fℓσωєяѕ fσя уσυ 💐 | Ongoing 🟣

Peonies

The Peony is the traditional flower of China. It is a 12th-anniversary flower and is widely known as the flower of riches and honor. These flowers are very fragrant and smell amazing. They come in several colors like pink, white, red, yellow, and purple. It is also regarded as the flower of fortune and symbolizes a happy marriage. Thus, it is an ideal flower for marriage and festivities.

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"Hm, I should cinch the waistline after..." Bai Xue said as she looked at herself in the mirror, pinching the fabric of the dress together at the back around her waist.
"Miss Heng, look what I found!" Xiao Hua, her personal maid, exclaimed while holding a pink and white, peony brooch with tiny crystals scattered randomly on the petals. The metal and crystals shone brilliantly under the sunlight peeking throughout the large windows nearby.
"Xiao Hua, what did I say about calling me 'Miss Heng'?" She folded her arms with a slight pout. "You can call me Bai Xue when no one important is listening. I tire of the title I carry."
"Sorry, Miss H—...Miss Bai Xue?" Bai Xue sighed deeply.
"Just Bai Xue," she stated.
Xiao Hua shook her head vigorously. "I mustn't! If I can't call you Miss Heng, I should at least call you Miss Bai Xue. After all, you are of higher status than me. I don't deserve to be so friendly with you. You already excuse a lot of my behaviors a lady of your stature shouldn't," she explained.
Bai Xue exhaled a little before nodding. "Alright then, since I know I can't force you...Care to let me see the brooch?" She extended her hand, and her maid happily but carefully handed it over to her. The gorgeous item sat in her palm now, its value showing through its weight. "It's beautiful..." she mumbled.
"Right? I was just passing by, and the gleam caught my eye. I knew instantly it would match you!" Bai Xue unfastened the pin to put it on, and Xiao Hua quickly stopped her. "I'll put it on for you."
She sighed and nodded. "Sure." Xiao Hua grinned widely and carefully fastened the brooch on the right side of her chest. Bai Xue looked into the mirror and instantly smiled; the brooch complemented the dress she was trying on. The baby pink on the petals matched the pastel yellow silk hugging her upper body while the two layers flowed out from the waist.
She twirled once—her thick, brown hair moving with her—and Xiao Hua clapped a little with a huge smile on her face. "You look really beautiful, miss."
"I suppose I do..." She bit her lip with a small smile. After purchasing the clothes and jewelry, they headed out into the bustling street in the new dress and brooch. Other women walking past her were eyeing her more Westernized-style dress while they wore either plain cheongsams or gorgeous qipaos.
In China, in 1935, qipaos were all the rage amongst women, and only a few would dabble in dresses with Western elements; as a woman of higher status, Bai Xue was allowed the privilege of engaging in shopping for any kind of fashionable clothing she desired. However, even though she was a wealthy lady, she rarely acted like one unless it included using that very wealth like today.
"I think we managed a great haul today, Miss Bai Xue," said Xiao Hua.
"I agree. Just imagine all the designing I can do to the clothes we got!" Bai Xue exclaimed delightfully. Suddenly, a car whizzed past, and she stumbled back into her maid in fright, making them both fall onto the ground. They coughed from the trail of dust the car left behind as they waved through the air to get rid of it. "Ugh, what's wrong with that person?! Didn't they see us walking?!"
"Ah! Are you alright, Miss Bai Xue?" Her maid started dusting off her dress frantically.
"It's fine, Xiao Hua." When she turned her head, she saw a hand extended to her, and she looked up to see a rather handsome man dressed quite dapperly. His black hair was gelled back, and his light brown eyes were shielded by a pair of round metal glasses with thin frames sitting high on his nose bridge, which made him look extremely scholarly.
"Are you just going to stay seated there, miss?" he questioned with a raised brow, and she blinked. His voice was smooth yet his expression was a bit bitter like finely-aged red wine.
"Well, thank you..." She took his hand, and he pulled her up while her maid watched the exchange. Bai Xue took in his clothes and came to the conclusion that he was also part of the rich community, but how come she had never seen him before? She had gone to every party held by either her father or his friends, acquaintances, and associates. Was he new to the circle? "May I know—"
"You should watch where you're going," he stated firmly but not in the way where it would come off as rude.
"Excuse me?" she asked with furrowed brows, and Xiao Hua held her arm.
"Although the driver was speeding a little, you were clearly too close to the tracks." He pointed to the road below their feet, which showed that they were now standing on the tracks he spoke of.
"Then are you saying I'm in the wrong for getting angry that they almost hit me? He should've been watching out for passersby."
"Miss Bai Xue..." Xiao Hua mumbled, but Bai Xue cut her off.
"Would you be saying the same thing if it were you?"
She glared at him, and he cleared his throat a little. "I apologize if it sounded like I'm defending the driver's actions because, as I said, he was also in the wrong, but if I were in the same situation—which I wouldn't be because I'm very observant—then I'd have no choice but to go about my day since it was also my mistake for not being aware of my surroundings."
'Ugh, he sounds haughty,' she thought. 'Shouldn't he be nicer to me since I'm a woman? Men are so...' She sighed then responded, "I suppose you're right..."
"But Miss Bai Xue," Xiao Hua started, and Bai Xue shook her head.
