Another group consisted of the "Inner Qualities" team, represented by Uncle Ding, Tong Tie, Jin, Mu, Shui, and Tu.
Although deemed not beautiful enough by Madam, they were praised for their understated luxury and inner depth. Consequently, far from feeling disappointed, each of them felt proud and satisfied.
For men, what use was beauty? It couldn't be eaten or drunk, so understated luxury and inner depth were far superior.
The Inner Qualities team also wore matching blue outfits, with "Red Powder Beauty" embroidered on them. They set up a stall with a canopy at the junction of the shop and the street.
Their tasks were more intricate: distributing flyers, offering free tea to customers, guiding directions, guarding carriages, and so on. In essence, they approached and assisted customers whenever a need arose.
The women of the household, except for Lu Huo, were all inside the shop attending to customers.
Lu Huo carried four extremely excited little ones. With adequate nutrition and full meals every day over the past year, her height had suddenly shot up to two meters.
Being tall and strong, she stood out by a head over everyone else at the entrance. Bai Sheng had her hold a Bai Sheng brand megaphone for public announcements.
"Esteemed ladies and misses, welcome to the Red Powder Beauty Women's Specialty Store. Our first floor sells perfumes, face creams, masks, rouge, and lipstick. Our second floor sells women's lingerie and intimate products. Our third floor sells private medications. We welcome all ladies and misses to enter and browse. For our grand opening day, all items are 10% off. Don't miss out, whether you're just passing by or stopping. You won't lose money, you won't be cheated. Our products are of high quality, honest and trustworthy."
Listening to Lu Huo's broadcast, the four little ones also kept shouting, "Buy, buy, buy!" Their four pairs of small hands waved joyfully, their clear, bright eyes looking at this and that. Their clever and adorable appearance made the grandmothers, aunts, and sisters around them can't help but come forward to pet them.
With so many people around today, they dared not run around on the ground. If they were abducted by snatchers, Mother would be very sad.
Therefore, they could only obediently sit in the satchel on Sister Huo's back.
Moreover, they had been threatened by their dear Mother. Mother said that whoever ran around on the ground or disobeyed Sister Lu Huo would be stuffed into the spatial dimension and forbidden from joining today's festivities.
They wanted to see the excitement, so they could only act as legless people throughout, carried by Sister Huo.
To replenish Lu Huo's stamina, Bai Sheng had prepared plenty of beef, lamb, chicken, and rabbit meat for her. The cloth bag of items hanging on her chest, squeezed between the eldest and second eldest, was various kinds of meat.
They could eat whenever they were hungry, drink tea at the Inner Qualities team when thirsty, and call out when lonely. Lu Huo found it very pleasant.
The grand opening required an unveiling and the setting off of firecrackers.
Above the shop's entrance, a large plaque with the four gilded characters "Red Powder Beauty" was covered by a large red cloth, the ends of which dangled to the ground.
A string of large firecrackers had already been hung on a roadside tree by Lu Tong and Lu Tie, ready to be ignited at any moment.
Bai Sheng took out a bottle of perfume and sprinkled it around the "Visage" team, making each of them smell fragrant. The scent of the perfume quickly spread in all directions.
Even though they wore the same clothes and masks, Bai Sheng could still tell which one was her man.
It wasn't that Bai Sheng had good eyesight, but rather that her man's gaze had been fixed on her, not daring to look away.
The crowd gathered at the shop entrance grew larger, comprising men and women, old and young.
"It smells so good! These crimson-clad young gentlemen are truly handsome!" exclaimed a coquettishly dressed woman, her voice laden with charm and her eyes shining with "admiration."
A short man beside her scoffed, "Handsome? They're all wearing masks, not daring to show their true faces. Who knows, they might be terrifying once the masks are off!"
"What do you know? That's called 'flair'," the alluring woman's eyes simply couldn't shift from the crimson-clad gentlemen. "Even without seeing their faces, look at their physiques, tsk tsk, tall, well-proportioned, athletic. A man with such a physique is extremely handsome even without a face. Unlike some people, who are third-class cripples. No matter how high they look, they can only see others' butts and eat their leftovers."
The short man's face turned ashen from being choked. Could he be angry at the alluring woman?
Absolutely not, otherwise, wouldn't that be admitting that he could only see others' butts?
He would never admit to eating others' leftovers.
Therefore, he could only continue to attack these crimson-clad handsome men to vent his frustration, "A bunch of grown men, dolling themselves up to be more fragrant than women, so effeminate, it's sickening!"
At the end of the line, Qing Yu, who could no longer stand the short lout's incessant chatter, turned sideways, slowly removed his mask, and bent over considerably, flashing his handsome face right before the short man's eyes.
Upon seeing Qing Yu's face, the short man was rendered speechless because Qing Yu was not only handsome but also brimming with heroic spirit, his eyes radiating a murderous intent.
In short, he was not effeminate at all.
The alluring woman stared at Qing Yu, completely mesmerized.
Beautiful! Young man!
Facing the dazed alluring woman, Qing Yu smiled charmingly, "Esteemed sister, the fragrance we use is called perfume, exclusively sold by Red Powder Beauty. You can come in and try it later."
"Good, good, good," the alluring woman giggled foolishly, her mind so blank that she could only utter "good."
Lu Huo's voice sounded again, "Esteemed ladies and misses, our Red Powder Beauty Women's Specialty Store is officially opening. We invite our proprietor for the unveiling!"
Bai Sheng, with a smile, bowed slightly to the dense crowd, then raised her hand and slowly pulled off the red silk cloth, revealing a huge plaque.
The two rows of handsome men erupted into warm applause.
"Red Powder Beauty - Women's Specialty Store," someone read out loud.
"So, it's all for women's things. What's a grown man like me looking at?" a middle-aged man said, then turned to leave.
"Indeed. Selling things for women and making such a fuss. This proprietor must have money and nowhere to spend it."
"Let's go, let's go. Women's things are bad luck for us men to look at."
Many men turned and left.
However, the number of women continued to grow.
Bai Sheng carefully observed the women. Nearly half of them were civilians dressed very plainly, with many having patched-up clothes.
Even some old women with missing teeth had come to join the excitement. Bai Sheng assessed their bark-like old faces and felt that the cost of restoration would be too high. Unless they were very wealthy, they were purely there to watch the fun.
Clearly, many of these people were not the target customers of Red Powder Beauty.
Creating a lively atmosphere during the opening was meant to establish the brand name of Red Powder Beauty. However, it was unnecessary to let everyone flood in for purchases later.
Firstly, too many people, and the shop couldn't accommodate them.
Secondly, with too many people entering, the staff would be overwhelmed, and there would definitely be ill-intentioned individuals taking advantage of the chaos.
Thirdly, overcrowding could easily damage shop facilities, or even lead to stampedes.
After some thought, Bai Sheng had Jin, Mu, Shui, and Tu place four wooden boards displaying product names and specific prices in front of the shop.