Chapter 38

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT You Came to the Gold Shop Late at Night for Me, Didn't You? After dropping those words, Madam Jia led her people and prepared to stride away. When she saw that Jia Qingcheng wasn't moving, she said coldly, "The eldest young lady is going out tonight, so there's no need to prepare her evening meal. This room is warm enough—remove all the charcoal." What? Remove the charcoal? When Chunyan learned that the madam wanted to remove the charcoal from their room, she immediately wanted to argue back, but Jia Qingcheng didn't care. After all, her heart was even colder than this room. "Let's go!" Madam Jia hadn't gotten Jia Qingcheng to compromise, and because the charcoal was removed, the room instantly turned cold. Since it was just the beginning of spring, the air outside was still very chilly. The cold made Madam Jia sneeze repeatedly. "Let's go, let's go. It's freezing to death." After Madam Jia left, Jia Qingcheng took Chunyan out the door, went to her own shop to retrieve three gold bars, and then headed straight to the gold shop in the city where she had her goldwork done. But the moment she arrived, she was stopped by a servant. "Miss, our shop won't do business with you. Please leave." Jia Qingcheng: "..." "Why won't you do business with me?" The servant knew she had come before—not only had she come, but she had insisted on personally pouring the molten gold, which had left all the big men there utterly stunned. None of them had expected that such a small, frail, ugly girl would harbor such a powerful soul within her. Later, when her hand was injured and bleeding profusely, they had all looked on with admiration. However, this ugly girl—did she really not know, or was she just that foolish? Even he, an outsider, couldn't bear to watch anymore. That heartless man Pei Wuliang was now parading around the city with his new love, eating, drinking, and shopping to his heart's content, and yet she still came here to suffer, casting a gold plaque for that heartless man to pray for his safety. Truly, "the more devoted one is, the more sorrow one reaps." The boss couldn't bear to watch and had forbidden her from coming again, and had also forbidden her from personally pouring molten gold. That stuff was deadly—if anything went wrong, it could kill a person. "Our boss said we won't do business with you. Leave now!" "Please, I beg you, just one last time. I really have something urgent!" Seeing that the servant wouldn't let her cast a gold plaque, Jia Qingcheng was about to kneel down in desperation. She still believed in what the abbot had said—that as long as she poured her blood into the gold plaque again, it would surely protect the person she prayed for with a lifetime of safety and freedom from disaster. After all, back then, after she had made the plaque for Pei Wuliang, a miracle had indeed happened. The very next day, Pei Wuliang had woken up. So she believed deeply in this blessing. The big orange cat still hadn't returned, which meant the prince still hadn't woken up. She hoped to use the power of the blessing to make the prince wake up again. "Miss, aren't you just destroying yourself? You still want to pour your heart's blood into a plaque for that heartless man?" Heartless man? Jia Qingcheng was utterly bewildered. What heartless man? "Little brother, who are you talking about?" "Young Master Pei, Pei Wuliang. The whole capital knows about it by now. At the spring banquet, didn't he cast you aside and choose your cousin instead? Miss, although you may not be much to look at, don't be so infatuated with Pei Wuliang. He already betrayed you long ago. Just yesterday, he even came here." What? Pei Wuliang came to the gold shop for what? "Little brother, what did Pei Wuliang come to the shop for? Was he also looking for you to make something?" "This is a gold shop, so naturally we make items. Miss, please go back. Our boss just can't bear to see you do this." With that, the servant was about to shoo her away, but Jia Qingcheng suddenly spoke up, "I wish to see the boss. I'm not here for Pei Wuliang." What? Not here for Pei Wuliang? Hearing that she wasn't there for Pei Wuliang, the servant immediately invited her inside. "Miss, why didn't you say so earlier? Look at how anxious you were." After entering the gold shop, the boss saw her again and was quite irritated. "Why is it you again, ugly girl? Stop deceiving yourself. I won't do business with you." "Boss, she's not here for Pei Wuliang." What? Not for him? The boss was shocked to hear this, then gazed deeply at Jia Qingcheng before finally letting out a relieved breath. "Miss, why didn't you say so earlier? As long as it's not for Pei Wuliang, then fine. Otherwise, I wouldn't have received you." Jia Qingcheng: "..." "Boss, I'd like to make a peace lock for Prince Chu, Xiao Zhiheng. How much gold would it require?" What? For Prince Chu? The boss was even more astonished to learn that this ugly girl had come for Prince Chu. He stared at her in shock. "Miss, you and Prince Chu..." "Prince Chu is my fiancé. I want to personally make a longevity gold lock for him." ... Dusk deepened. The third watch. This time, the casting went far more smoothly than the first. With her previous experience, Jia Qingcheng was no longer so rash. With the boss's help, she finally crafted a gold lock symbolizing longevity for Prince Chu with her own hands. The gold lock had just taken shape and still needed dragon and phoenix engravings. She made an appointment with the boss to pick it up in three days. After paying the crafting fee, she was about to leave when, suddenly, her gaze was drawn to an unfinished half-finished piece—because on that half-finished piece were carved familiar words... "Boss, what is this?" The shopkeeper didn't mind telling her outright—since the two had already parted ways, it was best to let each other be. "This is a lover's lock that Pei Wuliang commissioned here, engraved with his name and Song Jiaojiao's. Miss, your name isn't Song Jiaojiao, is it?" Jia Qingcheng: "..." She naturally wasn't called Song Jiaojiao, and the shopkeeper knew her name and status well—he was simply trying to remind her of her place. "Thank you, shopkeeper. I'll come to collect the item myself in three days." With that, she turned to leave with Chunyan, but to her surprise, as soon as she stepped out of the gold shop, she saw a familiar carriage stopping right at the entrance. Hu Ba was respectfully welcoming the person inside the carriage. "Master, we've arrived!" As Pei Wuliang stepped down from the carriage, he found himself face to face with Jia Qingcheng, who was about to leave. Seeing that Pei Wuliang had come, Jia Qingcheng knew exactly why he was there, but she had no intention of acknowledging him. "Chunyan, let's go." "Wait, Qingcheng, why are you at the gold shop so late?" Pei Wuliang thought of the gold plaque she had gotten for him—unfortunately, he had already pawned it at the shop. But it didn't matter; he hadn't meant to leave it there. That day, he truly had nothing else of value on him, so he had resorted to that measure. Once Jia Qingcheng settled the bill, the gold plaque would naturally be returned to him. He couldn't bear to lose something so valuable. Jia Qingcheng didn't want to engage with him, but she shot back, "If you can come, why can't I?" Pei Wuliang suddenly thought of something—in his past life, Jia Qingcheng had given him a gold belt symbolizing wealth for generations. Could it be that she was here to have a gold belt made for him? Some of her behavior these past few days had indeed angered him, but her secretly coming to prepare a gift for him was only fitting. Jia Qingcheng had loved him for two lifetimes—he knew all of this. "Alright, Qingcheng, stop throwing a tantrum. I know you came to the gold shop for my sake, and I'm touched. However, that doesn't erase the wrong you did to Jiaojiao a few days ago."