Chapter 96: The Golden Jade Double-Faced Embroidery

  Leaving Qian's residence, Zhen'er rushed straight to Jingchun Hall with that young servant.

  Jingchun Hall is located on the most prosperous street in all of Jinyang County, with the largest storefront and the highest-end decoration. Every three-year-old child in Jinyang County knows about Jingchun Hall, which is also how Zhen'er heard about it from that little servant's mouth.

  As soon as they entered the gate of Jingchuntang, a shop assistant enthusiastically came up to them and politely asked: "What kind of tea do you want to buy, young man and lady?"

  Zhen'er reported the purpose, and the person's expression on his face didn't change. He led them to sit at the tea table, served a mid-to-high-grade tea, and then excused himself to go find Manager Yang in the inner room.

  Zhen'er slowly sipped her tea, watching as people came and went in the shop, the waiters darting back and forth nonstop, while the Tea Master professionally introduced teas to customers. The whole place was well-organized, not a bit chaotic.

  There was another thing that made Zhen'er very satisfied, which was that all the attendants were very polite, and even when facing customers wearing rough linen shirts, they would still greet them with a smile. Zhen'er thought that for Jingchuntang to have such a high status today, it wasn't just because of the powerful backing of the Yang family or the good quality of their tea, but also because of the attitude of these attendants, which was a very crucial factor.

  Zhen'er carefully observed and thought deeply, even when Yang Zhuang came out, she didn't notice.

  As soon as Yang Zhongyi came out, he saw Zhen'er sitting at the table drinking tea, her eyes constantly scanning the store, her gaze calm, occasionally flashing with a bright light. Beside her was a small servant-like person, and from his eyes, Yang Zhongyi could tell that it was the little servant who always accompanied Young Master Zhou when he came to drink with their own young master. With this thought, Yang Zhongyi immediately knew Zhen'er's purpose for coming here.

  "Has the young lady figured out what's wrong with this store?" Yang Zhuang smiled and joked, "If the young lady has any valuable insights, don't keep them to yourself, be sure to speak up so we can correct it."

  Zhen'er smiled shyly, "Yang Zhuang said with a smile, I'm just a little girl, what do I understand? It's just that your store is crowded and lively, and I like to join in the fun." In front of Yang Zhuang, an old businessman, she wasn't even qualified to mention the word "axe", let alone wield one.

  Yang Zhuang said two sentences and took Zhen'er into the inner room. He got straight to the point, mentioning buying strawberries.

  They went to the inner house to discuss the sale of strawberries. The young servant from the Zhou family didn't dare enter, so he just sat at the door, as Miss Zhou had instructed him to do.

  Zhen'er hesitated after hearing this, "Isn't the price a bit high? Last time it was only sold for 100 coins per catty, Yang Zhuang will consider it. Let's make it 150 coins per catty."

  Yang heard that in his heart, no matter how clever the little girl was, she was still a bit timid. Otherwise, why would Old Lady say that aristocratic families are indeed different from ordinary people? No matter how declined they are, those who come out of small gates and small households are just not the same. It's just unknown what kind of temperament Miss Zhou has.

  Yang's boss sighed and suddenly came back to his senses, only to find that Zhen'er and the young man were staring at him. His old face turned red, he coughed dryly and said: "Our Jingchuntang does business in the most fair way, little girl, don't worry, giving you this price just proves that your things are worth this price."

  Yang said sincerely, Zhen'er wouldn't really think that they didn't give the Zhou family face, and what she didn't want was this face. Which family doesn't have its own right and wrong?

  The two of them each took a step back. The price was still set at 200 coins per head, as stated in the contract. Yang, the shopkeeper, joked that next year when they sell strawberries again, they must look for Jingchuntang first. Zhen'er laughed and didn't dare to respond. It's laughable, she had just escaped from Qian Zhongren's tiger's mouth, how could she be cheated twice in the same place? Moreover, the Yang family was not someone that Qian Zhongren could compare to.

