Chapter 48: Light and shadow

Irene was sitting on the second floor of the villa, complaining about Bran's cunning, petty, etc., but she didn't tell her what to do when looking for Phoenix.
Bran responded to Irene openly and asked, "Will you change it?"
Looking at Irene who was speechless, Bran followed up and made up for it: "I wanted to use you as a friend to tell you a secret of the Northland, but you didn't believe it. At that time, I was in front of you and demonstrated myself. Once again, a big hole was dug, but no one paid attention to it. Who is the blame now?"
Irene slapped her big eyes twice, causing Bran to get goose bumps, and quickly persuaded: "You can't live this life. You'd better cut it directly with a sword, so that I can at least die more easily."
The teenagers around burst into laughter. Since the digging incident occurred, the teenagers began to go to the villa with friends one after another. Bran didn't refuse, he said a few words when he wanted to speak, and listened silently when he didn't want to speak. From the conversations of these teenagers, he always knew some outside information. Seeing my sister and sister sitting among a group of young girls at this time, talking and laughing to each other, I always feel that this is the life they should live, not the company of swords all day long.
Irene replied annoyedly: "You from the North!"
Bran smiled, and asked with an attitude that I am a lady and I am happy: "You didn't notice it? All your actions are too manly."
When Irene was about to violently hurt others, she immediately changed the subject: "My girlfriends don't mention those disappointing things, let me tell you another secret."
So the surrounding teenagers all quieted down and listened attentively.
"Did you see any grass at the feet of the Phoenix Shadow Wall?" Bran motioned to the teenagers to take a closer look. "That grass represents luck, and that is the true blessing left by Phoenix."
"Have you never noticed the sporadic grass in the river beach that you occasionally eradicate?" Then he looked at Zoya and Irene and shook their heads. "It is understandable that no one else has seen this painting before, but you two..."
Then Bran shook his chair and listened to the teenagers talking.
"Have you seen it?"
"I have seen it, but I didn't pay attention."
When the group of teenagers left, Bran gave each one a ring. The above pattern is what he said, representing lucky blades of grass, but the shape and angle of each blade of grass are different.
...
The sister smiled and looked at Bran: "You are too bad and you are lying."
Bran replied shamelessly: "I am a good person, I am just giving them hope."
Then the elder brother and sister both hooked their backs and smirked happily. In a smirk, Bran continued: "They will get into the habit of walking along the river in the future, I hope they don't fall into the pit they dug."
"You don't just make this crystal ball to tease them?"
"No, I'm going to put a fist-sized crystal ball on the market to see how it reacts."
...
The center of the market is full of people at this time. Gazi stood by the crystal ball absently—the so-called light and shadow of the phoenix.
There was a lot of discussion among the crowd, but no one came forward. It was not that these merchants did not want to buy, but that they knew that there were not enough equivalents to exchange. Therefore, it has become the present kind of onlookers who report long insights and open eyes.
Bran did not expect this crystal ball to be released. This was just an introduction. He hoped that next time the caravan came back, he would not always pull a bunch of tatters to cheat. Since you are waiting for the caravan to come, take out a few so-called treasures to appropriately bring the buyer and seller closer, so that the caravan has more desire to invest.
Participating in the onlookers were not only the businessmen, but also the idle aristocrats, knights and some figures in the missions who had been informed.
These idle aristocrats with their own children are also quite helpless at this time. All the teenagers who visit the Bran Mountain Villa will receive one or two small accessories, or rings, or hair accessories. The patterns are common in the North. Flowers and plants. Individual girls with beautiful looks will be given more gifts by Bran this little color blank. Several girls like Zoya, Irene, etc., from headdresses, necklaces, brooches, bracelets, rings, and even anklets, were personally put on by Bran this small body for Zoya.
As aristocrats, they should return according to proper etiquette. In fact, when their children enter Bran Mountain Villa for the first time, they should bring a gift. However, after many years of influence, and the impression of the Northlanders, or even the Northlanders themselves, do not think they can have anything to do with the title of nobility.
So a group of teenagers who visited their master for the first time came to the door with their paws empty. No one reminded, no one thought that it was so natural to enter the villa. Then Bran gave everyone a proper reminder, very friendly, but also a reminder that made this group of nobles blush.
It's just not easy to return a gift now. If it’s the first visit, you only need to follow the etiquette. A flower, a box of snacks, the host's rebate depends entirely on the mood at the time, regardless of whether it is a gift. However, this group of bear children came to the door with two paws. According to the etiquette, they should express gratitude for the gift, and then declined.
But this group of bear children did not. When the children showed them the jewelry they brought back, they already knew the reason why they could not refuse. Because even they cannot refuse. These ornaments give them the feeling that they are alive. When the ring decorated with flowers and plants is worn on the hand, they will feel the grass blades gently brushing their fingertips from time to time.
Now these nobles are facing a considerable trouble, how can they respond respectfully? Accessories and the like can be said to be worthless or priceless, but they are afraid of comparison in everything. Most of these idle aristocrats are rich and free, and they are also well-informed. They also have some jewelry and jewelry, but they can't get it after comparison. In terms of materials, these noble jewelry may be more rare, but facing these jewelry sent by Bran, they will always give birth to a nouveau riche with raw ore everywhere. So that when these nobles went out recently, they would clean up all the accessories on their bodies. They now understand why the guys in the north are used to being shirtless and wandering around with only a knife. Natural simplicity itself is a kind of beauty...
Most of these nobles hugged them to the North to deceive silly boys, and some of them were purely to join in the fun, but none of them were going to be embarrassed by running here. Therefore, they must come up with a less embarrassing gift. They once considered themselves civilized and laughed at the barbarism in the North. They are proud of their gorgeousness, and now they don't even dare to go out with the accessories they once considered gorgeous. This is a shame.
Fortunately, they are rich, they are wealthy, but this is definitely not what they want to admit. To put it in a more euphemistic way is the foundation.
...
Under Bran’s expectation, he finally got the first real gift in return. Zoya carried a gift box and led two ponies. What is in the gift box is the property, which is the equivalent in the return gift, and the pony is a face and a specialty. After all, the nobles are the nobles who directly said that money is too vulgar, so they will send you some special products and give you some gadgets by the way. Are you satisfied?
The two huge gems in the gift box were twisted and twisted according to Bran's eyes. But the little girl Zoya said, these two are rough stones, so I dealt with them a bit for the convenience of carrying. But this is not important. What is important is that these two natural gems hide the secrets of this world. So Bran is very satisfied and very happy. His abilities require continuous learning and exposure. His expression also betrayed his mood, so Zoya who was opposite took a sigh of relief.