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Chapter 1125: Give Me a Place
🕑 Added 2024-11-28 16:08:47 +0000 UTCThis pair of bracelets was a gift Chen Xi's father brought back for him from his business trip to Bingzhou. When Chen Xi was younger, wearing the bracelets wasn’t a big deal, but as he grew older, it became somewhat inappropriate for a man to wear such items.
So, Chen Xi gave the bracelets to Chen Lan. Later, when Chen Xi was gravely ill, Chen Lan pawned the bracelets to help pay for his treatment.
Incidentally, if not for the money raised from pawning the bracelets, Chen Xi’s body might not have survived long enough for his arrival.
When the shopkeeper saw the reflection of the character "Chen" on the bracelet as Chen Xi held it up to the light, he instantly realized what was going on. His face visibly turned ashen.
"There’s another bracelet that reflects the character 'Xi'. Help me find it," Chen Xi said with a smile. If he hadn’t seen the bracelet, he might have forgotten about it entirely. But since it had appeared, he felt it should be brought back, as it carried many memories.
"Master, is this your bracelet?" Chen Yun finally understood what was happening, and it would have been strange if she didn’t by now.
"Yes, it used to be mine," Chen Xi nodded. The shopkeeper turned deathly pale, realizing that he had inadvertently acquired something that once belonged to Chen Xi. This was no trivial matter.
"Marquis Chen, my business operates honestly. We didn’t know this was something that belonged to you. If it came from your residence, please investigate thoroughly," the shopkeeper immediately explained. His greatest fear now was that someone had stolen it from the Chen household. Even if they had purchased it legally, they wouldn’t be able to clear their name easily.
"Just find the other bracelet," Chen Xi waved his hand, signaling that there was no need to worry.
Immediately, the shop specializing in ancient gold and jade artifacts was sealed off. From the shopkeeper to the clerks, everyone scrambled to search through their inventory for the other bracelet. Unfortunately, though they found similar items, none of them had the character "Xi."
"Finding even one is already a stroke of luck. If we can’t find the other, so be it," Chen Xi said, realizing that despite their best efforts, the shop didn’t have the second bracelet.
"Thank you for your efforts," Chen Xi nodded slightly to the shopkeeper. "Let’s settle the bill."
"No, no, I wouldn’t dare. Since it’s your lost property, I can’t accept payment," the shopkeeper declined immediately. His only concern now was reporting the day’s events to his superiors as quickly as possible.
"Chen Yun, pay him," Chen Xi said as he pocketed the bracelet and lifted the chessboard, which was a bit heavy but manageable. He walked out of the shop with the chessboard, while Chen Yun quickly filled out a receipt. "You can take this to the bank or the estate."
Chen Yun completed the paperwork, and the shopkeeper had no choice but to accept the receipt for sixteen thousand coins. In this era, even buying porcelain could cost thousands of coins, and large purchases often required someone to carry the money. The inconvenience of copper coins was evident.
As soon as Chen Xi left, the shopkeeper closed the store and hurriedly set off to inform his superiors, recounting everything that had happened.
"Which shop around here sells good jade bracelets?" Chen Xi asked, after placing the chessboard in the carriage, turning to Chen Yun.
"The Wu family has a shop that specializes in jade jewelry," Chen Yun replied after thinking for a moment. She didn’t mention that the shop was quite expensive.
"Let’s go take a look. I’ll buy bracelets for the others for the New Year," Chen Xi said with a smile. Since he had already gotten a bracelet for Chen Lan, it was only fair to get some for Fan Jian and Zhen Mi as well, to keep things balanced.
As Chen Xi entered the Wu family’s shop, Wu Yuan happened to be there. Upon seeing Chen Xi, she promptly dismissed the shopkeeper and personally came to greet him.
"Marquis Chen, what a surprise to see you gracing our humble shop," Wu Yuan said with a smile, a far cry from the cold demeanor she had shown during the noble families’ alliance.
"If this is a humble shop, I wonder how many people would be heartbroken," Chen Xi chuckled, referring to the map of the Silk Road Wu Yuan had provided, which his people were already investigating.
"No matter how many are heartbroken, in front of Marquis Chen, it’s still just a humble shop," Wu Yuan said, with a hint of something else in her tone.
"But speaking of which, tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. Why are you still here in Ye City and not home with your family?" Chen Xi asked curiously.
Wu Yuan’s mood immediately soured at the question. The Wu family was currently trying to marry her off to Liu Zhang. Initially, when Liu Yan was still alive, they had wanted to marry her to his son Liu Mao. However, Liu Mao’s elder brother declined, and with Liu Yan’s passing, the matter had been set aside.
But now that Liu Zhang had risen to prominence, the nobles of Yizhou were once again pushing for Wu Yuan to marry him, claiming she had the potential for great fortune. With Wu Yi absent, the rest of the Wu family had been swayed, leaving Wu Yuan to temporarily avoid the situation.
"Hmph, I just want to stay here. What, Marquis Chen, do you think this land belongs to you?" Wu Yuan’s tone grew cold, her earlier smile vanishing.
"..." Chen Xi was momentarily taken aback. "Fine, fine. You all have the right to be willful. Just find me two pairs of jade bracelets, and a single one as well."
"Aren’t you going to buy something for Mi’er?" Wu Yuan asked reflexively.
"Wow, you two are already so close, calling each other sisters?" Chen Xi teased with a smile.
Wu Yuan didn’t respond, her natural temperament being a bit aloof. And Chen Xi’s earlier comment had put her in a bad mood, so the fact that she was still helping him pick out bracelets was a testament to her professional conduct.
"Among the women of this generation, besides me, only Mi Zhen can stand on equal footing with her," Wu Yuan said as she took out several antique jade bracelets for Chen Xi to choose from.
"True, your personalities are quite similar," Chen Xi mused. "These two pairs will do."
"I didn’t expect you to have such good taste," Wu Yuan remarked as she eyed him up and down, signaling for the shop staff to wrap up the bracelets.
"I’ll take this one as well," Chen Xi said, selecting a white bracelet and handing it to Chen Yun. "This is for you, as a New Year’s gift."
Chen Yun was momentarily stunned as she accepted the bracelet. She had thought the extra half set of bracelets was to pair with the engraved one, and she had been curious to see who Chen Xi would give it to.
Never in her wildest thoughts had she expected to receive one herself. Her mind briefly wandered, but she quickly pushed aside any lingering thoughts from what Liu Luo had said earlier.
Caught off guard, Chen Yun couldn’t refuse the gift at this point, so she quietly accepted the bracelet.
"Tsk tsk tsk, if you’re going to display affection like that, at least don’t do it in front of me," Wu Yuan said, her tone ambiguous between mockery and teasing.
"How much is it?" Chen Xi asked, somewhat annoyed.
"How about this? Recommend a nice place to spend the New Year, and I won’t charge you for the bracelets," Wu Yuan said, leaning on the counter with her head propped up as she looked at Chen Xi.
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