Chapter 12 Membership Card Qingfu's voice was filled with worry, even...

Chapter 12 Membership Card Qingfu's voice was filled with worry, even...

Qingfu's voice was full of worry, and it was even hard to say whether the "old hag" she mentioned referred to Granny Gui or something else entirely. After all, as the Third Miss's personal maid, no one knew better than her the grievances the young lady had suffered over the years.

Today, the young lady was unusually assertive, embarrassing Granny Gui. She had secretly felt a sense of satisfaction, but Granny Gui was, after all, someone close to the old lady and had someone to rely on. Now that she had just offended her, Granny Gui was making things difficult for her young lady, even threatening to inspect her work, thus blocking the path for her maids to copy documents.

The old lady might come up with some tricks, but assigning such an almost impossible task was not her style. The problem was that Granny Gui always had influence with the old lady, and if the young lady went to complain, the old lady would most likely protect Granny Gui, her trusted servant.

"It's just copying books."

Qingfu was still imagining how difficult the next ten days or so would be for his young lady, and he was even thinking about what kind of midnight snack to prepare for her, when he heard his young lady's light voice, as if she was going to copy not three books of scriptures, but three pages.

“Girl, my imitation of your handwriting with Green Moth is only about 50% accurate; it will be obvious.”

Although Qingfu said this, his body was already preparing to grab another set of writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone to help complete this arduous task: "Sigh, now I can only try to see if I can get through this."

“Who said you were allowed to copy?” Xiao Yan took out the top book and lightly tapped the cover with her finger: “I’ll do it myself.”

"Huh?" After a brief pause, Qingfu smiled and asked, "Miss, you have an idea?"

"Your imitations are only about 50-60% similar, but what about others? There are plenty of scholars out there copying books for others; finding a few who can imitate isn't difficult." But it still costs some money; who would be foolish enough to copy it themselves?

For Xiao Yan, this model that others imitated actually made things more difficult for her.

Thanks to the body's muscle memory and her past learning experience at the Children's Palace, her handwriting was almost identical to the original owner's. However, for someone accustomed to using pens and keyboards, asking her to suddenly write with a brush would likely be quite inefficient.

"What a waste of time!" she sighed inwardly, then remembered that she was going to the mountain to attend a Dharma assembly on the ninth day of next month. Xiao Yan sighed heavily again.

She had a feeling the old lady was going to cause her trouble.

Actually, thinking about it, it's a bit strange that Granny Gui suddenly brought scriptures today. Everyone knows that copying books for blessings is just a euphemism for punishment. The old lady is away meditating, so why did she suddenly think of tormenting her granddaughter at home?

"Miss, the second young lady is here." Greenie entered the room with a helpless expression.

What an unlucky day! One problem after another keeps popping up. We just got rid of that annoying Granny Gui, and now the Second Miss, who's just as bad as Granny Gui, has arrived.

"Please come in."

Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Quexian walked in with a beaming smile.

"Oh dear, in this sweltering heat, sister, you didn't even put more ice in your room. It's almost the same temperature inside and out." Looking at the ice chest with a thin layer of ice floating on it, Xiao Quexian's smile became even more smug.

"Is there not enough ice? Father mentioned yesterday that he would buy another batch to put in the icehouse. If Third Sister doesn't have enough, she can get some from us." He spoke very generously, as if he wanted to show off how favored he was.

Xiao Yan touched her forehead and found that she was indeed a little sweaty. She had been so focused on arguing with Granny Gui that she had overlooked the fact that the ice in the room had almost melted.

"Qingfu, find a little girl to fetch ice from the icehouse. And Second Sister, is it possible that we only have one icehouse? If you can go get some, so can I?" Xiao Yan's reply directly shut down Xiao Quexian's boasting.

Xiao Quexian is a really strange person. Sometimes she seems to be very scheming and plotting a lot of things, but other times she seems to be very shallow.

"Granny Gui just came to my room, saying she was going down the mountain to deliver some fruit that the old lady had offered before the Buddha. But I thought the fruit wouldn't keep well in this weather, so I brought some over for my third sister." Xiao Quexian showed no embarrassment at being shut down by Xiao Yan Hui for her boastful words; instead, she smiled even more brightly.

Following Xiao Quexian's instructions, her maidservant presented a basket containing two fist-sized melons and several plums, which looked somewhat wilted and yellowed.

Seeing that Xiao Yan Hui remained unmoved, Xiao Que Xian gently waved her fan, watching Xiao Yan Hui with an obvious look of amusement, waiting for her to lose her composure.

She unleashed her trump card: "It's because I've always been greedy. When the old lady thinks of me, she thinks of these food things, unlike my sister who is diligent. I heard that the old lady sent my sister some scriptures, which were also offered before the Buddha. My sister should copy them carefully, and burn them together before the Buddha on the ninth day of the month. That would be a great act of merit."

That's it? That's it!

Xiao Yan picked up a jade puppy and played with it with it, but her interest waned.

"Second sister is right." Xiao Yan was already considering what excuse to find to drive Xiao Quexian away, and then quickly copy out the original copy of the scripture herself.

