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85836d.jpg
Shining Mint Basket
85836d
I'm a simple servant girl. I don't dare dream of more, or less, especially not a world where I'm exiled to the wildlands for being hysteric. At once, a small voice breaks me out of my remembrance of today's morning.
"Lan'er! Aren't those marbles so pretty? Can't we get them? Please?"
Looking down at First Miss's face as she tugs on my sleeve, I feel around in my pockets. They're no longer heavy, from hours of errands - at best I only have a couple dozen coins, likely not enough for a bag of marbles after everything. The merchant gives my miss and I a contemptuous, nervy look as she greedily eyes the shiny marbles she's pointing towards with her tiny finger.
I contemplate. Had it been something cheaper, it would be fine, but we still need to go and borrow charcoal for Mistress Yue. And even in this cold weather, Madam Ren's residence doesn't hesitate any less to be a bunch of uncharitable misers towards our gardens.
But even though that's the reality of the situation, the little miss's pleading look is difficult to bear. And it's no secret that life in the manor has been hard on her as of late.
A sharp voice makes me open my eyes again. "Well? Are you going to buy something?" the merchant hollers at us, protectively leaning over the marbles like they're his children. "These marbles are antiques! Fifteen coins for the bag." A tough guy to be sure, feeling intimidated by a concubine's daughter and her maidservant. Whether to leave it or haggle, I need to decide soon.
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