Jiang Si had absolutely no idea that Huo Tingzhou had prepared a birthday gift for her in advance.
She had been really busy lately.
After coming home, the little free time she had was devoted entirely to the two little ones.
Besides, it was just a small birthday; she hadn’t planned on celebrating it at all.
But Mother Huo wouldn’t hear of it.
In her eyes, her daughter-in-law had contributed so much to the family.
Even if it was just a modest celebration, having the whole family come together for a lively meal was the very least they could do to show their appreciation.
Jiang Si tried to decline, but eventually agreed after some thought.
However, she made it clear beforehand that they would just have a simple family dinner, and no gifts were necessary.
That was what she said, but when her birthday finally arrived,
the whole family had still prepared everything as if it were a grand occasion.
Even the two little nephews took out their long-saved pocket money to buy Jiang Si a brightly colored silk scarf.
The color of the scarf was Jiang Si’s favorite.
It was clear how much thought the children had put into it.
If the weather had been cooler, Jiang Si would have wanted to wear it around her neck immediately.
There’s a saying about mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law that rings true.
That very evening, while Jiang Si was tidying up the gifts, Zhaozhao suddenly grabbed the scarf and placed it on her head.
Seeing this, Suisui also wanted to squeeze his little head under it.
The scarf was a summer style, and it was fine for one person to wear it as a head covering.
But with two little heads pressed together, it was obviously too small.
Seeing her beloved scarf mostly taken over by her own brother, Zhaozhao pouted, looking at Jiang Si with a hurt expression.
“Ma…ma…”
At this moment, Suisui was still confused, not understanding why his little sister suddenly became upset.
He instinctively tilted his head, and with that movement, the entire scarf was ‘snatched’ over to him.
From Zhaozhao’s perspective,
she was happily playing, and then her brother suddenly came over for no reason.
And then, the scarf was gone.
It ended up on his head.
If that’s not snatching, then what is?
Realizing this, Zhaozhao’s little mouth turned down, and tears started streaming down her face like a string of broken pearls.
Seeing her cry, Suisui genuinely panicked.
His chubby little hands reached out.
His intention was to wipe away his sister’s tears.
But because he wasn’t gentle enough, and Zhaozhao wasn’t sitting very steadily to begin with, she fell backward onto the bed, limbs sprawled out.
“Ma…ma…boohoo~~” Now it was really bad — Zhaozhao was completely distressed.
Her crying was loud, and paired with her flailing limbs as she struggled to turn over but couldn’t,
Jiang Si couldn’t help but laugh, feeling a bit guilty for it.
“Alright, alright, Zhaozhao, don’t cry anymore. Brother didn’t mean to,” she said, quickly picking Zhaozhao up into her arms.
With her other hand, she casually opened the nearby wardrobe.
She had to find something to distract the little one.
Otherwise, with Zhaozhao’s tendency to be such a crybaby, she’d be sobbing for at least an hour or two.
Luckily, her wardrobe was well stocked.
No exaggeration — the styles in the department store wouldn’t be as complete as what she had.
Sure enough, as soon as the wardrobe door opened,
Zhaozhao’s eyes noticeably widened.
Though the tears hadn’t stopped yet, her crying immediately ceased.
She pointed with her little finger at one blouse, then at a pair of pretty little shoes.
The excitement in their eyes was plainly visible.
Jiang Si was in a good mood today, so she just let them be.
She took out all kinds of bras in various styles and colors.
She also pulled out a large box of jewelry from her space.
As soon as the box was opened, the sparkling gems instantly caught the attention of the two little ones.
The brother and sister started competing as if it were a game: one grabbed a necklace, the other snatched a bracelet.
No matter what they got, the first thing they did was try to put it on their necks.
If it didn’t fit, they’d put it on their arms.
They didn’t even spare their little wrists.
Before long, the two kids were decked out in all sorts of jewelry.
Jade, diamonds, agate...
What a dazzling display of jewels!
They were having a great time playing, but when it came time to clean up, Jiang Si couldn’t help but feel both heartache and amusement as she looked at the jewelry scattered all over the floor and the jade bracelets broken into pieces.
Just as she was about to put everything back into the wardrobe, there was a soft clink as something fell.
Jiang Si picked it up and opened it.
Inside was an exquisitely crafted cloisonné brooch.
Its design was very special.
From a certain angle, it strangely resembled the character “Si” — her own name.
No doubt about it, this was a birthday surprise from Huo Tingzhou.
No wonder he had sounded hesitant and reluctant to hang up the phone that day.
Thanks to this surprise, Jiang Si’s earlier gloom vanished, and her heart felt as sweet as honey.
Still, she had to complain a little.
The next day, when she went to her Third Uncle’s place and mentioned the two bracelets that had been smashed the night before, she couldn’t help but sigh.
Those were collectible-level bracelets!
She had planned to keep one for Zhaozhao and the other for her future daughter-in-law.
But now, both were gone.
“It’s alright, it’s alright!” Third Uncle waved his hand generously. “They’re just two bracelets.”
Without needing any prompt, Uncle Zhong went to his room and brought out two redwood boxes.
Opening the boxes revealed a pair of mutton-fat jade bracelets in one, and a pair of jade pendants with excellent translucency in the other.
One white, one green, both stunningly beautiful!
Judging by their quality, these were rare top-grade treasures.
For some reason, Jiang Si felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity at first glance.
“Third Uncle, where did these come from?”
It wasn’t surprising that Jiang Si was so surprised. Two years ago, Third Uncle had already given her all the valuable family heirlooms and jewelry he had.
Logically, he shouldn’t have any items of this quality left.
Third Uncle, however, wore an expression as if he’d gotten a great deal and said, “Oh, these? A while ago, Uncle Zhong and I were just killing time and happened to snag them at the Ghost Market.”
Speaking of the Ghost Market, Jiang Si was no stranger.
It was basically an antiques and secondhand market around the Panjiayuan area, usually opening around three or four in the morning for about three hours before closing at dawn.
On good summer nights, they’d occasionally hold an extra session.
Since that area was under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Master, Third Uncle and Uncle Zhong would often go there to browse when they had free time.
What puzzled her, though, was that recently, Third Uncle indeed had been picking up quite a few bargains.
But compared to these two items in front of me, they’re not even in the same league.
Jiang Si: “Third Uncle, how much did you spend on these two pairs in total?”
