Azhao mentioned the seventh young lord on several occasions, intentionally or unintentionally. Therefore, Mo Qianxue gradually knew his feelings towards her. Whether she thought too much or not, it'd be better to keep a proper distance.
The seventh young lord was an unconventional handsome guy who never stuck to traditional courtesy and formalities. He must have in his house numerous concubines and lovers. She, as a married village woman, should stay away from him and try to avoid conversations with him that were irrelevant to their business.
Thinking of this, Mo Qianxue replied, "Take your time, lord. I'll take a look at the street scenery."
At the window, after her speech, she stood up and walked to the window which enjoyed a panoramic view of the whole street.
The seventh young lord Su (Su Qi) was surprised at her expression which seemed to push him to thousands of miles away.
He couldn't figure it out, so he closed his pretty peach-blossom eyes and take a nap.
To be frank, he couldn't fully understand this woman.
Since his birth, Su Qi had never been neglected like this. Wherever he went, there would be loads of ladies who came to please him or wanted to marry him. Young madams wished to build connections with his family and girls wanted to climb onto his bed…
However, be it a pretty girl or a noble lady, he always treated them in a teasing or fun-making way and never gave them a friendly look.
Because he already saw clearly their fake love and true purpose, so he never let any of this kind of women get close to him…
It was noon already. Out there on the street, people came and go. Judging only from the flow of visitors, obviously the business of Yingkexuan was less prosperous than that of Baiyunju.
Thinking about it for a while, Mo Qianxue's expression changed slightly. Unexpectedly, within half a month since she came here, the situation had undergone such dramatic change. This seventh yound lord was really a capable person.
She shouldn't look down upon him!
Outside the restaurant, a luxurious carriage stopped by. Out came a young lord in white holding a flute followed by Gao Lang who had argued with her the other day.
It seemed that this young lord must be Xin Yiming. Mo Qianxue's lips moved slightly and sat back to her chair.
Xin Yiming walked in the door and found that there were two of them, shocked indiscernibly, lifting up arms to greet Su Qi, "Lord Su must be in a good mood that you show up here and wait for me. You could just send a message to me."
Su Qi gave him a small smile, "Don't be too polite with me. Don't you remember the other day you invited me to appreciate a sculpture piece that is more breath-taking than those produced by the wooden pieces store? What? You don't welcome me or fear that I can't appreciate it?"
Su Qi displayed a laughing face, but Xin Yiming was a bit stunned. On that day, he had made a preservation here and talked with Su Qi about the sculpture casually. And by then Su Qi just smiled and didn't set an official appointment with him.
Xin Yiming wore a white simple gown, but it was edged with flowery inconspicuous patterns, which made it both expensive and elegant. His manners also suggested his high-ranking family background.
However, though carrying such powerful existence, compared with Su Qi, he was somehow less domineering.
The two men continued to exchange greetings before looking to Mo Qianxue.
Mo Qianxue briefly introduced herself. Su Qi, out of purpose she didn't know, should pretend that he didn't know her and bowed like they met for the first time.
Mo Qianxue, though confused, didn't want to figure it out and only said to herself: great. High-ranking households were teemed with conspiracies and schemes, in which she didn't want to be involved at all.
By one glance, she knew their hypocritic courtesy.
After introducing herself, Mo Qianxue was too lazy to talk more nonsense, so she went straight to the sculpture and immediately pulled off the red cloth covering it.
When the red cloth was taken away, sunshine reflecting on it, and an aroma sent over.
The eyes of all the four people present were lit up by it.
The main body of the root sculpture was around one point two meters in height, but if adding the spreading branched, it was two meters strong. The longevity god holding a birthday peach, behind whom stood eight joyful boys, slight bowed.
A total of nine people was lively carved. Root hairs intertwine artistically with one another, constituting a heavenly beautiful picture. Mo Qianxue was very satisfied with the surprise and shock in their eyes. Raising her hand, she started to introduce the sculpting work.
"This children-offering-birthday-felicitation is named by the master 'Nine Stars Sending Bliss'! It's carved with camphor wood, sending out enduring dense aroma that can last for years.
Camphor wood has dense and fine texture, tough and not easy to break, nor produce cracks. The properties wouldn't change even after one hundred years. The wood is much better than the Dahlbergian wood lord Xin saw at the wooden piece store."
Once beginning to introduce the root sculpture before her, Mo Qianxue took on another character in high spirits, her eyes and brows leaping.
She seemed to have returned to the modern society where she was an expert in presenting all kinds of products or advertising skills in a fair.
"The longevity god means health and longevity; the children symbolize auspiciousness; nine represents enduring and long-lasting…"
Su Qi lazily leaned on his body hearing the introduction, but his eyes were full of brilliance. When others recommended their products to them, they always muttered and stuttered from the fear that he wouldn't buy the products, but this Mrs. Ning was so special.
She was confident and rigorous as if she was the superior one. It was not that she wanted to sell the sculpture, but others begged her to buy it, so the whole person seemed to be shining.
This kind of confidence and ability couldn't be possessed by a village woman!
Staring at the root sculpture in front of him, Xin Yiming's eyes were teemed with astonishment that couldn't be hidden. He stole a glance at Su Qi from the corners of his eyes and found that he remained the playful lazy look sipping his tea. Xin Yiming shook his head.
It seemed that the rumors in the capital wasn't fake. He was indeed a dandy fop. The reason why Baiyunju began to prosper was the new chef and his new operating ideas.
Only Alu knew that the more stunned his young lord was, the more careless he appeared. Xin Yiming took back his glance and rested assured, continuing to scrutinize the sculpture. Generally speaking, he was very satisfied with the sculpture.
Great design, good meaning. Special!
What he didn't know was that the moment he looked away, a sneer flashed by on Su Qi's face.
"It's clear, beautiful, grandeur, lively, and emits faint aroma which can drive away insects, sterilize and purify air."
Mo Qianxue made gestured while describing the work. The blisters and scars that were still reddish on her hands were seen by them but only regarded as the hardship of an ordinary village woman.
However, when they were seen by the seventh young lord, he somehow got irritated. He clearly remembered that this pair of fair-skinned tender hands wrote flower-like beautiful calligraphy.
Su Qi frowned. An indiscernible sullen touched on his laughing face.
He was a clever person and had heard Azhao mentioned about her posting reward for tree roots. By little contemplation, he could tell that the sculpture was carved by her.
What did her husband do? How could he let a woman work so hard…?
Did she need money? Because of her husband's disease? Why didn't she turn to him?
He wouldn't tell her that today he showed up especially for her.
He thought of her evasive attitude when they just arrived and came to realization of something, shaking his head helplessly…
Actually, he merely respected her talent, pitied for her life, appreciated her straightforwardness and liked her interesting personality, so he stood out for her, like opening un umbrella for a beautiful flower in a storm. He didn't wish to pick up the flower and take it home, but to let the beauty last longer.
His home, a place full of filthy conspiracies and schemes, couldn't provide a shelter for her to laugh in the way she liked.
The picture of her holding the tree with one hand and laughing carefreely helped him make up his mind. Even if she didn't turn to him, he would still give her a hand whenever she needed, so that he could still hear the carefree laugh. This was his only purpose.