The Days I Ran a Bathhouse in Bianjing

○ Shopkeeping | Everyday life | A little food

Perfume Shop: A bathhouse, not a place that sells perfume!

The Golden Osmanthus Ward is in the outer city of Bianjing, beside the Cai River and near the Imperial College. Cross the bridge and you'll find the bustling Baokang Gate entertainment district.

The clean bathhouses on Sweetwater Lane and the whole street of bathhouses on Bathhouse Lane are always packed, but nobody from the neighborhood comes to this perfume shop.

After all, it's neither cheap nor clean.

The owner is so lazy that the pool inside gets changed only once every ten days, at best!

At last, the empty perfume shop has closed, but the little pot hanging by the door has been left there. Looks like the new owner will still be running a perfume shop.

*

Transmigration is risky. Starting a business is risky. Transmigrating to start a business is even riskier.

After arriving in the Northern Song dynasty, Zhuang Shixu has been working hard to return to her old trade. She never imagined the greatest risk would be her unreliable father.

She enjoys making bath beans and kneading soap, but her foolish father somehow got the idea that she wanted to open a perfume shop.

"Dad... Maybe we should back out."

Her father furrowed his brow and spoke with conviction. "Xu Niang, the contract is signed. We can't be people who break their word!"

Zhuang Shixu: "..."

Fine. It's not as if you can't get dressed up and do your makeup in a bathhouse!

*

At dawn, a shop assistant from the Golden Osmanthus Ward perfume shop called out as he went from place to place: "Jade powder to nourish the skin and enhance your beauty! A formula to invigorate the blood and brighten the complexion! Freshly prepared face-washing powder, made this morning, "

Aunt Cuihua, at the head of the lane, called him over and bought one of each after asking the price.

The shop assistant heard the neighbors congratulating Aunt Cuihua. It turned out her youngest daughter had nearly completed the six wedding rites and would be married once the autumn chill arrived.

"Auntie, our young shopkeeper Zhuang is excellent at makeup. Would you like to book her to do your daughter's wedding makeup?"

On the day Aunt Cuihua's youngest daughter got married, people said that the bride's face beneath her veil was so beautiful she cleared every trace of drunkenness from the groom.

*

The Golden Osmanthus Ward perfume shop soon became famous, and even the noble young ladies in the city had heard of it. But how could they lower themselves to bathe at a commoner's perfume shop?

The commandery princess's maid had an idea. She leaned in and whispered.

"I heard the White Plum Fairy makeup the commandery princess wore at the plum-blossom appreciation banquet came from the perfume shop..."

"The White Plum Fairy whose appearance inspired countless scholars at the banquet to compose impromptu poems?"

"And that adorable catlike look came from the perfume shop too."

Reading Guide:

1. A woman forced to run a bathhouse and work as a makeup artist x a cat-loving male college student at the Imperial College.

2. Everyday-life story. The main characters are neither nobles nor wealthy merchants.

3. The setting is inspired by the Northern Song dynasty, but is essentially fictional, so the occasional plot hole is perfectly normal.

Theme: Grow bigger and stronger!