from earlier, Shu Yan couldn't help but shuddered. "Go back to sleep. Mom will be there soon."
Shu Yan mixed the powder medicine with egg white and apply onto her face. It felt taut on her face. The girl said to keep it on for 30 minutes but Shu Yan couldn't last more than 15. It was even worse when she tried to wash it off. With egg white mixed in, it was stuck to her face like scars and was very difficult to wash off. She spent about half an hour trying to wash it off. Some of it got onto her hair and made it smell like egg and herbal medicine. She had to wash her hair one more time. Shu Yan was ready to give up right about now.
That night, Shu Yan had a slight stomachache and ran to the bathroom a few times. She was a little dispirited the next morning when she got up.
JingJing could see that her mother wasn't feeling well. "Mom, are you sick?"
"I'm fine. Just not feeling too well." She suddenly felt that perhaps she had rushed into it in her desperation. The customer meant well but the folk prescription might not work for her. She should have shown it to an experienced herbalist first.
After she had dropped the kids off, Shu Yan ran back home and headed straight to the bathroom. She was certain she was having diarrhea now. She hadn't ate much the past two days so the problem was definitely with the herbal medicine that she had the night before.
Never mind about heading into the shop, her legs were weak.
She had diarrhea for the entire day and Shu Yan just felt weak. She took some saline water and forced herself to go pick up her kids.
"Oh my gosh! What's happening to you?" Wu Xiuyue was shocked when she saw Shu Yan. "Your face and lips are white. What's wrong?"
"Meh. I had diarrhea all day long," said Shu Yan weakly.
"Diarrhea, huh. You need to be careful wit that. It didn't seem like a big deal but it could be fatal. You should go see a doctor," said Lin Hui as well.
"Let me pick my kids up first." Shu Yan also felt that she probably should go see a doctor.
"Forget about that. I'll pick them up for you and they can have dinner at my place tonight. Take yourself to the hospital. What's going to happen to the kids if you are sick?" Wu Xiuyue didn't agree with Shu Yan's plan.
Shu Yan thought about it for a little while, thanked Wu Xiuyue, and decided to head over to the hospital first.
Luckily the hospital wasn't too far away and she arrived there within a few minutes. If it was any further away, Shu Yan wasn't sure if she wouldn't pass out on her way there. She went straight to the emergency room and told them what had happened. The face of the old doctor who was on staff darkened. "This is ridiculous. You can't just take folk prescription like that."
"I was desperate. Doctor, please give me some medicines, otherwise I'll.... Pardon me, I need to run to the bathroom." Shu Yan quickly ran out of the door, only to come back in a moment later and asked, "Doctor, where is the bathroom?"
"Head left and go all the way to the end."
"Thank you."
After coming back from the bathroom, the doctor dissolved a packet of medicinal powder into water for Shu Yan. "I'll give you some medicines for you to take at home for now. If you don't get any better you will need to come back for IV. You youngsters are too brave. It's stupid to take medicines without knowing what they do."
"I know I am wrong. I've learned my lesson." Shu Yan accepted the criticism from the old doctor.
She did feel better after taking the medicine but the diarrhea was still bad. The next morning, Shu Yan handed her two children over to Wu Xiuyue and headed to the hospital again, bringing the herbs from the prescription with her.
"I feel slightly better but the diarrhea is still pretty bad. Plus, doctor, is there a traditional medicine department in this hospital? I want to show these to them," said Shu Yan with her hand over her stomach.
The old doctor looked at the prescription and the herbs and said, "This prescription is for cooling of your body, getting rid of toxin, and constipation. Normal people who take them will have diarrhea but not as serious as you have it. Give me your hand, let me check your pulse."
"You know tradition medicines?" Shu Yan looked at the old doctor in surprise.
The old doctor casted her a glance and said, "What? You don't believe me? Then you can go to the traditional medicine department."
"No, no. I am just surprised." Shu Yan quickly reached out her hand. Many of the traditional medicine had lost their lineage after that major event and many had switched career paths. It'd make sense that one would become a regular doctor. Perhaps she had ran into a miracle doctor hiding in the city.
The old doctor took her pulse and said, "You body is weak and your nature is cold. Which was why a prescription for cooling your and clearing toxin had such an effect on you. You can't take these medications. The spots on your face has nothing to do with your lower GI. I'll give you a new prescription. Give it a try and come back after one treatment."
Comparing to the folk prescription, Shu Yan had more faith in the doctor, naturally. She picked up 10 sets of medicinal herbs on her way back to give them a try.
She had also shown the doctor the facial mask prescription as well. There was nothing harmful in it, but the doctor still did not recommend her to use it too often.