sbdcsierra Chapter 325 Can't I even take a look?
Chapter 325 Can't I even take a look?
“Hurry, hurry, hurry…”
"You two come here and quickly move all these things to the shelves in the warehouse."
"We'll need all of these things tomorrow, so let's move them to the kitchen first."
"You guys come here and move this batch of silk to the inner warehouse."
"Be careful, these bottles of wine are very expensive! Don't break them."
In front of a storeroom in a courtyard, a man in his forties was systematically directing his servants to sort out the goods that had just been delivered from the estate.
Belts of brocade in various colors were stacked on the shelves in the warehouse, dazzling like colorful clouds.
In another warehouse, sacks of rice and grain were piled up into small mounds, almost reaching the roof beams.
Various wine jars and pottery jars were neatly stacked on the shelves, and other preserved meats, spices, dried fruits, etc. were also arranged in an orderly manner in the warehouse.
At this moment, under the carved window in the storeroom, a dignified lady was sitting at a rosewood table.
She wore a dark blue brocade jacket and skirt, embroidered with delicate floral patterns, and a blue cloak with a white fur collar sewn around the neck.
She wore an elegant and sophisticated updo, a set of gold jewelry adorned with rubies and emeralds, and matching ruby earrings, exuding an air of nobility.
A brass-pillared ebony abacus rested on the wooden table. Her slender, fair fingers were moving the cool beads on the abacus, which made a crisp, rapid clanging sound. The jade bracelet on her wrist swayed slightly in response.
"Shuashuashua..."
"Crackling, crackling."
The sounds of turning the pages of ledgers and turning the abacus mingled in the warehouse.
A maid was holding a thick ledger, standing quietly to the side, waiting for her to finish calculating the accounts.
"mother......"
Nangong Ming walked in from outside, holding a gift box in his hands. When he saw Madam Nangong doing accounts, he fell silent and walked straight towards her.
Madam Nangong slightly raised her eyelids, then continued to focus intently on plucking the beads with her fingertips, her movements without the slightest hesitation.
The maidservant curtsied to Nangong Ming, but dared not utter a greeting, for fear of disturbing the lady who was fiddling with abacus beads.
A moment later, the "clattering" of the abacus beads stopped, and Madam Nangong picked up her pen and wrote down the accounts in the ledger.
She slightly raised her eyelids to look at Nangong Ming: "Didn't you just leave? You're back so soon."
"Mother, do you not want to see your son?"
Madam Nangong glared at him and closed an account book: "If you have nothing to do, don't bother me while I'm doing my accounts."
"Well then, I'll head out first." Nangong Ming sighed softly. "But, this is a return gift from Miss Long. Are you sure you don't want to take a look?"
Lady Nangong's eyes lit up.
A return gift from Miss Long?
So fast?
Madam Nangong Ming smiled and said, "You brat, still trying to scare your mother. Hurry up and bring it over for your mother to see."
Nangong Ming gently shook his head, slowly walked to the sandalwood table, and handed the gift box in his hand to Madam Nangong.
Madam Nangong pushed the abacus and ledger aside and took the gift box.
"Such a quick return gift?" Madam Nangong exclaimed with delight. "Let me see."
Nangong Ming had just returned to his residence when he encountered people from the Prince of Qin's mansion who had come to deliver a return gift.
He was somewhat surprised, not expecting to receive a return gift from the Prince of Qin's residence, and so quickly at that.
He and the person who delivered the gift left home around noon, and only a little over an hour later, the return gift arrived, faster than his journey back.
In previous years, he would never have sent gifts to the Prince of Qin's residence, since they usually had no interaction with each other.
Although the Nangong family is wealthy, they are still just merchants. If they rashly go to offer gifts, they will be suspected of trying to curry favor, and the other party may not even appreciate it.
This year, I also had some interaction with the King of Qin through Long Chuqing.
Although they had traveled together before, caught fish together, drunk wine together, and even dealt with bandits together, all of this was only possible because Long Chuqing was involved.
If you were to separate him and the King of Qin, they might not be able to get along so amicably.
He had also considered whether to send a gift to the Prince of Qin's mansion this year. Just as he was struggling with his decision, Third Master Cheng approached him and asked him to send a New Year's gift to Long Chuqing.
Now that Long Chuqing is living in the Prince of Qin's mansion, she can no longer send New Year's gifts by climbing over the wall like she did last time when she sent medical fees. She must go through the main gate and be mindful of all the formalities.
Since it was the Nangong family who sent the gift, he naturally had to prepare one as well, which also cleared up his inner turmoil.
He wasn't surprised that the Prince of Qin's mansion would reciprocate with a gift. Large families always pay great attention to etiquette and would never give anyone cause for gossip, let alone a prince's mansion.
He just didn't expect that Long Chuqing would also return a gift separately.
This surprised him.
Madam Nangong carefully opened the gift box, and Nangong Ming curiously leaned closer, wanting to see what kind of gift Long Chuqing would give in return.
Upon opening it, the first thing you see is a layer of white rice spread out on the surface, followed by bottles and jars buried inside.
There was also a reply letter above.
Compared to the gifts in the box, Madam Nangong was more concerned about what was written in the letter.
She first picked up the letter and looked at it.
Inside were two sheets of paper, one containing New Year's greetings and some ordinary well wishes to Madam Nangong.
There's also a sheet showing the usage and dosage of the complimentary skincare products, as well as the effects and dosage details of the other pills, etc.
Madam Nangong read the letter carefully, a smile on her face the entire time.
She put down the letter in her hand and then picked up the contents of the gift box to examine them.
Nangong Ming had already taken the first step, peeling open the rice and picking up one of the bottles to examine it.
When Madam Nangong saw this, she lightly tapped the back of his hand: "Don't touch these things. They're not gifts for you."
Nangong Ming looked helpless: "Can't I even take a look?"
"Hmph!" Madam Nangong sneered, "Look at your pathetic self. If you're so capable, why don't you give her a gift too? I'm sure Miss Long will reciprocate."
Nangong Ming sighed inwardly again: My goodness! You have no idea where she lives.
If you knew she lived in the Prince of Qin's mansion, would you still be so optimistic?
The caps of those skincare creams all had labels on them. Madam Nangong picked up a bottle labeled "whitening" to examine it.
She gently unscrewed the cap, brought it to her nose, and smelled it. "Hmm, this smell... is very fresh and pleasant."
The scent was a very light and elegant fragrance, which was very pleasant. It was different from the skincare creams she had used before; it was a fragrance she had never smelled before.
Nangong Ming said, "Mother, these things can't be bought on the market; she made them all herself."
Madam Nangong was somewhat surprised: "She did all of this herself?"
"Yes, I've been to her place before; she was making something in the yard."