Mu Lian and Mu Yang are only aged three minutes apart. Born on 24th September, the twins were a miracle bestowed upon the Mu Family. Due to late marriage, their parents have been trying for a child for a long time. Just when they were about to give up having any descendants, Madam Mu was pregnant with twins at the age of forty-three. As much as having twins were uncommon, the Mu Family yet received a miracle on top of a miracle - both of the twins were Gold Children, despite the parents both being Silver People.
Although the Mu Family are just made up of Silver People, they are extremely successful merchants who monopolize the trade market of musical instruments. If someone is looking for a good quality instrument such as a Guqin or a Flute, most people would direct them to the shops belonging to the Mu Family. With shops located in every city on the Ping Tian Continent, no one has not heard of the Mu Family.
Naturally with wealthy families, one would think that such a family would have its master having concubines. This was proven wrong by Master Mu as he devoted his heart to only one woman, Madam Mu. Madam Mu's maiden name is Zi Yue, she was brought up in an orphanage until the age of fourteen. She then went out to society and made a living by selling handcrafted hair accessories. Being a very meticulous person with a keen eye for detail, her works were of the best quality and were very popular among ladies. Despite the exquisite work, she sold them at affordable prices. Very often the goods at her makeshift street-side store would be sold out by noon.
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On a regular morning forty years ago, when Zi Yue was just eighteen, a small line had already formed in front of her store. It was a common sight ever since her reputation was raised. However, on that day, she noticed a tall man in his late twenties whose back was facing her. He seems to be in deep thought standing first in line in front of her unopened store.
He was wearing a simple navy outfit and gave out a very clean and neat feeling. It was not unusual for men to be buying her pieces as they are often used as gifts for the female party. What captured the attention of Zi Yue was that the girls waiting in line around him were particularly excited and chatting louder than usual, stealing glances at the man.
She walked over and proceeded to open her store without much thought, displaying a few pieces of hair accessories on the table.
The man snapped out of his thoughts and observed the lady wearing a bamboo hat displaying her items. As her head was tilted downwards and covered by a hat, the man was not able to see her face but didn't pay much attention before reaching a hand to pick up a green jade hairpiece. The lady was still busy displaying more items on the table and had not looked up. He stared at the piece and nervously took out his money pouch and fumbled around before he took out some coins, put them on the table and left in a hurry. The eighteen-year-old Zi Yue wanted to raise her head to thank the man for his business, but he is already nowhere to be seen.
"Waaaa, Yue-Jie, that man is so handsome!! Did you see his eyes? So deep and blue like the ocean!!!" a young lady who seemed to be very excited spoke to Zi Yue while attempting to choose a new hairpiece from the selection.
"I didn't manage to see his face." Zi Yue replied.
"Ehhhh? What a waste! I wonder which family that man is from and if he is married." the young lady added.
"You're going to drool all over my stuff, shoo!" Zi Yue laughed as she teased the lady.
Zi Yue didn't pay much attention to this incident and proceeded with her usual activities. Two months later the same person appeared first in line in front of her store. The same thing happened and his surroundings were full of chatter and ladies stealing glances. Zi Yue did her usual of opening her store and began to place her items on the table.
The man promptly grabbed a silver hairpin that was being displayed and wanted to place his payment on the table but he accidentally moved too fast and his hands bumped into Zi Yue's hands while she was arranging the other accessories. The man had a shock and the next moment his coins dropped onto the floor and scattered around the stall.
"Ahhh, I'm sorry!" The man quickly bent down to pick up the coins on the floor after blurting out nervously.
"It's alright young master. Let me help!" Zi Yue proceeded to pick up the coins on the floor as well. As she was picking up the coins, she had a clear view of the man in front of her, she was still not able to see his eyes as he was looking down towards the floor. What she noticed was his ears were slightly red and she was wondering if he was ill.
As soon as he picked up the last piece, he looked up and saw Zi Yue's dark brown eyes looking directly into his.
"Wow, those blue eyes...they are really pretty." Zi Yue blurted out what she was thinking as soon as their eyes met.
Before realizing what she said, the man's face flushed red and he quickly placed the payment on the table before darting into the direction of the main street. Zi Yue wanted to slap herself when she snapped back into reality. Not only did she compliment a man on being pretty, but she also said it out loud in front of so many people. This time the man would hate her for sure, she thought to herself. Throwing the incident that happened in the morning to the back of her head, Zi Yue quickly packed up her store after her last accessory was sold and walked towards the orphanage where she grew up in.