Chapter 340: A Difficult Customer

When Xiao Qing saw Gu Fei enter, her eyes lit up and she beamed at her. Beside her, a beautiful woman with sharp, phoenix-like eyes gave Gu Fei a condescending glance, her brow furrowing slightly.

Manager Zhang hurried to make the introductions. He bowed toward the first young woman and said, “This is Princess Chang Le of the Prince Qi Mansion.”

“And this is Miss Gu, the owner of our shop.”

Gu Fei curtsied. “Greetings, Commandery Princess.”

Xiao Qing laughed, small dimples appearing at the corners of her mouth. “We’ve met before, haven’t we? Do you remember?”

Gu Fei nodded and smiled as well. “I had the honor of seeing the Commandery Princess during the Lantern Festival.”

Xiao Qing clapped her hands. “I can’t believe you actually remember!”

She tilted her head. “You were so pretty the last time I saw you. How is it that you seem even more beautiful today?”

Gu Fei simply smiled. The beautiful woman beside them let out an impatient huff, and Manager Zhang quickly added, “This is Miss Shen, the daughter of the Guardian Lady.”

Gu Fei curtsied to her. “Hello, Miss Shen.”

Shen Qingluan looked her up and down. “You’re the owner?”

Gu Fei gave a slight bow. “I am. I only took over this shop yesterday. I’m not aware of what went wrong with Miss Shen’s jewelry, but I will certainly do everything in my power to make it right.”

Shen Qingluan scoffed. Her maid bristled. “Make it right? Easy for you to say! My lady is supposed to wear this phoenix hairpin to a poetry gathering in two days. Now that it’s ruined, what is she supposed to wear?”

Gu Fei smiled and looked at Manager Zhang. “What’s the situation?”

Manager Zhang said helplessly, “Miss Shen ordered a custom golden phoenix hairpin with filigree and inlay. She came to pick it up today and said the phoenix’s body is too large and the tail is too small. She’s not satisfied.”

Gu Fei looked at the golden phoenix hairpin on the table. To her eyes, the craftsmanship was exquisite and breathtakingly beautiful. “Oh? Weren’t the design drawings shown to Miss Shen for her approval?”

Manager Zhang said resignedly, “Of course we did. We drew up the designs and Miss Shen reviewed them.”

Before the words were even out of his mouth, the maid cried out, “What are you trying to imply? The drawings looked perfectly fine when my lady approved them! How were we to know it would turn out like this? You’re the ones who got the dimensions wrong!”

Gu Fei turned back to Manager Zhang. “Where are the drawings? Have the dimensions been double-checked?”

Manager Zhang nodded. “They have been, of course. They’re perfectly accurate.”

Gu Fei fell silent. ‘There’s nothing more to say,’ she thought. ‘Manager Zhang didn’t do anything wrong. The customer is simply dissatisfied. What can be done?’

At this, Shen Qingluan, who had been listening to the back-and-forth between Gu Fei and Manager Zhang, finally lost her composure. She snatched the phoenix hairpin from the table and slammed it viciously onto the floor.

The floor was carpeted, so the phoenix hairpin bounced once before landing askew, lying silently on the rug.

Gu Fei lowered her gaze and curtsied to Shen Qingluan. “Since you are not satisfied, Miss Shen, how about we have our artisan draw up a new design and remake the piece for you?”

Shen Qingluan’s face was cold as she remained silent. Her maid sneered, “My lady needs to wear it the day after tomorrow. Will a new one be ready in time?”

Gu Fei looked to Manager Zhang. His mouth twitched. “The filigree and inlay process is extremely complex. Since Miss Shen needs it in two days, there’s definitely not enough time.”

Gu Fei curtsied to Shen Qingluan again. “In that case, Miss Shen, since we don’t have time to remake it, would you perhaps consider choosing another phoenix hairpin from our current selection?”

Hearing this, the maid beside Shen Qingluan immediately cut in, “Choose another? There’s nothing here to choose!”

“If my lady hadn’t found your shop’s selection lacking, why would she have commissioned a custom piece in the first place?”