Chapter 763 - 765: This is Called After-sales Service
The Emperor glanced at Bai Ruozhu, his eyes somewhat deep, and it was unclear what he was thinking.
Bai Ruozhu finally finished, she wiped the sweat from her forehead, then placed the hook needle back on her head, turned around to pay her respects to the Emperor, saying, "It is repaired already, I wish the Empress Dowager a long and timeless life with eternal beauty."
Having spoken, she heaved a great sigh of relief. She was finally free to leave. The weight of the gazes on her had made her sweat buckets. How could she not sweat under such scrutiny from these important onlookers?
Unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager didn’t let her leave in a hurry, laughing as she said, "How did you come to have these talented hands and ingenious mind? What is the birthday gift you have brought me?"
Bai Ruozhu felt she had already garnered enough attention for one day and yearned to find a corner to hide in. Little did she know that the Empress Dowager would bring up this matter. She had no choice but to say: "It’s a bed curtain that I crocheted myself, I’m uncertain if it captures the Empress Dowager’s fancy."
"Bring it out quickly to let me have a look." The Empress Dowager said, chuckling with delight.
The eunuchs from the Ministry of Internal Affairs had removed the swaddling cloths and found Bai Ruozhu’s gift, presenting it.
Honestly, Bai Ruozhu felt her heart pounding. She was afraid that someone might have set her up by damaging her gift. Although that could appear contrived, would people say that the quality of her crocheted goods was subpar and too easily damaged?
Luckily, her item was intact. She sighed a huge sigh of relief, and her expression fell right into the view of the Empress Dowager. Unable to contain her amusement, the Empress Dowager let out a smile. The item turned out to be a crochet bed curtain that could be draped over the bed canopy. Beautiful Wind Chime flowers were crocheted into the design.
The Wind Chime flowers didn’t possess the showy luxuriousness or prosperity of the Peony flowers. They were instead extraordinarily delicate, each flower seemingly unbefitting for someone of the Empress Dowager’s stature.
Bai Ruozhu initially didn’t plan on crocheting Wind Chime flowers. She didn’t even plan on crocheting any flower pattern at all. Instead, she planned on crocheting characters of good fortune and longevity. However, upon meeting the Empress Dowager, she altered her plans. How could such a young and beautiful Empress Dowager not love flowers?
During the two times she visited the Cining Palace, she noticed the Wind Chime flower embroidery on the Empress Dowager’s handkerchiefs. While the peony, symbolising wealth and honor, was the usual flower used in items made to the palace standards, the handkerchief was a more personal item, allowed to be designed as one wished. Despite the different colors and styles of both handkerchiefs, they shared the same embroidery of tiny, delicate Wind Chime flowers.
Therefore, it was apparent that Wind Chime flowers were the Empress Dowager’s favorite. Considering the bed curtain as a bedroom item, it didn’t necessarily have to bear peonies. Hence, Bai Ruozhu decided on the Wind Chime flowers.
As expected, the Empress Dowager was utterly captivated by the gift, hardly containing her wonder, she exclaimed, "Crocheting method can even create Wind Chime flowers, this is truly ingenious!"
Suddenly, all eyes were on Bai Ruozhu in the center – looks of admiration, envy, jealousy, and disdain.
At that moment, a lady blurted out, "Why didn’t she crochet peonies for the Empress Dowager of such status? This seems rather narrow-minded."
The corner of Bai Ruozhu’s mouth twitched. Was this lady trying to cause trouble for her or trouble for herself? Couldn’t she see that the Empress Dowager was clearly delighted? To call her gift narrow-minded, wasn’t she afraid that the Empress Dowager might bear a grudge against her?
True enough, the Empress Dowager’s smile faded slightly. Instead of acknowledging her preference for the Wind Chime flower, she said calmly, "Peonies become tiresome after some time. It’s rather refreshing to have a change of pattern. I like this gift very much, reward her!"
