Chapter 462: Chapter 163: The Green Tea Female Supporting Character in a Period Novel (50)

There were also phoenix crowns made of beaded strings, walnut carvings, wooden bracelets, opera masks, wooden swords, and other small, exquisitely crafted items representing traditional Xiahua culture.

Each one was exquisite and charming, all custom-ordered by Chi Yun’er from various artisan workshops.

A red blanket was spread on the ground, enclosed by a circle of iron racks. The area inside was filled with evenly spaced, medium-sized iron bowls placed upside down.

The small items were placed on top of these iron bowls.

Customers had to toss rings from outside the circle. Whichever item they successfully ringed, they could take home.

The rules seemed simple enough, but once people started playing, they discovered the bamboo rings were extremely bouncy. They would try to ring an item, only for the ring to bounce right off. Because the prizes were propped up on the stable iron bowls, a bouncing ring couldn’t just luckily settle around one. If it wasn’t a perfect toss, it was a miss!

This made it far more difficult than the traditional ring toss game.

What’s more, the rings were barely wider than the bowls, making a successful toss incredibly difficult!

One foreigner stubbornly threw an entire basket of rings and still failed to get a single one.

Another foreigner, near the end of his basket, resorted to grabbing all his remaining rings and tossing them at once like a goddess scattering flowers. Only then did he luckily—and barely—manage to ring two prizes.

This extremely low success rate was discouraging, and people began to suspect the stall owner of running a scam.

Just then, a young man took out fifty yuan, bought a basket of bamboo rings, and began to toss them nonchalantly. He was landing five or six out of every ten!

Soon, a crowd gathered around him, clapping and cheering. Watching him made everyone else burn with envy, their hands itching to try again. They all felt as if they’d finally figured out the secret to winning, so they eagerly pulled out their money for another attempt.

The young man exchanged a look with Chi Yun’er, then turned and vanished into the crowd, his good deed done and his name unknown.

However, reality soon proved that the game was just a money pit, designed for people to throw their cash away.

But where a crowd gathers, more people are drawn in. The newcomers would watch the current players failing miserably, curl their lips in disdain, and buy a basket of rings for themselves, ready to secretly compete and prove they could do better.

They, in turn, simply became the bait for the next wave of paying customers...

To Chi Yun’er’s left was Xu Chengfang, whose stall was filled with delicate, beautiful, and small porcelain items. She also used iron bowls as bases to lower the players’ success rate.

To her right was Zhao Jinming. His stall was filled with various lifelike, colorful sculptures.

There were many forms of entertainment, and the food was so abundant it made people wish they had four stomachs like a cow, just so they could sample everything from one end of the festival to the other.

Performances were scheduled throughout the park in the morning and afternoon, including stilt-walking, Yangge dancing, and face-changing acts.

That evening, the auction was held in the indoor basketball court.

When Jiang Zishi and Bian Yumin first heard that the organization was hosting a Flower Festival, they’d had a bad feeling. Their fears grew when they received inside information that the festival would also include an auction.

They knew then that their one million Pounds had likely vanished into thin air.

Sure enough, the varieties up for auction were the exact same ones Chi Yun’er had displayed in her shop. The total sales for all the plants that evening didn’t even amount to ten percent of what Jiang Zishi had spent to buy out her entire store...

Gazing at Chi Yun’er sitting across from him, who was now making a mocking face at him, Jiang Zishi felt he was about to explode with rage.

Only now did he realize how foolish, pointless, and laughable his attempt to humiliate her with money had been.

’That was a million Pounds! What on earth was I thinking back then?’

There was nothing to be done. They could only quietly take note of who won which flower so they could later secretly gift those same types of flowers to the bidders who had lost.

’Heh. I wonder if the people who actually spent money on these plants will still be willing to invest in these crafty Xiahua people, with their two-faced tactics, once they find out about this!’

Bian Yumin leaned in and whispered to Jiang Zishi, "Zishi, we can’t hold our auction anymore, but that’s alright. Xiahua’s organization holding this auction has actually just advertised the plants for us."

"When we gift the plants to people in private, we can make them aware of the plants’ true value, as well as our own sincerity."

"Connections are far more important than money..."

Jiang Zishi’s face remained grim. ’What other comfort could they possibly find, aside from thinking like that?’

The three-day Flower Festival was an exceptional success. It allowed the foreign guests an up-close opportunity to learn about, experience, and engage with Xiahua culture, and it also helped them loosen their purse strings. They spent their money and had a wonderful time.

The stall owners all made a fortune and were beaming with joy.

The investment delegations began their official business, entering into discussions and inspections with the organization’s professional staff.

Meanwhile, the Flower Festival remained open, this time for the local citizens, who had long been brimming with curiosity.

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