Bitter winds can always wake up bitter dreams, and Qin Miao had just had such a bitter dream.

  She dreamed of returning to the Weiyuan Marquis's mansion in Pingyang City, with its large red door curtains, a large red bed, and bright red candles shining brightly.

  She dreamed of herself wearing a big red wedding dress, sitting listlessly on a low couch, pouring cup after cup of wine and drinking it down.

  The red candle burns, burning from dusk till dawn, the big red wedding dress stained with dirt, as if even the warmest sunlight couldn't illuminate it. She ran out with all her might, wanting to find the morning light. Qin Miao, running with all her might, running again, almost seeing, almost seeing...

  Suddenly opened her eyes, staring blankly at the bed top in front of her, still that glaze bed, no red gauze bed curtain, no tear-stained red candle.

  Oh, it was just a dream... A very strange dream...

  She softly called the night watchmaids to come and serve, washed and dressed after still feeling a bit swollen. However, today Qin Miao had arranged for Shen San Niangzi Shen Yan to go shopping with her next door, so she hastily ate a few mouthfuls of rice at Jingfeng Hall before leaving with her servant.

  The Shen family lived next door to the Qin family, and the closest point between the two houses was just a ladder's distance away. When they were young, they would often sneak over to play, but as they grew older, they lost interest. Shen Yan was the daughter of the second wife of the Shen family, and she had an older brother named Shen Liang. Shen Liang was two years older than Qin Miao, and his greatest ambition was to marry the girl from next door, Qin Miao. Apparently, he had made this vow when his whole family moved to Hangzhou City, but this was a secret that only Shen Yan knew, and she had whispered it to Qin Miao as a joke.

  Qin Miao was still the same, wearing men's clothing. As soon as she walked out the door, she saw Shen Yan waving a handkerchief and waiting at the entrance of the alley, her small hands waving even more vigorously than the red-sleeved girls. Cough... Of course, she had never been to the red-sleeved girl either, it was all nonsense that Shen Yan had boredly stuffed into her book.

  "Miao Miao, why are you so late!" Shen Yan hurried over with quick steps and grasped Qin Miao's arm. Before they even reached the carriage, the curtain was lifted from inside.

  "Long time no see!" A row of white teeth was exposed, almost to the earlobe. The two black pupils were already small enough, and when he smiled, they narrowed into a line. Shen Liang leaped down from the carriage, his hand still holding the curtain, gesturing for the two sisters to hurry up and get in.

  Qin Miao got on the horse carriage and pulled Shen Yan over, whispering in her ear: "How did he also come?"

  Shen Liang hesitated because of the distinction between men and women, and didn't want to get back on the carriage. He rode his horse and waited beside the carriage instead. Shen San Niang looked at Qin Miao with a wronged expression, her hands spread out: "I really didn't do it on purpose. It's just that my brother knew I was going out this morning and followed me all the way. I couldn't stop him."

  "Alright Miao Miao, with your brother here, it's considered having someone to take care of you. In case something bad happens, it's always better to have a man around." Shen Yan comforted.

  Ha! Men... just don't run away faster than a rabbit when it's time...

  Today, Qin Miao mainly went to Hu Zhanggui's Qingfengpu Tianjie branch to take a look.

  Hu Zhanggui, with a single character name "Feng", is one of the fastest rising stars in Qingfeng Shop in recent years. The person who promoted him was none other than Qin Miao.

  At that time, Qin Miao was only a 12-year-old little girl, and Hu Feng was just over 20 years old. He had been working as a master tailor at Qingfeng Pute Tianjie Branch, also known as a tailor.

  Qin Miao had long discovered that every time at the meeting, Hu Feng's Tianjie branch always took out a complete set of clothing styles first, and the style often made Qin Miao's eyes light up. Over time, whenever Qingfeng shop launched new clothes, eight out of ten were based on Hu Feng's template, and then selected from other branches' sample clothes to form the main push for Qingfeng shop's season.

  It's just the right time for autumn to transition into winter, and Qin Miao and others couldn't wait for the meeting to taste the freshness here at Hu Feng. The Qin family's carriage wound its way through several alleys, slowly turning onto Tian Street, where Qingfeng Pu was located at the other end of the street, adjacent to Fuzi Temple.

  Master Hu had been waiting for his own young master at the agreed time, but today there were more guests in the store, so he didn't dare to slack off and from time to time stood at the door of the store looking inside.

  "Boss Hu!" Qin Miao and the two siblings from the Shen family strolled to the entrance of the store, catching sight of Hu Feng gazing inside.

  Hú Fēng heard the sound and hastily went forward to welcome her. He bowed to Qín Miào: "Eldest miss has arrived, please come in!"

  "There are quite a few carriages at the gate today, is there some noble guest?" Qin Miao had just gotten off the carriage when he saw several parked at the entrance, looking like they belonged to wealthy families.

  Hu Feng led Qin Miao and the others to welcome them into the store, then whispered in Qin Miao's ear: "Today several madams and young ladies came to see the winter clothes. However, the meeting hasn't started yet, so I can only bring out a few styles to test their taste."

  "This is indeed my fault and that of our ancestors. Having stayed in the capital for many days, I delayed important matters and made it difficult for you managers to do your job. In this case, bring out all the sample clothes today and let me take a look. If there are no major issues, it's not too early to put them on sale. Later, if other branches have good ones, we can add them in due course."

  Hu Feng looked at the little girl in front of him, who was only fourteen years old. From the moment she entered the shop, she had been talking to him and instructing him on matters while looking around the store's operation with a serious expression that showed a hint of inquiry. The calm demeanor was not something a fourteen-year-old girl could possess. In contrast, Shen San Niang and Shen Shao Ye, who were following behind her, although similar in age to the eldest miss, still had the temperament of children, their eyes darting around at new and interesting things.

  Qin Miao took Shen San and Shen Liang to the second floor's private room to see the sample clothes that had not yet been put on the market. Hu Feng ordered someone to bring up the samples one by one, and Qin Miao was satisfied with just a rough glance. There were cotton-padded jackets, gowns, large cloaks, scarves, embroidered pouches, and even children's winter clothing, all with complete designs.

  Compared to previous years, this year's sample clothes prepared by Hu Feng are not only more exquisite in style, but also have a lot of colorful embroidery. It seems that the skilled embroiderer found by Hua Yinzhi recently is still very effective.

  After looking at the sample clothes, Qin Miao made suggestions in order and selected the usable ones to let Hu's shop use them first, and then add some new ones later.

  Two people were happily discussing how to decorate when Shen Liang rushed into the house: "Miao Miao, it's not good! Ah Yan is arguing with someone downstairs!"

  "What's going on?" Qin Miao and Hu Feng exchanged a glance, then followed Shen Liang downstairs.

  Only to see Shen Yan's face flush red, tears welling up in her eyes, standing huffily by the side of the stage. Following her line of sight, it was a girl about the same age, with an oval-shaped face, wearing a light yellow dress, looking at Shen Yan with a slightly disdainful expression, with an air of indifference.

  Two people's sides have already been surrounded by a lot of onlookers, Qin Miao lightly squeezed through the crowd. Shen Yan saw that Qin Miao had arrived, hurriedly grabbed her arm, with a stifled expression, and before she could speak, tears were already streaming down.

  Qin Miao knew Shen Yan, and although she was a bit sharp-tongued, she was actually very kind-hearted and wouldn't bully others. Seeing her good friend crying so pitifully, Qin Miao suppressed the doubts in her heart and gently comforted her, telling her not to be sad, that she had her.

  After being comforted by others, she finally spoke up calmly: "Who can tell me what's going on here?"