Long Aotian’s Beautiful Butler Has Run Away chapter 76.2

Part 2

Unless he didn’t buy clothes, or went to the Capital to buy them, he couldn’t bypass this sole clothing shop in Lanyuan if he wanted to buy some simple undergarments and outer robes.

“The butterfly and peony pattern popular in the Capital! A style every noble in the palace has! You truly have an eye! The fabric of our Flowing Red Clothing Shop is the most famous in ten miles and eight villages. Solid material, good weaving, comfortable against the skin!”

Seeing a new customer enter, the shopkeeper naturally began to energetically promote the two rows of garish clothes at the door. While holding them up for Rong Xie to see, he looked Rong Xie up and down with a greasy smile on his face.

“Young Master, are you picking clothes for yourself?”

Rong Xie hesitated. “It is for me to wear, but don’t you have any plainer fabrics here?”

“Plainer fabrics? Yes, of course we do~” The shopkeeper dug out a bright red and a bright green piece from the garish clothes. “Look at these two. These are purely plain. Your skin is fair; you’ll look good in anything!”

Rong Xie looked down, momentarily thinking there was something wrong with his eyes—why would the shopkeeper call two bolts of bright red and bright green fabric “plain”?

“I mean, white, ultramarine, kudzu… do you have fabrics in these colors?” Rong Xie named a few common colors worn by ordinary people. As for harder-to-dye colors like moon white or aqua, Rong Xie didn’t expect the shopkeeper to be able to produce them.

The shopkeeper’s smile froze. “Those are ordinary goods. Of course our shop has them, but they’ve all been reserved.”

“Reserved?” Rong Xie was astonished. He hadn’t expected ordinary fabrics to be more sought-after than the ones the shopkeeper pushed.

“Yes. You know there are several famous noble families from the Capital here. Their servants wear fabrics of these colors. The fabric at our Flowing Red Clothing Shop is the best in the area, so they order clothes for their houseboys and laborers from us. Just like what that old fellow behind you is wearing—”

Rong Xie turned around and indeed saw an Old Servant standing by the door.

He froze. For some reason, he felt something was odd.

This Old Servant looked a bit familiar, yet judging by his face, Rong Xie didn’t recognize him.

When had he started standing there? Why hadn’t Rong Xie noticed at all?

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The Old Servant seemed a bit dazed too, seemingly not expecting the shopkeeper to suddenly point him out. He stared blankly at Rong Xie, gave two dry coughs, and lowered his head, looking cowering and timid.

The familiar feeling in Rong Xie’s heart vanished.

“See, I wasn’t wrong. It’s exactly that color, that style. Produced by our Flowing Red Clothing Shop; I can recognize it,” the shopkeeper laughed. “Young Master, with your elegant air, you aren’t suited to wearing servants’ styles. I advise you to pick one from these high-quality goods. If you don’t like it too red, this rich green one works too. Green complements the skin tone…”

Rong Xie frowned at the glaring green clothes the shopkeeper recommended, about to refuse.

“Cough, cough,” came a raspy cough from behind. The Old Servant mumbled, “Strange. Why doesn’t this old slave know he’s wearing your shop’s fabric? This shopkeeper really knows how to put gold on his own face!”

“Old thing!” The shopkeeper got angry. “What are you mumbling about! Ask your estate’s steward where the clothes on your back came from and who made them. Are these things an old slave like you would know?”

The shopkeeper had originally said it to bluff Rong Xie, assuming the Old Servant wouldn’t dare say anything. He didn’t expect this old thing to be so bold—sneaking into his shop was one thing, but daring to run his mouth and ruin his business!

Unexpectedly, this old fellow didn’t panic at all and kept muttering, “Can you produce the craftsmanship of the Capital’s Clothing Workshop? You really are putting gold on your own face. Although this old slave only knows how to sweep floors and trim branches, I also know that the Master’s household uniforms are regulated and uniformly ordered from the Capital’s Clothing Workshop. Why would they use goods from a wild shop like this?”

“You!” The shopkeeper choked on his anger at the Old Servant, but the Old Servant wasn’t wrong. There were many rich and powerful families in Lanyuan, and the shopkeeper could only get orders from ordinary wealthy families. For those top-tier noble families, they indeed used connections with the Capital’s Clothing Workshop, and he couldn’t touch a drop of that profit.

The shopkeeper suddenly felt apprehensive. Looking at the clothes on the Old Servant again, the material indeed seemed extraordinary…

“Shopkeeper, if you don’t want to do business, fine. Why make things difficult for this Old Uncle?” At this moment, Rong Xie spoke up. He had felt earlier that the shopkeeper’s business attitude was terrible; clearly having plain fabrics but refusing to sell them, just wanting to push more expensive clothes. Seeing Rong Xie wasn’t falling for it, he deliberately disparaged the plain fabric as servant wear. Unexpectedly, this Old Uncle wasn’t someone to be pushed around either and denied it clearly on the spot, causing the shopkeeper to fly into a rage out of humiliation.

Having figured this out, Rong Xie didn’t want to buy clothes here anymore. He took the Old Uncle’s arm and walked toward the exit. “Old Uncle, let’s go. Don’t lower yourself to his level.”

Shen Bingsi had intended to argue a few more sentences with the shopkeeper. It had been a long time since anyone dared speak to him like that. If not for the fact that he couldn’t blow his cover as an Old Servant, he would have gone full force and sprayed the shopkeeper until his own mother wouldn’t recognize him.

Unexpectedly, Rong Xie spoke up for him and actively came over to take his hand. Shen Bingsi’s attention instantly shifted to Rong Xie. He was so happy he didn’t know up from down, so he couldn’t be bothered to continue arguing with the shopkeeper.

Just like that, the two walked out of the clothing shop and onto the street before Rong Xie let go.