She needs to resolve this troublesome matter as soon as possible, as she still needs to arrange for the shop's opening. She can take advantage of the hot weather to make a good profit.

By the way, after careful consideration, Xiao Yan decided to start the shop with various snacks and tea drinks, which require less investment and are easier to operate.

"Oh right, I almost forgot, besides these fruits, I also brought you a membership card for my shop," Xiao Quexian's voice rang out again.

"What?" Xiao Yan, who was playing with a jade puppy in her hand, suddenly dropped it onto the ground with a dull thud. The cute puppy had lost a piece of its tail and lay there pitifully.

Normally, Xiao Yan would have felt sorry for her, but at this moment she had no mind to care about that at all.

What did she hear? A membership card?

Could it be... that the other transmigrator I've been searching for is Xiao Quexian?

How could that be? She doesn't seem like it!

However, there were indeed some strange aspects to her behavior.

All sorts of thoughts and doubts, like a tangled mess, were forcefully stuffed into Xiao Yan Hui's mind, leaving her completely bewildered.

"Yes, it's my rouge shop. Everything's almost ready, so we're just waiting to open! Third sister, you've never heard of a membership card, have you?"

Xiao Quexian took out a small card from her pouch. The card had a metallic sheen, was silver with a gold trim, and had some words engraved on it.

Although the engravings on it were not clearly visible, the card as a whole was no different from modern high-end membership cards.

Seeing this incredibly familiar and comforting thing, Xiao Yan Hui felt even more surprised and uncertain.

Seeing Xiao Yan Hui's discomfiture, Xiao Que Xian took a sip of the still-hot tea, feeling even more refreshed than if she had drunk an ice-cold dessert.

"Hahaha, Xiao Yanhui finally couldn't keep up the composure anymore." Xiao Quexian laughed inwardly, her lips curving into an even wider smile.

Thinking about how she had bribed the people in Xiao Yan Hui's courtyard to find out in advance that she wanted to open a cosmetics shop, and then directly took the initiative to force Xiao Yan Hui to back down, making all her previous efforts futile, Xiao Que Xian was extremely proud of her perfect calculation.

He wasn't just giving Xiao Yan her membership card back; he was practically slapping her in the face!

By the way, Xiao Yan, that country bumpkin, probably doesn't even know what a membership card is. At this moment, Xiao Quexian felt a sense of loneliness rising in her heart, like a summer insect talking to an ice tree.

She really shouldn't have focused her attention on Xiao Yan Hui. What does she even amount to?

Clutching the small silver card in her hand, Xiao Quexian felt even happier thinking about how many connections and wealth it would bring her in the future.

Qin Ji, these connections and wealth are the interest I received from the suffering of my past life. In this life, I'm ahead of you. Even if you follow suit later, you'll just be a plagiarist picking up scraps from others.

"Second sister, what's the meaning of this membership card?" After a moment of confusion, Xiao Yan Hui's rationality finally returned, and she looked at Xiao Que Xian and asked tentatively.

"This is just a little idea I came up with, but it hasn't been implemented yet. Please allow me to keep it a secret for now, little sister. You'll know when it opens." Xiao Quexian was indeed going to give the membership card to Xiao Yan Hui, but she originally wanted to give it to her after her shop opened, not today.

Just now, seeing Xiao Yan's calm demeanor made him extremely displeased, so he impulsively took out the membership card as a symbol of victory.

But while the items were out, Xiao Quexian naturally wouldn't reveal the details when Xiao Yan inquired about them. Although others would inevitably follow suit later, she couldn't afford to miss out on the initial benefits.

Thinking of the scene in her previous life where high-ranking officials and nobles flocked to Qin Ji's store membership cards, Xiao Quexian tightened her grip on the silver card.

Having finally gotten her kicks, Xiao Quexian grew impatient and lingered in Xiao Yan Hui's courtyard. She made a few more sarcastic remarks, but seeing that Xiao Yan Hui remained somewhat distracted, she figured that the repeated blows of the day had left her a little disoriented, so she decided to call it quits for now.

Anyway, dealing with Xiao Yanhui will take time and can be done slowly. There's no rush. If we provoke that annoying younger sister too much, her days at her parents' home will be very boring.

With this thought in mind, Xiao Quexian gently waved her fan and gracefully walked away, behaving like a winner.

"Miss, Miss?" Qingfu didn't know why his young lady's mood had suddenly soured after seeing the silver card. Now that Xiao Quexian was gone, the young lady even seemed a bit lost and dejected.

"You two can leave now," Xiao Yan waved her hand, dismissing the two maids in the room.

To say she was completely distraught would be an exaggeration, but she was certainly full of doubts.

If Xiao Quexian was also a time traveler, then those salt and ice wine shops outside couldn't possibly be run by her.

So, are there other time travelers in this world? Or is the membership card something she just heard about from someone else, and I'm just ignorant, but it's actually become popular on a small scale? Given that there are time travelers, this possibility is quite high.

That same night, another person also expressed great confusion about the membership card.

"A membership card? Is this some new gadget that Miss Xiao Er has come up with?"

A note from the author:

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