"Sigh, just mentioning this makes me furious. That's why I can't sleep. You have no idea, my house was burgled. Can you believe it? An official's house was robbed. I find it laughable."

Madam Xu held her forehead, feeling her head start to ache again.

"The thief stole my jewelry box. My heart is ice-cold. The jewelry box was full of my favorite fashionable jewelry, each worth a hundred taels. Look at what I'm wearing on my head, it's all junk that was just taken out of the storeroom. Although my son promised to buy me two more sets of jewelry in a while, I'm still furious. That damned thief, may he die a horrible death!"

Yan Xia lowered her head, gently tugged at the corners of her mouth, and smiled again.

"That's right! I wish she could never have another child in her life, that she would be infertile! Madam Xu, please don't be angry. Out with the old, in with the new. It's quite a coincidence, I'm going back to Jiashu County tomorrow. Yesterday I passed by a jewelry shop, wanting to choose a small bracelet for my grandson who is about to give birth. I immediately took a liking to a bracelet and a hairpin. The two were clearly not from a set, but they looked remarkably alike. I thought that since you have fair skin, Madam Xu, they would definitely look good on you, so I bought them for you."

"I'm leaving Jiangnan County tomorrow, so consider this a farewell gift. My grandson will be born soon, so I probably won't be coming back for a while. If you miss me, look at this bracelet and hairpin to remember me, haha, just kidding. Grandma Xu, don't be sad. From now on, I'll work hard to earn money and fill your new jewelry box. As long as you're happy, I'll be happier than anything else."

Yan Xia opened the small ebony box she was holding, showed the jewelry inside to Old Madam Xu, and playfully joked.

"Oh my, you've gone to so much trouble! These bracelets and hairpins are so exquisite, so beautiful, so very beautiful! You know my tastes! Yan Shi, I like you so much! Quickly, Xiao Yu, take off the hairpin in my hair and the gold bracelet on my wrist, I want to try them on."

Madam Xu's face, which had been contorted with grief, instantly broke into a wide smile.

Her personal maidservant helped her put on her hairpins and bracelets, and then brought over a small bronze mirror for her to look in.

"Even more gorgeous than my previous jewelry! Wonderful, wonderful! Yan, you're so thoughtful! I almost wanted to adopt you as my goddaughter. Every gift you gave me was so perfectly chosen, truly incredibly considerate. Ah, I couldn't sleep a wink last night, losing so much jewelry, and then you brought me some today! Haha, excellent! You did a great job. Stay for lunch; I'll have the chef prepare a delicious farewell meal for you."

Madam Xu smiled broadly, her face full of wrinkles, no longer caring about the jewelry she had lost earlier.

After all, Yan Xia had already said that she would fill her jewelry box with new pieces later.

Plus, her son said he would compensate her with two sets of jewelry, so she actually made a profit.

Consider it a trade-in.

Anyway, the jewelry that the Yan family gave us was all free.

The more Madam Xu looked at Yan Xia, the more satisfied she became.

He wished he could adopt her as his goddaughter on the spot.

These words startled Yan Xia, and she mentally ranted in disbelief.

"Don't be like that. I've become your goddaughter. When your entire family is executed, I'll have to die too."

Yan Xia shuddered as she recalled the letters between Magistrate Xu and the Governor of Jiangnan; she didn't want to be implicated.

In ancient times, godparents were also considered legitimate relatives.

“Madam, how could I be worthy of being your goddaughter? I only wish to rely on your brilliance and learn from your good character to teach my children. You flatter me too much. I really cannot accept such an honor. Moreover, if I were to become your goddaughter, people would gossip about Yan's Pastry Shop, saying that I have latched onto the magistrate. If some wicked people were to become jealous of me and cause a lot of trouble, wouldn't that damage the magistrate's reputation? This is not what I want, Madam. I only wish to show my respect to you in a low-key manner.”

Yan Xia's sincere attitude, especially her seemingly uninterested attitude towards marrying into a wealthy family, pleased Old Madam Xu.

Her affection for Yan Xia had reached several levels.

[Target person detected]

Name: Fan Qinlian

Age: 64

[Favorability: 70]

Fan Qinlian?

Who is this?

Yan Xia suddenly heard the system announcement and was somewhat puzzled.

No, it seems that Madam Xu's surname is Fan.

Goodness, I actually managed to get her affection level up to 70.

It seems that flattery really works.

"You're a sensible person. Okay, I'll listen to you. Here, have some fruit. Look at you, all sweaty. You've worked hard." Madam Fan patted Yan Xia's hand, personally used a fork to poke a piece of watermelon and handed it to Yan Xia. She was incredibly kind, quite unlike how she was when they first met.

Yan Xia pretended to be flattered and accepted the fork.

"Madam, you look so beautiful when you smile. You should smile more often. People who don't know us might think we're sisters. But I'm not good-looking at all, not even a little bit as good-looking as you."

Since flattery was effective, Yan Xia continued to flatter relentlessly.

"Haha, look at your sweet talk, I'm not that young." Madam Fan was so flattered that she grinned, revealing her big yellow teeth, and her shoulders trembled with laughter.

"Mother! Have they caught the thief? My whole chest of treasures is gone! That's all my possessions!" Just as the two were chatting happily, Xu Wenshan rushed in, her face filled with anger and her eyes dark and swollen.

"It won't be that fast. Your older brother has been busy with this matter these past two days. Let's wait and see. Here, have some fruit."

“I won’t eat it, Mother~ You know my box is full of treasures, including top-quality fabrics and icy jade that I bought from the border. I heard that the jade from the same batch all has green hue. If they were made into bracelets, one could sell for more than a thousand taels. Money is a small matter, anyway, my elder brother has plenty.”

But the fabric is rare. The Star and Moon Brocade is one of a kind in the world. The embroiderer who could do the silver-and-gold thread embroidery is dead. It's a unique piece. I can't bear to wear it. I wanted to save it for Jiaojiao as part of her dowry. Mother, please tell my eldest brother to catch the thief! I'm not even this angry when money is lost. The important thing is, Mother—”

Xu Wenshan shook Fan's arm.

The sound was like a kettle boiling.

It sounds harsh and unpleasant to the ear.

"Alright, alright, stop yelling. You're giving me a headache. If you're not going to eat fruit, go back to sleep. Look at your eyes, they're all black. Anyone who didn't know better would think you'd been out thieving."

All mothers in the world are like this.

When children are away for a long time, the first day they come back, the parents treat them like royalty, but by the second day, the parents start to complain.

Even the Fan family could not avoid it.

"Mother? Where did the hairpin in your hair come from? Wasn't your jewelry box stolen? Could it be that there are some good things in our manor's storeroom? Mother, can you get me a few sets too? I don't have any jewelry to wear."