Chapter 101 Giving Her a Blue Butterfly Flower
Aqing is a typical Wu-Yue girl.
Nurtured by the water towns of Jiangnan, but nowadays Jiangnan is more like a remote and impoverished place. Among the ten major water towns in the world, Jiangnan is not considered particularly rich and prosperous.
It was neither comparable to the Guannei Circuit, the political and economic center of the dynasty, nor could it compare to Henan and Hebei, the traditional heartland of the Central Plains.
However, the suitable soil and climate of the South remain unchanged, and it still nurtured a girl as intelligent and outstanding as Aqing.
Petite and delicate, slender and graceful, with clear and bright eyes.
Her hair was thick and smooth, held up with a wooden hairpin.
A square, white forehead, arched willow-leaf eyebrows, a small nose and a small mouth.
Aqing also has a pair of large, dark eyes that are full of spirit, like two black pearls that have fallen into sweet white sugar.
Her long eyelashes curled upwards, and the way she blinked her big eyes, coupled with her obediently sitting next to Ouyang Rong, head bowed, eating her rice slowly and quietly with her bowl and chopsticks in hand, was very endearing.
She then appeared extremely charming and touching.
However, Ouyang Rong felt that the girl beside him did not actually have the same large Western-style eyes as Wei Lai, but she had a delicate and pretty face, which made her eyes appear even larger, and she looked delicate and charming.
Two styles.
One is a delicate and charming young woman from the Wu and Yue regions, and the other is an exquisite and adorable white-haired loli.
At this moment, one of them sat beside Ouyang Rong, too shy to look at him; the other stood behind him, serving him rice and vegetables.
The dishes on the table today are not all spicy dishes from Nanlong's hometown; only half of them are spicy. The other half are more salty and sweet.
After all, we also need to consider the tastes of Liu Ashan's family, whom we invited.
Although my aunt is a bit shrewish and occasionally quite proactive, she does a pretty good job in managing the household and entertaining guests.
Ouyang Rong was quite satisfied with this.
For some reason, Zhen Shi found it particularly easy to talk to Liu's mother, who was over fifty years old.
Two women were chatting at the round table.
As for the other three...
Ouyang Rong looked serious and focused intently on tackling the spicy dishes prepared by the cook from Yunshui Pavilion.
Liu Ashan is a taciturn old man, always working hard without a care in the world;
Ah Qing was shy and didn't dare to reach for dishes that were too far away. It was the quick-witted and thoughtful Zhen who would glance at her from time to time and serve her food with a smile, making the young girl blush with embarrassment.
Perhaps it was because Liu Ashan had been following Ouyang Rong these past few days, and although he was quiet, honest, and capable, he had performed exceptionally well in her eyes.
Or perhaps he felt reassured to have a follower who would risk his life to save someone by his side.
Madam Zhen was very satisfied with this taciturn man, and today she treated the Liu family very warmly, without any airs of being a hostess.
While chatting with Liu's mother, the woman in the skirt would occasionally glance at Aqing, put some food on her plate, and ask her about things related to young women.
She quite liked this girl from the Liu family; she seemed well-behaved and pleasing, and she was also said to be diligent in managing the household, so she knew without a doubt that she would be very good at taking care of men.
Isn't she more suitable to take care of her beloved than some white-haired girl?
Unfortunately, the only slight regret is the "Yue" character tattoo on the forehead of this girl from the Liu family.
Madam Zhen instructed Banxi to fetch longevity noodles from the kitchen. She turned around, took Aqing's small hand, and said gently:
"You can treat this place like home. You can come and visit whenever you have time. You are Ah Shan's sister. Tan Lang mentioned before that he also treats you like a sister."
"Madam, Ah... Ah Qing understands."
The pretty young girl nodded as if pounding medicine, then glanced sideways at the handsome young man beside her who was enduring the spiciness and gasping for breath. Her ears turned red as she lowered her head again.
Mrs. Zhen chuckled, glancing sideways at the person secretly competing with the vegetables:
"My son, don't be reckless."
She turned back and asked, "Do you have a handkerchief?"
Aqing and Weilai moved almost simultaneously.
Wei Lai was quick; she presented a folded, light pink handkerchief with both hands.
Ah Qing probably thought that Zhen was talking to her, so she quickly took out a handkerchief and timidly handed it to Zhen.
The woman in the silk skirt, sitting upright at the table, smiled and accepted Aqing's handkerchief, seemingly unaware of the fragrant handkerchief from the white-haired maidservant who was closer to her.
Aqing realized what had happened and looked apologetic.
Facing the chuckles of her companions beside her, Wei Lai seemed unperturbed, calmly putting away her handkerchief and standing quietly beside Zhen Shi.
Zhen said to Ouyang Rong, "Wipe your sweat off."
Ouyang Rong took the handkerchief, but instead of wiping the sweat from his temples, he casually wiped his numb mouth, still stubbornly asking, "What sweat? Where is there any sweat?"
Madam Zhen smiled, quite pleased with the newly hired cook, and thought she would ask Banxi to pay her a little more per month.
To win a man's heart, first win his stomach. The same principle applies to getting him to be more family-oriented. If there's a good cook at home, he won't be running around to brothels all the time... The woman in the silk skirt knew this perfectly well.
Afterwards, Aqing finished eating the longevity noodles, and the others also ate most of them, especially Ouyang Rong, who was so spicy that he had to drink three cups of herbal tea to calm down.
After dinner, everyone sat down in the front hall to rest and chat.
"Ah Qing, to be honest, I don't have anything to offer, but I'll give you a small gift."
Ouyang Rong took the book that Wei Lai had brought back from her, opened the pages, took out a blue origami, and handed it to the pretty girl with a grateful yet curious face in front of everyone.
