Chapter 999: It’s all yours (1/2)

Take a bone out of your body and make it into jewelry?

Hearing this, Han Yunxi’s first reaction was, “Proprietress, what’s a yu bone?”

She didn’t know much about orthopaedics, but she knew that all parts of the human skeleton was useful in some way. There was no such thing as a yu, or useless bone. Even though humans had the superfluous tailbone, it was still useful for protecting the vertebrae and nerves. There were also people born with six fingers or toes, which could be amputated without consequences. Perhaps those could truly count as yu bones.

But Han Yunxi didn’t have those things! If she had to find an extra, useless “bone” from her body, then she could only count her wisdom teeth, which could count as being partially bone. In modern times, there was special bone grafting surgery that transplanted bits of bone from one’s body to injured or diseased bone areas to make up the losses. But that couldn’t be considered getting a yu bone either.

“Yu bones are surplus bones,” the proprietress said plainly. She lacked any of a merchant’s usual enthusiasm.

Rubbish! Han Yunxi silently cursed. She feigned ignorance and asked, “How many yu bones does the human body have? Where are they?”

On one side, Long Feiye was already knitting his brows. Even if there was an extra bone, he’d never let anyone lay their hands on Han Yunxi with a knife--even if it was Han Yunxi herself!

But the proprietress only said impatiently, “As long as you’re willing, any bone can be considered a yu bone.”

Han Yunxi almost cursed the woman for being a mental case, but she endured enough to smile and probe, “In that case, your husband must harbor deep feelings for you.” She was very curious to know exactly which bone the woman’s husband had sacrificed to make this jewelry, but the proprietress didn’t continue their line of conversation.

A bit impatient, she asked, “Madam, are you going to do it or not?”

Han Yunxi didn’t answer directly, but asked, “If I get it made, will you use this dagger to dig out the bone?”

The proprietress nodded. “Mm. What kind of jewelry do you want? Different types require different bones.”

Han Yunxi looked around the store before her eyes rested on a ring. Grinning, she said, “How about that one?”

Once the proprietress was certain that Han Yunxi wanted to order an Engraving of Heart and Bones, her attitude eased. She looked at Long Feiye and said, “Sir, I’ll have to trouble you to show me your hand.”

Long Feiye ignored the proprietress and only creased his brows at Han Yunxi, who quickly pulled her hand to show the shopkeeper. She also secretly tugged at his robes to signal him to play along. You couldn’t catch tiger cubs without venturing into the tiger’s lair! She wanted to know whether the proprietress would cut out the bones herself or had another bone collector hidden somewhere in the shop.

The proprietress examined Long Feiye’s hands and couldn’t help but admired, “Sir, your hand is beautiful.”

Long Feiye indeed had nice hands. They were large with long, slender fingers, each of the joints tapered and well shaped. How many women in the world dreamed of holding his hand? Yet he only allowed Han Yunxi to take them.

Long Feiye didn’t speak, his eyes flitting towards the clerk straightening things up on the side.

“A single section of sir’s finger would make an excellent pinky ring for the madam,” the proprietress asked with a smile, “I don’t know if sir is willing to part with it?”

“How long will it take?” Long Feiye was more direct than Han Yunxi.

“If sir agrees, it’ll only take two hours,” the proprietress replied.

Two whole hours to extract the bone and polish it into a piece of jewelry? The speed was well beyond their expectations.

“What about me?” Han Yunxi asked quickly. “Which bones do I need to give up for a ring, and how long will it take?”

The proprietress suddenly grabbed Han Yunxi’s wrist and pinched it between her fingers. “Your finger bones, and it’ll also take two hours.”

“Then shall we...start right now?” Han Yunxi asked.

“It’s 1000 taels for a finger ring and 500 taels for a pinky ring,” the proprietress replied.

Han Yunxi was absolutely bewildered. In the eyes of the proprietress, it seemed perfectly normal to take out your bones to make a piece of jewelry for your lover, as if the sacrifice didn’t mean a thing. The proprietress didn’t even mention anything about the aftereffects of the procedure.

“Won’t my hand be useless once you take out the bones?” Han Yunxi asked seriously.

The proprietress suddenly grew gloomy before she said in a haughty tone, “If you don’t have the guts, leave now. My little shop never forces its customers. There’s no point in custom ordering such a gift unless you’re willing in the first place.”

Without a word, Long Feiye set down the silver. Seeing this, the proprietress’s expression eased as she rose indolently to her feet and walked out from behind the counter. “The two of you, please come with me.”