  Zhen'er thought of Miss Zhou's words and said that sentence "each object has its value", Yang Zhanggui heard it and smiled knowingly.

  After signing the contract, Zhen'er took the deposit and was about to leave when Yang Zhuang said in a casual tone: "What a pity! My young master went to Jiangnan yesterday. If not, he would have liked to meet the little girl again. He always said that the little girl is clever... The old lady's birthday is approaching soon. She loves Jiangnan embroidery and says it's exquisite. Some of the embroidered butterflies are so lifelike that they can attract real butterflies. Unfortunately, she hasn't seen her favorite golden jade double-sided embroidery for many years."

  Zhen'er was startled at heart, what does this mean? However, she didn't show anything on her face, but smiled foolishly and thanked Yang Zhuang, then followed the young servant from Zhou's house to Zhou's house.

  Yang Zhuanggui saw Zhen'er and the others off, repeatedly urging them to leave, before finally watching as they walked away. Only when he could no longer see Zhen'er's figure did Yang Zhuanggui's trusted servant come over and whisper: "Master, is this really okay? That little girl is so young, can she even understand what's going on?"

  Yang's gaze was distant, his voice floated in like a dream: "The young master said he wanted to borrow her mouth, that just proves she has the skills." The servant immediately fell silent, no matter how bold he was, he didn't dare say anything against the young master.

  Zhen'er followed Xiao Shuai into the Zhou Mansion and arrived at the entrance of Miss Zhou's Wutong Garden. He quietly retreated, and Wang'er had been waiting at the door. Seeing Zhen'er return, she hurriedly took her to Miss Zhou's embroidery chamber.

  Zhen'er told everything that happened after leaving the Zhou's house, no matter how big or small, and even mentioned what Yang Zhuang said. She spoke in a spoiled tone, as if chatting casually, and finally asked: "Is it true that there is such a magical embroidery? Yang Zhuang said it can attract butterflies."

  Miss Zhou felt a pang in her heart after listening; her embroidery skills were just too hard to show off.

  With two taels of silver as a reward, Miss Zhou instructed Xia Mama to send Zhen'er and Hu Zi out the door. Along the way, Xia Mama subtly hinted that once they left the Zhou residence, Zhen'er should forget about today's events entirely. Zhen'er also tactfully indicated that she understood. Only after leaving did Zhen'er notice a horse carriage still parked at the entrance, which Xia Mama explicitly stated was Miss Zhou's arrangement to send Zhen'er and her brother back home.

  Zhen'er had wanted to refuse, but looking at Hu Zi's drowsy eyes and constant yawning, she silently sighed and thanked Xia Popo before getting into the carriage. She knew this was a display of Miss Zhou's kindness and severity, and wondered what kind of den of dragons and tigers the Yang family must be for Miss Zhou to be so guarded.

  Xia sent away Zhen'er and then went to report to Miss Zhou, who was leaning on the edge of her bed, gazing at the butterflies frolicking in the flower clusters outside the window with a melancholy look in her eyes.

  Miss Xia looked at her with a heartache, walked to Miss Zhou's side, gently hugged her and comforted: "Miss, the boat will naturally go straight when it reaches the bridgehead, maybe not just this day's journey."

  Miss Zhou smiled wryly and said, "Nanny, don't try to comfort me. You're my nanny, what do I have that you don't know about? I think I'm not a foolish person either, but this embroidery is really not possible for me. No matter how hard I try, I just can't embroider those golden and jade double-sided embroidery that attracts butterflies."

  Summer aunt also fell silent after hearing this.

  After leaving the Rich and Noble Alley, Zhen'er had the cart driver take her to the nearest pharmacy, where she bought some high-quality wound medicine. She also bought two mother hens and some pork ribs before having the cart driver hurry back to Yu Shu Village.

  At night, Zhen'er picked up twenty eggs again, brought the medicine she bought with chicken and pork ribs, and made an appointment with Ye Baiju to go to Ye Qiushu's house.