Chapter 234: Official Opening
In the modern world, Lu’an Village.
Xingxia Manor was officially open for business.
At ten past eight, guests began to arrive one after another.
Down the mountain, the elderly villagers of Lu’an Village were busily working all over the area, dressed in various traditional attire and rustic Hanfu.
In a small patch of recently cleared farmland, an old farmer wearing a straw hat was turning the soil with a hoe over his shoulder. From time to time, he would bend down, unearth pebbles and tree roots from the soil, and toss them to the side.
The old farmer’s face was etched with deep wrinkles, and sweat trickled down. In every lift of his hand and shift of his step, he was the absolute spitting image of a destitute, struggling ancient peasant.
Nearby, two young village sisters-in-law, dressed in peasant women’s clothing with headscarves wrapped around their hair and sleeves rolled high, were laundering clothes by the well.
They used wooden laundry paddles and wild soap pods. The natural white lather whipped up by the soap pods washed through the blue-stone channels with the current, creating an atmosphere that felt thoroughly steeped in the rhythm of daily life.
An auntie carrying a basket walked past, a beaming smile on her face. “Dear guests, are you heading toward Xingxia Manor? Just keep going straight ahead.”
“If you’re thirsty, there is free tea right here. Please, help yourselves.”
There were also young children dressed in delicate, rosy pastel clothes, chasing butterflies all around with little net pouches fashioned from bamboo poles.
Even the big yellow dog running to and fro alongside the children wore a small cloth vest with the character An [Peace] stitched onto it.
One look, and it was plainly obvious this dog belonged to Lu’an Village.
A flock of geese held their heads high, swaggering directly through the crowd of tourists while emitting loud honk, honk, honks, before following the ditch and paddling out into the lake.
The arriving tourists watched the spectacle with absolute fascination, only snapping out of it when the drivers behind them began honking their horns. “Oh my, I was completely mesmerized!”
They hurriedly stepped on the gas to continue driving forward.
The tourists inside the car were brimming with excitement. “Lu’an Village did an excellent job with this immersive, ancient-style agritainment. We haven’t even entered the manor yet, and the atmosphere is already there.”
When the car rolled up to the gate barrier, Ah Feng was already waiting at his post.
“Welcome, dear guests, welcome!”
The gate barrier swung open, and the guests drove inside. They parked their vehicles according to Ah Feng’s directions and proceeded into the courtyard on foot.
Among the tourists were some who had visited during the trial run and had recommended the place to their friends this time.
The moment they stepped into the courtyard, they were pleasantly surprised. “Oh? The layout changed? I must say, it has even more of that authentic flavor now!”
Having been meticulously arranged by the Scholar’s clever hands, the courtyard appeared significantly more rustic, elegant, and timeless.
Even if it wasn’t quite a spectacular sight at every single turn, every cluster of tables and chairs formed its own distinct vignette—some were embraced by a bounty of blossoming flowers, some lay cradled beneath dancing tree shadows, some caught a gentle, unceasing breeze, and some were bursting with life amid flocks of chickens and ducks…
The tourists quickly began to explore and admire the scenery, pulling out their phones to snap photos non-stop.
At the front desk, Lin Sanniang had just completed the check-in procedures for two overnight guests, handing over the bronze keys attached to wooden tags.
Shaoyin stood right beside her, observing and learning with rapt attention.
Unwilling to show her face to the public, Ruan Xiang stayed behind with Auntie Pang, busying herself inside the kitchen.
Tao Ya bustled back and forth between the kitchen, the front hall, and the courtyard, serving dishes to the guests who had purchased breakfast.
Da Hei and Shang Yue were working a couple of kilometers away at the base of the mountain, continuing to clear land for farming and crafting bamboo cottages.
As for the owner of Xingxia Manor, Jian Xingxia, she was happily enjoying her leisure, wandering about wherever she pleased.
Now that she had a larger staff, the boss could finally take her hands off the wheel!
She had no idea what Shaoyin and Ruan Xiang had discussed during the night, but when Jian Xingxia woke up this morning, the two poor souls who had been standing on the precipice of death the previous day had both awarded her exceptionally high scores.
Temporary worker slots +2.
Furthermore, she didn’t know what Shang Yue had done after taking the seeds and farming tools back last time, but the number of people on the Longevity Plaque had increased once again, breaking past 500.
Previously, she had been granted three reward slots, and this time, she received another two.
Cackling with delight, Jian Xingxia had summoned everyone over.
Regular employees: Lin Sanniang, Auntie Pang.
Temporary workers: Tao Ya, Ah Feng, Shaoyin, Ruan Xiang, Da Hei, Shang Yue.
Although she hadn’t secured the rewards for more regular employees yet, Jian Xingxia was already highly content with the increased slots for temporary workers.
Her biggest problem right now was the urgent need to earn money.
