Unlimited estates for rural beauty-Chapter 72 Birthday Gift (2)
Feng Xuxu shared the remaining Liangpi with the servants of the villa, receiving unanimous praise; everyone agreed that if sold in town, it would certainly fetch a good price.
As the evening breeze blew, the elder brother came to Lotus Garden, holding a box in his hand.
"Little sister, today marks your thirteenth birthday. This is the only Jade Hairpin Mother left behind, and I’d like to give it to you," the elder brother said, caressing the box and reluctantly handing it to Feng Xuxu.
Feng Xuxu looked at the box on the table. It was finely crafted and seemed unaffordable for an average family. Upon opening the box, she found an exquisite, translucent Jade Hairpin inside. The hairpin was a gleaming green, intermittently casting a white luminance that seemed to flow within it, flawless. Feng Xuxu gently placed it back into the box.
"Big brother, didn’t Mother mention where it came from when she left?" Feng Xuxu asked her brother, puzzled.
"No, Mother didn’t say anything. She only told me to teach you this on your thirteenth birthday. This is Mother’s family heirloom, to be passed down to daughters, not sons." Feng Xi could hardly remember Mother’s face now, only those kind and gentle eyes, always looking at him with such warmth.
Early the next day, Feng Xuxu mobilized the house servants, entrusting the delicate craft to Xia Lian while Xia Lan assisted. The two worked in perfect harmony. Once finished, house servants Feng Liu and Feng Jiu took the ox cart to the town to sell the product.
Feng Liu and Feng Jiu looked at the people on the street and shouted at the top of their lungs, "Liangpi here, delicious Liangpi, a bite that cools to the heart, refreshing and appetizing, no charge if not satisfied!"
"Hey, young man, what’s so special about this Liangpi? I’ve never heard of it before." A passing auntie, curious and reminded of her old man who lost his appetite every summer, approached to have a look.
"Auntie, this is called Liangpi. It’s ten coins a serving. Try it and see what you think," Feng Jiu, seizing the opportunity, prepared a serving for the auntie to taste on the spot.
The auntie took a bite; it was soft yet elastic, not sticky to the teeth, both sour and cool. She put down her chopsticks, "Delicious, really delicious. Give me two servings."
With one buyer came another, and in no time, all the more than two hundred servings brought along were sold out. Those who missed out inquired persistently if they would be back in the afternoon.
"Folks, we won’t be back this afternoon. If you want Liangpi, come early tomorrow," Feng Liu announced, and those who hadn’t bought some could only shake their heads and walk away, waiting for the next day to come and buy.
"Miss, we are back," they said upon entering Lotus Garden, seeing the young lady resting, and whispered gently.
Feng Xuxu opened her eyes, saw Feng Liu and Feng Jiu, and sat up straight to ask, "Did you sell them all?"
"Miss, we sold all two hundred servings we took today. This is two thousand coins." Feng Xuxu looked at the two thousand coins in Feng Liu’s hand—not a large sum, but it was earned in the scorching heat. "Take it to the butler, then you two can rest," she said.
They had only intended to test the market for Liangpi; they didn’t expect it to sell so well.
"Miss, Zhang Jiaojiao is here to visit, now waiting at the second gate," Xia Lian reported after saluting, standing up and waiting for her mistress to respond.
Feng Xuxu suddenly remembered that she hadn’t seen Sister Jiaojiao for a long time. She quickly got up and walked briskly to the second gate, "Sister Jiaojiao, please come in."
Jiaojiao felt a blur of pink pass before her eyes. Upon closer inspection, was this still the same Feng Xuxu she knew? With eyebrows like feathered plumes, teeth like clams in her smile, skin as white as snow, a waist slender as a bundle of silk, and a grin so charming, even the garden’s lotuses paled in comparison.
