Chapter 35: They Offered Way Too Much!

In the past, if those ladies wanted an exclusive, custom-made piece, they had to send their offers and style requirements to the official email address of Lin Xianxian, found on the LINXIAN website.

Whenever Lin Xianxian had the time or was in the right mood, she would select a client who caught her eye or inspired her to design a one-of-a-kind garment.

However, there are now at least several hundred unread emails sitting in that inbox, and she simply has no time to take on more work.

These socialites and ladies of high standing are deeply disappointed, yet there is nothing they can do, as that email address is the only contact information LIN has ever made public.

They have tried to uncover Lin Xianxian’s true identity through those who have worn her custom designs, but only a handful of those people have ever actually met her.

Whether out of respect for Lin Xianxian, a desire to curry favor with her, or even pure selfishness—not wanting others in their social circle to wear the same perfect clothes and steal their spotlight or ruin their business—these clients have kept their lips sealed.

So far, the number of clients referred by those select few can be counted on one hand.

Those who were willing to refer others were either people who could not be offended, or those who already shared a very close relationship with the person being recommended.

Lin Xianxian generally does not refuse such clients.

This is because such people are usually powerful and influential—or are friends of her existing clients.

In any case, over the past three years, Lin Xianxian has earned nine figures just from these exclusive commissions.

She is certainly not short on money.

She had never intended to take on many custom orders to begin with.

However...

After Lina exposed her identity to the public, almost every lady and socialite in the upper echelons of Dragon Kingdom society found out.

Many of them sought Lin Xianxian out directly, demanding that she design clothes for them.

Lin Xianxian felt quite helpless.

This was no longer a relatively fair email system where she could pick and choose based on her mood or a random selection.

Those who came to her were generally wealthy, and furthermore...

Since going public, Lin Xianxian realized that quite a few of these clients held special statuses that she could not afford to offend.

Although Lin Xianxian has some backing of her own, there are some people one simply shouldn't cross.

Lin Xianxian made the most of her resources and put Ning Feng to work as her assistant.

"Register all these clients' information, vet them, and if there are no issues, arrange them in chronological order. Find someone to communicate with them and schedule them accordingly."

She added, "I will take at most three per month."

"Understood."

Shang Yang, who was sipping tea, glanced at her: "If you are too busy, you can reject them all."

"I can't do that. Those are my important clients!"

Lin Xianxian replied with righteous confidence.

She does have some ambition for her career, after all.

Although there was also the reason that she couldn't afford to offend these people...

Shang Yang watched her earnest expression, smiled, and said, "If you don't like some of these clients, just turn them away."

"What about the wife of an important business partner of your company? Should I turn her away too?" Lin Xianxian looked at him.

Shang Yang gave a side glance: "Turn her away."

He even picked up the stack of files in front of her, flipped through them, and pulled out only two.

"Other than these two, you can turn anyone else away as you please."

Lin Xianxian arched an eyebrow.

*Oh my god, Shang Yang is truly daring. I look at this list and see more than half that I can't afford to offend, yet he wants me to reject them all?!*

Shang Yang naturally heard her thoughts. He calmly added, "I can afford to offend these people. Besides, if they hold a grudge against you just because you turned down their order, then your designs are not worth wasting on them."

"..."

*That makes so much sense, I am speechless!*

Lin Xianxian grumbled internally while smiling, "Oh, otherwise, they were paying so much."

Shang Yang: "..."

*If I turn everyone away except for these two, what would that make me? And besides, I’m about to become Mrs. Shang. What if people start saying I’m being arrogant because of his favor?*

The system spoke up softly: *But Host, being arrogant and willful... isn't that your persona anyway?*

*That won't do. I can appear arrogant and willful on the surface, but I can't actually affect Shang Yang's career. My poor Uncle Shang is already unlucky enough to have a nephew as troublesome as the male lead; I can't drag him down too!*

*Ahem, I’d rather sit on his lap!*

Halfway through her thought, Lin Xianxian’s mind wandered again: *Hehe, Shang Yang’s legs are long and sturdy... *sighs*... I want to sit on them...*

Shang Yang gave a light cough. Watching Ning Feng, who was turning bright red from trying to hold back his laughter, he sighed: "Ning Feng, delegate the work to your assistant."

"Yes."

The workload was too heavy, so Ning Feng naturally wouldn't do it alone and hurried out.

"You’re quite pushy, treating my assistant as your own."

Lin Xianxian smiled, "What, isn't what's yours mine?"

Shang Yang smiled, "Yes. What is mine... is all yours."

For some reason, Lin Xianxian always felt there was a hint of ambiguity in his tone.

Yet, looking at his serious expression...

It was as if...

Was it just her imagination?

Lin Xianxian didn't have time to overthink it, as the first client she accepted wanted to wear her custom gown to a banquet in half a month, and she was running out of time.

The client had paid a generous premium, after all!

As she designed, Lin Xianxian beamed at the thought of the money about to hit her account.

Was she truly short of that bit of money?

Or did it look like her fiancé couldn't provide her with that amount?

Shang Yang stared at Lin Xianxian, his lips parted as if he had more to say.

After Lin Xianxian’s mask was removed, the person who suffered the most was Qin Xinxia.

In the past, whenever Qin Xinxia looked at Lin Xianxian, she always felt as if she were looking at a vase with nothing but a pretty face, and she even secretly felt superior to her.

But now...

Every time Qin Xinxia thought about how Lin Xianxian was LIN—the peer whom her own respected teacher admired greatly, a legend in the fashion world, and her own former idol—

And then associated that with the face she had once been so familiar with, she felt as if she were choking.

Shang Beiming, however, felt nothing.

"It’s just designing some clothes. It’s not like you can’t do it, so why feel inferior to her?"

Shang Beiming genuinely couldn't understand.

In his eyes, it was just a few pieces of clothing.

Qin Xinxia, however, felt discouraged: "My greatest achievement, the only design that won an international award... the inspiration for it actually came from her work..."

"In terms of design, actually..."

Though she was unwilling to admit it, Qin Xinxia sighed: "I am far inferior to her."

"But you are better than her in other ways."

Shang Beiming said from the bottom of his heart: "You are prettier than her, smarter than her, kinder than her... and most importantly, in my eyes, she is worthless, while you are my one-of-a-kind treasure!"

"So, Xinxia, you have absolutely no reason to feel inferior because of her."

Qin Xinxia took his words to heart. Although she still felt a bit deflated, she nodded heavily.

That’s right—Lin Xianxian just happens to have a talent for design, but she had other careers to pursue.

Perhaps not wanting to lose to Lin Xianxian, and knowing that no matter how hard she tried in design she might never surpass her, Qin Xinxia started to focus her efforts on other aspects of her life.