Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 100 - 99 Unexpected

Chapter 100: Chapter 99 Unexpected

Upon hearing that Afu wanted to take him to the Senator’s Mansion to deliver gifts, Chen Ayu specifically wore his best outfit - a gray-blue round-neck satin gown. Even though the gown was slightly worn and short, it made the young man look very handsome.

Chen Afu took an extra look at him and teased, "Ayu looks surprisingly handsome when he’s all dressed up."

Her words made Chen Ayu blush, and he chuckled.

They didn’t go to the main door of The Chus’ Mansion, but disembarked the carriage at the Jiao Gate. Chen Afu told the gatekeeper that they were looking for Manager Luo, and also slipped a small silver dime into his hand.

As Manager Luo had a great reputation in The Chus’ Mansion and the gatekeeper pocketed the silver dime, he cheerfully went inside to find Manager Luo.

Manager Luo, seeing that they had brought so many dates, was delighted. He hurriedly instructed the servant who had accompanied him to take the dates straight to the Yuetao Pavilion and to not let them be taken anywhere else. Not even a single date was spared for the steward.

The cooks in the mansion had made a lot of sticky rice dates to entertain the guests, and the guests all greatly enjoyed this snack. Only Marquis Chu, who had a sweet tooth and discerning tastes, noticed that the sticky rice dates from the Yuetao Pavilion were tastier than the others. Whenever he didn’t have anything to do, he would go to the Yuettao Courtyard and share the dates with his daughter. Even though they controlled the quantity, the two small basin of dates in the Yuetao Pavilion were almost finished. Hence, the sticky rice dates this time are only for the old and the young ones.

Chen Afu then handed over the large parcel to Manager Luo, saying, "I made two large dolls for Yan to switch around and hold." She added with a smile, "I also made a set of clothes for her. They’re a bit crude in workmanship, but please don’t mind."

Manager Luo laughed, "If Madam Chen made the clothes, they must be beautiful. I’ll tell my daughter-in-law to let Yan wear them tomorrow." He accepted the large parcel from Chen Afu, laughing, "There are many guests in the mansion right now. Not only are many from Capital City, but quite a few also come from the Provincial City. It’s not all that convenient to invite you in... on behalf of my master and Yan, thank you."

He complimented Chen Ayu’s handsome appearance and mentioned that Luo’s Luwei was very popular among the guests. He requested for most of the Luwei to be served without skewers the next day, but a small portion should be skewered, for some of the gentlemen were curious about the taste of skewered Luwei.

Chen Ayu promptly bowed and urged Manager Luo to join them for Luwei when he found the time, stating that Luwei truly tasted best when eaten skewered.

Manager Luo agreed, chuckling, and addressed Chen Afu, "Your little brother is quite clever."

When Chen Afu and Ayu returned, Manager Luo sent them off with five pounds of refined white sugar, ten pounds of Ya Li, and four bags of candies from Capital City.

Once back at the Chen’s residence, Chen Afu set aside the candies with the intention of taking them home as a gift, while she gave the rest to Chen Shi. Chen Shi distributed the Ya Li for everyone to eat, and placed the five pounds of refined white sugar up for sale at his store.

This Ya Li was just like the ones Mrs. Changgen had sent earlier. It was juicy but coarse in texture and didn’t taste good. Chen Afu thought about the Dangshan pears, Fengshui pears, and Fragrant Pears she had eaten in a past life - each was unique and much tastier than this.

She asked Chen Shi if there were any pears that were sweeter and had a finer texture.

Chen Shi replied that Ya Li was the tastiest among pears, and if even this seemed coarse to her, then she would probably find only apples satisfactory.

That night, Chen Afu drew designs for flower basket buttons, Pipa buttons, mandarin duck buttons, butterfly buttons, phoenix buttons, and ’Shou’ character buttons (Shou meaning long life) - a total of six styles.

