??Chapter 186: Chapter 101: Your Mother and I are Old Acquaintances (Part 3)
Chapter 186: Chapter 101: Your Mother and I are Old Acquaintances (Part 3)
The elderly lady gently tapped her nose, “That’s right, this was a hot commodity sent to Europe during the iji Era.”
Madam Zhu wished she could show her the treasures of the entire room, even opening her safe to present her personal collection:
“Look, this set belonged to a general from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 19th century.”
Yun Yuwan felt honored and surprised, but when she saw the buttons, she couldn’t help but marvel, her eyes shimring with admiration:
“The buttons contain rubies and turquoise, don’t they? They are truly beautiful.”
She couldn’t resist touching the antique set, and Madam Zhu did not stop her, allowing her kindred spirit to fondle them, “Spherical hollow buttons are rare to co by, let alone ones with such exquisite jewels inside. I have really broadened my horizons with you.”
Madam Zhu was emotionally stirred at this mont, “Where have you broadened your horizons? A young girl like you probably knows about things even this old lady has never seen.”
“I can’t compare to you, you truly are a button magnate.” Yun Yuwan took in the rich collection around her with admiration and awe.
The elderly lady was visibly delighted, her deanor graceful, “It’s rare to find soone who understands buttons. Every ti I wear so nice buttons out, not a single person recognizes their value.”
She held Yun Yuwan’s delicate and fair wrist, “I never would have thought that soone as young as you could be such an old hand at this.”
With her other hand pointing to the buttons, she said, “Peach blossoms are given to a beautiful woman, a fine zither is given to a soulmate. I will give you this set of buttons.”
Yun Yuwan was shocked, and she hastily declined, “Grandma Zhu, I can’t accept this, it’s too precious.”
The set of buttons were worth at least several million to start with, but more importantly, this set was likely the only one in the world and an heirloom of the elderly lady.
To her surprise, Madam Zhu patted her hand and praised her softly, “You’re different from my two silly granddaughters. You appreciate old-fashioned things and have a steady temper. My granddaughters only care about whether the luxury brands have new arrivals, always having the salespeople bring them ho for them to choose from. How could those items last as long as these buttons? It would be a waste to leave them the buttons when I pass away.”
“Grandma, you are so healthy, you are sure to live a long life,” Yun Yuwan quickly reassured her.
Grandma Zhu smiled warmly, smoothing out her wrinkles, and countered with just one sentence:
“Years are plenty, but a confidant is hard to find.”
The gentleness and affability in the eyes of Madam Zhu Yaoqing were the results of her years of experience, yet she was not rigidly traditional.
Yun Yuwan was sowhat embarrassed, “Then I will accept it reluctantly, and I will bring you a set of my own openwork porcelain flat buttons to you another day.”
When Madam Zhu Yaoqing heard this, her eyes bead with a stronger smile, full of surprise, “That’s wonderful. I didn’t expect to et a young button artisan. Even at my age, I can still see new styles of buttons.”
The elderly lady turned and spoke to the servant:
“Azou, later wrap these buttons nicely, and also get the kesi shawl from Xiangyun brand, along with the new lake blue gemstone ring, earrings, necklace set from the new mine. Wrap them well and ask Old Cui to drive Yuwan Nannan ho, don’t let her get jostled, use the car with the gold trim, it’s the most stable.”
The middle-aged woman who had been following complied with a nod.
Yun Yuwan, realizing all these were for her, hastily said, “Grandma, I don’t need these.”
“Take them, I too enjoy sharing good things with friends. Don’t you consider
a friend?” Madam Zhu Yaoqing looked at her sideways with a tender smile, her eyes gleaming like the lingering light of the setting sun on the clear river, late yet still graceful and magnificent.
Yun Yuwan, unable to refuse, said, “Then next ti I co, I’ll bring a gift for you as well.”
Hearing that she would co again to keep her company, Madam Zhu Yaoqing’s eyes crinkled with joy, “That would be best.”
With composure and a smile, she asked, “Now that we are friends, can we share secrets?”
Yun Yuwan replied without hesitation, “Of course.”
Unexpectedly, Grandma Zhu asked, “Is Yang Ni pursuing you?”
Yun Yuwan was slightly surprised.
Madam Zhu smiled faintly, “Today he ca to pay his respects to
and also asked Azou if the daughter of the Wen Family had arrived. I guessed right away that he was after this girl.”
