Chapter 399 - 393_1
Lin Yue was pondering over what gifts to present to Old Master Jiang and Master Jiang, and such timely news should not be passed up. Now that she had a gift for Master Jiang, there was still the matter of Old Master Jiang’s share. After giving it some thought, Lin Yue decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
"Big Brother Jiang, I know Master Jiang favors snuff bottles, but what about Old Master Jiang?"
Jiang Ziqi didn’t question why Lin Yue was asking this, but simply replied that Old Master Jiang didn’t have any particular preferences that came to mind immediately. "My grandfather doesn’t have any specific likes. If I must say something, he does enjoy drinking tea. Oh, do you still have any of your homemade tea leaves? I brought some back last time, and unexpectedly, the old man took a liking to them. It’s just that I don’t have much left, and there’s nowhere to buy more. If you have some, I’d like to ask for some more."
"I’ve brought some with me this time and will send it over later. As for Old Master Jiang’s gift, I’ll send something else separately." Having learned about Old Master Jiang’s preferences from Jiang Ziqi, Lin Yue was clear on what to do. She had been prepared this year and harvested the tea leaves when they were ready, picking several batches, thus yielding much more than the previous year. With last year’s experience, this year’s tea was even better.
Lin Yue didn’t sell the dozens of pounds of tea leaves she had, among which ten pounds were top-grade, "one bud, one leaf". This time she had brought more than twenty pounds to the Capital City, prepared as gifts, including five pounds of top-grade leaves for Jiang Ziqi as well as Old Master Jiang and Master Jiang, one pound each.
As for the other gift, Lin Yue decided after consulting with Zhao Erhu to choose a bamboo folding fan with double-sided embroidery, handmade by Lady Xiangyi. Lin Yue had personally embroidered it, which ensured its quality and class.
Having chosen her gifts, Lin Yue learned from the butler that neither Old Master Jiang nor Master Jiang intended to meet with her. Thus, she had the butler deliver the gifts instead. Lin Yue wasn’t particularly eager to face those two paramount figures; preserving decorum and her rapport with Ziqi was enough.
Old Master Jiang and Master Jiang were figures the Jiang Family had always revered. Moreover, since Lin Yue wanted to keep her identity concealed and had Ziqi cover for her after embroidering a double-sided, different colored embroidery for the Empress Dowager, Old Master Jiang and Master Jiang were oblivious to the full story. They only knew recently that Ziqi’s new business ventures were somehow related to Zhao Erhu and his wife.