"Thank you, sir. You're so busy, yet you still remember Ah Qing..."
Aqing whispered, somewhat touched, as she took the gift with both hands, placed it on her knees, and examined it closely.
This is a "blue butterfly flower".
The only difference is that it's different from the clump of butterfly flowers that my brother gave me this afternoon.
It was made of indigo paper, folded and pieced together.
What's even more interesting is that this paper blue butterfly flower is made entirely of small, overlapping Pythagorean-shaped pieces of paper arranged in a spiral.
Aqing was taken aback and couldn't help but look at him a few more times. She looked up at Ouyang Rong in surprise.
Aqing is a worker in Guangzhou. She is naturally skillful and good at handicrafts, and origami is a familiar childlike game to her.
Although paper is currently a rather expensive item for the study, it is quite common in the ancient Yue sword shop run by the Liu family. Some of her companions even like to collect waste paper from the sword shop to sell for money.
Ah Qing naturally knew a bit about paper crafts, but this "blue butterfly flower" that the master had folded was something she had never seen before.
It's a very simple principle.
The butterfly flower is shaped like a butterfly, with many rounded curves.
He used a bunch of small, Pythagorean-shaped pieces of paper to spiral them into arcs... Could he really do that?
The people standing nearby, including Madam Zhen, Mother Liu, and Liu Ashan, paid no attention to the little trinket in Aqing's hand; they were more concerned with Ouyang Rong's thoughtfulness.
A pretty young girl who loves handicrafts sat quietly in a chair, lowered her head, touched the triangular piece of paper with her small hands, and occasionally showed a thoughtful expression on her face.
Seeing her interest, Ouyang Rong went over and sat down on the chair next to her, explaining it to her with a smile.
Aqing would ask questions out of curiosity from time to time, and he would patiently explain, while Weilai would also come over to listen.
Actually, this isn't some profound paper art. Ouyang Rong learned it casually while tutoring his adorable little niece in her kindergarten craft class in his previous life. I think it was called something like iris folding or iris folding.
Before long, Aqing mustered her courage, raised her little face, and looked earnestly at Ouyang Rong, saying:
"Thank you, sir!"
She really liked this paper-folded blue butterfly flower.
Afterwards, the group chatted in the hall for a while longer. As night fell, Liu Ashan and his family prepared to say goodbye and leave.
Before parting, Aqing, from who-knows-where, took out a neatly folded new robe and carefully handed it to Ouyang Rong, avoiding his gaze as she said:
“Master, I had some free time the other day, so I made you a garment. Thank you... thank you for taking care of my brother.”
Ouyang Rong was taken aback. Zhen Shi had already stepped forward, taken the new robe from him, and twirled the fabric between her fingers, praising it:
"Did Aqing make this? The needlework is really good."
The pretty young girl stood with her hands behind her back, looking down at her embroidered shoes.
Ouyang Rong also looked at the robe with its dense and solid stitching, and couldn't help but say:
"How did you know about me... Um, thank you, Aqing, you've gone to so much trouble."
I was about to ask Aqing how she knew his size, but then I remembered that last time at Donglin Temple, a piece of clothing was left with Aqing. I guessed that the girl had secretly measured the clothes back then, which was really thoughtful of her.
Ouyang Rong was a little touched.
The Liu family is indeed simple and honest; if you treat them well, they will repay you a hundredfold or a thousandfold.
And there are many, many more ordinary people like this in this world.
Liu Ashan left with his mother and sister.
Lady Zhen directed the maids to clear the table.
Ouyang Rong told Wei Lai to put away the new robe and return to the courtyard to rest.
After taking a bath.
Ouyang Rong read for a while at his desk in the outer room, becoming engrossed in his book as the night deepened.
When his eyelids started to feel tired, he rubbed his eyes, closed the book, and got up to go to the inner room.
As soon as he passed through the beaded curtain, Ouyang Rong saw a silver-haired maid with her hair in two long, hanging buns sitting curled up on an embroidered stool next to a table with an orange oil lamp placed in front of the window.
Under the dim light, the girl's eyes were closed, her head lowered, and she was nodding lightly again and again. The two strands of hair hanging down by her ears were also bobbing up and down, like a chick pecking at rice, dozing off.
Ouyang Rong chuckled, but then noticed that she was holding some needles, thread, and fabric in her hands.
On the table next to him was the new robe that Aqing had given him for dinner.
Ouyang Rong's smile gradually faded as he silently walked away and closed the window.
Turning around, he folded the new robe neatly and set it aside, then pulled the needle and thread that the little sleepyhead was still clutching in his fingers.
"Hmm..."
Wei Lai's shoulders suddenly twitched, her eyes still closed and blurry, and she mumbled from her pink lips, "Wh...what time is it..."
He didn't answer, and blew out the light.
The young magistrate picked up his silver-haired personal maid and carried her to the bed, which had only one quilt left.
“Fool, what’s the point of comparing these things?” he said softly.
In the dimly lit room, Wei Lai, seemingly half-awake, instinctively clung tightly to the young man who exuded a familiar masculine scent. Her silvery, smooth hair cascaded down his broad shoulders like a snow-white waterfall hanging from a cliff, as she murmured in her sleep:
"Master...Master..."
"uh-huh."
"I...I can learn it all..."
After a moment of silence, he said, "Okay."
"Owner……"
"exist."
"It's so kind of you……"
"Silly girl." The voice paused. "Go to sleep, what are you doing... don't kick off the covers."
"Um...but...but Master..."
"Um?"
"I need to pee..."
“…” Ouyang Rong.
...
P.S.: I'm here, still awake! This chapter has some necessary setup, so there's really no filler... sob...
(End of this chapter)
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