Chapter 320 - 285: You Can Buy It
Chapter 320: Chapter 285: You Can Buy It
Xiao Man paused. For reasons she couldn’t quite explain, she didn’t turn to leave. Instead, she went ahead and took off her snow hat and scarf, holding them in her hand. The room was warm, so there was no need to be so bundled up.
A refined scent of tea floated in the air. The group gathered on the sofa paid no mind to the customer who had just entered, continuing their conversation uninterrupted. It seemed their deal was about to be finalized. Entertaining Bai Lihua and Wu Xiaowen was an eloquent, silver-tongued man in his middle years, who was likely the shop owner. A young shop assistant was wiping up spilled tea from the table. Some of it had splashed onto Wu Xiaowen’s clothes, which was why Bai Lihua was dabbing at the spot with a handkerchief.
The assistant attending to Xiao Man asked the young lady what she wanted to see. Xiao Man’s eyes fell on a jade carving sitting on the table in front of Wu Xiaowen and the others. She said casually, "What kind of jade do you have in your shop? Let me have a look."
The assistant nodded and gestured for Xiao Man to come further inside. Over at the table, however, Tang Yaxuan seemed to have the ears of a rabbit. She heard Xiao Man’s voice and immediately turned her head. A flash of astonishment crossed her face, quickly replaced by a smile. She tugged on the corner of Wu Xiaowen’s shirt and waved at Xiao Man.
"Mom, look! Sister Manman is out shopping too. Sister, we’re over here!"
Everyone sitting around the table looked over. The assistant asked Xiao Man in surprise, "What a coincidence. You’re relatives?"
Xiao Man replied, "No, I don’t know them."
She then gave Tang Yaxuan a cool glance. "Look closely. How could I possibly be your sister? If you keep calling me that, I’ll have you apologize and compensate me for emotional distress!"
The assistant beside her froze for a second, nearly bursting out laughing. ’Compensation for calling someone by the wrong name? And for "emotional distress," no less? What a novel idea!’
Wu Xiaowen saw Xiao Man, a look of surprise on her face. She glanced down and noticed how closely she was sitting next to Bai Lihua—perhaps too closely—and stood up to cover her awkwardness. She chided Xiao Man, "What way is that to talk? Xuanxuan is addressing you respectfully as her sister. That’s her being polite, something you should learn from her! Besides, she was born a few minutes after you, so she is your younger sister."
Xiao Man said, "That’s not right. Plenty of people were born after me, but none of them are shameless enough to just randomly claim me as their sister!"
Hearing this, Tang Yaxuan’s small, round face went pale. Her phoenix eyes blinked rapidly a few times, and tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I... I didn’t just randomly claim you. We are sisters! I really do think of you as my own sister! Sister Manman, please don’t hate me..."
"You’re still calling me sister? Apologize to me right now!" Xiao Man’s eyes widened in a glare.
Tears streamed down Tang Yaxuan’s face one after another as she sobbed softly, looking utterly pitiful.
Bai Lihua stood up and placed a hand on Tang Yaxuan’s head. He looked at Xiao Man with a gentle smile and said, "Manman, do you still remember me?"
Xiao Man shot him a glance and shook her head decisively. "Sorry, I don’t know you. What’s your relationship with these two, the big one and the little one? You all look like a family, but who knows if it’s for real or just for show?"
Bai Lihua: ...
Wu Xiaowen’s face flushed with anger. "Manman! Do not be rude to your elders! How can you be like this? You’re being completely unreasonable!"
"Aren’t you the ones being unreasonable? If you want to cause a scene, you should at least pick the right place for it. This is someone’s place of business. You’re being far too casual!"
"You..." Wu Xiaowen glanced at the shop owner, who was standing by and staring, speechless. Although he hadn’t said anything, his expression was clearly not pleased. She finally felt a pang of embarrassment and forced herself to hold her tongue.
Bai Lihua whispered a few words to the owner. The owner quickly laughed it off, put on a smile, and waved his hands, saying, "It’s no problem, no problem at all." He was probably trying to save Wu Xiaowen from further embarrassment.
Seeing that Bai Lihua was about to try and talk to her again, Xiao Man’s Water Spirit eyes flickered as she turned to the owner. "I’m planning to buy a piece of jade. I’d like to have a look around your shop."
The owner nodded repeatedly, his enthusiasm turned up to eleven. "Welcome! Welcome! Our shop has a wide selection of jade, all displayed over in the jade section. Please, take your time and browse! My name is Zhou Guangjie. And how may I address you, young lady?"
"My name is Tang Manman."
"You’re still in school, I presume? Then may I call you Miss Tang Manman? Our shop is honest with all customers, young and old; everyone who walks through our doors is a valued guest! I’ll have this young man accompany you to take a look. Feel free to ask him anything you don’t understand. How does that sound?"
"That’s fine. However," Xiao Man said, pointing to the jade carving on the table in front of Bai Lihua and Wu Xiaowen, "may I see that piece?"
"Er, about that..." Boss Zhou looked toward Bai Lihua and Wu Xiaowen, his expression troubled.
Wu Xiaowen’s expression soured. "That’s a work of art. It’s very valuable. You don’t know the first thing about appraisal, so what’s the point of you looking at it?"