Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 273: Meaning of 271

The other side of the fan is embroidered with a cheerful sparrow perched on a branch, lifelike and imbued with the spirit of spring.

This was the first time the foreigner had seen a round fan combining jewelry inlay and embroidery, moreover, a double-sided embroidery. It took his breath away!

Embroidery products from Minze Country were sold at sky-high prices in his country, especially those with double-sided embroidery!

"Oh, my God, this fan is so beautiful. How many taels of silver per fan? Oh, beautiful lady, would you exchange one with my golden clock? My clock keeps accurate time, it’s exquisitely durable, and it’s made by a famous craftsman!" The man couldn’t stop flipping the fan over and over, deeply fascinated by it.

Upon hearing his words, Xiao’er chuckled derisively!

He thought he could exchange her museum-worthy round fan for a gold-plated brass clock. He was simply daydreaming!

Seems like he forgot that these golden clocks would also go into the museum if taken to the modern era!

Since you want to fool me into thinking this gold-plated brass is pure gold, I’ll trick you with fake gems!

As the old saying goes, ’Not reciprocating is uncivilized!’

Let’s see whose bluffing skills are better!

"Sir, please take a close look at this fan. Firstly, look at the silk used to make the fan, it is shiny and elastic. And look how evenly woven it is, thin as a cicada’s wings! Have you ever seen silk this thin yet so strong? Have you heard of Mencius? Well, this silk was woven by Mencius’s mother! Only she can weave such silk! Silk made by Meng Mu (Mencius’s mother) is barely left in this world. If it wasn’t because I happened to pass by and because I didn’t carry any silver, I’d never think of selling this fan! This fan was originally meant to be a family heirloom." Xiao’er gently touched the blank space on the fan, her face filled with yearning and dull heartache.

"Who is Mencius?" The foreigner curiously asked. Was Mencius that impressive? He had never heard of him!

"What? You don’t know who Mencius is? He’s more famous than your Mr. William! You know Mr. William, how could you not know Mencius?!" Xiao’er widened her eyes, looking totally incredulous.

"I really don’t know." The foreigner shook his head. Was it his lack of knowledge? He really had never heard of Mencius!

"Well, that won’t do, you’re too ignorant! Let me tell you, Mencius was a great philosopher and educator! He was famous both domestically and abroad, admired by people throughout the five-thousand-year history! That’s pretty impressive, right?" Xiao’er said with a face full of remembrance and admiration.

"Impressive!" The foreigner nodded involuntarily. Five thousand years! His eyes shone blue when he looked at the fan again. It was an antiquity! It didn’t matter who Mencius was anymore.

"So, think about it. The mother who nurtured such a great person as Mencius, isn’t she even more amazing and great? Isn’t the fabric she wove worth a lot of money? It’s simply priceless!"

"Priceless?" The foreigner swallowed hard. Is it really so precious? He hesitated and stretched out two fingers, "Then can I exchange these two golden clocks for it?

His golden clocks were also valuable. He had been collecting them for a long time.

What a miser! Xiao’er rolled her eyes secretly.

This chap wanted to take the piece of cloth that was woven by Mencius’s mother in exchange for two gold-plated brass clocks! He must be kidding!

She needed to pull out all stops to carry out her sweet talk!

"Forget about this for now. Look at the silk thread used for these embroideries. Can you see it’s made with gold thread? Gold threads are expensive, right! Besides, it’s heavenly silk! Do you know what heavenly silk is?" Xiao’er looked at the foreigner, waiting for his reply.

"Never heard of it. Is it a type of silkworm thread?" The foreigner shook his head.

"Heavenly silk is far more precious than ordinary silkworm thread! You know that gold thread is valuable! But heavenly silk is worth even more! Do you know how often a heavenly silkworm produces silk? Do you know how thin a strand of heavenly silk is? Do you know how many strands of heavenly silk are twisted together to make one thread you see here?" Xiao’er pointed at the thread used on the peacock, her face portraying an ’it’s beyond your imagination’ expression.

"I don’t know, how many?" The foreigner subconsciously swallowed.

At this moment, Xiao’er’s words and the exquisite fan in her hand attracted many other foreigners to come and watch.

Xiao’er felt quite satisfied with this.

If the field is barren, no one will cultivate it. But once it’s fertile, everyone will fight for it! Just wait!

By then, there would be many foreigners who would want this fan!

"Heavenly silkworms only produce silk once every ten years. Ten heavenly silk strands are twisted together to make one thread for embroidery! Moreover, they live on the summit of the highest mountain in the world, where you can almost touch the sky!" Xiao’er measured with her hands, then continued, "So, even a single thread of heavenly silk worth is worth 100 taels of silver and people would still scramble to buy it! It’s priceless! Just look at how many threads of heavenly silk are used on my fan!" Xiao’er flipped over the fan to thumb through both sides.

After a glance, it seemed there was a lot. So the fan really was valuable!

"Then I’ll exchange four golden clocks for it!" Four golden clocks made the foreigner’s heart ache slightly, but he didn’t want to give up on the fan in Xiao’er’s hand, so he had no choice but to make another concession.

Xiao’er quietly rolled her eyes again.

This cheapskate! His four golden clocks were far from enough, let alone the value of the threads on the fan itself!

She had to keep stoking the fire and make the bargaining more intense!

"Don’t worry about how many golden clocks you’ll have to exchange for now! Sir, you need to understand the true value of this fan first. I see that you’re still not fully aware!"

The foreigner nodded, admitting that he was initially attracted to its beauty, but truly, he didn’t know its value. It was absolutely amazing!

"Sir, do you know what wood this fan handle is made of? Century-old peach wood! It’s quite rare for peach wood to grow for a hundred years! What’s more, the peach wood used to make this fan handle is not just a hundred years old. It’s five hundred years old! Century-old peach wood is said to ward off evil spirits. After five hundred years, it almost gains its own spirit! It’s such a rare piece of wood that ordinary people couldn’t find it anywhere. I guarantee you that even if you exchange just this fan handle for one or two of your golden clocks, you wouldn’t be losing out!" Xiao’er wasn’t mincing her words.

Shangguan Xuanyi and Di Shaowei looked at each other, they listened but didn’t understand: What was this girl talking about that seemed to draw so many people over?

And looking at the fervent expressions of those people, they were afraid someone might grab the fan!

The foreigner took a careful look at the fan handle, but was still clueless.

"Did you feel it? Did you feel that whisper of spirit from the century-old peach wood?"

The foreigner was puzzled: "What?"

"I mean that glimmering and heart-cooling feeling!" Xiao’er appropriated a catchy advertising slogan on the spot.

Glimmering and heart-cooling? Did she mean a chilly feeling?

The foreigner held the fan handle and felt it, then gave it another wave. He did feel a little bit of it and nodded.

The onlookers got stirred up, is there really a spirit? But what is this spirit thing?