Chapter 127: Pomegranate-red forehead band

Su Yun retreated several steps in fear, timidly questioning, "You come every day; what do you want?"

The youth laughed, "Your father sold you to me as a concubine for five hundred taels of silver; can I not come to see my little wife?"

Su Yun's small face flushed with shame, yet sorrow rose in her heart. She muttered stubbornly, "You're spouting nonsense; how could my father sell me?" But her spirit had already weakened.

Seeing her timid and delicate appearance, the youth felt an unbearable tenderness in his heart. He longed to hold her in his arms, yet fearing to offend the beauty, he dared not act rashly.

"Because I was short on spare silver, I have already been selling a mu of paddy field at home. Tomorrow, when the buyer returns and I have enough silver in hand, I will come to take you through my door."

"Although my family is not immensely wealthy, we have enough assets to sustain us. Once you arrive at my home, you won't need to do those rough chores. I will certainly treat you well..."

Hearing the youth's words, Su Yun only felt that the other party was annoyingly long-winded. The reason she hadn't left was that her water bucket had fallen into the well and she hadn't retrieved it yet.

At this moment, she heard Dong Lao Er's high-pitched voice: "Su Yun, where have you died off to again? Come back quickly and brew tea!"

Su Yun couldn't help but shiver, and she hurried back into the house.

Su Yun's delicate, fearful voice carried a sob: "Father, don't sell me. I can wash clothes and cook for you."

At this moment, the girl called Su Yun brought over a teapot.

Jia Cong no longer had the heart to listen to the words that followed. When he heard the name Feng Yuan and heard Su Yun begging Dong Lao Er not to sell her, it felt as if his heart had been struck by thunder.

The doubts in Jia Cong's heart grew deeper and deeper.

In a humble courtyard, drinking tea was naturally not as particular as in a wealthy mansion; they didn't even have decent tea sets.

Jia Cong watched as Su Yun walked to the doorway, squatted down, and carefully scalded a teacup with boiling tea water.

Jia Cong saw Dong Lao Er enter the inner room, and the voices of the father and daughter talking drifted out faintly.

Previously, because these goods had wiped out his savings and capital, Dong Lao Er had been driven to the point of selling his maid to make ends meet; now, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Dong Lao Er said, "There are seven hundred in total."

Jia Cong's heart stirred, and he said to Dong Lao Er, "I want to buy the Japanese crystal bottles you have on hand. I need a relatively large quantity; I wonder how much stock you have."

Jia Cong said calmly, "There are quite a few items; please bring them out for me to see the quality."

Dong Lao Er's impatient voice: "Father is not trying to sell you. We truly cannot go on living at home. Father is trying to marry you off so you can live a good life."

"I went behind the house to fetch water. That, that Feng Yuan came again, and he said a lot of lewd things."

Jia Cong saw that her figure was slender and graceful, and she was as delicate and pretty as snow and jade, appearing completely out of place in this humble courtyard. His heart could not help but stir.

How could there be such a coincidence in this world? Could Feng Yuan not be the same person with the same name? Moreover, the girl was called Su Yun, which was different from what he had in mind.

Dong Lao Er's face was excited. Seeing that Jia Cong didn't even blink when he heard such a large number, he realized this was a big fish.

Finally, he could sell off these money-losing pieces of trash.

"Where did you run off to again, you dead girl? Running around every day, be careful of being snatched away by kidnappers!"

"Stop nagging. Go brew tea for the guest quickly. If you are slow and delay the business, watch your skin..."

"That spendthrift, a toad wanting to eat swan meat, thinking he can buy you with that little bit of silver,"

Looking again at the pomegranate-red forehead band tied on her brow, it made her skin look like snow, even more delicate, moist, and lovely.

"The quantity of those things is large, and the weight must be significant. I'll trouble Boss Qian to go with me to retrieve them. If the business is concluded, I will treat you."

Qian Bin naturally had no objections. One must know that if this business were concluded, he would receive a half-percent commission.

When Dong Lao Er and Qian Bin went out to move the goods, only Jia Cong and Su Yun remained in the room.

Su Yun scalded the teacup and poured a cup of tea for Jia Cong.

Their eyes met. Su Yun's moist eyes looked at Jia Cong, and she was slightly dazed. There was a delicate, naive, and moving charm between her brows.

