LIGHTNOVELONLINE The First Order
Across the shop, inside a VIP room of a tavern, two people sat across each other in a heavy silence. One of them was carefully looking at the other, afraid he would miss any subtle change in his expression. While the other with a cold expression, calmly poured tea for himself as if he was unbothered by the other person’s piercing gaze.
“This lord knows that his good look is irresistible. You don’t have to make it so obvious.”
Holding it in for half a day, Gu Jin was finally unable to bear it anymore and guffawed loudly. “Tong Xiao, I didn't know that you could make a joke.” Although it was not funny.
Lu Tong Xiao knew he wasn’t laughing at his joke but something else. Thinking about it made him even more irritated.
It had already been an hour since they sat there. They didn’t know that Bai Yu Yan’s shop was right across. When Gu Jin saw her slender figure standing on the street looking inside a shop, he thought she was here for shopping. But thanks to their heightened senses due to martial arts, they could witness the scene that totally knocked out their expectations. Even Lu Tong Xiao, who would leave right after their business was over, unexpectedly stayed after one request from Gu Jin. This rare moment made Gu Jin even more excited.
Earlier when Bai Yu Yan was giving an emotional speech about the relationship between husband and wife, for the first time, Gu Jin saw his friend’s eyebrow twitch. A crack on this millennial iceberg? But what they didn’t know was that the main part was yet to come. When Yu Yan touched her stomach, the supposed other party in the act behind the bedroom door, nearly choked in his tea.
“Tong Xiao, what was that...I didn’t know you would be this forward. Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be a father?”, Gu Jin was holding his stomach as he rolled on the floor. “Does that mean I am going to be an uncle?”
Tong Xiao’s face couldn’t be any darker. His chiseled jawline ticked with annoyance from seeing this man howl. It reminded him of what that woman said and did earlier. Even thinking about it made him red from anger..and she just did it in front of everyone without an ounce of shame. He really wanted to give her a good beating.
“Will your laughter stop only after I wring your neck?”
The cold voice abruptly stopped Gu Jin’s laughter. Sitting up he looked at Tong Xiao with an expression as if he was wronged.
“Tong Xiao, just because you have such a loving wife at home, you are threatening this single dog. Haven’t you harmed me enough with this dog food? Where is your conscience?”
Looking at the man’s sour face, Gu Jin controlled his laughter and raised his hands in surrender. “Okay..okay I won’t tease you anymore. So don’t give me such a scary look. But say, Tong Xiao, we thought you had married a peacock but now it seems like you married a little fox.”
Remembering Chun Hua’s angry face and the manager’s sorry state, Gu Jin really wanted to give Yu Yan a thumbs up. Now after looking at it all with their own eyes, it seems the woman is not what he had investigated her to be. Even the way she dresses and carries herself was not the same. He looked at Tong Xiao who was solemnly looking towards the shop with his dark eyes, he also seemed to be thinking the same thing.
In the carriage going back to the Lu manor, Bai Yu Yan rubbed her temples after a long eventful day. She had successfully taken care of some problems. She believed Manager Gao would behave well for now. And if things go well with the new person she has hired, it might not be so difficult in the future.
“Miss, who is this new person you brought earlier? Wasn’t she leaving the shop when we had just arrived?”, When they were in the carriage, Xiao Fan finally couldn’t contain her curiosity.
Bai Yu Yan remembered the person she approached after Xiao Fan went to get the account book. The woman had come to get the fabric she had ordered weeks ago. At first, when Bai Yu Yan tried to ask her reason for buying such an expensive fabric, the woman was guarded and didn’t reveal anything to her. But when Yu Yan promised to give the fabric at any cost, although still skeptical, she finally said the reason in the moment of desperation.
The woman’s name was Zhang Song and she was an independent dressmaker in the capital. Her parents were dead, leaving her younger brothers and sisters to look after. She had come from a nearby village to the capital in order to make money and pay for her siblings’ daily expenses. Having a little shop, she used to do tailoring. Finally, God seemed to have witnessed her suffering as she received an order to make a dress for Consort Shu from the palace. For that, she had given order of a special fabric in the shop but what happened later was witnessed by Bai Yu Yan herself.
Actually, the reason why Bai Yu Yan hired her was not entirely because of sympathy. She had to promise the woman a higher salary than the profit she made by herself, for her to agree to work for Bai Yu Yan. A person who could get such orders must definitely have some real skills, so she unhesitatingly took her in. But her main target was to get Consort Shu’s dress order.
The prominent nobles of ancient times are like models from modern times. The dress and accessories they wear go noticed by all the nobles. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that these people set trends. If she remembered the timeline correctly, the spring banquet was approaching soon. There will be nobles and imperial families participating in the flower viewing event. Bai Yu Yan wanted to use this opportunity to try her hands on the ancient fashion. If she can be successful in making this, it wouldn’t be a bad start for her business.