Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 491 - 489: Lavish Gifts for a Calligraphic Treasure

"Lady Wang Er, Lady Yu Si, today we have launched a new product at Red Face Smile, are you interested in trying it?"

Lady Wang curiously asked, "Oh, what is this good thing?"

Lady Yu also cast a curious glance at Lin Wanwan, the latter responded calmly, "Let’s go for a facial treatment now. You will know about the new product when the time comes."

The three noble ladies lay on three individual beauty beds, each with their maid waiting outside. Inside, three New Luo Maid trained at Red Face Smile attended to them.

Regarding the skincare procedure, the New Luo Maid acting as attendants at Red Face Smile handled it with ease: first cleaning the skin, then exfoliating and removing blackheads and whiteheads according to the condition, followed by hydrating massage and serum infusion, and finally applying a mask.

Going through the entire process, regardless of the effects, was psychologically satisfying.

Besides today’s beauty procedure, Lin Wanwan had additionally arranged manicure services—yes, this is the new project launched by Red Face Smile this month.

Each manicure costs five hundred coins and lasts a month, available only to high-level members.

Manicures have thousands of years of history in Huaxia.

From around sixteen hundred years before the Common Era during the Shang Dynasty, aristocratic women began to mix gum arabic, gelatin, beeswax, and egg whites to create tinted concoctions and rub them onto their nails for coloring.

In the Great Tang, there was also a manicure method that involved crushing flowers in a small mortar, adding a small amount of alum, then pinching silk cotton into thin sheets matching the nails, soaking in treated flower juice, absorbing the juice, and then covering the nails, dyeing through three to five repetitions.

Such primitive manicure methods were no match for the high-reputation nail polish that Lin Wanwan meticulously selected from the modern era.

In the Great Tang, nail polish was called Kuodan, which sounded more beautiful than the term "nail polish". Lin Wanwan naturally followed suit without changing its name intentionally.

Glass was unified under the term ’liuli’ in Great Tang, so although the glass bottle of nail polish was rare, knowledgeable aristocrats wouldn’t be too surprised.

Lin Wanwan merely replaced the plastic cap of the nail polish bottle with a copper cap, making it elegant enough to carry into Great Tang without attracting much attention.

After all, Lin Wanwan didn’t plan to mass-sell nail polish, which was exclusively for Red Face Smile’s high-level members, produced in small quantities, and was a woman’s beauty product, not likely to draw much attention.

Red Face Smile had become the most desired destination for noble ladies who heard the news around Xiaoxi Town and its vicinity. Every month, a New Luo Maid makeup artist was hired out of the store for make-up services.

The fee for such make-up service was ten guan at Red Face Smile, absolutely a huge sum; hence, unless it was a big day, ordinary noble ladies would hesitate to spend this money.

Lin Wanwan set the make-up service fee so high because she wasn’t interested in expanding the make-up business. Any orders for make-up services beyond Mao County weren’t taken by Red Face Smile.

Yet, despite this, people still came to make appointments every month. Lin Wanwan stated, it truly was easiest to make money off women.

Now the junior members of Red Face Smile had already covered all the noble ladies within a hundred miles radius, and senior members were continually increasing.

There’s nothing that can be done; the quality of rouge and powder available to high-level members in Red Face Smile far exceeded ordinary products on the market. Women, when it comes to this aspect, are always willing to spend as long as they can spare the money.

After all, noble ladies hardly had work to do each day, gatherings naturally led to mutual comparisons. They compared family backgrounds, husbands, sons, and of course, beauty and talent; this was inevitable.

Lady Wang and Lady Yu extended their slender hands to admire the shiny cherry red nails, sighing. According to Lin Wanwan, this nail polish wasn’t for sale, exclusive for high-level members.

Lady Yu was a junior member of Red Face Smile, still reluctant to upgrade to a senior membership.

The ten gold for a high-level membership was somewhat painful for Lady Yu, whose dowry was average, and her husband, being a legitimate younger son, couldn’t inherit the family’s business.

After horseback riding home, Lady Yu opened the parting gift Lin Wanwan gave her, which contained a set of "Time Magic" skincare products (actually a repackaged Helena trio) exclusively for Red Face Smile’s VIP members, valued at six gold; also, a very small glass bottle containing today’s Red Face Smile’s new product — Cherry Kuodan (red nail polish), non-sale.

"Such generosity." Seeing these gifts, Lady Yu couldn’t help but feel her heart race slightly.

Before today, she’d only heard of the names of both the Time Magic skincare products and Cherry Kuodan. They were exclusive beauty products for high-level members at Red Face Smile, with amazing effects, praised by users and envied by those who hadn’t tried them.

Today Lin Wanwan offered such gifts, honestly seeking her great uncle’s calligraphy was genuine.

As they say, "Those who eat others’ food speak sweetly, those who take others’ offerings act wisely."

Lady Yu received such grand gifts and naturally felt obliged not to be dismissive. She immediately went to the study to pen a letter, sending it back to her Yu Yao family home.

After dinner, the Lin Mansion sent another letter to Lady Yu through the back door along with gifts.

The lengthy letter never explicitly mentioned Yu Shinan’s calligraphy, yet every sentence subtly implied information about Yu’s calligraphy.

The gifts’ intent was even more apparent—a crate of oranges hand-grown by the Village Lady of Le’an in her greenhouse was hardly remarkable, for it was the season of orange-yellow and green, and many gentry homes in Mao County cultivated oranges.

However, the gift inside the wooden box was astonishing—a glass-bottled grape wine, accompanied by a set of bi jade luminous cups.

Whether it was the glass bottle containing the wine, the grape wine inside, or the six matching bi jade luminous cups, they were all exceedingly valuable items.

Such grand gifts clearly weren’t meant for Lady Yu, but were intended to be delivered through her to Yu Shinan.

Lady Yu did know.

"Everyone says the Village Lady of Le’an is richer than a nation. Now it seems indeed true," Lady Yu murmured to herself, thinking, to just request a piece of calligraphy, she’s willing to spend so lavishly.

All of Mao County knew the Village Lady of Le’an had a ranger senior disciple appearing and disappearing mysteriously, who sent a vessel laden with gifts from Qiong State and Hai City, covering all sorts of rare and precious items.

Thus, though Lady Yu was momentarily shocked by Lin Wanwan’s generosity, she wasn’t really surprised.

Once a person possesses wealth they can enjoy for a lifetime, they naturally turn their attention to cultural and artistic collectibles, which is a perfectly normal occurrence happening every day—Lady Yu understood.

Looking at the items Lin Wanwan sent, Lady Yu had already determined to get it done, to show Lin Wanwan her capability.