It is said that when beautiful people face each other, there is always a special resonance; it can be considered a luxurious form of "birds of a feather flocking together."

Su Yun's nature had always been timid and shy of strangers, but for some reason, she felt Jia Cong looked very kind, and she found herself letting down her guard before him without realizing it.

Jia Cong laughed, "Su Yun, the material of your forehead band is quite good, and the color is nice too. Could you let me take a look? I want to buy some according to this material for the female relatives in my home."

Su Yun smiled sweetly, "Young Master, you truly have an eye for things. Last time I went with Father to Mr. Zhou's place to look at foreign goods, I saw a scrap of cloth there that looked very nice, so I asked for it to make this forehead band."

"Mr. Zhou said this is Japanese satin, a very expensive Japanese fabric; it costs ten taels of silver to buy one foot."

As Su Yun spoke, she untied the forehead band from her head and handed it to Jia Cong. However, seeing that Jia Cong didn't reach out to take it at all, but instead stared blankly at her, surprise couldn't help but appear in Su Yun's moist eyes.

Just at the moment Su Yun removed the forehead band, Jia Cong saw that between her snow-white, jade-like brows, a bright, fiery-red rouge mole was positioned exactly in the center!

Originally, this Su Yun was born extremely beautiful. Removing the forehead band that covered it, the clear and peerless rouge mole was like a pleasant ink painting, instantly dotted with magical color.

It was like the incarnation of the Dragon Girl beside Guanyin in a painting—pretty, pure, innocent, elegant, and refined, as if in a dream, moving and touching.

Jia Cong remembered the Feng Yuan that Su Yun had mentioned, remembered her begging Dong Lao Er not to sell her, and this place was Jin Ling. Everything matched up!

This was no Su Yun; it was clearly Xiang Ling!

"Pampered and delicate, laughing at your foolishness; the water chestnut flower faces the snow in vain."

"Beware of the time after the Lantern Festival; that is when the smoke vanishes and the fire goes out."

He actually had this fate with her, to have bumped into her just like this. If they hadn't met, so be it, but since they had, how could he remain indifferent?

Jia Cong suppressed the agitation in his heart.

"Su Yun, why do you always wear a forehead band? Do you know how beautiful that rouge mole between your brows is?"

"My father said this red mole is a sign of ruin and is unlucky. If people see it, no one will want me in the future, and I won't be able to get married, so he has made me wear a forehead band since I was small."

Jia Cong gritted his teeth: This heaven-killing Dong Lao Er, making Su Yun wear a forehead band since she was small, was just to prevent her from being recognized. He was the kidnapper who had snatched Xiang Ling away in Gusu all those years ago!

At this moment, Dong Lao Er and Qian Bin each carried a wooden box, struggling as they moved into the room.

Dong Lao Er saw Su Yun untie her forehead band, and his expression changed: "You dead girl, who told you to untie your forehead band? Put it on quickly."

Qian Bin wondered, "Dong Lao Er, your daughter's red mole is quite pretty; why wear a forehead band? It's only beautiful if you don't wear one."

Dong Lao Er didn't speak, just stared fiercely at Su Yun. The little girl's face turned pale, and she hurriedly tied the forehead band back on. It was estimated that this situation had not happened for the first time.

Jia Cong, who was on the side, saw this scene, and his gaze suddenly became sharp.

Jia Cong opened the two boxes and saw that they were densely packed with those Japanese crystal bottles—red, blue, and green, a dazzling array of colors, which were truly beautiful.

"Dong Lao Er, I want all of these bottles. I'll price them at eight qian of silver each."

Dong Lao Er laughed, "Young Master Jia, you are joking. Eight qian of silver each? Isn't that asking me to do a losing business? One price: one tael of silver each, and I'll let you have them all."

Qian Bin, who was on the side, couldn't listen anymore.

He said, "Dong Lao Er, you sold me four at eight qian of silver each. Young Master Jia is buying seven hundred at once; the unit price shouldn't go up instead of down. Is that how you do business?"

Dong Lao Er said to Qian Bin, "What do you know? I gave you a discount to let you test the market in your shop. Now that Young Master Jia is here to do serious business, naturally I cannot do a losing business."

Jia Cong sneered in his heart. He actually wanted to raise the price on the spot; he really didn't know how to write the word "death."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 128 =====