Chapter 299: You

Tuan Tuan wanders again to the cargo container, tiptoes, and points at a deep‑blue glass jar on the top shelf: "This one! Sparkling! So pretty!"

The clerk beside her laughs: "Miss, good eye; that's our flagship treasure, Sea‑Sky Blue."

"Sea‑Sky Blue?" Tuan Tuan's little hand reaches up forcefully, "I want to touch it!"

The clerk's face changes slightly: "Miss, you can't touch that!"

Before the words finish, Tuan Tuan has already grabbed the edge of the cabinet, her whole little body almost hanging up.

Owner Luo shouts in alarm: "Don't climb!"

Xiao Er, with an Arrow step forward, scoops Tuan Tuan down, "Miss! If this cabinet falls on you, what will happen!"

Owner Luo: "……"

"If the cabinet falls, won't all my spices be ruined?"

Held in mid‑air, Tuan Tuan still fixes her gaze on the blue jar, pursing her little mouth: "I just want to touch it!"

Owner Luo wipes the bead of sweat from his head and sighs in relief.

Tuan Tuan returns to the edge of the table, her little hand reaches again toward a row of painted porcelain jars placed by the side.

"What's this?" she picks up a jar of scented powder, curiously pulls off the stopper and looks inside, "Red looks so nice!"

The clerk answers: "This is vermilion powder, it can be made into…"

"Why is it called vermilion powder?"

The clerk is startled: "Young master, I don't know."

Tuan Tuan brings her nose close, sniffs hard: "Achoo!"

Pink smoke bursts from the small jar, coating her face.

"Ah, it itches!" Tuan Tuan stretches a little hand to wipe her face, instantly becomes a little spotted cat, and with a "Wa—" she bursts into loud crying.

The earth‑shaking wail instantly fills the room.

Xiao Ran immediately orders the shopkeeper: "Quickly bring my sister water to clean her face!"

Owner Luo's forehead veins jump, hurriedly orders: "Go quickly!"

The clerk runs fast, brings a basin of clear water; Xiao Ran takes a brocade handkerchief dampened with water and wipes Tuan Tuan's little face point by point until clean.

Owner Luo patiently waits aside.

Just after the face is cleaned, Tuan Tuan picks up a jar of indigo‑blue scented powder: "What's this made of?"

The clerk helplessly answers: "I'm not sure."

Tuan Tuan holds the jar with both hands; the clerk, now scared of her, hurriedly leans forward to stop her.

"Puff!"

Tuan Tuan blows hard.

The blue powder explodes like fireworks, scattering over half the table and also spraying the clerk's face.

"My Qingque Blue!" the clerk howls mournfully, looking at the half‑filled table of powder, heart aching.

Xiao Er steps forward, seeming to pick up Tuan Tuan, but his foot "accidentally" trips and his whole body collapses onto the table.

"Splash!"

A whole row of neatly placed jars falls to the ground.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Xiao Er hurriedly gets up.

The front hall instantly becomes a mess.

Owner Luo's vision goes black, his voice trembles: "Cus‑tom‑er, this… this…"

"I'll pay!" Xiao Ran flicks her fan, nonchalantly: "Just kids playing, how much is it worth?" Saying that, she pulls out a gold ingot and tosses it onto the table.

Tuan Tuan again eyes a row of spice wooden boxes inside the cabinet.

"Uncle," she tugs at Owner Luo's sleeve, pointing at the leftmost dark brown wooden block, "This dark one, is it wood? What tree was it before?"

Owner Luo: "This is agarwood, indeed from a tree, its fragrance…"

"Does it like rain?" Tuan Tuan interrupts him, asking very seriously.

"Ah?"

"Mother said, trees like water. Now it's fragrant, does it still like rain?"

Owner Luo: "…"

He has not yet decided how to answer, Tuan Tuan points at a gray‑white waxy thing.

"What's this made of?"

Owner Luo answers: "This, ah, is from a fish's body."

"Huh? That's from a big fish's body?" Tuan Tuan frowns, "Does the big fish hurt?"

"It's sea‑spirit fragrance, it…"

"Is the big fish still alive?"

"…"

"Where did the big fish go?"

Owner Luo's mouth twitches, clenches his back molars, and throws a pleading look at Xiao Ran,

Xiao Ran leisurely swings her fan: "My sister's question is reasonable."

Tuan Tuan turns, climbs onto a chair, mutters: "Mixed together it's more fragrant!"