She wanted to make a variety of button designs this time. The wisdom of the ancients was infinite - from the design of chrysanthemum buttons, they would derive plum blossom buttons. As time passed, they would also naturally create other designs. However, why wait for them to do it, when she could create them herself first?

Mr. Luo held the control over the variety, and since she was so smart, she would naturally know when to introduce new products.

Chen Afu explained to Mrs. Wang the techniques of coupling and crafting disk buttons. The more elaborate ones require considerable craftsmanship and patience and dexterous hands. Since her own skills weren’t yet up to par, Mrs. Wang would handle the main part and she would assist.

Upon seeing the disk buttons, Mrs. Wang was filled with awe. She thought turning disk buttons into flowers was already incredibly beautiful. To her surprise, they could also be shaped into animals, musical instruments, and even characters, all stunning works of art.

The mother and daughter concentrated on crafting disk buttons in the room.

However, the color of their satin and embroidery thread was a bit monotonous. On the 16th, Chen Afu visited Nirvana Embroidery Workshop again.

A shop assistant, who now recognized her, directly guided her to the backyard of the shop.

Upon her entry into the reception room, not only Mr. Luo was present, but also Manager Luo. The siblings seemed to have just wept, their eyes red. However, their faces were filled with joy, as seen in their twinkling eyes.

Chen Afu felt as though her visit was inopportune.

Upon seeing her, the siblings stood up in greeting, smiling. Mr. Luo even personally poured tea for her, which flustered Chen Afu and filled her with a mix of confusion and delight.

Manager Luo said with a laugh, "Madam Chen, even if you didn’t visit today, I planned to come and thank you."

"Make a special trip to thank me?" Chen Afu was quite surprised.

Upon hearing this, the eyes of Manager Luo seemed to glint with moisture, and he had to wipe his eyes with a handkerchief.

Manager Luo’s voice was choked, "After my sister received the swallow doll two days ago, she was so delighted that she kept holding it, repeatedly saying ’the bird is smiling.’ That night, she slept soundly for the first time in a long while. Yesterday morning, my daughter-in-law dressed her up in the dress you made. Goodness, she looked enchanting like a little fairy, drawing everyone’s adoration. Looking at herself in the mirror, she kept praising the dress, saying it’s so ’beautiful...’ "

His words flowed on and on. Although Manager Luo didn’t explain everything in detail, Chen Afu could discern the gist of it through his incomplete sentences and with her sharp judgment.

Because of the little girl’s illness, of the many guests who visited The Chus’ Mansion, only the little girl’s maternal grandfather Marquis Chu, her aunty, Mrs. Luo, and Mrs. Luo’s daughter-in-law, Granny Luo, were allowed to see her in Yuettao Courtyard. Everyone else was declined with the excuse that the little girl wasn’t in good health recently.

Yesterday was the little girl’s birthday, and the Chu family did not plan to have the little girl greet the guests. Male guests were received in the Song Hall in the Outer Court, while female guests were in the Hua Hall. After the birthday banquet, they would leave.

However, uninvited and unwelcome visitor suddenly arrived during the meal. This visitor insisted on seeing the birthday girl, claiming an esteemed person in the palace was particularly fond of her and wanted to know how much she had grown.

Despite their irritation, Marquis Chu and Chu Lingxuan had no choice but to comply, for the visitor’s claim to care for the little girl in the name of the palace was not unfounded. Thus, Mrs. Wei was forced to parade the little girl in front of the guests in Hua Hall.

No one, including Chu Lingxuan, had expected the sight when the little girl was carried out.

She was dressed in exquisite and unusual new clothes, hugging tightly the large swallow doll in her arms. Akin to a little fairy, she looked incredibly lovely. Even though she was overly quiet and appeared a little afraid around the crowd, she didn’t make a fuss. Contrarily, she looked around curiously, occasionally lowering her sight to look at her beloved doll, a tender smile often playing at the corners of her mouth.

After being shown around to the female guests by Mrs. Wei, she was then quickly taken back.