"What a melancholy poem."

"Reminds me of the time when my husband was trying to get to know me."

"All the sorrows that I've had are so well encapsulated in it."

The young mistresses began to be in a state of sentimentality.

Their suppressed longings and emotions had found a way to surface through the evocative words of the poem.

However, while the other young mistresses were still submerged in the emotions that the poem evoked in them, young mistress Wong quickly kept the piece of paper and turned towards the entrance of the retail store.

She wanted to get back home as soon as possible.

The poem was handwritten and there was weirdly a signature Lin at the bottom of it.

Usually, for paintings and calligraphies, the artist would use their seal to sign it.

This person had chosen to sign it with his surname.

No matter what, it might become more precious because of this quirk instead.

The piece of paper in her hands would be a treasure if the person who wrote the poem became famous and powerful later on.

"Young mistress Wong, please wait. I'm interested in buying the piece of paper you got." A woman who was in the crowd stepped forward in front of her, stopped her and said.

"No, I'm not interested in selling."

"I would be willing to offer twenty taels of gold for it. I plan to gift it to Lee Zhen Ren for his birthday celebration." The woman said.

Young mistress Wong hesitated for a moment.

She was initially intrigued by the fifty taels of gold, but she made up her mind not to sell it when she heard about gifting it to Lee Zhen Ren.

That's what she would do instead.

She ignored the woman and brushed past her to head for her horse carriage.

The woman stole a glance at Lin Xuan Qi, and he gave her an approving nod.

He had planned for this all along.

The bar of soap was selected with the piece of paper inside to be gifted to young mistress Wong.

And the woman intervening was to let them have a sense of how valuable the poem was by pricing it and giving them the idea that it could be gifted to someone powerful.

No one would want to sell it if they could get into the good books of a cultivator. It was priceless in comparison.

It worked.

The other young mistresses snapped out of their spring dream.

"I want a box of the soap."

"Forget about the testing, give me ten bars of soap!"

"Wait, are you supposed to be able to buy so many of the soap?"

"Who cares, just try to buy as many as you can."

They went into a buying frenzy, even forgoing the trying out stage.

"Calm down. Everyone can buy at most a box of soap and five bars of soap altogether." Lu Ting stood in front of the counter and shouted at the jostling customers.

"You heard that?"

"What are we waiting for?"

"Get me a box and five bars of soap!"

The young mistresses and their servants picked up whatever they could from the display rack, and the staff for the retail store started to get busy.

Lin Xuan Qi, Sima Long and Zhang Jie were all smiles when they saw the commotion.

Everything went according to plan, and it seemed like the soap business would be off to a better start than Lin Xuan Qi had anticipated.

"Well done, brother Lin. I think it's time to prepare the factories to raise their production capacity." Sima Long said with a grin.

"Not yet." Lin Xuan Qi replied to Sima Long's surprise.

He went on and explained his rationale.

"Right now, these young mistresses are buying the scarcity and prestige of the soap.

"It would kill the demand if it were freely available.

"I plan to let the demand pent up and release another batch of soap with a higher price."

Lin Xuan Qi wanted to milk as much as he could in the initial stage.

When it was time, he could come up with a higher quality soap with sesame oil instead of lard.

"Brother Lin, you are such a..." Sima Long wagged his finger at Lin Xuan Qi and said, "...savant for doing business."

He gave out a burst of laughter and patted Lin Xuan Qi on his back.

"You should learn from Master Lin and stop wasting your time in the brothels." Zhang Jie, who was standing beside Sima Long, nudged her husband and said.

"I will. Don't get worked up and affect our child." Sima Long bent down and rubbed her tummy.

"Hmph. You better keep your promise." Zhang Jie said and stomped her feet.

Lin Xuan Qi rolled his eyes at their display of affection.

"Sorry about that." Sima Long stood up, slapped the back of his head, and smiled at him sheepishly.

"I can't tell you enough how grateful I am to you.

"This soap business would help with my status in the Sima Family.

"As someone without a Spiritual Root in a cultivation family, it's the worst thing one could ask for.

"But now with the business, at least I'll be able to contribute to the family...and hopefully earn some respect among the family members."

Zhang Jie nodded her head and held her husband's arm silently.

She went through the hard times with Sima Long and now, it would be different.

All thanks to Lin Xuan Qi.

"It's nothing, we are helping each other after all.

"Without the influence of you, Sima Ye and the Sima Family, it's not possible to run a successful business here.

"Besides, you provided half of the capital and the factories." Lin Xuan Qi said and patted Sima Long on his shoulders.

"Thanks so much for the purchase. Please come again soon."

The staff of the retail store said out loud when each of the customers left the retail store.

By now, the display shelves of the retail store were empty, all boxes and bars of soap that they had were swept clean.

"Please excuse me. I have to take care of my sisters and listen to their bragging about their newly purchased soap." Zhang Jie said and took leave to meet up with all the young mistresses.

She had to get their feedback and make sure of their satisfaction with the soap.

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