Chapter 41 - Reward (1)
Zang Ya seemed to have noticed An Yun’s gaze and turned to look at him with a bit of doubt in his eyes, “What’s the matter? Why are you looking at me like this?”
An Yun finally couldn’t help but ask, and whispered in his ear, “This pet meeting, what kind of pets did you bring here? Why didn’t I see them?”
Could it be that they were taken by other guards, so he didn’t see them?
Zang Ya glanced at An Yun but didn’t answer.
Seeing that he didn’t speak, An Yun just glanced at himself. For a while, he didn’t think in any other direction, just assuming that Zang Ya didn’t want to tell him.
Suddenly, An Yun felt a little depressed.
.
While the two were talking, those smart servants had already gone down and picked up the pets they had just brought back.
These pets came in all kinds, including cats, dogs, birds, minks, fish, and even foxes and mice.
As soon as these pets arrived, the already noisy scene immediately became livelier.
Seeing that it was almost time, someone stood in the middle and said directly, “Since these little things are here, shall we get ready to start?”
“Why start now? Since this is a show of talent, shouldn’t we have a winner too?”
“We’ve worked so hard to bring these here, shouldn’t there be a prize? That would make it livelier, right?”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
.
Several people were talking in a hurry, but they quickly shifted their eyes to Zang Ya, who was sitting above. In this case, naturally, they wanted to ask Zang Ya for something.
An Yun sat next to Zang Ya and received a lot of attention. At that moment, being watched by so many people made him feel a little uncomfortable, even if the main focus wasn’t on him.
But Zang Ya received their hint, half-stretched his arms, and said with a bit of nonchalance, “You’re right, such an event naturally requires a prize.”
After saying that, Zang Ya seemed to think for a while, then said softly, “Do you remember the jade ring that was delivered to my father from Pingcheng a month ago?”
The beautiful jade tribute from the Western Regions was said to be warm in winter and cool in summer, and it could also strengthen the body if worn regularly. In order to win over Zang Ke, the third prince had sent it to Zang’s Mansion with great fanfare a month ago, along with other rewards.
Hearing Zang Ya mention this, some people’s eyes lit up, while others showed a bit of confusion.
For the ones with shining eyes, their fathers were also officials, so they naturally knew what the jade ring was and the benefits of owning it.
People with confusion in their eyes were either not favoured at home or not exposed to this level of luxury. Hearing Zang Ya mention it left them a little clueless.
However, even if they didn’t know what it was, the moment Zang Ya said it, they noticed something different in the people around them, who now looked at Zang Ya with eager eyes.
They immediately realized that the item must be something precious! Since it was a good thing, naturally, they wanted to get it.
All of a sudden, both those who knew what the item was and those who didn’t were staring eagerly at Zang Ya, waiting for his next words.
Sure enough, Zang Ya didn’t disappoint them. Under their eager gazes, he said lightly, “Today, if someone impresses me, that item will belong to them.”
Suddenly, everyone below started to breathe a little faster.
They usually supported Zang Ya without complaining about his temper, besides being the only son of the city master, Zang Ya was also extraordinarily generous in his actions.
Although Zang Ya was moody, and offending him could lead to trouble, making him happy made things easy, and the rewards were often substantial.
As soon as Zang Ya finished speaking, some people started imagining how they could obtain the item and bring it back to impress their parents. Others were upset for not paying attention to the banquet and bringing a pet randomly. Some, who knew the value of the jade ring, were in disbelief.
“Young Master Zang, are you serious about this? If we impress you, will you really give that thing as a reward?”
Zang Ya turned to look at him. Seeing the earnestness in his eyes, he nodded lightly and said with boredom, “Of course. As long as your performance is good enough, I will take it seriously. When have I, Zang Ya, ever gone back on my word? After all, I’m not an incompetent person like Zhao De.”
Listening to Zang Ya’s confident words, everyone thought about what he had said. Indeed, Zang Ya never failed to keep his promises.
Suddenly, everyone became even more excited.
They started to get impatient, and someone thought of something and said to Zang Ya, “Young Master Zang, we weren’t prepared for this. I think we’ll need some time to get ready.”
“Okay!”
Hearing the sound, everyone looked at their pets and began to prepare eagerly.
An Yun sat next to Zang Ya, looking at the anxious expressions of the rich boys, and suddenly became curious.
These people seemed like they were all young masters from wealthy families, and their families were not short of money. How could they become so excited now that Zang Ya had just taken out a jade ring?
An Yun couldn’t understand, so he turned to look at Zang Ya beside him and whispered, “Why are they so excited? What is that jade ring?”
Zang Ya turned to look at An Yun and saw that the curiosity in his eyes did not seem to be fake. His big blinking eyes were full of curiosity and looked very cute, making Zang Ya want to pinch them.
Thinking this, Zang Ya naturally pinched his cheek.
An Yun was now used to being pinched by Zang Ya. When he pinched him again, he didn’t react at all and just let the young master pinch him.
Zang Ya pinched An Yun’s cheek and felt that the cheek had improved. He believed he had taken good care of An Yun. Now that there was flesh on his cheek, the touch felt so good.
“That jade ring is just a not-so-useful thing. You said you wanted to know about it. I will let you take a look at it before I gave it away.”
An Yun nodded.