ChongFei Manual Ch 039.1

Title: ChongFei Manual
Author: 风荷游月
Chapter: 039.1 out of 171

Hearing voices behind her, the teenage girl turned around. She was indeed Ah Dai.

Although Ah Luo hadn’t seen her in a long time, she recognized her in a single glance. Her memory of that night was exceptionally vivid. The torch’s light had shone on the side of Ah Dai’s face as she helped Ah Luo escape from the mountain forest. When Ah Luo turned her head that night, she could see a long scar on Ah Dai’s face and her straight nose.

But now that Ah Dai no longer hunted wild animals in this lifetime, that scar was naturally missing, but the rest of her facial features were the same as the previous lifetime.

Jin Lu waved her hand at Ah Dai and called her to them, “My family’s miss wants to see your silk flowers. What kind of flowers do you have? Do you have any special ones?”

Ah Dai had indeed gone to Duke Ying’s residence’s corner gate to sell the silk flowers she had made, but her skills weren’t very good and no one was interested. She didn’t expect to have another opportunity just as she was about to go another family’s residence. She was surprised that a miss from Duke Ying’s family would be interested in her silk flowers and felt overwhelmed. She hurriedly took out the silk flowers that she thought looked the best from her wicker basket and placed them in front of Wei Luo.

“Miss, what type of flower do you want? Here’s tree peony, peony, lotus blossom, Chinese hibiscus…”

(T/N: Images of silk flowers from left to right , tree peony, peony, lotus blossom, and Chinese hibiscus.)

As Ah Dai said this, she didn’t dare to look at Wei Luo’s eyes. The difference between their statuses was like the difference between heaven and earth. One was a pampered, noble daughter from Duke Ying’s residence and the other was a lowly, orphaned girl from a rustic area.

Although the miss in front of her was only seven or eight years old, she looked as exquisite and lovable as snow white flowers. Ah Dai had never seen such a delicate and refined little girl. The children in Ah Dai’s village couldn’t be compared to her. She was wearing a white, silk top, a cherry blossom pink skirt that was embroidered with golden silk thread, and a shining silver longevity charm. She had a noble and composed aura just from simply standing there as if she were made by heaven.

Because her foster mother, Lin Huilian, wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t travel far from home, Ah Dai had come to the capital in her place. Ah Dai didn’t think it was a big deal. After all, her foster parents had adopted her, so she should naturally help them with their work. Besides, it was nice to see the world and increase her knowledge and experiences.

Wei Luo looked at the silk flowers in Ah Dai’s hands. She didn’t know if that addicting perfume had been added to them. If she breathed in that added scent too much, would she become addicted?

She didn’t dare to act rashly, so she asked, “Do you normally wear these silk flowers?”

Ah Dai was puzzled at first, but shortly after she smiled and said, “I occasionally wear them. The one in my hair right now was made by me.” As she said this, she lowered her head to let Wei Luo see the deep red rose near the back of her head.

Wei Luo picked up a random silk flower to sniff. The silk flower didn’t have any pungent smell. It seemed that the perfume hadn’t been added to the silk flowers made by Ah Dai, so there shouldn’t be anything addicting about the silk flowers.

Wei Luo silently reviewed these flowers. They really couldn’t be considered good. The numerous flower petals weren’t pretty and the flowers weren’t assembled beautifully. It wasn’t a surprise that Ah Dai wasn’t able to sell them. Wei Luo selected several flowers that she reluctantly accepted as decent and handed them over to Jin Lu.

Then, Wei Luo turned her head to ask Ah Dai, “What’s your name?” In her previous life, she was called Ah Dai. Now that Lin Huilian had adopted Ah Dai, she probably had a new name.

As expected, she said, “Miss, I’m called Bai Lan.”

(T/N: One translation of her name could be pure mountain mist.)

Lin Huilian and Bai Yang didn’t know many words, but the name they gave her was pretty good.

Wei Luo nodded and said in a milky soft voice the serious details, “In the future, come to Duke Ying’s residence every half month. I want twenty silk flowers every time. They all have to be made beautifully or I won’t want them.”

She looked at Ah Dai, “Will you be able to do this?”

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To be able to regularly sell twenty flowers every half month, this was such a wonderful thing! Each silk flower was two coins. She would be guaranteed to earn 80 coins every month! With this income, her family would be well off enough to buy rice and noodles. Bai Lan was ecstatic.

She was almost about to cry in gratitude towards Wei Luo, “Thank you miss! Miss, don’t worry. I will definitely bring you the most beautiful flowers!”

Wei Luo looked at her for a moment and revealed her white baby teeth as she smiled. She waited until Jin Lu paid Ah Dai, and then turned around to go inside Duke Ying’s residence.

——-

After this, Bai Lan would come to Duke Ying’s residence every half month with silk flowers regardless of weather conditions. Since the servants in Duke Ying’s residence knew that she was here because of fourth miss, they treated her politely. After she delivered the flowers, the servants paid her and brought the silk flowers to Wei Luo.

Wei Luo wasn’t really grown up enough to wear silk flowers yet. She only bought the silk flowers from Bai Lan so that she could check in on her situation at any time to make sure that she wasn’t in trouble.

Wei Luo distributed these silk flowers among the fifth branch’s servant girls. Each girl was given two silk flowers. Each flower was made with a different style. The servant girls were very happy with this. They were thankful and appreciative towards Ah Luo and put more effort into serving her.

Wei Luo did indeed have a hidden motive with giving them the silk flowers. She was trying to obtain their hearts and loyalty. She was still young and only had Jin Lu and Nurse Ye-shi as her trusted servants. If she later need something to be secretly done, it would be best if she had a few more trusted servants.

Ah Luo couldn’t trust Jin Ge actions and would always guard against her. And so, when Jin Ge was brushing Ah Luo’s hair, Ah Luo deliberately said that Jin Ge pulled on her hair painfully and wanted to sell her. Jin Ge kneeled on the ground and begged for mercy without stopping, but Ah Luo wasn’t moved by her actions and had already firmly made her decision.

Jin Ge had a natural disposition of being idle. She often slacked off in her work and was also very vain and liked to show off. The older mamas in the courtyard had long been displeased with her. Since fourth miss had already spoken, everyone was naturally happy to see this happening and no one tried to stop this.

In the end, Ye-shi informed the first madam and Jin Ge was sold off that very day.

Without these two eyesores, Jin Ge and Jin Ci, Ah Luo felt that Pine Courtyard was much more pleasant.

Without noticing, Bai Lan had been bringing flowers to Duke Ying’s residence for half a year. The servant girls were all very familiar with her. They would occasionally invite her inside to sit for a bit. But, she felt overwhelmed and would repeatedly refused their invitations. Later on, she heard that it was the fourth miss’s request and nervously entered the residence.

She had always felt very grateful towards this fourth miss. In addition to the money she was paid for the silk flowers, she would also occasionally receive a few rewards for her services. Sometimes it was golden melon seeds. Other times it was a silver hairpin. Bai Lan used the money from selling these items for her family’s expenses. As a result, her life had become relatively more extravagant. She fondly thought that Wei Luo already had such a kind heart at a young age. And, she would bring the beautiful silk flowers that she had sincerely made to Duke Ying’s residence.

Today, the servant girls led Bai Lan to meet Wei Luo in the fourth branch’s Plum Courtyard.