CHAPTER 664: CHAPTER 651: SLAPPING THE TRANSMIGRATOR 6 (BONUS FOR 300 MONTHLY VOTES)

Xiao Yuan, no matter how bad the situation, would never exploit a woman.

He immediately waved his hand when he heard Xiao Daya’s words: "Sister, don’t worry about my affairs, I have my own way to make money, don’t burden yourself."

He glanced at Ms. Ping, then pulled Xiao Daya aside and whispered, "Sister, how are you getting by these days? Don’t listen to everything mom says. If she asks you for money, ignore her, or else tell me, and I’ll talk to her."

Xiao Daya felt even warmer inside.

"I, I’m getting by alright, I have enough to eat every day, just a bit too much work."

Xiao Yuan looked down and saw Xiao Daya’s hands, rough and with large knuckles, covered in calluses—a clear sign of relentless labor at home.

He squinted his eyes: "Do you and your husband want to split from the family?"

Xiao Daya had always wanted to split from the family: "But I can’t while my in-laws are around, and also..."

Xiao Yuan had many ideas, he asked Xiao Daya, "Do you want to live a better life?"

Xiao Daya nodded.

Xiao Yuan smiled, "Wait for me to think it over, I’ll visit your place sometime soon, and find a job for your husband."

Xiao Daya always believed her brother was capable. Hearing Xiao Yuan wanted to find a job for her husband, she had no doubts he could.

She smiled joyfully, "Then I’ll talk to your brother-in-law later, don’t worry, I’ll make sure he does a good job and won’t hold you back."

Meanwhile, Ms. Ping had finished cooking and called Xiao Yuan and Xiao Daya to eat.

During the meal, Xiao Yuan repeatedly served meat to Xiao Daya.

Ms. Ping felt so distressed, occasionally glaring at Xiao Daya.

After eating, Ms. Ping hurried Xiao Daya off to go back home.

After Xiao Daya left, Xiao Yuan handed Ms. Ping two taels of silver: "Mom, take this for now to buy what you need, I’ll find a way to earn more money."

Ms. Ping, overjoyed at the sight of the silver, immediately wiped her hands and took it: "I’ll keep this for you, just ask me when you need money."

Xiao Yuan nodded, and that night he began writing a novel.

Moreover, Xiao Yuan also started preparing a bridal gift.

At that time, although glass products existed, they were scarce and all imported, thus very expensive.

After drawing another illustration, Xiao Yuan set up a small pottery kiln for himself; he dared not operate it during the day, so he tried making some glass at night when it was quiet.

He also made a mirror.

Xiao Yuan would take a walk around the streets every day and ended up finding some quality wood. Of course, he couldn’t afford large pieces, so he bought some scraps.

With these scraps, Xiao Yuan went home and made several glass bases and a dressing mirror.

In addition to this, Xiao Yuan made some glass products.

He crafted a seven-colored glass hairpin and a purple glass bracelet by hand, which he then placed in a box and took to Ji Mansion.

He didn’t go to see Anning, but instead presented a visiting card to meet Mr. Ji.

When he met Mr. Ji, Xiao Yuan handed over the two pieces of jewelry. Besides these, Xiao Yuan also crafted a glass paperweight and a small snuff bottle for Mr. Ji.

After handing over the items to Mr. Ji, Xiao Yuan didn’t stay long, exchanging a few words before taking his leave.

Mr. Ji knew that the items in the box were intended for Anning from Xiao Yuan.

He then called a maid to deliver the box to Anning.

At the moment, Anning was playing with Second Miss Ji and Third Miss Ji in the garden. The young maid brought the box over, and Second Miss Ji hastily approached with a smile, "Let’s see what great treasure has necessitated Young Master Xiao to send it over so urgently."

Third Miss Ji was also quite curious and came over to take a look.

The three of them were playing in the garden. The sunlight was good today, and it was warm outside, so the three young ladies decided to stroll around.

After taking the box from the maid, Second Miss Ji opened it. As she removed the lid, the glass items inside shimmered under the sunlight, especially the seven-colored glass hairpin, which was so dazzling it almost made everyone squint.

"How beautiful."

After a glance, Second Miss Ji handed the box to Anning.

The glass items were fragile, and she dared not hold them.

Third Miss Ji looked envious, "This hairpin is really beautiful, it suits you the best, big sister."

Anning smiled, picked up the hairpin to take a closer look, and then slid the bracelet onto her arm. Her skin was very fair, making the skin on her wrist appear as white as snow. The purple, translucent bracelet wrapped around her snow-white wrist made her skin seem almost transparent, and it appeared as if the deep purple hue was about to flow.

"In the past, I always said I didn’t find purple appealing, but now it seems that there is no color in the world that isn’t beautiful—it all depends on who wears it."

Third Miss Ji admired deeply, fixating her eyes on the bracelet for a while.

Anning smiled, "Young Master Xiao is thoughtful."

Xiao Yuan had mastered the craft of making glassworks, and besides making a bunch of jewelry for Anning, he had made some other artisanal pieces to sell.

At this time, these glass products were very valuable. The crafts Xiao Yuan made were not only beautiful but also quite pure.

The glazed horses he crafted were lifelike, and the glass flowers he produced were incomparably exquisite; these pieces really fetched a good price.

Just from a single glazed horse, Xiao Yuan made over a thousand taels of silver, and the glass flowers were purchased by a salt merchant from Jiangnan who paid a high price to buy them, intending them as a gift for an official’s family residence in the Capital.

The salt merchant had plenty of money and was somewhat of a big spender. Xiao Yuan managed to get a good amount of money from him; just for that pot of glass flowers, he charged over five thousand taels of silver.

Additionally, the novel Xiao Yuan wrote was also valued by a bookseller and fetched a good selling price.

Xiao Yuan didn’t tell Ms. Ping about this money and only gave her some for household expenses.

It wasn’t that he intentionally kept it from Ms. Ping; he was worried it might alarm her.

With the money, Xiao Yuan naturally prepared a generous dowry.

He collected some jade items, produced his glass, personally made some clock parts and assembled a large clock, and also had someone purchase many fabrics and such, overall preparing a dowry that was quite presentable.

The day he made the proposal, Xiao Yuan had a matchmaker bring the dowry to the door.

The Ji Family initially thought that Xiao Yuan, being poor, might not manage to present an impressive dowry.

However, since Xiao Yuan saved Ji Anning, the Ji Family couldn’t really demand him to provide a lavish dowry—Mr. Ji originally thought that as long as it was passable, it would be fine.

However, when the dowry was presented, it was truly dazzling.

Such a dowry might not even be presented by the wealthiest of families in the Capital.

Not to mention the others, just the glass dressing mirror alone was worth a lot of money, along with the glass engraved folding screen and some glass jewelry; just setting up these items cost tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Not to mention the jade items.

It was unknown where Xiao Yuan acquired a two-foot-tall piece of red coral, as well as that human-height large clock; these items even made Mr. Ji green with envy.