Su Xiaoqi's heart skipped a beat, and she felt a sudden sense of dread.
She stood behind Shen Yun, watching him silently for a long time without approaching.
Only when Shen Yun put down his brush and turned to look for her did she go over.
Holding the ice jelly with ice cubes and watermelon, she wanted to say something but didn't know where to begin.
Seeing her like this, Shen Yun knew that someone as intelligent as her must have caught his subtle probing.
However, seeing her so worried and dejected, he felt no excitement from his successful test; instead, he felt a twinge of unease.
He didn't want Su Xiaoqi to be sad because of it.
He took the blue and white porcelain bowl from Su Xiaoqi's hand and said with a touch of surprise:
"My dear wife, you still have ice jelly on you? I thought you had used it all up earlier, seeing how much you gave to the teacher."
Su Xiaoqi's heart relaxed. Oh, so he was just casually asking.
Alas, she had been too sensitive.
It made sense, after all. How could he possibly know about her spatial ability?
Shen Yun watched Su Xiaoqi's reaction throughout, realizing how much she cared about this matter.
It seemed he would have to bring it up less often when the time was not right.
Otherwise, she might become so scared that she wouldn't dare to approach him, or even run away.
Shen Yun lowered his head, ate the ice jelly, put down the bowl, and pulled Su Xiaoqi to see the results of his half-hour's effort.
On the wide expanse of rice paper, a bright moon was veiled by clouds, and palaces within were faintly visible.
An ancient beauty, dressed in a wide-sleeved cloud shirt, floated above the clouds, heading towards the Guanghan Palace on the moon.
In the courtyard of the ancient servants on the ground, a family sat together around a table with four round, carved mooncakes.
Beside them, the osmanthus tree bloomed with small golden flowers.
"The artistic conception is beautiful," Su Xiaoqi nodded repeatedly.
Shen Yun was indeed someone who had delved deeply into painting techniques; this stroke was truly extraordinary.
She could imagine that even without any further action, just displaying this painting would be enough to attract attention.
This painting depicted the Mid-Autumn Festival, a time for family reunion. Its beautiful artistic conception made people feel happy and couldn't help but want to look at it longer.
She had originally planned to put advertisements on it.
But she was so stunned by the painting that she changed her mind, took another piece of rice paper, and asked Shen Yun to write what she dictated.
Soon, the two of them finished the advertising poster.
"You are so amazing, truly the greatest talent of the Great Liang Dynasty," Su Xiaoqi said happily, tugging at Shen Yun's sleeve and praising him incessantly.
Seeing her eyes shining brightly, exuding a charmingly naive aura.
Shen Yun was extremely fond of her, and no matter what she said, he reached out and embraced her.
He couldn't help but think of her wise demeanor, as if she had everything under control, in front of Chen Jinniang and Shen Xiaomei earlier.
And how she had looked so pitiful when she needed his help before.
And now, she was in this delicate and charming state.
She was like a kaleidoscope, seemingly possessing a thousand faces, impossible to grasp in one glance.
The more he spent time with her, the more he became infatuated.
Damn it, he actually liked this feeling very much, so he gently prompted her: "My dear wife, since you think your husband has done a good job, won't you give me any reward?"
Su Xiaoqi was stunned for a moment. Seeing his thin lips curve into a handsome arc, she couldn't help but feel mischievous.
She tiptoed, hooked his chin, and lightly touched his lips.
Then, before he could react, she twisted her slender waist and escaped his embrace.
By the time Shen Yun reacted and wanted to claim his interest, Su Xiaoqi had already taken his creation and slipped away.
Seeing her run off, giggling triumphantly, Shen Yun's entire face softened.
"Oh, Elder Brother, you look so handsome when you smile, you should smile like this more often." Shen Xiaomei, who had entered from outside at some point, saw Shen Yun standing by the stone table, smiling.
Her eyes lit up; she felt that her brother was incredibly handsome, especially with such a heartfelt smile, which was simply healing to behold.
At the door, Su Xiaoqi had already posted Shen Yun's masterpiece, the "Mid-Autumn Pre-sale Mooncakes" poster, on a specially made display stand.
This was now public announcement.
Xiao Xique guarded the poster and set up a small stall, displaying small pieces of mooncakes in various flavors.
Beside them were small bamboo skewers, and a piece of paper read: Freshly baked, welcome to taste.
Xiao Xique, following the copy on Su Xiaoqi's poster, shouted:
"Come and see, come and look! Taste before you buy! Freshly baked Mid-Autumn mooncakes, for yourself or as gifts, with high-end packaging, very presentable for gifting."
After a few such calls, a crowd of passersby soon gathered in front of the shop.
They all gathered around the painting of "Mid-Autumn Family Reunion," pointing and discussing.
Someone said, "This painting is really good."
"Exactly. Is that Chang'e flying? She looks like a fairy."
"Nonsense, isn't Chang'e the fairy of the moon palace?"
"No, are those mooncakes they're eating? They're so round, painted so well. Look, that one looks like it has a molten center."
"Is this where they sell those pastries, called mooncakes, mooncakes? They're so expensive..."
"Oh, ten cash a piece, that's too much. Who knows if they taste good? If they don't, aren't we just wasting our money?"
"Hey, isn't there free tasting? Let's grab a piece and try it."
Someone suggested this, and everyone flocked to Xiao Xique's tasting stall.
The small stall was pushed so precariously by the crowd that it almost toppled over.
Xiao Xique was startled by the commotion.
Su Xiaoqi quickly stepped forward to maintain order.
"Come, come, queue up. Form two lines and take them in order. The owner said that everyone who wants to taste today will get to taste."
Hearing that everyone would get some, they stopped crowding and, after a short while, lined up properly. Su Xiaoqi then gestured for Xiao Xique to distribute them one by one.
Soon, everyone was eating freshly baked mooncakes.
And they were discussing which flavors they had eaten and which ones they would buy.
In fact, the families who frequented Chen Jinji were not poor.
Even if they weren't wealthy, they at least had some savings.
Therefore, the price of the mooncakes was still acceptable.
Especially after tasting them, they felt it would be a disservice to themselves not to buy a few of these delicious treats to take home.
Soon, all the mooncakes sold individually for ten cash were gone.
The remaining packaged ones, priced at forty cash and sixty cash, were also sold out.
However, the number of people wanting to buy continued to grow.
Later, some people even inquired about the ones priced at a string of cash and bought them with gritted teeth.
"For those who want to eat them at home, you can come back tomorrow to buy the individually sold ones.
As for these packaged ones, you can buy them to give to relatives and friends," Chen Jinniang said loudly, feeling a little guilty about earning money from the packaging.
Some people were persuaded to leave.
However, some who were not short of money told her not to worry and to just bring out the packaged ones.
Chen Jinniang was about to say more when Su Xiaoqi stopped her and whispered:
"These are the stewards from wealthy families. They have been ordered by their masters to buy them, and they must buy them. Your persuasion is useless, and they don't lack money.
Furthermore, wealthy families value packaging and outward appearances, so let them have it their way."
For wealthy families, whether buying for themselves or as gifts, they valued attractive packaging.
Therefore, the packaging of these mooncakes indeed caught their eye.
Taking such nicely packaged pastries back to their elders would surely earn them praise.
Soon, all the mooncakes made over these two days were sold out.
Chen Jinniang sat blankly at the counter, looking at the full box of money, still somewhat disbelieving.
"They... they're all sold out already?"