Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 537: Have you finally come up with a good idea?
Alice described in vivid detail what happened after she entered the store.

"As soon as I entered, I asked the boss if you provide handmade customization services. She said yes, but I needed to pay a deposit and provide the drawings myself. So I showed her the drawings drawn by Metien. After reading them, she asked me what style of underwear it was, and said that even for underwear, such a design was too revealing. I told her that it was not underwear, but a swimsuit. Then, she drove us out, scolded me for being shameless, and said that although her store was in decline, she would never take such tasteless and immoral business, and told me to get out..."

Alice waved her fist indignantly when she said this: "What the hell, so arrogant! I was so angry that I wanted to beat her up, but Saint Shallia stopped me and wouldn't let me do that."

Lingge then turned his gaze to the blue-haired girl beside him, who nodded silently, indicating that the situation was just as Alice said.

The young man rubbed his brows, feeling mixed emotions. Although this matter sounded absurd, he could unexpectedly understand the boss's feelings. After all, if Alice's drawings were made public, more people would think they were underwear than swimsuits, and they were indeed quite revealing. Perhaps in the era when Alice lived, with the development of science and technology and the change of moral concepts, this level of exposure had been considered commonplace by the people on Earth, but in today's era, it would probably be difficult to gain widespread recognition. Because those who are convinced that they are living in a brilliant industrial civilization have long given their openness and tolerance to the changes in social order and political system brought about by steam engines, and do not care about these daily necessities that are closely related to ordinary people.

This era is so subversive that people can ride on the locomotive and go to the end of the track without returning; this era is also so conservative that it cannot tolerate external forces like the chaste women in the monastery. Subversion belongs to technology and thought, while conservatism still exists in people's morality. Even if there are occasional changes, they are mostly byproducts of the industrial revolution and are not worthy of the attention of the bigwigs in the Senate.

In such a stark contrast, it is not surprising that Alice's swimsuit design was criticized by the store owner as "shameless" and "corrupt".

"In that case," Ling Ge quickly thought of a compromise: "Why don't you just tell her that this is a lingerie drawing?"

Although it is also too bold as an underwear design, it is worn under clothes after all. As we all know, people have always been more tolerant of things that they cannot see with their naked eyes. This is another requirement that traditional morality gives them the power to criticize: they are not allowed to pry into other people's private lives, no matter whether it is decadent or depressed. Just like what social ethicist George Duby said: When the public sphere develops to a certain stage, the private sphere gradually becomes inviolable.

"No!" Alice refused flatly.

"Of course!" Alice clenched her fists and said undauntedly, "If this store doesn't do my business, it's their own fault. What does it have to do with me? I don't believe that there are so many clothing stores on this street and they can all refuse my orders. Let's go, let's keep looking!"

And why do you have such an inexplicable obsession only in such strange places?
This guy's train of thought is really hard to understand.

Lingge shook his head and gave up the idea of ​​continuing the discussion with her.

Are you qualified to say this?

Saint Shalia asked Alice: "In this case, should we continue looking?"

"Because this is a swimsuit!" Alice said confidently, "It's just a normal design. If I lie, wouldn't that mean I admit that the boss is right and that these swimsuits are shameless and immoral? I won't be fooled. Lingge, you too, should follow the right path and don't always think about taking shortcuts. Doing so will not benefit your future!"

"why?"

She took the lead and walked towards the sign of the next store. Ling Ge and Saint Xia Liya looked at each other behind her. Although they felt that things would not go as smoothly as Alice said, it was impossible to persuade her to give up at this point, so they followed silently.

……

An hour and a half later, Alice slumped down on a basswood bench on the street, leaning back and tilting her head upwards, looking hopeless. She was too lazy to brush away the few yellow sycamore leaves that slowly fell on her hair, and she uttered a weak voice from her throat: "How, is it possible..."

Sitting on either side of the bench with Alice between them, Linger and Saint Shallia looked at each other silently, just like they did half an hour ago, feeling somewhat speechless.

In the past hour and a half, the three of them visited a total of twelve clothing stores, but in the end, no store took the business. Some of the stores had the same reason as the previous boss, believing that such exposed swimwear was really immoral and not presentable. These old tailors who claimed to be stylish naturally did not want to waste their skills on such vulgar designs that had no shame or artistry. There was even an old lady with extremely conservative moral values. After reading the drawings, she chased Alice with a broom for dozens of meters. In the end, she couldn't catch up and stood there, panting and cursing at her. Fortunately, the store was located in a remote area and there were few pedestrians passing by, so there was no big fuss.

As for other shops, considering that the economy is indeed bad and life still has to go on, some are willing to take the order, but they all give harsh conditions without exception: either they have never seen this type of design before, and they need to study the drawings carefully, so the work time may be longer, at least one or two weeks to deliver, but Lingge and his team can't stay in this city for too long, so they can only regretfully refuse; or they think that these customers look too young and should be easy to fool, so they directly offer an outrageous price of several hundred pounds, saying that this is a reasonable labor fee, material fee, service fee... In short, it is all kinds of inexplicable fees. Although Lingge and his team are rich after the friendly sponsorship of a certain countess, they can't be fooled, so Lingge pretended to tell them to think about it carefully, and then put those shops on the blacklist and never consider them.

After all the trouble, I still got nothing.

"I just want to make some swimsuits." Alice groaned in pain, "Why is it so difficult?"

It's just that you acted on impulse without any prior planning, Lingge complained in his mind but didn't say it out loud.

"If that doesn't work, let's go back." Saint Shallia suggested softly, "Don't keep everyone on Sky Island waiting too long, Alice."

The golden-haired maid put a hand over her eyes and said sullenly, "What about the swimsuit?"

“You can go on vacation without a swimsuit.”

"no!"

She jumped up suddenly: "That kind of seaside vacation is incomplete, I will never admit it! Wait a minute, don't make a decision so quickly, there must be a way, let me think about it, I will think about it carefully..."

She turned around in circles, her impatient footsteps rustling the yellow leaves on the ground. For her swimsuit holiday, the golden-haired maid was using her brain to her full potential: "You raise an army for a thousand days but only use it for a moment. We usually give you a holiday, and now it's finally your turn to contribute. Come up with a good idea for me!"

"what?"

The brain did not disappoint Alice's expectations. After a sudden flash of inspiration, Alice's eyes lit up and she finally thought of a perfect solution to the current problem: "I know what to do!"

Lingge didn't comment, and didn't believe Alice's words. Whether it was a good idea or not, he would have to wait until she finished speaking to know. Before that, he shouldn't have unrealistic expectations for this golden-haired maid.

Saint Shalia suddenly had a bad feeling.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)