Her little hand quickly pours a jar of precious sea‑spirit fragrance powder and a jar of ordinary mugwort powder together.

"Heaven!" the clerk's spirit flies away.

"Mixing them makes a better scent!" Tuan Tuan declares boldly, shaking the jar hard, "Fragrant pairs with fragrant!"

"Miss, that's not allowed!" Owner Luo lunges forward, "This sea‑spirit fragrance is worth a hundred gold each!"

"What's wrong with my sister playing with a little incense powder?" Xiao Ran placed the teacup heavily on the table, their face darkening, "Was what I gave earlier not enough? Or do you think I can't afford to compensate?"

They pulled out a gold ingot and tossed it onto the table.

Shopkeeper Luo, exasperated to the extreme, stammered, "N-no, I don't dare."

"Then let her play." Xiao Ran leaned back, "My sister's happiness is the most important."

Shopkeeper Luo wanted to cry but had no tears.

A private room in Qingyun Tea House.

Xiao Ningxun swiftly flipped through the stack of papers Zhou Ping had brought back.

They weren't ledgers, yet they were more useful than ledgers.

Soon, after finishing, they handed them back to Zhou Ping: "Well done. Put them back. Return them exactly as they were, as if no one had ever touched them."

"Don't worry! We're familiar with this job."

The two brothers slipped out of the tea house again and looped back to the back courtyard of Hundred Fragrance Pavilion.

The two climbed the locust tree, pressed their ears to listen, and heard faint children's voices from the front hall.

"Still making a ruckus." Zhou An whispered.

Zhou Ping nodded. "Perfect."

The two skillfully scaled the wall and entered, once again reaching the outside of Shopkeeper Luo's room and unlocking the door.

Zhou An lifted the iron box, returned the papers exactly as they were, closed the lid, inspected it carefully, placed them into the book, and then put the book back in its original spot.

The two quickly inspected the room, confirming no trace was left, then walked out and locked the door again.

The brothers exchanged a glance, scaled the wall out, and hurried back to Qingyun Tea House.

In the private room, Xiao Ningxun stood by the window, watching the movements of Hundred Fragrance Pavilion.

Zhou Ping and Zhou An pushed the door open. "Benefactor, it's taken care of."

Xiao Ningxun nodded, lifted a hand, and with a "creak," shut the window.

Lu Qi, who had been watching the tea house's activity, curled the corner of his mouth and walked over to Xiao Er's side.

Xiao Ran glanced at him, lifted Tuan Tuan, and said to the exhausted Shopkeeper Luo, "My sister had a great time today, thank you."

Shopkeeper Luo forced a smile. "As long as the guest is satisfied, then… these goods?"

Xiao Ran waved his hand. "The goods—" he pointed at a few items, "these, keep them for me. I'll be in Jiangzhou for a few more days; perhaps I'll bring my sister again and choose some others."

Shopkeeper Luo's face changed dramatically in an instant. "You're coming back? No!"

Xiao Ran felt great joy inside, and with a natural smile said, "Before I return to the capital, settle everything and take it away."

Shopkeeper Luo: "……"

All that fuss, and you still won't buy?

He forced a smile. "Y-yes, I'll definitely keep everything for you."

Xiao Ran, cradling Tuan Tuan, swaggered out of Hundred Fragrance Pavilion.

The moment they stepped through the main gate, Tuan Tuan lifted her little face from Xiao Ran's shoulder and stuck out a grimace at Shopkeeper Luo.

Shopkeeper Luo: "……"

Finally got rid of that troublesome old man!

He turned, looking at the shop littered with chaos and colorful debris, and the few workers busy tidying up, feeling utterly exhausted.

"Clean up," he gestured weakly. "Today… close early."

The group reunited and merged into the bustling street crowd.

Tuan Tuan clung around Xiao Ran's neck. "Third Brother, did I do well?"

"Excellent." Xiao Ran pinched her little nose. "That Shopkeeper Luo's face turned green."

Tuan Tuan turned to Xiao Ningxun. "Third Brother, did they manage to steal it?"

Xiao Ningxun reached out, ruffled her hair, and smiled slightly. "They did."

"Thanks to you, Tuan Tuan."

Tuan Tuan proudly wiggled her little foot and shouted at Zhou Ping and Zhou An, "You're great!"

Excitement blossomed on Zhou Ping and Zhou An's faces, their backs straightening.

Xiao Ran asked, "Are the things they stole useful?"