Chapter 324: About to Make Another Fortune
When Lady Ding saw the gifts and looked satisfied, Fusa admired Bai Ruozhu even more, feeling as if she had learned a new trick that day.
Lady Ding opened the box, carefully looked at the small hat inside, and nodded satisfactorily, saying, "It is indeed extraordinarily delicate. Very good. You all can continue with the rest."
As soon as her words fell, a small fiery figure rushed in, staring at the hat in the box with beaded curtain and exclaimed, "Wow, it’s so beautiful!"
Bai Ruozhu looked at the newcomer, who was Lady Ding’s daughter, the lively, charming, and cute Xiuxiu. Xiuxiu was wearing a red dress today, enhancing her rosy face, revealing a hint of beauty at a young age.
Bai Ruozhu sighed inwardly, the material of the clothes on this little girl was excellent. None of Ruozhu’s clothes compared even to a tenth of hers. Children grew quickly, so their clothes were discarded quite fast.
With her face full of surprise, Xiuxiu carefully tried to reach out for the hat, but then retracted her hand, and wiped it on her own clothes, as if she was afraid her hands were dirty and would stain the hat. This made Lady Ding, who was sitting right next to the table, laugh.
Xiuxiu didn’t care about her mother’s teasing anymore. She picked up the small hat and put it on her head, then headed straight to the bronze mirror in the room. She adjusted the hat in front of the mirror and also arranged the pearl tassels on the side.
"Mother, do I look pretty?" Xiuxiu asked, with her small face excitedly flushed.
Lady Ding nodded, "You look beautiful, my Xiuxiu is the prettiest!"
Xiuxiu jumped with joy into her mother’s arms. She tried to act spoilt, but was worried about knocking the hat off. Her movements became restrained, giving off a young lady’s vibe.
Lady Ding watched and laughed, "Our Xiuxiu is growing up, learning how to care for her appearance."
Xiuxiu stuck out her tongue at her mother, revealing that she was still a little girl at heart.
"Mother, when we go to the Capital City for the New Year, can I wear this? My cousins certainly won’t have it. They won’t laugh at me for not having anything good then."
Lady Ding’s smile stiffened a bit, but she squeezed Xiuxiu’s little hand and said, "Of course you can. They’ll definitely be jealous of you, Xiuxiu."
After saying that, Lady Ding suddenly had an idea, why not let Bai Ruozhu make more hats, and give them to her nieces when they visit relatives in the Capital City during the New Year? But she was worried that mentioning it now would dampen her daughter’s spirits, so she decided to hold on to this thought for a while, given that the New Year was still far away and Xiuxiu’s excitement would be over by then.
Bai Ruozhu had figured out Xiuxiu’s high-ranking relatives in the Capital City. She guessed that the Ding family had relatives in the Capital city who were doing better than Ding’s family. Therefore, every year for the New Year, Lady Ding and her daughter would go to their relatives’ house to wish them well. Possibly to keep their relations fresh, or possibly because it benefited the Ding family’s business. And young Xiuxiu was often laughed at by her cousins in the Capital City for being a bumpkin without anything good.
Lady Ding naturally didn’t want to offend the other party, and couldn’t blame her for not being able to argue with the children’s playful words. Therefore, she felt guilty towards her daughter, and felt that her daughter had suffered a lot of grievances, so she wanted to give her the best, so that no one could ridicule her daughter.
She had seen too many of such domestic intrigues in her past life, and she saw that Lady Ding had intentions. She began calculating in her mind, thinking that she and Fusa could make a big profit again.
When Lady Ding saw her daughter happy, she rewarded them with a purse each. Fusa didn’t know what to do, so she looked at Bai Ruozhu. Seeing Bai Ruozhu expressing her thanks with ease, she followed suit.
When they left the Ding family, Fusa patted her chest and said, "I almost wanted to politely refuse this reward."
Bai Ruozhu, smiling, held her arm and said, "Since it’s a reward, we should be happy to accept it. Otherwise, they’ll be unhappy, thinking we’re rejecting their goodwill."
Fusa nodded firmly, thinking that Ruozhu knew so much. When they left, Lady Ding was all smiles, clearly satisfied with them.
Bai Ruozhu had previously felt the purse and guessed that there were silver coins inside. When she opened it and took out the contents, it turned out to be a pair of finely crafted small silver fish, symbolizing the meaning of having surplus each year. Each one weighed about two or three taels, which was quite a good reward even without considering the craftsmanship.
Fusa opened her purse too, and there was also a pair of silver coins inside. However, hers was a pair of small golden toads, symbolizing the meaning of wealth and prosperity. Fusa really liked these small golden toads, and examined them carefully in her hand.
"These things are really well made. Even a casual reward from the rich families is so extravagant." Fusa carefully put the silver coin back in the purse. Even the purse was top-grade satin, with simple but elegant embroidery on it.
"Some people care about the status, others are just accustomed to the high-quality life. If we can understand their psychological needs, we can provide them with satisfactory goods, and they will be very happy to pay," Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.
Fusa was confused about the meaning of psychological demands and payments, but she roughly understood what Bai Ruozhu meant, so she nodded vigorously, "Ruozhu, you are so smart. I will follow you in the future!"
Looking at Fusa, whose eyes were full of trust and anticipation, Bai Ruozhu felt worried again. Her family was supposed to leave Anyuan Town. Would Fusa and others be very disappointed?
But where in the world is there a banquet that lasts forever? Her family will have to leave sooner or later. Even if her second brother becomes an official, they might even go to the Capital city or to the place where her brother will be appointed, because they want to be a happy family together forever.
When Bai Ruozhu went home and showed the silver coin to her mother, Lin Ping’er praised her a lot. Fusa also showed the silver coin to Lin Laifu with great pride. Lin Laifu gave a goofy smile, his eyes full of affection for Fusa.
Over the next two days, Bai Ruozhu hired a chef from a neighboring village to help her with the cooking so she wouldn’t be overwhelmed preparing the banquet for the whole village. Because Bai Ruozhu was easy to work with and paid a deposit, the chef, surnamed Wang, was delighted, promising to arrive early in Back Mountain Village and not to delay the event.
For two nights, Jiang Yichun didn’t show up, which made Bai Ruozhu a little anxious. Did she really hurt his pride? Alright, she admitted that she did have the intention of mocking him, but she definitely didn’t look down upon him. She just thought it was fun, and also found it cute that such a haughty, cold person could also have such an innocent side. Just thinking about it made her feel good.
On the third night, Jiang Yichun finally appeared. He gently knocked on the window again, as if this was some kind of secret code agreed upon with Bai Ruozhu.
Hearing the sound, Bai Ruozhu quickly got up to open the window, not realizing that her behaviors were somewhat impatient.