“Seeing you, I know he has good taste.”
Yun Yuwan responded politely, “He’s also very good himself.”
The elderly lady knew that Yuwan probably wasn’t too familiar with Yang Ni’s specific situation and intentionally told her about it to let her consider, “Yang Ni has just been promoted at the National Security, I fear he might even have a brighter future than his mother. He just visited , and I asked him whether he ca back to Shanghai by airplane.”
Yuwan found it sowhat strange, “Coming back by airplane… does that an sothing?”
Zhu Yaoqing wanted her to know, “Only those of a certain rank can be transferred by airplane, otherwise the governnt’s accountants have a hard ti auditing it. Everyone else takes second-class on the high-speed rail. Taking an airplane for a transfer requires approval from top leaders at every level, which shows that he has reached an important position.”
She hinted aningfully, “To have reached such a position and still be humble enough to pursue you… that’s truly rare.”
Yuwan hesitated for a mont, but decided to be honest, “Grandma, I don’t like him.”
Hearing her say she didn’t like him, Zhu Yaoqing didn’t force the issue; instead, she was curious, “So you like soone like Jiang Yingyu?”
Yuwan quickly waved her hands, “No no.”
Zhu Yaoqing kindly asked her, “I heard today that the Jiang Family and the Wen Family intend to have a marriage alliance. Is that false?”
Yuwan couldn’t deny, “There was indeed such talk before.”
Zhu Yaoqing objectively evaluated these youngsters, “Jiang Yingyu is not bad either, good-looking and likable. Everyone knows him. Compared to your elder brother, he is a bit lacking, but your brother is notoriously handso and difficult to match. You shouldn’t set your sights too high, looking for soone on your brother’s level.”
She patted Yuwan’s hand, “Your brother is handso, like your mother, and has a good temperant. The young people don’t even dare to laugh or speak out of turn in front of him. Even an old lady like
feels nervous around him.”
Realizing that Grandma Zhu wasn’t attempting to matchmake her with anyone but simply cared about her, Yuwan couldn’t help but smile, revealing her small, white teeth.
Wen Yangzhi isn’t scary, Wen Yangzhi is wickedly bad.
Zhu Yaoqing said jokingly, “Soone like your brother is hard to find. Don’t set that as your standard. Qing’an Nannan has been saying since she was young that she wanted to marry him, but as soon as she reached the right age, she married soone else.”
Yuwan chuckled lightly, “Sister Qing’an was just joking around.”
The old lady whispered mysteriously, “No, I asked her, and she said not to always pine for unrealistic things.”
Yuwan snorted with laughter and after pondering for a while, decided to tell Grandma Zhu, “I actually already have a boyfriend.”
“You have a boyfriend, whose family is he from?” Zhu Yaoqing wasn’t surprised.
Yuwan, of course, couldn’t go into detail and said shyly, “It’s a secret.”
The old lady spread her hands, “Alright then, making friends with you young people, I’ve seen all my collections and listened to a bunch of flattery, yet I know nothing about your business.”
Yuwan was embarrassed.
The old lady didn’t press her, only smiling, “Then tell , is he handso?”
Thinking of Wen Yangzhi, it would be hard to say he wasn’t handso, “He’s handso.”
Zhu Yaoqing beca genuinely curious now, “As handso as your brother?”
“Yes,” Yuwan whispered shyly.
Equally handso.
Zhu Yaoqing thought about the youngsters she knew, “Then as an old lady, I really can’t think of who it could be. Your brother is the most handso among the youngsters. Even if he didn’t work as a banker, he could beco a movie star.”
Yuwan looked down, feeling embarrassed.
Zhu Yaoqing knew the young girl was shy and didn’t tease her any further, changing the subject, “How did you co to know so much about buttons at such a young age?”
Yuwan honestly said, “My mother used to like collecting buttons.”
“Zhao Qin?” Zhu Yaoqing was slightly puzzled; Zhao Qin didn’t seem like soone who would have the patience to get into such things.
Yuwan was sowhat at a loss for words, “My birth mother.”
Touching upon the young girl’s sensitive issue, Zhu Yaoqing deliberately shifted the focus of the conversation, “That’s a rare hobby. In all these years, I’ve only t one other person with the sa interest, what a sha the poor thing was short-lived and has been gone for many years.”
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