Chiang Xiao was a little speechless. Alright, his house it was. Speaking of which, most of the money to buy the house came from him, after all. Without his five thousand yuan, she wouldn’t have been able to purchase the house at all. As for spending that five thousand yuan to buy the painting, not to mention her painting wasn’t worth that much, even if it were, the painting was still hanging in the gallery and hadn’t reached his hands yet.
Moreover, Chiang Xiao always felt that if she really wanted the painting, Meng Xinian would have given it to her without a second thought.
It was less about buying the painting and more about him finding an excuse to give the money to her.
"If there are any other secrets involving the cup, let me know before you do anything. I’ll figure out how to keep it a secret," Meng Xinian reminded her again.
As for what the secret was, he hadn’t thought he could get it out of her over the phone.
What’s it like to have a fiancée with so many secrets on her?
Tyrant Meng: It’s a bit exhausting. But being inexplicably proud? What the hell is that about?
What other man has such luck?
Anyway, he guessed that he would keep feeling a sense of freshness and curiosity about her for a very, very long time.
After hanging up, Chiang Xiao walked back the way she came. By the time she reached Osmanthus Alley, she had made up her mind; she would create the cup herself.
Ignoring the painting and its effects, even just the shape of the cup would be quite unique.
But she still needed to earn a bit more money.
Chiang Xiao was starting to feel dissatisfied with the little income she got from foraging and mushroom picking on Bai Gu Mountain, but what could she do when she was currently poor?
So, she took another trip to Bai Gu Mountain with Ge Dejun and Xu Linjiang this weekend.
What surprised her, however, was that at the foot of the mountain near the patch of Tianlvxiang, she saw Xu Canyuan, Sun Jinhe, and a few other villagers.
"Eh, eh, Chiang Xiao," Xu Canyuan greeted Chiang Xiao with an expression that held a trace of embarrassment.
Seeing the big bunch of Tianlvxiang in his hand, Chiang Xiao didn’t say much. But Sun Jinhe just humphed upon seeing her and walked away with a rather displeased look along with a few other villagers. Chiang Xiao noticed they all had baskets on their backs, and in them were some Tianlvxiang, albeit not much.
After all, it was already September, and the Tianlvxiang plants were getting old. The tender shoots were now very scarce. Only because the soil of Bai Gu Mountain was fertile and the weather was better than that of other places, could they still pick some fresh shoots. Elsewhere, the wild Tianlvxiang would have been long gone.
Sun Jinhe was Chiang Xiao’s classmate from elementary school, Sun Xiaoxing’s second brother. They used to greet each other whenever they met, but after Sun Xiaoxing’s sister-in-law, Hong Tao, and her brother, Hong Tiedan, caused a scene in front of Chiang Xiao last time, even Xiaoxing began behaving strangely around her. Chiang Xiao knew that there was no chance she’d get close to the Sun Family again.
Of course, she didn’t really care about the Sun Family people either.
But Sun Jinhe’s stern glance was evidently a sign of disapproval towards her, and Chiang Xiao found that quite amusing.
Why should he be the one to disapprove of her?
Xu Canyuan didn’t seem to have come with the others. Seeing Chiang Xiao, he didn’t leave but instead walked over after greeting her and offered cigarettes to Chiang Songhai and Ge Dejun as well.
They were the kind of hand-rolled tobacco.
"The whole village is talking about how you’ve struck it rich thanks to Bai Gu Mountain. Everyone can’t help but want to come up and have a look. Actually, quite a few people have already been up here several times," Xu Canyuan said and added somewhat sheepishly, "I... just wanted to see if there was anything worth digging up, I’m really sorry."