Grand Opening

He cleared his throat and began to hawk his wares to the street:

"Step right up, take a look, everyone! Exclusive secret tooth powder, guaranteed to make your teeth as white as snow! Don't miss out as you pass by, folks! With a mouthful of pearly whites, women won't be able to look away, and men will be stopped in their tracks! Step onto the peak of life from here on out—"

"Exclusive secret tooth powder, limited quantities, first come, first served! We'll apply it for you on the spot, and if it doesn't work, I won't charge you a single copper coin! You can't lose, you can't be fooled, come take a look, everyone—"

In the noisy market, Lin Xiao's clear and bright youthful voice was like a cloud-piercing arrow, cutting right through the chaotic din of the bazaar.

The surrounding people were immediately attracted by his voice and looked over.

They saw a handsome young man with clear eyes standing very confidently next to a stall.

More importantly, as his mouth opened and closed during his pitch, a flash of pearly white teeth could be seen, dazzling everyone's eyes in the sunlight.

Right away, two women dressed in cotton clothes, who looked reasonably well-off, came over.

Opening their mouths to reveal a set of yellow teeth, they asked:

"Little brother, can this powder of yours really clean teeth?"

The first customers had arrived!

Lin Xiao immediately gave her a standard smile, his eight perfectly aligned, jade-white teeth reflecting in the two women's eyes:

"Of course. Moreover, my tooth powder must be used with our family's unique application technique. You two can try it directly and see the results for yourselves. If your teeth don't become white, I absolutely won't take your money."

Hearing him say this, the plumper of the two women immediately said:

"Then let me try!"

But the thinner woman first asked:

"May I ask, little brother, what is the price of this tooth powder?"

Lin Xiao maintained his smile and said:

"Fifty copper coins per person. No haggling."

The thin woman sucked in a breath and said:

"So expensive!"

But it was obvious that the plump woman was somewhat better off. She felt that if fifty copper coins could really buy her a mouthful of white teeth, it was a great bargain. So, she sat right down on the small folding stool in front of Lin Xiao and said to him:

"Little brother, come on! Hurry and let me try!"

Then she tilted her head back and opened her mouth wide, ensuring Lin Xiao had a full view of her yellow teeth.

Lin Xiao gave a polite word of excuse to the thin woman, then turned and took out the tooth powder (a tiny bit of fine white wheat flour he had brought from home that morning, which his family only ate during the New Year and festivals). With his other hand, he took out a small brush and applied the flour bit by bit to the surface of the plump woman's teeth.

Then, to keep up appearances, he furrowed his brows in feigned concentration, switching through various motions as he gently scrubbed the surface of her teeth with the brush.

After two minutes, feeling that he had put on enough of a show, Lin Xiao secretly cast a Dust Removal Spell on the plump woman's teeth.

He then picked up a bamboo tube he had prepared earlier and said to the plump woman:

"Big sister, I'm going to pour a little water into your mouth. Don't swallow it. Just rinse your mouth and spit it out, alright?"

The plump woman, head still tilted back and mouth open, nodded to show she understood.

Lin Xiao then gently poured half a mouthful of water into her mouth.

The plump woman lowered her head, rinsed her mouth with the water, and spat it onto the ground nearby. Then, she bared her teeth at the thin woman waiting beside her and asked:

"Yan'er, look, look! How is it? Are my teeth white?"

The skinny woman, whom the plump woman had called Yan'er, took just one look at her teeth and froze in astonishment.

They had actually turned white!

And extremely white at that!

It was as if they were brand new!

The skinny woman was greatly surprised. She said to the plump woman, "Wait a minute! Don't move, let me rub them with my hand to see if you just painted something on them..."

Saying that, she reached out and vigorously rubbed her index finger against the plump woman's front teeth.

It wasn't painted on; they had genuinely become completely white!

Oh my god!

Seeing her good friend's reaction, how could the plump woman not know the result?

She immediately let out a hearty laugh, pulled a small string of copper coins from her pocket, and handed them to Lin Xiao, saying, "Young man, here is exactly fifty coins, count them!"

Many onlookers gathered around were also stunned by this sight.

To think that teeth could be made so white!

As a result, many people in the crowd who were relatively well-off began to feel tempted.

The quickest to react was the skinny woman. After confirming the effect, she immediately pulled fifty coins from her pocket and slapped them into Lin Xiao's hand. Then, she plopped down onto the small folding stool, tilted her head back, and opened her mouth wide, mimicking the plump woman from earlier. "Young man! Hurry up and do mine too!"

Having received a hundred coins in an instant, Lin Xiao was delighted. Of course, he didn't refuse, and immediately gave her the teeth-cleaning package as well.

Another two minutes later.

The two women, now possessing mouths full of big white teeth, grinned broadly and walked all the way home baring their teeth.

Meanwhile, the space in front of Lin Xiao was already packed with people.

Those with money lined up one after another to have him clean their teeth, while those without money crowded around to watch the show.

After all, watching people with mouthfuls of yellow teeth get some powder applied and turn white a moment later was like watching a magic trick. They had never seen it before, and it was very novel.

There were even many who were too impatient to wait in line and wanted to buy the powder directly from Lin Xiao to do it themselves at home. However, Lin Xiao rejected them all, claiming that it must be paired with an ancestral technique, otherwise it won't work.

Despite this, many people still stayed and waited in line.

Suddenly busy, Lin Xiao quickly pulled Lin Dayou over to collect the money for him.

Thus, only Lin Dashan was left outside the crowd watching their stall, and he had even been squeezed into a corner by the throng of people.

Pushed aside by the packed crowd, Lin Dashan looked at the people, feeling somewhat bewildered.

How was this nephew of his so good at doing business?

He was so bold. With just a few shouts, a whole group of people surrounded him, eager to spend their money.

Wait, weren't they supposed to have him do the demonstration?

Didn't he say he was going to clean his teeth first?

It wasn't until approaching noon that the crowd around Lin Xiao began to thin out.

For one, the people with money had mostly finished their spending.

For another, many people who had come to the morning market were already preparing to go home.

Generally, people from the surrounding villages and townships came to the market in the morning.

There weren't many people who came to the market in the afternoon.

Most of them were from villages further away, or families from the town itself.

Lin Dayou and Lin Dashan also usually went back by noon.

Lin Xiao had no intention of changing their plans either.

Moreover, because of the foot traffic Lin Xiao had attracted today, even though Lin Dashan wasn't good at selling, with Lin Xiao occasionally helping to pitch a few words, they had sold more than half of the goods they brought.

Madam Qin had long since returned from her shopping and was waiting on the side with Lin Dashan, watching Lin Xiao take on customer after customer.

She watched as Lin Xiao told the remaining crowd that the tooth powder was used up and that they should come back at the next market.

The crowd of onlookers reluctantly dispersed.

Madam Qin and Lin Dashan began packing up the items on their stall, preparing to head back to the village.