This would not be the first time that Song Mian got shooed away by his girlfriend after she got what she wanted from him. He was totally unaffected by it.
This place was different from her room. Anyone was welcome here, as long as they didn’t affect Yun Lin. Song Mian didn’t dwell on it and stood up. He said good night to Yun Xiangxiang nicely before he took his leave.
Yun Xiangxiang immediately logged in to her online banking account and transferred the money to the number Li Xiangling had sent to her earlier.
Yun Xiangxiang looked at her wallet that lightened significantly and lamented, “Make money, make money. Must make more money!”
She had only met Song Mian’s father since she became his girlfriend. She had not reached the stage of meeting everyone else in the family yet.
She would need to give some presents to them when it was time for them to meet. Given the upbringing of the Song Family, even if it was just a token gift, nobody would say anything even if the gifts weren’t expensive.
Yun Xiangxiang didn’t want to puff herself up to her own cost. Neither did she want to embarrass Song Mian.
After a night of uninterrupted sleep, Yun Xiangxiang took Yun Lin along to visit Master Song on Sunday after they packed everything.
When the car stopped in front of the Song Family’s manor, Yun Lin tugged at his sister furtively after he saw Song Mian getting off the car. “I’m not dreaming, am I?”
“You aren’t.” It seemed that she wasn’t the only one that was shocked by the Song Family’s manor.
“Big Sis, are you sure you didn’t bring me to your film’s shooting venue?” Yun Lin continued.
“No.”
Song Mian was already at her side by this time and opened the door for her. Yun Xiangxiang followed the beckon and got off.
Yun Lin also followed closely. He tried his best to put up a polite front, even though he was shaken to his core.
Naturally, the one who welcomed them this time wasn’t Song Yao who was with them on the trip. It was another man in a grey robe. He only looked like he was in his thirties, but his every movement had an air of steadiness to it.
Yun Xiangxiang guessed that he was the head butler by Master Song’s side – Song An.
“Hello, Uncle An,” Yun Xiangxiang greeted first.
“Hello, Uncle An,” Yun Lin followed after his sister.
“Hello, Miss Yun, Young Master Yun. Our master has been waiting for you two for a long time,” Song An gave way to both of them smilingly. “Please come in.”
Yun Lin kept his eyes wide as they followed Song An inside. He couldn’t hide his expression of shock even if he wanted to.
Yun Xiangxiang and Yun Lin were brought to the Guiyi Courtyard directly this time. Yun Lin’s shock turned into a gasp once he stepped foot inside.
Even if boys didn’t like flowers and plants as much as girls did, they would gasp when they saw a place that was immersed in flowers.
“It’s so pretty here. I have never seen so many flowers before. I don’t recognize a whole lot of them.”
“You’re a boy with great taste. I like you,” Master Song’s voice interjected.
Master Song was donning a casual practice wear today. He had a mysterious aura befitting a master about him.
Yun Xiangxiang would look up to Master Song a lot were it not for yesterday’s little episode.
“Father, is your headache better now?” Song Mian asked filially.
Yun Xiangxiang tried very hard to not let the corners of her lips curl.
Master Song glanced coldly at Song Mian before walking to the spot between Yun Xiangxiang and Yun Lin. “I made a feast themed with flowers for you two today. Every dish has flowers as its ingredient.”
“Really?” Yun Lin got excited first.
“Hi, Mr. Song. This is a little token of my regard. I hope you find it to your liking,” Yun Xiangxiang hurriedly handed the gift over.
“I’ll take it since it’s the first time. Don’t be so formal next time,” Master Song took the gift himself and passed it to Song Mian. “Carry this carefully.”
Song Mian stretched his hand in a show of respect for Master Song.
“Go and do your stuff if there’s nothing else. I’ll be entertaining them. I’ll call you when it’s time to eat,” Master Song said to Song Mian smilingly.
“I don’t have any stuff to do today either,” Song Mian answered.
Master Song harrumphed, but he immediately changed his expression to that of a warm, approachable one when he faced Yun Xiangxiang and Yun Lin, “I’ll take you two on a tour around my garden.”
Yun Xiangxiang didn’t stay for long during her last visit. Half of the time was spent listening to a tune, and the other was spent touring the orchid garden.
Master Song took them on a real tour around his garden this time. He introduced his flowers to them while they toured.
Master Song was jubilant when he saw Yun Lin and Yun Xiangxiang listening intently. He went on to elaborate on the source, nurturing, country of origin, and species in great detail. Yun Xiangxiang learnt a lot over the course of one morning.
She only knew that a lot of flowers had tremendous medicinal value. They could also be used commercially even if they couldn’t be used in medicine.
“This house is so fragrant.” They passed by a small cabin, Yun Lin took a deep breath.
“This here is the spice room. I like to collect spices during my free time,” Master Song asked Song An to open the door.
“You like to collect spices in your free time?” Yun Xiangxiang was surprised.
Her gift coincided with his hobby through pure luck.
Master Song was a sharp man. He understood that what Song Mian was carrying was actually a spice when he heard that.
“Was it you who revealed it, brat?”
Song Mian shook his head, “She asked me to examine it after she made the purchase.”
“Hahahaha…,” Master Song was elated. “It seems like fate does smile upon us, little girl.”
“It’s a great coincidence,” Yun Xiangxiang was happy too. Gifts were meant to be to the receiver’s liking.
“Take it here. Let me see what kind of spice you brought me.” Initially, Master Song didn’t want to open the gift out of courtesy. However, the situation changed. “I’ll extract the fragrance later for you to assess.”
“We don’t know a thing about this,” said Yun Xiangxiang immediately.
Yun Xiangxiang really didn’t understand things that were as elegant and ancient as this. Not in her previous life, not in her present life.
“I like the honest layman the most,” Master Song laughed. “That way, I can know how they truly feel.”
Yun Xiangxiang thought about the Erhu tune of schadenfreude played by Master Song last time. She held Yun Lin’s hand and followed Master Song inside quietly.
“Yah, it is a good quality ambergris,” Master Song saw the spice inside once he opened the box.
Master Song had already guessed that it wasn’t any ordinary spice since it passed Song Mian’s assessment, but he didn’t expect that it would be an expensive ambergris.
“This costs too much. You’re still a student,” Master Song still chided her even though he liked the gift very much.
“I didn’t actually choose an expensive one on purpose. I thought that this thing suits you when I saw a friend of mine selling it yesterday by chance,” Yun Xiangxiang explained.
She didn’t know that Master Song liked spices. She only thought that such an ancient family must adore ancient culture. Coincidentally, Kodo [1] was one of the oldest cultures of China.
“No next time,” Master Song kept the ambergris Yun Xiangxiang gave him happily and took out his own spices.
There was a small table in the spice room. It had all sorts of spice containers and tools on it. Yun Xiangxiang and Yun Lin sat across to Song Mian.
They watched Master Song’s movements quietly. His every move was engrossing. The courtyard was already quiet to begin with. When the fragrance started to spread, it made anyone who smelled it feel like they were transported back to an ancient era.
The fragrance was elegant and clean, sweet and long lasting.
The sound of Guqin [2] started playing by their ears suddenly. Its timelessness captured the souls of its listeners.””