She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 106 - 105: Disdain

Chapter 106: Chapter 105: Disdain

The old woman servant didn’t seem to like cute little children, and upon hearing Qi Jia’s words, her expression grew even darker, like murky water.

She glanced at Qi Jia with impatience and chided with a frown, "Whose child is this! How ill-mannered? When adults are speaking, what business does an ignorant child have running over to interrupt? Is this the kind of rule your shop keeps? Madam, not only is the food at your establishment outrageously expensive, but you also allow a child to run about in the shop, which is utterly unacceptable behaviour."

Qi Jia had come over to say kind words but unexpectedly got chastised by this old woman. The little one was first stunned, then felt somewhat wronged, moisture appearing in her eyes, yet she still stared at the old woman with wide eyes, defiantly.

Ye Xinyan’s eyes darkened slightly as she gently squeezed Qi Jia’s little hand to offer comfort.

She was willing to lower her status to accommodate them, and that was her business. But for this old woman to take out her anger on a child was not ethical.

If she didn’t have any backing, that would be another story, as it would mean she lacked the strength, and couldn’t just rush her entire family towards disaster. At most, she would have to talk more to the children afterwards, telling them to be more cautious in the future.

But now things were different. She had the dairy farm as a fallback option, and this dairy farm was in service of Prince Yu. With such a patron and a way out, if she still allowed Qi Jiaer to be bullied, then she would be extremely weak.

At worst, she could shut down this little shop, but she could not let Qi Jiaer be bullied by anyone!

Ye Xinyan’s still-pleasant smiling face faded slightly as she politely said, "Nanny Jin, allow this little woman to explain a bit more. My family’s little food shop is a small business, and we are poor folk, not like the wealthy families who can order servants around. I have invested my whole family’s efforts into this business, so I can only bring my little brother along with me."

At this point, Ye Xinyan deliberately paused for a moment, glancing towards the back of the hall before continuing, "The status of those two gentlemen earlier is extremely prestigious, yet they were understanding of the difficulties faced by us poor folk in earning a living—having seen my brother several times, they have never once disliked him being in the shop."

Ye Xinyan’s smile remained, but her gaze no longer conceded anything, and she even swept a mocking smile over towards the young lady who was acting coy and enjoying the commotion from the sidelines.

Damn, with your status compared to Jinrong’s, what are you even? Chasing after men all the way here and still putting on airs—what kind of show are you trying to put on?

And seriously, focus on what’s important, okay? Now is not the time for you to start trouble. You should be trying your best to appear magnanimous, virtuous, kind, and show off all the excellent qualities you have—real or not—to the men, okay?

No wonder this young lady would do something as forward as chasing after a man in the strictly traditional ancient times; it turns out this group of servant and mistress are a bunch of blockheads.

When the old woman heard Ye Xinyan mention Jinrong and another, her heart grew wary. When the woman said these two’s status was so prestigious, could it be that she actually knew of Sixth Master Rong’s identity?

Although the old woman did not know Jinrong’s identity, considering how close this person was with Lord Jiang and hearing that their own young lord had to pay respect to someone with an official position as a prefect, she knew that this person’s status must be exceedingly high.

Moreover, considering what the steward who served the young master had said earlier—that Sixth Master Rong seemed to be a regular customer of this small shop—if this shop had indeed caught the attention of Sixth Master Rong, it would indeed be bad to offend him carelessly.

Moreover, their young lady came here to create a coincidence meeting to leave a good impression on Lord Jiang; they couldn’t let Lord Jiang think their young lady was nasty and mean-spirited.

The old woman servant stiffened, clearly unable to gracefully exit the situation.

However, the sweet-voiced young noblewoman was not to be underestimated. After enjoying the bustle, she had gauged the young matron’s measure and now timely spoke up, "Please don’t take offense, shopkeeper. Our household observes strict rules, and Nanny Jin, seeing the way your shop operates, found it questionable. It is only natural for her to have some doubts. We hope the shopkeeper will understand."

With that said, she went ahead to the table that Ye Xinyan had indicated earlier, "Let’s sit here. My younger brother has been to your little shop before and said that the food here is quite novel. I took advantage of the quiet moment today to see for myself if it is as good as its reputation."

One of the maids by the young lady’s side went over, wiped down the entire set of table and chairs, and then the young lady gracefully took her seat.

A shrewd and capable looking maid stood behind the young lady, asking Ye Xinyan, "What are the specialties of your shop? Please enlighten our miss."

Ye Xinyan looked over and smiled, "Our shop doesn’t have a wide variety of snacks." While speaking, she handed over a menu, "Here is a menu, it lists all the snacks and pastries that our shop offers. You can have a look, and if you make a choice, this young matron can explain them to you."

But the maid did not take the menu, only saying in a flat tone, "You should introduce them to us, that paper, even if we look at it, we won’t understand much of it." The rejection and disgust in her eyes were very obvious, as she disdained to touch a menu handled by who knows how many people.

Ye Xinyan did not insist; fortunately, her shop’s food assortment was indeed not vast, so at most she’d have to spend a little more effort talking. If a little talking could send away these troublesome spirits, it was worth it.

She handed the menu to Qi Jia, instructing her, "It’s okay. Put the menu back, and you go play in the backyard."

Qi Jia looked worriedly at Ye Xinyan, then at the glamorous elder sisters and the old woman servant who dazzled him, but eventually, he took the menu obediently and retired to the counter.

Ye Xinyan, addressing the young lady, introduced her shop’s offerings: "The best seller in our shop is the Ice Cream which, despite being frozen, you won’t feel the slightest bit of ice grains when eating it. It’s sweet and cold, a rare treat to refresh oneself in the heat of summer. There’s also the double-layered milk custard, pure white in color, smooth and creamy in taste... and the red bean soup is thick, sandy, and sweet... "

Ye Xinyan, patient as ever, and in no hurry, slowly listed all the snacks available in the shop.

Since the young lady had followed Sixth Master Rong and, without striking up a conversation with the person she fancied, obviously couldn’t leave easily, her intention to delay could be understood.

While Ye Xinyan introduced the food of her shop, Qi Younian had already come out to check twice, for Sixth Master was still waiting.

However, the hall was filled with female patrons who looked fairly distinguished, so he thought it improper to take over the hosting duties. Nanny Jin did think of going over, but before she could approach, she was halted by another one of the young lady’s maids.

Seeing the situation, Qi Younian had no choice but to retreat to the inner hall and report to Jinrong that his granddaughter was attending to female customers and could not come over for the moment.

Jinrong and his companion moved to a compartment in the inner hall. Naturally, the food from the front of the shop could not be brought in for them to eat anymore. Nanny Jin had already instructed Yun Niang in the kitchen to quickly serve up a couple of steamed cakes and bring over two cups of tea, to settle the two guests for the time being.

Upon hearing Qi Younian’s reply, Jinrong couldn’t help but complain to Jiang Yifan, "It’s all because of the bad karma you’ve stirred up with those love-struck fools. Look, they’ve followed us here." During his complaints, he didn’t avoid Qi Younian, showing no regard for the reputation of a lady from a sheltered background.