nycdaug Chapter 17 Encounter with Xu Xiaorou
Chapter 17 Encounter with Xu Xiaorou
Space items?
Wen Yan's eyes lit up. This means there is a chance for the space to be upgraded! What a pleasant surprise.
The place the housekeeper mentioned was an antique shop, but it was called an antique shop, in fact, it was a mixture of real and fake, and it was purely a matter of luck. This shop sold antiques, calligraphy and paintings, jewelry from old dynasties, porcelain and bronze, everything.
As soon as Wen Yan stepped into this place, she knew what the space item the housekeeper was talking about was. The reason was simple: a jade pendant placed on the empty space of the shelf and the water color on her wrist were too similar, and she could tell at first glance that they were the same set.
"Hey, who is this? It's the eldest lady." A sarcastic voice came from inside the shop.
Wen Yan then discovered that besides her and her daughter, there were two familiar faces in the store - the original heroine Xu Xiaorou and her maid Du Juan.
Xu Xiaorou's belly looked like she was already seven or eight months pregnant, but she was still walking around outside. Seeing Wen Yan looking at her belly, Xu Xiaorou couldn't help but put her hand on her belly to block her view.
In Xu Xiaorou's memory, Wen Yan was the kind of person who would rush up and argue out of jealousy.
Xu Xiaorou: "Sister-in-law, long time no see."
Wen Yan nodded slightly as a greeting, and then took her daughter to look at things in the store.
Du Juan stood there supporting Xu Xiaorou, and said disdainfully: "Why are you pretending? Can she afford the things here?"
Wen Yan pretended not to hear and just looked at the antiques, calligraphy and paintings around her.
"Mom, this painting asked me to buy it." Wan Xuan pointed to a landscape painting hanging on the wall.
"Really? Then let's go ask the store about the price."
Before Wen Yan could get there, the shopkeeper came over and said, "This painting is a fake of "Spring Moon Mountain Scenery". It only costs one tael of silver."
Du Juan burst out laughing, "After spending so much time choosing, I ended up picking a fake."
Even though Wen Yan was good-tempered, she got angry, "Xu Xiaorou, take care of your dog."
"Who are you calling a dog?"
Xu Xiaorou's face was also ugly. She grabbed Du Juan with one hand to comfort her, "Sister-in-law, how can you say such things? Du Juan is my dowry maid and has served me for many years..."
"So what? Xu Xiaorou, you don't care if she speaks rudely, but it's my fault if I speak up to refute her?"
Xu Xiaorou stammered for a long time and couldn't speak, "I didn't expect that after not seeing you for such a long time, my sister-in-law would become so sharp-tongued."
Wen Yan rolled her eyes at her and continued to ask about the prices of other items in the store, and also asked about the jade pendant. The jade pendant was square and had no outstanding patterns, so the price was not high, only fifteen taels of silver.
Wen Yan pretended to be embarrassed and finally chose this pendant.
"Sixteen taels in total," said the shopkeeper.
Wen Yan paid the money readily. Sixteen taels was enough for her now. It was mainly because of the wooden sign hanging in the store: No bargaining.
On the other side, Xu Xiaorou had also made her selection, also a painting.
"I heard that the county magistrate's favorite thing is landscape painting. Madam will definitely help the second master get promoted and make money this time." Du Juan flattered him with all her might.
"Oh, this lady has a really good eye. This is the original painting of Thousands of Mountains and Valleys, the most valuable treasure in my shop!"
When Xu Xiaorou heard this, she smiled shyly and said, "I just picked it up casually... How much does the store price this painting?"
"No bargaining," said the shopkeeper, "five hundred taels."
Xu Xiaorou's face froze, and she saw Wen Yan still looking at her from the corner of her eye, and her smile froze even more. She had brought 500 taels with her this time, but her mother-in-law said she couldn't use it all. If it exceeded 300 taels, the extra money would be deducted from her future duties.
