A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

Chen Yang was awakened by Chen Xiufen's screams. He picked up the oil lamp and pushed open the door. In the courtyard, he saw Chen Xiufen lying on the ground, her head and face covered in white paste. She was wailing and wiping her face with the back of her hand, but the more she rubbed, the more paste it became.

"You're climbing over someone's wall in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?" Chen Yang stood on the porch without moving.

My eyes—

"I'm asking you a question."

"It hurts—help me first—"

Chen Yang placed the oil lamp on the threshold, sighed, and pulled the person up from the ground, carrying her into the house. He scooped up half a basin of cold water and pressed her head into it to rinse it.

When the saltpeter solution came into contact with clear water, Chen Xiufen trembled all over in pain, her fingernails digging into Chen Yang's arm.

"Bear with it." Chen Yang's voice wasn't loud, but it left no room for negotiation. "If you go blind, I'll be the only one left doing all the work in this house. Think about whether it's worth it."

Chen Xiufen couldn't even cry anymore.

After rinsing for almost half an hour, I was finally able to open my eyes a crack. I'm not blind, but they're congested and swollen; I'll probably need to rest for half a month.

Chen Yang draped a damp cloth over her face, then turned and left the house. Outside the gate, the courtyard of the main house was quiet, without any lights on.

June 5th, evening.

On the low table in the workshop, four items were lined up in a row.

Ten boxes of face cream, in small white porcelain jars, about the size of a palm.

I have ten lip rouges, several of each in bright red, red bean paste, and orange pink.

Ten bottles of rose perfume, in small ceramic jars about the thickness of a finger, sealed with corks and tied with a short red string.

Ten boxes of face powder, made with the finest rice flour as a base, mixed with pearl powder and floral dew, were placed in shallow round dishes and accompanied by powder puffs.

Wang Jinzhu checked each one one by one, opening the lid to smell it, trying it out by hand, and examining its color under the oil lamp.

"Passed."

Chen Tianwei stood to the side, her fingers unconsciously touching her face—she had been using the face cream for the past two days, and it had indeed made her skin noticeably whiter.

Just after 7 a.m. on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, a chestnut horse stopped at the gate. A servant boy of about sixteen or seventeen years old dismounted, clean and neat, with a Liu family nameplate hanging from his waist.

"Madam Wang, my young master sent me to collect some things."

Wang Jinzhu handed the four wooden boxes onto the vehicle. The boxes were made by Chen Tianfang overnight, with a base of cedar wood, lined with dry straw for shock absorption, and tightly bound with coarse hemp cloth on the outside.

"Tell your son that when using lipstick for the first time, test the color on the back of his hand first, don't apply it directly to his lips. The orange-pink one is a lighter color, suitable for younger girls. The true red is more sophisticated and suitable for older women."

The servant noted everything down and rode away.

Wang Jinzhu stood at the village entrance watching the carriage drive away, the wind blowing the stray hairs at her temples.

Chen Tianfang, carrying a hoe, walked by and stopped. "What are you thinking about?"

"I wonder what expression Young Master Liu will have when he sees that lip rouge."

What kind of expression is that?

"So shocked he couldn't close his mouth."

She guessed half right.

When Liu Mingyuan received the item, he didn't open his mouth, but his hand did stop moving.

He twisted open the bright red lipstick, watching the lipstick rise in sections, then spiral back down, and shrink back down. He did this seven or eight times.

"interesting."

The maid beside him peeked out and her eyes almost glued to it.

Liu Mingyuan closed the four boxes and gave the order: "At the flower-viewing banquet on the eighth, send these items to my aunt and cousin. Keep two portions each of the face cream and face powder for my mother."

On the eighth day of the sixth lunar month, a flower-viewing banquet was held at the Liu residence.

Liu Mingyuan couldn't stay long on such an occasion, and the news was brought back by his servant afterwards.

It's said that when Aunt Liu appeared wearing that bright red lipstick, all the ladies in the garden chased after her, asking where she bought it. My cousin wore an orange-pink lipstick with a pale yellow dress and was praised for the entire afternoon. The rose-scented balm was even divided up on the spot by several officials' wives, leaving not even the bottle behind.

Two of the ladies were business associates of the Liu family, and the eldest aunt couldn't refuse, so she immediately agreed: "Whenever they release a new product, I'll send you the first batch."

On the tenth day of the sixth month, the servant came again.

This time, I brought a letter and a purse.

The letter was written by Liu Mingyuan himself, with elegant handwriting:

"To Madam Wang: The gifts presented at the banquet on the eighth day were highly praised. The lip rouge, in particular, received much praise, with many elders in the family inquiring about it. Therefore, I kindly request that thirty more of each item be made. Enclosed is a deposit of one hundred taels. Further details regarding cooperation can be discussed in person at a later date. I am currently preoccupied with important matters and have had to send this message temporarily. I apologize for any rudeness. — Liu Mingyuan"

One hundred taels.

Wang Jinzhu opened the cloth bag and took a look. Ten 10-tael silver ingots were neatly stacked.

She remained outwardly calm, but in her mind she was already calculating the costs—materials, labor, packaging; thirty sets would cost approximately twenty taels of silver. However, the profit from this batch wasn't the main concern; the focus was on future cooperation.

"Please thank Young Master Liu for me. This batch of goods will definitely be completed on time and to a high standard."

The servant smiled and agreed, then mounted his horse and rode away.

Chen Tianfang came out of the backyard, his hands still covered in sawdust.

"How many?"

"One hundred taels as deposit."

Chen Tian let go and gave it a jolt, and the plane almost flew out of his hand.

"One...one hundred taels?"

"Hmm. Thirty portions of each of the four items, twenty days to complete." Wang Jinzhu put the silver into the cabinet and locked it, then turned to look at the yard. "This space isn't enough."

The workshop was just one room, with distillation, grinding, and packaging all crammed together, making it difficult to even turn around. To make thirty sets, just drying the perfume would take up an entire table.

"We need to build a house. We also need to set up a separate workshop."

Chen Tianfang nodded: "Where should it be covered?"

"That vacant lot at the east end of the village, next to the stream, is convenient for getting water. We need to buy the land first." Wang Jinzhu thought for a moment, took out fifteen taels of silver from the cabinet, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and said, "Let Master handle this."

Chen Tianfang was taken aback: "You want me to go?"

"Let him talk to the village chief, get the land purchase permit, and run errands. He's more suited to handle these things than we are; the village chief is of his generation, so it's easier for him to talk to him."

That afternoon, Old Man Chen took the silver to the village chief's house.

That very evening, the whole village knew.

It wasn't the village chief who said it; it was Old Chen himself.

He came out of the village chief's house and passed by the well where he met three old men who were cooling off. He stopped and started chatting.

"My eldest granddaughter-in-law is going to build a workshop to make cosmetics, and the wealthy families in the prefectural city have all placed orders."

How big is the workshop?

"At least three rooms, plus a courtyard, specifically for business."

"Wow, that must have cost a lot of money!"

Old Chen straightened his back: "Don't worry about the money."

From the well to the village entrance, a mere two hundred steps, it took him almost half an hour to walk. He stopped whenever he met someone and constantly greeted them.

"Old Chen, when the family divided up, didn't everyone say you were stupid? What future could you have following the eldest son's family?" someone joked.

Old Chen chuckled twice, put his hands behind his back, and raised his chin slightly, in the same posture as his second grandson Chen Shuyan on the day he passed the imperial examination.

The only difference is that Chen Shuyan judges people by their noses, while he judges people by their smile lines.