Chapter 175 Looking Back Suddenly
"Miss, are you sure you really don't want to come and take a look?"
"What did you say?"
“Look at these gifts,” Cai Shou suggested. “In my hometown, there’s a tradition that birthday gifts should ideally be opened by the birthday person themselves. It’s believed that this will bring them good fortune and success in the new year.”
"Some other time," Su Guo'er replied casually, her eyes glued to her book.
Cai Shou tilted her little head, holding a stack of gift folds in her hand, and circled around the gift boxes, bottles, plates, and other gifts piled up in the center of the room twice.
She suddenly stopped and turned around, putting her hands behind her back, facing the back of the young lady beside the small tea table in the corridor outside the door, her face full of seriousness as she said:
"However, if the birthday celebrant is unable to do so, it is acceptable to have a close and trusted person, such as a personal maid, do it for them. This will still ensure that the birthday celebrant's wishes come true and that everything goes smoothly..."
"..." Su Guo'er.
The air grew still.
“Your hometown has quite a few traditions,” she chuckled.
"Hmm, quite a lot." Cai Shou nodded, her little face serious, and she admonished like a little adult, "Miss, it's better to believe it's true than not to believe it!"
"You little girl, now you speak to your master in such roundabout ways. You're really good at scheming, I could hear you from the doorway. Who taught you that?"
Su Guo'er pouted, shook her head, and turned another page of the book with her slender fingers. Without looking up, she said:
"Then let's follow the tradition of someone's hometown and ask my personal maid to do the work and help me take it apart."
He paused for a moment after chuckling, then continued, his tone somewhat nonchalant:
"Pick two items you like and take them; they're free."
"Oh, Miss, this...this is too much to ask..."
With her hands behind her back, Cai Shou, who had been fidgeting in place, widened her eyes and said somewhat embarrassedly, "..." But the next second, seeing the graceful figure outside the door slightly frowning and putting down her book as if about to turn around, she instantly turned around and dashed towards the gift:
"Miss is the best! It's settled then! I'll help you organize it, take a look inside, and sort it into categories. Useful items will go into your study, and unused items will be stored in the attic..."
The little maid with the round face had a slightly happy expression on her face.
While muttering to herself, she picked up the birthday gifts from the table one by one and carried them upstairs without complaint.
In terms of initiative, it's top-notch.
I haven't been this diligent in a long time.
Su Guo'er shook her head, too lazy to pay attention to this silly girl.
Without the bouncing and fussing of the chubby-faced little maid, the first floor became quiet.
At one moment, Su Guo'er's expression drifted slightly, and she murmured to herself:
"May your wishes come true and everything go smoothly... I hope so... That's what the old fortune teller from Shangqing said after his spirit writing, but it's been so long... Will that prophecy really come true, or is it just a comforting thought..."
The rain was slow to stop, and the afternoon hours seemed to slip away quickly, as if one were to doze off for even a moment.
Just then, a young woman in plum blossom makeup downstairs sighed alone in the empty courtyard.
On the third floor of Meiyingzhai, in an elegantly decorated study, Caishou was buried in a pile of birthday gifts, while a small, white hand pulled a roll of mulberry paper from a long, narrow wooden box.
Cai Shou wiped the sweat from her brow, stood up, and walked toward her young mistress's desk.
As she walked, she looked down at the roll of mulberry paper in her hand, which resembled a manuscript, and muttered curiously to herself:
"Hmm, I finally found it. This is the poem and calligraphy that Young Master Ouyang gave me."
"But why are we using paper boxes from Juxian Garden? Isn't this mulberry paper what Dalang uses to practice calligraphy? We bought dozens of stacks from Hongzhou but didn't use them all. They're not available in Longcheng."
“Hey, Young Master Ouyang, your gift is too casual. Is it really just a simple gift?”
"It seems that Dalang helped you pack it and sent it over."
Cai Shou walked to the table, sighed, and shook her head:
"No wonder Miss always ignores you and isn't interested in you. No matter how I bring it up, it's no use. Well, it seems Miss isn't interested in any men."
"However, look at the birthday gifts others give; the boxes are so exquisite that it's hard to bear opening them."
"It seems this young master Ouyang isn't very good at charming women. Hmph, he's so handsome for nothing. If it were me, I'd have won the hearts of countless young ladies..."
Having spent too much time secretly reading books and comic books in bed at night, Cai Shou swayed her head and placed this roll of mulberry paper on the table.
She casually picked up the gift certificate, glanced at it after the line of familiar names, and muttered:
"The Return of the Wanderer? What is that all about..."
She spread out the mulberry bark paper with her little hands.
The paper is 9.5 inches wide and 1.8 feet long.
The paper is covered with dense, elegant regular script.
However, to Cai Shou, who was not very literate, this was like tadpoles struggling to swim in a lake; watching them for too long would make her dizzy.
"No pictures? Hmm, never mind then." Her tone was slightly disappointed.
Cai Shou stared wide-eyed for three seconds, then shrank back, no longer making things difficult for herself. She casually rolled up the mulberry paper again and put it away.
However, she did not throw it aside, but put it back into the wooden box and placed it beside her, as if she was preparing to take it with her.
