CH 60

ON OCTOBER 5, 2022 BY GUTEZAGUTEREZ0980

The second bell rang and we opened the dress exhibition.

When I opened the big front door, Carl-san and Lea-san, a couple who had retired from the lumber business, and their son, who had taken over the business, jumped in.

It seems they waited outside for the dress exhibition to start.

Apparently, their son was interested when they told him about the exhibition and the delicious tea and cakes.

Carl laughed heartily and said that his son skipped out of work to come here.

The son counters that it was a day when he could leave it to his employees, and that he came to the exhibition to present a dress to his mother because his parents enjoy ballroom dancing.

Well, they are a family that gets along well.

The wife, Lea-san, is laughing too, to her son, who was concerned about the amount of money Rachel-san had to spend on her dress.

I ask Carl and his family to sign in at the reception.

I also asked them if they wanted to have a cup of tea in the lounge or look at dresses right away.

“It takes time for women to shop, so we’ll just have a cup of tea and wait.”

Her husband, Carl, was about to head toward the lounge with his son, so I told him to pick out a power stone necklace first.

“Oh my, what is this? Can I get such a wonderful necklace? Oh dear, what should I do?”

The wife, Lea-san, is very excited.

She managed to make her choice, and her husband, Carl, put the necklace around Lea’s neck.

“How long has it been since you gave me a necklace?”

Ginjiro prepared tea and sweets while watching such a heartwarming sight.

—

“Hey father, this tea and sweets are the finest I’ve ever tasted. That necklace was also given for free, just how much is that dress going to cost?”

The second generation son was worried, but Milia told him that he could pay in installments if he bought it through the commercial guild.

Later, Milia secretly told me that they were a big company and business was going well.

She told me that the dress cost just a little less than hesokuri for the second generation son. Does the commercial guild even know about big company hesokuri?

TLN: Hesokuri-gane, which means “money hidden in the navel,” and usually shortened to just hesokuri. Westerners might call it “pin money.” It is cash that housewives regularly stash away without telling their husbands.

TLN: Just explanation, Carl and Lea son is called “second generation son” by ginjiro (in his mind). Because he is the one who take over his parent business. Not a second son or another son.

The next customer came, so when I asked them to wait in the lounge, Lea-san came back.

“I wanted to see more, but there are other customers, so I have to give up. Ginjiro-san, can I have some tea, too?”

In the meantime, the son went to Milia to pay the bill.

When he came back, his expression was bright, so he must have been okay with the price.

“I really like this pound cake thing. At first when I saw a cake that looked like the wood we were working with, I thought, what are we going to do with it?”

The wife, Lea-san, is such a nice person with a great smile.

She’s always smiling and it’s a pleasure to be with her.

If she likes it that much, I will give her a pound cake as a souvenir in secret.

I tell them that I will let them know when the dress is finished and the date of the dance recital is set.

—

The number of dress exhibition visitors was greater than we had expected.

Although it was a joyous occasion, Elvis could no longer handle it on his own, so I asked Harry to call Elvis’s mother to come.

By having Elvis and his mother take measurements and conduct business negotiations, the amount of time customers have to wait has decreased, but customers who have bought dresses remain here all the time.

Rachel-san’s dance hall audience usually didn’t have many opportunities to talk to each other.

They met at a dress exhibition, so it was probably just right for them to get to know each other.

There is also a common topic of ballroom dance recitals.

There is delicious tea, cake, and Edel’s fruit, and they talk happily.

I hurriedly increased the number of tables and chairs, but it was still not enough.

“Rachel-san, may I dance in front of this mirror?”

With permission, gentlemen and madams gathered in front of the mirror for dance practice to check their dancing.

A witty Rachel-san called in the musicians to play music in the dance hall.

Everyone loves to dance, as is obvious, Ginjiro thought.

“Ginjiro-san. How much is this necklace?”

Milia came to ask, saying that a customer had asked her, as they were just on display and no price tag was prepared.

I was about to say, “About one small gold coin” Milia covered my mouth with her hand.

Milia is surprised at what I’m about to say.

I tell her that this jewelry is man-made and beautiful but cheap, but even so, one small gold coin is unthinkable.

She asked me to make it about 10 large gold coins if I were to sell it, as the market would be destroyed if this were to go around.

As expected, I was hesitant to sell something I bought at an online shop for about 3,000 yen for 1 million yen, but there is a couple who insisted on buying it, so I decided to sell it.

—

“Ginjiro, you got a minute?”

What is it, Elvis?　When I replied, it was about a customer who wanted to have a power stone sewn into the dress.

“Is it okay to sew them onto a dress?”

Ginjiro did not know much about dresses, so when I asked him, he said that he wanted to use power stones as buttons on the sleeves and that it was technically easy to do.

The ballroom dance costumes are sparkling, as I recall, and as long as it doesn’t interfere with the dancing, I think it’s okay.

Milia also consulted with me, and she was surprised at the low cost of power stones in the first place.

“It’s a special request, so let’s earn some money.”

Elvis and Milia went back to the customer.

The customer seemed satisfied with the custom order for an aquamarine power stone to be used as a sleeve button.

It’s stylish to have a power stone as a sleeve button, but I wonder how much they sold it for.

“Ginjiro-san, this is also a business, isn’t it? It’s a world I don’t know.”

Edel is surprised that luxury dresses and necklaces are selling one after another.

Edel, don’t worry, I knew the dress would sell, but I didn’t think the necklace would fetch such a high price either.