The Empress Dowager didn’t reward Bai Ruozhu with anything special, only the gift that was already prepared for today’s event. The eunuch from the Ministry of Internal Affairs brought a tray to Bai Ruozhu. After expressing her thanks, she brought the eunuch to her desk. The eunuch placed the reward on the table before leaving. It was a jade Ruyi, chosen to symbolize good fortune.
Many paid no further attention to Bai Ruozhu since the Empress Dowager didn’t reward her anything special. Bai Ruozhu breathed a sigh of relief and subtly cast a grateful smile towards the Empress Dowager on the stage.
"Your wife truly is brilliant and talented." A loud and hearty compliment followed from a commander of the Jinwu Guard chatting with Jiang Yichun.
Jiang Yichun was watching Bai Ruozhu, and their gazes met. Both of them exchanged smiles. Seeing this interaction, Princess Diao Bin’s face fell, looking somewhat sullen. The Empress Dowager understood her daughter and could not help but sigh. She wished Diao Bin would meet someone more suitable for her soon. Jiang Yichun was not a suitable match, even if he returned without a wife and children, the Empress Dowager wouldn’t approve of him being together with Diao Bin. Their personalities were fundamentally incompatible.
Bai Ruozhu picked up her dinner plate and sat down to eat for a while. Leng Wanhua walked over from the side and toasted to Bai Ruozhu, smiling and saying, "I really can’t thank you enough for just now."
Bai Ruozhu gave her a wink and said, "You don’t need to thank me, consider this an after-sale service."
"After-sale service?" Leng Wanhua was somewhat confused.
Bai Ruozhu laughed, "That’s when a vendor remains responsible for their goods even after the sale, like offering free repair services or for a very low cost if products like clothes or jewelry become damaged."
Of course, there’s more to after-sale services than that, but Bai Ruozhu just picked the easiest one to explain. After saying that, she suddenly had an idea for the Commerce Association. Still, she did not want to talk about it now. The Commerce Association was currently busy with the brand tax issue. She decided to save it for the next action committee meeting in future.
Leng Wanhua nodded, remarking, "That’s because you are responsible, not everyone may be willing to do so."
The two of them chatted and laughed. After a while, they got up to get things and bumped into Wang Zhenru. Wang Zhenru didn’t look very well, only giving a polite greeting. She no longer addressed Bai Ruozhu as "elder sister" as she used to, nor did she cling to her.
Leng Wanhua stifled a laugh, her face reddened, and Bai Ruozhu also nearly burst into laughter. It seemed that Wang Zhenru must hate her and Jiang Yichun to the core now.
However, she quickly realized she was wrong. Because Wang Zhenru would still look at Jiang Yichun with some infatuation, but she would look at herself with jealousy. Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but snort scornfully, has Wang Zhenru fallen too hard? Even after being scorned so badly by a man, she was still pining after him?
Leng Wanhua whispered in a low voice, "She really enjoys demeaning herself, how embarrassing."
Bai Ruozhu gave Leng Wanhua a thumbs-up, secretly relishing how direct that criticism was.
While the two were giggling, suddenly, a maid serving dishes twisted her foot and cried out in pain, bumping into a lady beside her. The lady, caught off guard, swayed to one side, and the fruit juice in her hand spilled out, splattering Bai Ruozhu’s clothing.
The palace maid quickly kneeled to kowtow, saying, "I beg your pardon, it was not intentional."
"Ah..." The lady let out a soft cry, she didn’t acknowledge the palace maid, instead, she looked at Bai Ruozhu apologetically, saying, "Madam Jiang, I’m extremely sorry. I didn’t expect to be bumped into."
Bai Ruozhu’s clothing was drenched in fruit juice, making her appear somewhat disheveled. However, she did not cry out in surprise or show any discontent, only looking at the lady and palace maid calmly. While the lady appeared nervous, she seemed candid enough and did not seem to have planned against Bai Ruozhu on purpose.