"A kid? You?" Dongyang rolled his eyes and chuckled, "Other than looking like a kid and having a little ding-ding thatās not so long, I canāt see how youāre a child."
Dongyang still remembered the first time he met this kid, the aura of coldness, truly headache-inducing.
Suddenly, Lele had a streak of black lines across his forehead!! A not-so-long little ding-ding? Heās only so many years old! And was it really okay to talk to him about this stuff?
"Heh heh," Dongyang was very pleased with his reaction, and continued, "Youāre going to find out about these things sooner or later, so why be so shy? Auntie is telling you, this wonāt do. How are you going to get a wife in the future? Look at Yangyang, even at his young age, heās already got wives on his mind."
"Mother," he called out to Yang Chuxia with a face full of embarrassment and burrowed into her arms, not lifting his head for a long time.
Yang Chuxia looked down at him and noticed his little ears were red, laughing silently at his shyness.
~~~~
Ten days later, several horse-drawn carriages slowly made their way into Shandong Prefecture City.
Lele looked up at the surrounding buildings, finding the architecture of Shandong Prefecture City somewhat similar to that of the Capital City, but different from Fugui in Funan. The houses in Funan had some curly corners, but not here; in comparison, the houses in Funan were delicate, while those in the North were grand.
After entering the prefecture, Ye Ziāan and the others riding horses also gradually slowed down, moving slowly through the streets.
As they were about to pass by a martial equipment shop, Ye Ziāan got off his horse and told Yang Chuxia and the others to go on ahead.
"Mother, what is father going to do?"
"I donāt know."
He had only told them to go back to the residence first, but didnāt say where he was headed.
Meanwhile, Ye Ziāan stood by the roadside, waiting for the team to leave before he walked forward a distance and entered the martial equipment shop.
"Shopkeeper, is that necklace I saw last time still here?" Ye Ziāan hurried in and asked eagerly as soon as he entered.
"Oh, itās you again, young master?" The shopkeeper recognized him; the guy had come three times last month but each time only looked without buying.
If it wasnāt for his seemingly affluent appearance, the shopkeeper would hardly bother with him. But the man was strange enough -- he looked like he wasnāt poor, so why hesitate so many times over buying something?
"Itās still here," the shopkeeper said helplessly, waving his hand. "Are you planning to buy it this time, young master?"
"Buy it? Of course, Iām going to buy it," Ye Ziāan said with a smile. Every time he visited, he just checked if that item was still there. Now that he finally had the money, how could he not buy it? "Shopkeeper, you havenāt increased the price, have you?"
"No increase, no increase."
An assistant from inside the shop brought the item out. Ye Ziāan opened the box, displayed the item and examined it: a long gold chain, extremely fine and long, several meters in fact, with a few magnolia blossoms attached at the ends.
It was an item that could be used both as a weapon and a decorative piece. Ye Ziāan thought it looked best as a belt and could also serve for self-defense.
"Here is the silver," he said.
Ye Ziāan untied his purse and threw it to him, then prepared to leave with the box in his hands. He had only taken a few steps when he returned.
Just as the shopkeeper was about to ask if there was anything else, Ye Ziāan stretched out his hand: "Give me back my purse."
The shopkeeperās face immediately looked as if he had eaten dirt.
Itās just an ordinary purse; is it really worth making such a fuss over?
But to Ye Ziāan, it was worth making a fuss over. That purse was made by his wife. Although it didnāt have any intricate patterns and wasnāt particularly fine, in his eyes, it was the best and absolutely not to be discarded.