"It's fine. We must go now." She held her hand and smiled. "Thank you for helping me up. Now if you'll excuse us, we have somewhere to be." She curtsied a little before taking her maid with her down the path away from the tracks.
The man watched the two of them leave, and his mouth twitched when he noticed a patch of dirt on Bai Xue's dress, which she wasn't able to dust off. 'She didn't even give me a chance to say you're welcome,' he thought. He turned to leave, but his foot stepped on something. He moved his foot to see the peony brooch, and he picked it up curiously. He examined it and thought about where he had seen it before. 'Didn't mother want to purchase this a few days ago?' He flipped it around to see the pin was broken off.
"Sir," a well-dressed man came up to him, "is something wrong?" he asked.
The man closed his hand over the brooch and then pocketed it. "No, let's go now." He climbed into his car, and it took off.
"I can't believe that man talked to you like that," Xiao Hua declared with a pout. "If he knew who your father was, I bet he'd have quickly zipped his mouth and got on his knees to beg for forgiveness."
Bai Xue lightly flicked her forehead, making her yelp a little and rub the area. "Don't talk about the man like that. He was right about me not watching where I was going, I admit it." Xiao Hua frowned at her and then gasped loudly, frightening her. "My God, what's wrong?"
She pointed her trembling finger toward her chest. "M-Miss, it's gone!"
"What?" Bai Xue touched her chest and then looked down in a panic, almost pricking her finger on the pin. "No! Where did it go?!" They both searched the ground around them frantically until her maid gasped again. "What? Do you know where it is?"
"I-I remember when we f-fell, I grabbed onto you, and I t-think I accidentally pulled onto the brooch. It must've broken off then," she explained in a shaky voice and with watery eyes. "I'm sorry, Miss Heng! It's my fault!"
Bai Xue grasped her shoulders and shook her head. "Don't cry yet. Maybe it'll still be there if we go back now." Xiao Hua wiped her eyes, and they quickly returned to the scene. As they had feared, the brooch was nowhere to be seen, and both of them were in distress. 'Oh my God, that brooch was worth hundreds! What do I tell father?!' Although she was free to use her father's money, he would keep track of her purchases, especially the more expensive ones. 'I can't just tell him I bought a brooch and then lost it a few minutes after! That's like saying I just dropped several hundreds of dollars into the river! I'm going to be in so much trouble!'
"Miss Heng, if Mr. Heng asks about the money, just say it was me who lost the brooch; I'll take the fall for you!" Xiao Hua stated with a raspy voice as tears streamed her face.
"N-No, I can't let you do that! He'll fire you! No, he might even sell you off!" Bai Xue exclaimed with a choked voice, her throat threatening to close up on her as her eyes started to well up. She swallowed as she forced the tears back down. "Someone must have seen it and picked it up, so we'll just question a few of them. Okay?" She looked around the crowd, thinking for a second before it dawned on her. "Xiao Hua," she said sternly as her grip around her maid's hands tightened.
"W-What, Miss Heng?" Her maid looked into her serious eyes in concern.
"That man," she started through gritted teeth, "he stole it!"
"W-Which man?"
"The one who 'helped' us up!" she exclaimed furiously. "He's a thief pretending to be a wealthy man, and he targeted us since we're well-known at the top of the social class! Why didn't I realize it sooner?! No wonder he was so opinionated towards me."
"But he didn't look any of the sorts..." Xiao Hua remarked.
"Of course, he didn't! He's obviously a professional!" she fumed. "Come on, we have to report him to the police station."
"But, Miss Heng, we don't even know his name."
"Don't worry, I remember his face clearly!" Bai Xue pulled her maid along with her to the nearest police station and made a report for the theft of a precious accessory worth hundreds. Since they didn't know his name, license plate—if he had one—or address, they had to provide a description of his appearance.
     Lucky for her, her memory was one of the things she was praised for as a child; it was near photographic. As she stated all his features to the police chief, he glanced between the drawing in the artist's hand and her face with knitted brows. When she was done, the artist turned the sketchpad around to let her see.
     "Yes! That's him! He's the thief!" she exclaimed.
The police chief took the drawing and looked at it before asking, "Are you sure this is how the man looked?"
"Yes, I am a hundred percent sure that is him!"
"Hm, but he looks just like the son of..." he mumbled and trailed off.
"What did you say?"
"Oh, never mind, Miss Heng. We will do our best to catch the thief and retrieve the stolen item for you."
"Thank you very much, sir. I appreciate your service." She smiled and stood up.
"You are certain that he is the one who stole it, correct? You saw him take it?"
Xiao Hua looked at Bai Xue and was about to speak up until her lady squeezed her hand tightly. "Yes, I am certain."
"Alright then. We will let you know immediately once we've captured the criminal. Have a good day now."
"You too!" she exclaimed and exited the building with her maid.
The police chief looked at the drawing again and rubbed his chin. "Maybe he just looks like him..."
Xiao Hua followed Bai Xue from behind and asked, "Is it alright for us to say that we saw him take it? Because we didn't, you just assumed he was the one."
Bai Xue stopped in her tracks and turned around. "Xiao Hua, are you saying that I'm wrong for suspecting him? Whose side are you on?"
"But that was a lie, Miss Heng."
She sighed and folded her arms. "Don't worry about that. If it turns out it's not him, we'll just apologize. Now, stop calling me 'Miss Heng.' Got it?"