"I'll return the umbrella another day so we can talk more... Young master, your writing is truly excellent, it has enlightened me greatly... Speaking of which, men probably all like to be praised by women, right? That's exactly how it is, and I'm quite good at praising people..."
While muttering to herself, Cai Shou buried herself in the pile of gift boxes again, and finally picked out a silk fan from an exquisite gift box.
The fan surface is made of kesi (silk tapestry), with an ink line outlining a silk fan painting. The painting depicts a beautifully made-up and graceful court lady, dressed in revealing clothing that makes Caishou blush slightly and turn her gaze away in self-deception.
"That's too improper. I'd better keep it for you, Miss."
The chubby-faced maid nodded approvingly and put it away.
The young lady said she could choose two items to take.
Cai Shou immediately tidied up the study, carefully organizing the birthday gifts into different categories.
Some young ladies may like or be interested in the calligraphy and paintings of famous people or rare works of art, which are displayed on bookshelves or desks.
As for the other expensive bottles, plates, gold and silver jewelry, they were all put into the top-floor attic.
The afternoon passed quickly, and Cai Shou finally finished tidying up.
However, while tidying up the bookshelf, she unexpectedly discovered something rather strange.
"When did you draw the fortune stick, Miss? And that color... could it be a marriage fortune stick?"
Cai Shou curiously examined the bamboo stick wrapped in red paper in her hand. She had found it between the pages of a thick book that had fallen to the ground while she was tidying up the bookshelf.
This thick book also contains many maple leaf bookmarks and notes, seemingly a book used by the study owner to casually stuff unused items.
The bamboo skewer wrapped in red paper looks quite new, suggesting it was recently inserted, and judging from the creases, it seems to have never been opened.
"Miss's marriage fortune slip? When did you draw it? Miss, you're actually concerned about marriage? I've never noticed before, could it be..."
Cai Shou stood by the bookshelf, muttering to herself, then her little face lit up with excitement, "Hey, let me see."
But at this moment...
"What are you doing?"
A cold, clear voice suddenly came from behind.
Startled, Cai Shou's shoulders trembled, and the thick book fell to her feet. She quickly bent down to pick it up and stuffed bamboo sticks and bookmarks back into it. However, she had only done half of it when Su Guo'er snatched it away.
"Miss, why did you come up here? Why do you walk so quietly?"
Cai Shou whispered.
"If you don't come soon, are you going to turn my study upside down?"
Su Guo'er held the book in her arms and pouted.
Cai Shou chuckled awkwardly, then stopped speaking. She looked down and saw her young mistress with her bare, fair feet on the soft Persian carpet in the room.
Cai Shou was not surprised at all that her young mistress was barefoot in her boudoir.
"Miss, all the gifts have been sorted, and the gift list is on the table. Oh, right, there seems to be something I haven't done this afternoon. I... I'll go now."
After looking around, Cai Shou casually made up an excuse, took the wooden box and the fan, and left the study in a hurry, making a quick getaway.
Su Guo'er stood with her back to the door, not turning around, and gently shook her head by the bookshelf, too lazy to scold this silly girl.
She glanced down.
Immediately, the thick book was put back on the bookshelf.
The bamboo skewers wrapped in red paper were also casually tossed into the wastebasket next to the desk.
After cleaning up, Su Guo'er put the Tao Qian poetry collection back on the bookshelf, then pulled out a new poetry collection from somewhere on the shelf. She turned around, barefoot, walked back to her desk, sat down, and began to read.
That was a marriage fortune slip that Xie Lingjiang had inexplicably obtained for her, which he gave her while they were chatting on the rooftop that night. Su Guo'er wasn't particularly interested in these things and had casually stuffed them into a thick book earlier.
As a result, Cai Shou almost saw it, and she'll definitely gossip about it everywhere. The embarrassment is secondary; the main problem is the trouble of explaining it, especially if it causes misunderstandings with my parents...
Su Guo'er was quite annoyed by Sister Xie's meddling in drawing lots for her.
Behind the desk, Su Guo'er rubbed her temples with her fingertips, clearing her mind of distractions.
She flipped through the book with her fingers, and out of the corner of her eye she occasionally caught a glimpse of an open gift book on the table, which seemed to have been opened and forgotten to be put away by a chubby-faced maid.
Her gaze swept over it, and she reached out her slender hand, preparing to close it.
However, the next second...
The woman at the desk seemed to have had a pause button pressed.
A slender hand paused above the gift document.
Hovering without moving.
If it weren't for the evening breeze blowing open the double-pane windows, causing the pages of Xuan paper and gift certificates on the desk to flutter and turn, one might almost mistake the scene in front of the desk for a still, frozen moment.
Until a loud "bang" was heard, a heavy sound of a fleshy hand slamming onto the table.
As if turning from stillness to motion, Su Guo'er quickly slapped her palm down, stopping the page from being turned and fixing it on the original page.
Two trembling, slender fingers pressed firmly on a line of small regular script characters on the page.
The girl with the plum blossom makeup had her slightly loose black hair fall onto the table. Because she was leaning forward, her eyes were almost touching the words on the table, extremely close.
Su Guo'er lowered her head, her flowing black hair temporarily obscuring her beautiful face and expression, only her dazed murmur remained:
"Return...Farewell? Ouyang...Lianghan!"
...
(End of this chapter)
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