Li Tongxue sneered: "A crow doesn't realize it's black."
Xu Jiang walked through the flower forest and followed the sound to the rocks. She saw a woman with a young girl in her twenties leaning beside her. She was directing five or six little maids to shake out their clothes and cover the plum tree with them.
She walked lightly and stood there for a long time before she was noticed by the young lady. The young lady smiled at her, and two dimples appeared on her cheeks.
"Where did my sister come from?"
Madam Yuan turned around and looked at Xu Jiang. She first looked her over before she smiled and said, "Is it Madam Xu?"
Xu Jiang stepped forward and greeted her, "Greetings, Madam." She then smiled at the young lady and said, "Greetings, Miss."
Madam Yuan introduced, "This is my little enemy, Yuan Yanyan. Yanyan, I haven't met Sister Xu yet."
"Hello, sister." He came to hold Xu Jiang's hand, his eyes fixed on her. "Just now, when I saw you standing there from afar, I thought you were the plum blossom fairy who had come down to earth."
This mouth is so good at coaxing people!
Xu Jiang immediately smiled and tapped her nose, "Even if she was really the Plum Blossom Fairy, you could coax her down to earth."
"Don't pay any attention to her," Madam Yuan said angrily. "I don't know where this girl went to read some idle books and picked up some passages. She insisted on coaxing me to come to this cold garden to fumigate my clothes. I can't fumigate them in the warm room."
"How can those vulgar fragrances in the warm room compete with this natural cool fragrance?" Yuan Yanyan pulled Xu Jiang and wanted to shake her clothes with her.
Xu Jiang willingly followed her lead, doing this useless work for her. Seeing how hard she was shaking, she said, "If there's a fragrance in this world that's the hardest to keep, it's the scent of plum blossoms. Flowers fade so easily. Once plucked from the branches, their fragrance and color fade in a moment, making it impossible to enter the realm of fragrance and enlightenment."
Yuan Yanyan was skeptical, "But I often see famous scholars in books saying that they have the fragrance of cold plum blossoms. So where does this plum fragrance come from?"
Xu Jiang pondered for a moment, "I think they used a fragrance recipe to imitate the scent of plum blossoms."
"It's called the fragrance of plum blossoms, but it doesn't have the soul of plum blossoms. What's the point?" Yuan Yanyan tugged at the grosgrain in her hand, "It's better for me to be stained by it for a moment."
Then he chanted, "I borrow a wisp of red plum blossom fragrance to blow away the worldly air in my body. This is a refined thing."
Xu Jiang looked at her in surprise. Madam Yuan went over and twisted her mouth, scolding her, "You're telling your own mother all these crooked words, but you're showing off in front of your sister. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"
Xu Jiang praised her, "Yanyan is so innocent and lively, and it's rare to find such a spirit. Mr. and Mrs. Yuan are truly blessed."
Yuan Yanyan was quite pleased with herself, "See? Sister is my soulmate."
Madam Yuan tapped her forehead and said affectionately, "You."
Yuan Yanyan squeezed into Madam Yuan's arms and acted coquettishly. Xu Jiang looked at her with a smile, but for some reason she thought of the small hoe in her bookstore and felt melancholy for a moment.
When all the clothes were hung on the plum tree, a maid brought hot tea for the three of them to drink. Xu Jiang took it and tasted it. It was ginger tea.
That’s really appropriate.
The three of them were chatting under the plum tree.
Madam Yuan asked, "I heard that Madam Xu opened a bookshop in Yonghe Lane?"
Xu Jiang replied, "That's right."
Yuan Yanyan's almond-shaped eyes were filled with anticipation. "I often hear father mention this. If I go, I wonder if my sister can treat me to some tea?"
"You naughty girl, who would dare to let you go after you've acted so mischievously?" Madam Yuan scolded with a smile, then said to Xu Jiang, "Don't agree to her request. This girl has the same temper as her father. If she really goes, she'll be so annoying."
"Mother!" Yuan Yanyan stomped her feet, "Who did this?" Then she shook Xu Jiang's hand with a begging look.
Xu Jiang's heart ached. How could she refuse? "As long as Yanyan doesn't mind my humble place, I'll be there for you anytime."
Yuan Yanyan said happily, "That's a deal. Once I convince my father, I'll come find you."
"Well, it's a deal. It's a deal."
A gust of wind blew, causing Yuan Yanyan to sneeze. Madam Yuan hurriedly tightened the fur collar on her coat and said, "Look at you. I told you not to toss and turn, but you didn't catch Meixiang, but you caught a cold first."
Xu Jiang hurriedly said, "Madam, please take Yanyan and go first. If she really catches a cold, she will suffer." But she was also worried that if she stayed here, it would be difficult for them to leave, so she said, "It's not good to be away from the table for too long. I should go back too."
"That's fine." Madam Yuan asked the maids to collect the clothes and rubbed her daughter's hands. "Why don't you say goodbye to your sister Xu?"
Yuan Yanyan was reluctant to leave, but because she was cold, she didn't dare to act willfully. She said to Xu Jiang, "Have a good trip, sister." Then she warned, "Be sure to wait for me to come find you."
"Okay." Xu Jiang replied with a smile, then said goodbye to Madam Yuan and went back the way she came.
When Du Hui saw her come back, he quickly asked her to drink a glass of hot wine to warm herself up.
Yuan Zuzhi asked, "Have you seen my lovely daughter?"
"I saw her." Xu Jiang drank a glass of wine, and the coldness in half of her body was dispelled. "Yanyan is innocent and naive, pitiful and lovely."
Speaking of his beloved daughter, Yuan Zuzhi's face was filled with doting. "Having such a daughter in my old age is a blessing from heaven." Suddenly he asked, "Have you agreed to let her go to your place?"
"I agree."
"Ouch." Yuan Zuzhi slapped his head, his face full of headache, "You'll bother me again later."
Lou Jing disagreed, "The bookstore is not someplace else. If she wants to go, she can go. Why are we restricting her?"
Yuan Zuzhi was also very helpless about this daughter. "She has been spoiled since she was a child, with many trivial problems. She is too ostentatious when going out, and she is also slow. I am afraid that she will cause trouble for Madam Xu."
"Sir, please don't talk nonsense." Xu Jiang smiled and said, "Yanyan is cute and innocent but not arrogant. She looks lovely. If she wants to come to you, just let her come. Besides, I have already promised her, so I can't break my promise."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Zuzhi toasted Xu Jiang and said, "Since Madam Xu said so, I'll trouble you. If she has done anything inappropriate, I hope you will forgive her."
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