Chapter 516 - 157: BMW_4
She knew that Jiang Yuanbai was bound to become suspicious and would certainly send someone to investigate, but of course, they were sure to come back empty-handed. Jih Heng’s people weren’t vegetarians, after all; if anything ever leaked, nine times out of ten, it was because he wanted others to see exactly what he wanted them to see.
Tonger asked, "Miss, what are we going back to the courtyard to do now?"
"Think about the birthday gift," replied Jiang Li.
"Huh?" Tonger was surprised.
Jiang Li smiled, Old General Jih wouldn’t use his birthday as a guise, so if the invitation said it was his birthday, then it definitely was. To attend the birthday banquet under that pretext, they couldn’t possibly go empty-handed. She still had to think about what would be a gift that wasn’t too expensive yet wouldn’t cause them to lose face.
All of this was predicated on Jiang Yuanbai agreeing to let her accept the invitation, though Jiang Li believed it was only a matter of time.
...
By nightfall, neither Jiang Yuanbai nor Madam Jiang the Elder had indicated whether they wanted Jiang Li to accept the invitation. However, Jiang Li had already started instructing Bai Xue to take out all the silver to calculate how much was left, and how heavy of a thank you gift they should buy for Old General Jih.
Tonger asked, "Miss, it’s not yet certain whether we’re going, so why are we already doing the calculations?"
"We’ll have to go sooner or later," Jiang Li said with a slight smile, "Since father and the old madam still can’t decide by now, that’s already an implicit consent." She counted the silver notes in her hand, some given to her by Ye Mingyu, many left over from what Madam Jiang the Elder and Jiang Yuanbai compensated her; besides managing others, she didn’t really spend much on herself. The jewelry and dresses that other girls loved, Jiang Li considered enough to be just sufficient, hence she had a lot of silver saved up. Weighing it in her mind, she felt she had enough to give Old General Jih a decent birthday gift, and instructed Tonger to put away the box containing the silver notes, saying, "Let’s go to the streets early tomorrow to have a look."
Tonger nodded.