The thought made Jian Ruonan pause.
In the past, her first reaction to something like this would have been: Juicy gossip!
Now, she actually wanted to stop the two of them from getting married.
"Nan Nan, why do you keep staring at me?" Her second cousin, Min Yao, had two dimples in her cheeks. When she smiled, she revealed a row of pearly white teeth.
"Maybe she's taken a fancy to your earrings!" Her fourth cousin, Min Yun, laughed and reached out to remove Min Yao's earrings. "Hurry up and take them off for Nan Nan."
"Hey, don't break them! I'll get Nan Nan some new ones!" Min Yao turned to instruct a young maid, "Go bring me the jewelry box on my dressing table."
Only then did Jian Ruonan notice the pair of orchids dangling from Min Yao's ears.
Unless she was mistaken, they were freesias, with creamy white and bright yellow petals.
Fine silver wires adorned the flowers, which swayed beside Min Yao's cheeks, making her little face look all the more radiant and fair.
What beautiful, delicate orchids.
You could even turn orchids into earrings?
No flower stayed red for a hundred days, and no one could be young twice. What a shame-they could only be worn for a day.
Jian Ruonan leaned closer and discovered that the freesia wasn't a real flower at all. It was handmade.
It looked so incredibly lifelike.
Soon, the young maid brought over a purplish-red jewelry box. Its drawers opened to reveal neat rows of flower earrings.
There were lotuses, lilies of the valley, roses, daisies, cherry blossoms... and even bamboo-leaf designs.
"Nan Nan has such a small face. Anything would look lovely on her." Min Yao took a pair of pale green flower drop earrings from the box and held