The item they had to shop for was the pen that lady Hiliana long needed. As a family, they all walked in and waited near the waiting area while lady Hiliana chose which one she preferred.
Elle was half asleep leaning over Alvin. The twins were bored out of their minds and were blankly watching the linoleum tiles.
Feng sighed and glanced out the window. 'Who knew shopping was so tiresome?' a stall selling some weird red sweet caught her eyes. Many parents were stopping by and buying a small bag of it. 'What might that be? Will it taste sour or spicy?' she licked her mouth subtly.
Aiden noticed this action immediately. {'Bro we need money. Now!'}
{'What for,'} Ethan blankly whispered. His eyes were drooping slightly, but he shook his head to keep himself awake.
{'For Feng,'}
The other twin sat up, wide awake. {'What do you want to buy her?'}
{'She might like that,'} he secretly gestured to the food stall just outside the building.
{'But how to make money? Can we ask lady Hiliana?'} He confusedly scratched his head.
{'No....the money should be earned.'} Aiden frowned and glanced around. A young pair of choosing spectacles caught his eyes. The young lady was holding a small rose preciously in her hand and smiled at her husband. {'Watch and learn.'}
He secretly moved so that no one was aware he left and went over to the young couple. He innocently glanced at them.
"Who might this be?" the young lady smilingly looked at him.
"Greeting beautiful and lady gentleman," he bowed like a little gentleman.
The young lady was more than impressed she happily gestured to her husband and chuckled. "What might you need, young man? Are you perhaps lost?"
"No, no, I—I ....." he gestured for them to move closer. "Can I have a look at it?" he looked at the rose in her hand.
"Gladly." she gave it to him and gently nudged her husband with a silent squeal.
"A beautiful gift of love should be eternal," he whispered, and softly breathed on it. The rose froze instantly into a shimming crystal. "I wish your love will be eternal like this rose."
The young couple gasped. The lady carefully took the rose back and smiled. "That was so nice of you."
Aiden awkwardly smiled. "Can I ask a small favour?"
"Yes, tell me, what do you need?"
"You see..." he gently clutched his pant legs. "I have a girl I like, too. I wish to gift her something she likes as well as a surprise. But if I ask my family elders, it won't be a surprise anymore... so..."
The young man chuckled and held his shoulders. "What might you need? I shall help you with your love." he winked.
"It's nothing big.... the girl seems to be fond of that." he gestured to the sweet stall outside.
"Then I shall get that," the man walked out, leaving behind his wife who was happily chatting with Aiden.
Feng sighed and looked away from the sweet stall. 'It's better not to make any more stops. We are tired and that slave ship is still bothering me...'
She noticed only one of the twins near her. "Where is Aiden?"
Ethan pointed to the corner where Aiden was cheerfully chatting with a young aristocratic lady.
"Wow, he is sure going to grow up as a charmer,"
Ethan immediately held her hand. "Me? What about me? Am I not charming?"
"Very charming, very charming." she patted his small head.
Ethan pouted, with a dejected look. "I'm not a child you should not talk to me like one," he mumbled, folding his hand over his chest.
"Oh okay, young man, I shall speak cordially to you," she jokingly nudged his shoulders.
"Okay, go too far. Don't be too polite with me but don't treat me like a baby as well," he mumbled with a slight blush.
Soon the old lady chose a beautiful peacock embellished pen and happily left for their ship. As they were leaving the shop, Aiden secretly hander her something.
"What is it?"
He shushed her immediately. "secret,"
Feng quizzically glanced in the small bag o find the small red sweets inside. They were actually Sticky red fried dough that was soaked in honey and wrapped individually in small pink wax paper. They were oozing honey everywhere in the bag. "Oh, mama... how do you buy it?"
"I had my ways." Aiden winked at the pair of young couple who were leaving the store with them.
"Good luck," the young lady chuckled.
"Aiden... how did you pay for it?" she whispered with a slight frown.
"I worked for it." he winked and gestured for her to eat.
Feng happily distributed the sweets to everyone. They all were shocked initially, but the kind young couple decided to explain what happened.
Lady Hiliana cheerfully glanced at cheeky twins and laughed. "They are some troublemakers, alright, come lets go back before the harbour closes,"
Feng happily chewed on the chewy gummy candy with a wide smirk. The candy wrapper was still sticky in her hand. She carefully folded in into rectangles and held it previously. 'This is the first gift I got after a long time... I'm so happy.'
A small gust of wind suddenly picked up in the narrow street, and random things started flying around. So did her candy wrapper.
"No." she ran after it to the other side of the road. Thankfully there were no carriages on the way, so she easily crossed the path.
Te pink candy cover laid silently near a dark ally. She swiftly picked it up.
"Feng! Come back here, dear," lady Hiliana shouted with a worried look.
Feng chuckled and was about to cross the road, but a long line of carriages passed through the narrow road right then. She moved back and stood there with a wide smirk.
A hand suddenly griped her shoulder. "We meet again, runt!"