Once her personnel reached a professional expert level, their wages were far from cheap; after a six-hour shift, it cost over a hundred yuan per person a day.
Hiring several of them at once was making Jian Xingxia’s wallet buckle slightly under the strain.
Therefore, for this official opening, Jian Xingxia decisively launched a new branch of business.
First and foremost was the custom ancient garments service.
The leaf-green, wanderer-style outfit Tao Ya wore had received widespread acclaim, so Jian Xingxia launched the custom clothing line directly.
Today, Tao Ya was wearing it, and several guests who spotted her loved it immensely, dragging her over one after another to take photos.
Holding a food platter in her hands, Tao Ya’s bewildered and somewhat bashful expression made people find her all the more adorable.
The guests asked, “Are you a scenic area NPC? Do we have to pay money to take photos with you?”
Tao Ya shook her head hurriedly. The peach-shaped little bells hanging from the two small buns on her hair chimed merrily.
The little peach hair accessories were something the young Manor Owner had bought specifically for her.
Terrified that the guests might forcibly shove money onto her like last time, Tao Ya hurriedly fled with her food platter the moment the photo was snapped.
Leaving Jian Xingxia behind, she offered a bright, alluring smile to entice the guests: “If you like it, dear guests, you can purchase one, or even have a set custom-made. Our manor has tailors and embroiderers who can craft garments tailored to your specific measurements and preferences.”
The guests were pleasantly surprised. “Really? Custom-made?”
Jian Xingxia nodded and smiled. “Yes, you can choose from our ready-to-wear selection, or have one custom-made.”
Jian Xingxia explained, “The ready-to-wear items are divided into small, medium, and large sizes, produced in batches, and can be purchased directly.”
“The custom orders can be tailored precisely to a guest’s build and tastes, though the production cycle takes a bit longer, as our work is primarily measured and crafted entirely by hand.”
“The price is also a bit higher, but we can guarantee that the textiles are the most comfortable natural fabrics—cotton, hemp, silk… absolutely no polyester fibers.”
Jian Xingxia estimated, “One piece per guest, tailored within a reasonable scope to match the guest’s specifications.”
A portion of the guests visiting Xingxia Manor were ancient costume enthusiasts to begin with, drawn here precisely for the immersive historical agritainment experience.
Hearing this description, they were absolutely enchanted.
A long production cycle? A premium price? 100% natural fabrics and purely handmade?
Heavens! Those weren’t drawbacks at all; those were massive selling points!
This was exactly the purely handcrafted ancient attire of their dreams!
A guest immediately inquired about the price. Jian Xingxia hardened her heart. “Five hundred and eighty-eight yuan a set.”
“How much?” the guest asked in shock.
Jian Xingxia’s confidence wavered a bit. “Five hundred and eighty… eight…”
Her voice grew quieter and quieter as she spoke.
Had she set the price too high?
According to Sanniang, she had spent a good seven or eight days stitching together that outfit Tao Ya wore out of fabric scraps.
Although that was partly because the fabric pieces were too small, making clothes was undeniably time-consuming labor.
Jian Xingxia ran the numbers. If she calculated it based on a skilled laborer like Lin Sanniang taking seven or eight days for a production cycle, five hundred and eighty-eight yuan wasn’t actually that expensive.
She had to pay out wages too, after all!
As it turned out, the guest asked directly, “Ah, I wasn’t asking about the ready-to-wear price; I meant the price for a custom-made order.”
Huh?
Jian Xingxia maintained an unruffled expression while her brain began to spin frantically.
To her, a single outfit costing over five hundred yuan was already considered extremely expensive. Back during her university days, she would buy summer T-shirts for thirty yuan apiece and only dared to buy winter cotton jackets if they were around a hundred yuan.
She truly wasn’t very familiar with custom-tailoring prices. Judging by the guest’s reaction, it seemed the figure she had targeted was far too low.
Jian Xingxia immediately let her inner profiteer take the reins, stating smoothly, “Custom orders vary based on the guest’s build and specific requirements. For standard historical styles and fabrics, the price ranges between 888 and 1688 yuan, with premium silk priced separately.”
She had made up her mind. Rather than being honest yet tightly constrained—unable to even recruit more people—she might as well adapt to the market and be a black-hearted capitalist. That way, she could earn more money, develop the manor faster, and recruit a larger workforce.
Having delivered her quote, Jian Xingxia pursed her lips, waiting for the backlash.
Instead, a look of pure delight flared across the guests’ faces. “Really? A custom order is only eight hundred or so? And we can choose the fabrics and make requests ourselves?”
“Heavens! That is far too a great deal!”
Jian Xingxia: ???
Since that was the case—
She immediately asked, “Then would you ladies like to order one?”
Two of the tourists nodded decisively. “Yes!”
