Chapter 23 (1/2)
Chapter 23
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Ji Yue’s efficiency was high. The things she mentioned in the afternoon had arrived by evening. In the evening, a parcel was delivered. The recipient was Tang Tang, and the sender was Ji Yue.
Tang Tang signed to accept the parcel. Afterward, she opened the box and saw that it was filled with bottles and jars that she had never seen before. Even though every bottle and jar had words on it, they were not Chinese characters. Maybe they were from abroad since she could not read a single word on them.
Therefore, Tang Tang could only search through the box and see if there were any instructions. She did find a note, which had every product listed and explained how to use them.
By the time Tang Tang finished reading the instructions, she had to agree that Ji Xiao Zhuo had asked the right person. Because each item that Ji Yue had sent was correspondent to something that Tang Tang wanted to improve.
Most of the products in the box were for skincare, such as moisturizer, whitening, and skin repair, etc. Tang Tang was shocked by the number of bottles. She didn’t know there were so many different products that someone could apply on the face. Apart from products for her face, some products were for her hair and intended to make it glossy, thick, and smooth.
On the bottom of the note, Ji Yue wrote that she also had used all these products herself and guaranteed they had good results.
Tang Tang was extremely grateful for Ji Yue’s help, but she didn’t feel it was right to accept the parcel because all the products didn’t look cheap. They were from abroad, so they must be quite expensive. She couldn’t accept the products that easily, as it was probable that they were worth a lot of money.
Even if she could become pretty with these products, she should buy the products herself.
Tang Tang didn’t touch any of the bottles and jars and got Ji Yue’s number from Xiao Zhuo. She assumed that Ji Yue wouldn’t be busy since it was late and gave Ji Yue a call.
Ji Yue accepted the call quickly. Before a word was even said, Ji Yue seemed to have already figured out who called her, “Tang Tang?”
Tang Tang let out an ‘En’ sound before saying, “Ji Yue, it’s me, am I disturbing you?”
“No, no, I’m at home. What’s the matter?”
Ji Yue, who was getting her feet washed, talked while moving her feet around. Her wet feet bumped into Gu Zhang An’s face a couple of times, which caused him to glare at her. He took hold of her feet and dried them with a cloth.
Hearing that she wasn’t disturbing Ji Yue, Tang Tang stated her thoughts, “Ji Yue, I called about the things you sent me. I can’t accept them. They are too expensive.”
Ji Yue paid no attention as she let out an, “Ah,” before answering, “It’s nothing, those things aren’t worth that much. It’s not as precious as you’re thinking. Just use them. It’s not like we’re strangers.”
Tang Tang couldn’t be casual because no matter if it was herself or the original owner, they were both not close to Ji Yue. “No, no, I haven’t done anything to deserve these. Ji Yue, I’m grateful for your thoughts, but I really can’t accept it. Please take them back.”
Hearing this, Ji Yue knew that Tang Tang wasn’t willing to accept her gift for nothing. She rolled her eyes and responded, “I have already sent the things out, so how can I take them back? Not to mention sending and returning is troublesome, some of the products may get damaged in the process. If you really can’t accept it, then how about a trade? You can cook something delicious for me instead. I miss your cooking.”
“This …” Tang Tang didn’t think that some food would be equal to the money spent on those products. She would still be taking advantage, but if she kept insisting, it wouldn’t be good for their developing friendship. So Tang Tang could only nod, “Ok. I will cook something for you and deliver it to you with Xiao Zhuo when it’s done. “
Ji Yue agreed straight away, “Alright, it’s agreed. You can use those things at peace.”
When the call ended, Gu Zhang An asked curiously, “When did you and Tang Tang get so close? What did you send her?”
Ji Yue smiled and moved her foot to Gu Zhang An and acted coquettishly, “Dear, give me a massage. My foot hurts a lot ~.”
Gu Zhang An helplessly pampered her and skillfully massaged her foot while he scolded, “Who told you to keep wearing heels with that many inches to work? You come home every night telling me your foot hurts, it’s your own fault.”
“Ah, you, men, don’t understand the beauty standards that women pursue.”
Ji Yue pouted. Then she got back to the previous topic, “Xiao Zhuo called me today. He asked if I had any ideas to make his mummy pretty. He made me happy, and it’s rare for him to ask me for something so, naturally, I helped him out. I sent a set of all the skincare products I use to Tang Tang.”
Gu Zhang An nodded and carried on massaging her.
“Ah, dear, I want to ask you something. Have you seen Tang Tang in the past before? Did she always look …. have that appearance?” Ji Yue didn’t feel it was right to say the word ‘ugly’ out loud.
After getting asked, Gu Zhang An went through his memories and tried to remember the first time he met Tang Tang. He remembered Ji Yan introduced Tang Tang to their group after they got their marriage certificate, but Gu Zhang An couldn’t exactly remember what Tang Tang looked like at that time, “I can’t really remember. She wasn’t a beauty, but she looked better than her current appearance. “
It was likely that he would remember if someone was either really beautiful or ugly. Since he couldn’t remember, then Tang Tang probably looked ordinary at that time, so she was not memorable.
Ji Yue pondered, “Tang Tang could probably become a beauty if she takes good care of herself. Since Xiao Zhuo looks so handsome, then as his mother, her appearance shouldn’t be bad.”
Gu Zhang An didn’t respond. He stood up and carried Ji Yue to their room, “Alright, don’t ponder over if someone is good-looking or not. If you have time, think about whether or not your husband is handsome instead.”
Ji Yue laughed out loud.
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On the other side, Tang Tang released a sigh. She placed all the bottles and jars on the dressing table in her room. Then Tang Tang thought about what she should do to express her gratitude. Naturally, she would be cooking something, but just some dishes weren’t enough. She wanted to give something else to Ji Yue; otherwise, her conscience wouldn’t be in peace if she just took such precious gifts.
But no matter how long she thought, there was nothing that Tang Tang could give. She had no money or jewelry, and neither could she earn money. Therefore she couldn’t buy anything suitable to gift either.
What should she do?
After she pondered over the issue for some time, Tang Tang could only think of making something for Ji Yue herself. Apart from her cooking, the only other skill she had that could create things was embroidery. Maybe she could embroider a handkerchief for Ji Yue?
But Tang Tang quickly rejected the idea. She couldn’t gift something she embroidered. There was a possibility that it would expose that she was not the original owner.
Recently, she watched a program about cultural heritage and discovered that practically no one practiced embroidery anymore. It was currently rare to find someone who could do embroidery. The original owner definitely didn’t, and if she embroidered something now, other people would notice something there was something wrong.
Suddenly having cooking abilities was still believable, but knowing a rare skill like embroidery was unbelievable and impossible.
If embroidery wasn’t possible, was other needlework possible? The main problem was that Tang Tang didn’t know if the original owner had any needlework skills.
Tang Tang sighed as she thought, and her mood sank. In her time, needlework was one of the most important abilities that a woman should have. Every woman would start learning the major arts when they were young girls, but a major skill was practically lost here. It was hard to believe.
Tang Tang started learning needlework when she was five. She learned and practiced for so many years. Not even mentioning the amount of effort and hard work she spent on it, needlework was one out the two skills she was good at. If she couldn’t even use her only good gifts here, she really wouldn’t have much merit.