Yang Chuxia, upon seeing this, drew quite a number of patterns, some of which were flowers not even present in this time and space. She sketched many sheets in one go and handed them over to Tang Tanghai, troubling him to help create sugar blocks of the same shapes.
Furthermore, Yang Chuxia had Yang Dayong take people to make some wooden boxes, thin with oil paper inside, to later arrange the assorted sugar blocks into them. At a glance, it was clear they were premium goods, perfect for giving as gifts during the New Year. Moreover, the taste of the candies was unique as well, with almost a boxful providing a variety of flavors. Anyway, she noticed that the fruits she sent over often ended up being put into the sugar by the recipients.
As Yang Chuxia had predicted, these boxes of sugar candies, along with some New Year’s presents, caused quite a sensation among many families.
Even someone was sent to inquire where these could be purchased, as they also wanted to buy some to give as gifts. Upon hearing that they were made by the Yang Family themselves, they sighed in admiration, but also felt it was a pity because this year the Yang Family’s shops had closed early. This led to many people complaining that they hadn’t bought their New Year’s goods yet, nor had they purchased the food they intended to give away.
But when people heard that the Yang Family had been attacked by horse bandits, they understood a bit more.
"Sister, making clothes for my little nephew again?" Ms. Wang had just left from speaking with her when Xia Yun, the young lady, arrived. She found the small clothes on the table very interesting.
"How come you refer to ’nephew’ as per Qingtong?"
When Yang Chuxia saw her coming, she pulled over a stool for her to sit on, "Where’s Linyu? Why isn’t she with you?"
"She’s with Dongxue." As she spoke, she picked up a small garment from the table and examined it, "I think it’s definitely a little nephew."
"How can you be so sure?" Yang Chuxia was curious.
Alright, this was without any basis and purely a hunch.
"Our feelings are quite the opposite, I think it’s a girl," Yang Chuxia said with a smile, "See, the clothes in Mingcui’s hands are for a girl."
"Then you could make for both, boy and girl." The young girl was quite a chatterbox and suddenly added, "Maybe it’s twins. I’ve heard people say that you can have two, a boy and a girl. Then I could play with both of them."
"Our family doesn’t have the tradition of twins, you’re thinking too much." Yang Chuxia glanced at Mingcui’s needlework and added, "It would look nicer to embroider a tiger on the front of the garment."
"Hmm, this servant also thinks that embroidering a tiger would be attractive. The silk threads are already sorted, just give me a moment to secure this side, and I’ll start embroidering."
"Sister, I have something to tell you." Yang Xiayun, seeing that Yang Chuxia was not busy, whispered to her.
"Oh, what do you want to tell me?" Yang Chuxia looked at her, thinking she had some big secret.
However, she heard her say, "Sister, Dongxue sneakily asked our mother for brown sugar, I heard it myself."
"Oh, didn’t her family buy any?"
"They certainly didn’t buy any, her cheap-skate aunt would never. I even heard it was the aunt who told her to ask from mother," Yang Xiayun pouted, "She really is stingy. Every time she never buys anything for Dongxue, not even flowers. Whenever she sees mine, she wants them. Aren’t her parents going to buy any for her?"
"Does she often ask you for things?"
"Yeah, whenever she sees my hair ornaments or shoes, and my candies, especially if they’re pretty, she wants them. If I give them to her, she’s happy; if I don’t, she gets angry."
Yang Chuxia furrowed her brows slightly as she listened, for she had not known that Yang Dongxue often asked Yang Xiayun for things.
"So when she asks you for something, do you give it to her?"