Wen Yan's main point is to take revenge on the spot. She imitated Du Juan's behavior and said, "Oh, you are the second wife of the Wan family, can't you even take out five hundred taels?"
"You can't take them out, right?" Wan Xuan followed suit and made a face.
"You little bastard!" Du Juan was used to being rude and reached out to hit Wan Xuan.
Wen Yan grabbed her wrist, and the huge force made her feel pain repeatedly, "What are you doing! Be careful or I will report you to the old lady."
"You can try." Wen Yan pinched Du Juan's face, "I also want to see if Old Madam Wan can still spare the time to care about me, her former daughter-in-law."
Xu Xiaorou felt that Wen Yan was really scary right now, and she didn't even bother to think about buying the painting and left quickly.
Wen Yan didn't bother to argue, she took her things and left. When she was leaving the door, she passed by a young man in green.
"Boss, did you buy a painting of Spring Moon Mountain Scenery a few days ago?" The young man in green walked quickly into the store and asked anxiously.
"Yes, but it has been bought by someone else."
“Bought it?!”
Ma Wenzheng raised his voice and asked in annoyance: "When was it bought?"
The shopkeeper pointed in a direction and said, "Just now, a mother and daughter."
Ma Wenzheng also realized that he had indeed seen a scroll of painting in the basket behind the man when he entered the door. He thanked the shopkeeper and hurriedly chased after him.
He spent a lot of effort to collect this painting, and planned to give it to his father as a gift for his 60th birthday. But he didn't expect that the servant who didn't have long eyes would mistake the original for the fake.
So later on, by some strange coincidence, he was sold here.
Fortunately, the mother and daughter did not go far. Ma Wenzheng shouted from a distance: "Please wait a moment!"
Wen Yan turned around and saw a young man in his twenties waving at her.
"Calling us?" Wen Yan asked curiously.
"That's right." Ma Wenzhen took a few deep breaths, raised his head and was about to speak, but what caught his eye was a very touching beautiful face. He was stunned for a moment.
"Mom! Why is he stunned?" Wan Xuan covered her mouth and laughed.
Wen Yan couldn't help but laugh, "Sir, what's the matter?"
When she smiled, she looked even more charming, like a person in a painting.
Ma Wenzheng blushed from head to toe, and couldn't help but whisper, "Madam, can you give me the painting you just bought? It was sold by a servant in the mansion by mistake."
"I can't make the decision on this."
Speaking of business, Ma Wenzheng also straightened his face and asked anxiously: "Why? Then who can make the decision?"
Wen Yan looked at Wan Xuan and said, "My daughter picked this painting. You have to ask her if she wants to give it to you."
Wan Xuan nodded seriously, "Yes, you have to ask me."
Such a lovely child, Marven squatted down and asked softly: "Excuse me, little lady, can you sell the painting to me?"
Wan Xuan nodded, "Okay, but I want ten taels of silver."
This request was not excessive. Ma Wenzheng breathed a sigh of relief and took out ten taels of silver from his pocket, "No problem."
Wen Yan also gave him the painting.
Ma Wenzheng's heart finally settled down, "Thank you, Madam. I'm Ma Wenzheng. What's your name, Madam?"
There is only one family with the surname Ma in this city, the county magistrate's family. It seems that the person in front of us is the county magistrate's son.
Wen Yan would not refuse such connections, "Wen Yan."
Even after Wen Yan left, Ma Wenzheng was still staring at her from behind. He felt sorry that such a beautiful woman had already married and had such a big child.
Wen Yan didn't know what he was thinking. The little guy beside her was showing off his achievements: "Mom, I earned ten taels of silver!"
"Our three treasures are really amazing."
Wan Xuan looked at her once, then once again, and begged, "Mother, can you give me these ten taels of silver?"
"The money you earn should naturally be spent by yourself." Wen Yan rubbed her head.
"Great!" Wan Xuan couldn't wait any longer. She pulled Wen Yan to a corner of the street and stopped in front of a stall. "Mom, I want to buy this!"