Chapter 155: Found Out

Abbess Liao Chen looked at his son’s serious expression and smiled, teasing, “Look at you, feeling jealous of a child.”

Chu Lingxuan, observing the tender smile on his mother’s face, felt deeply moved. Since her accident, his mother had hardly smiled. But from yesterday onwards, she had been smiling constantly, and her demeanor had relaxed considerably.

His lips curled up as he provocatively remarked, “Shouldn’t a daughter listen to her father?”

Abbess Liao Chen chuckled and said, “Yanyan having her own ideas, is beyond your control, isn’t that the best?” With a thoughtful tone, she added, “If in the future there’s someone who sincerely cares for her, then I’ll be relieved.”

Chu Lingxuan glanced at his silly daughter still staring at the door with a faint smile and remarked, “It looks like I need to properly cultivate that little rascal.”

Just then, a servant arrived with their dinner, carrying a food container sent by Chen Feng. The servant also mentioned that Ms. Chen had said she would prepare sweet rice and jujubes for later and send them over.

In Luyuan, Aunt Mu had changed into Mrs. Wang’s old clothes, and Shanzhi was wearing Chen Ming’s old clothes, waiting in the hall.

Chen Feng asked Chen Ming, Mrs. Wang, Lu, and Dabao to sit down and had Aunt Mu and her son kowtow to acknowledge them as their master.

When they addressed Chen Ming as “Master Chen”, Mrs. Wang as “Madam”, Feng as “Young Miss”, Lu as “Young Master”, and Dabao as “Young Master”, apart from Chen Feng and Dabao, Chen Ming, Mrs. Wang, and Chen Lu blushed, feeling extremely embarrassed.

Chen Feng gave Dabao a sidelong glance. She could remain composed because of her extra lifetime and the experience and confidence that came with it. However, for Dabao, a child of less than five years old, to be so composed, it was a natural confidence. Coupled with his innate talent, intelligence, and good looks, she felt like she had struck gold.

Chen Ming wasn’t accustomed to being addressed as “Master”. Blushing, he said, “We’re all commoners, calling us ‘Master’ and ‘Madam’ seems laughable. You can call me ‘Big Brother Chen’ or ‘Uncle Chen,’ and call my wife ‘Big sister Wang’ or ‘Auntie Wang’. Calling A’Feng ‘Young Miss’ or ‘Aunt Feng’ and Dabao ‘Young Master Dabao’ is fine. As for A’Lu… call him ‘Young Master Lu’.”

Initially, he wanted to call A’Lu as “Lu”, but considering his son’s studies and future examinations, he deserved the title of “Young Master”.

Chen Feng knew that confidence isn’t built in a day, so she would wait until they were more accustomed to it.

She and Chen Ming each gave the mother and son a silver coin as a welcome gift and explained their accommodation, responsibilities, and guidelines, as well as their salary and benefits. Aunt Mu would receive 200 wen per month, while Shanzhi would receive 100 wen per month, and each of them would receive two sets of clothing per year.

Shanzhi temporarily resided in the rear room, while Aunt Mu temporarily resided in the east ear room.

Shanzhi was in charge of guarding, running errands, and other manual tasks, while Aunt Mu was in charge of the kitchen, laundry, feeding the pigs, and other household chores.

After inspecting the new servants, Dabao took Lu to the backyard to see the piglets. The little black piglets, round and lazy, lay lethargically in the pen, occasionally grunting and moving.

When Aunt Mu brought the prepared pig feed, the piglets immediately perked up, eagerly burying their heads in the rack to eat. The two boys couldn’t get enough of watching, as this was something they had longed for since they were old enough to understand, and it brought them more joy than having acquired a new servant.

Shanzhi called out to them, “Young Master Lu, Young Master Dabao, Auntie requests your presence for dinner.”

A’Lu didn’t respond at first, so Dabao tugged him, and then he realized that “Young Master Lu” referred to him. He smiled and led Dabao to the main room for dinner.

The masters ate in the main room of the east building, and Chen Feng and the others were uncomfortable with someone watching them eat, so they sent the mother and son to the rear base room to eat.

After the mother and son hurriedly finished their meal and saw that the masters had finished, they came in to collect the dishes and take them to the kitchen. Chen Feng then made sweet rice and jujubes with Aunt Mu, and later, Shanzhi accompanied Dabao to deliver them to Tangyuan. She also gave two pieces of cloth to Aunt Mu for making clothes for herself and Shanzhi.

Having only spent a day with Aunt Mu and Shanzhi, Chen Feng was quite content with them, especially with Aunt Mu, who was diligent, efficient, had good judgment, and wasn’t overly talkative.

Before going to bed, just as Chen Feng and Mrs. Wang were about to fetch hot water from the kitchen, they saw Aunt Mu carrying a bucket of hot water to the west wing, while Shanzhi carried another bucket to the main room.

Mrs. Wang told Shanzhi, “Take the water directly to the east wing to serve A’Lu.”

Lu wasn’t used to being served, and he preferred to serve Chen Ming himself.

Chen Feng and her son finished their night routine and then wiped the paws of the two dogs, Qiqi and Gray, who had just returned.

Chen Feng glared at them. These little troublemakers had gone to someone else’s house to scrounge for food and drinks and played until it was time to sleep before returning. Their nerve was truly something.

The two little scoundrels completely ignored Chen Feng’s displeasure. Tangyuan had many trees and abundant woods, and they were fond of the dried fruits there and were treated as honored guests. Naturally, they were willing to go.

The next day, just after they finished breakfast, they heard a knock at the door. It was Mrs. Gao.

Shanzhi opened the door and was a little stunned to see a young woman. Mrs. Gao was also taken aback, not recognizing this half-grown boy.

Mrs. Wang walked out from the main room and smiled, “Shanzhi, this is your esteemed Auntie Gao.”

She also informed Mrs. Gao that Feng had purchased two servants.

Mrs. Gao’s eyes widened as she couldn’t stop clucking her tongue, praising Feng’s capability. Not only had she built such large courtyards, but now she even bought a servants.

It was just past ten o’clock, nearing the hour of the snake (around 10:30 am), when Chen Feng led Dabao and the two dogs to Tangyuan for work.

As they stepped out of Luyuan, they saw a carriage passing by, driven by the old man, Zhao Lizheng, the same person they had seen the day before. He also had a package with him.

He parked the carriage, got down, and upon seeing Chen Feng, his eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost. Trembling, he pointed at Chen Feng, and stuttered, “You, you, you… who are you?”

His mouth kept trembling, whether due to the cold or from being scared was unclear.

Chen Feng coldly snorted, “Why should I tell you who I am?”

Zhao Lizheng stuttered, then looked around, saying, “This should be Wang Juan’s house, right? You, you, you… are you… Wang Juan’s daughter?” Then, as if realizing something, his eyes widened even further, “Oh, my goodness, it can’t be!”

Chen Feng remained silent, just glaring at him, blocking his way to her house.

“Mother, what’s wrong?” Dabao tugged her cotton skirt and then looked at Zhao Lizheng, asking, “Who is that man?”

Chen Feng handed him the food container, saying, “Son, take Qiqi and Gray to play at Tangyuan. Tell your sister that I have something to attend to and will join her later. Let’s leave Zhui Feng and Wangcai here to guard the house.” She then lowered her head to speak to the two dogs, “No unrelated persons are allowed into our house. Anyone who dares to intrude, let them have it.”