Chapter 60: I never intended to have it.

Li Yue'er was so distressed by accidentally witnessing this that night that she tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.

At first, the mistress ignored her completely, until she tossed and turned on the bed like a pancake, then the mistress turned her head and looked at her, "Such a small thing, is it really that worrying you so much that you can't sleep?"

In Qu Rong's view, the worst that could happen was that Su Rou wouldn't be a teacher; there was no need to deliberately try to please her or consider her feelings.

Li Yue'er rested her elbow on the pillow, half-sitting up and facing the mistress, "We've had a teacher-student relationship for at least two months."

The light inside the bed curtains was dim, so she couldn't see the mistress's expression at all, but she heard the mistress sneer.

Li Yue'er felt a chill run down her spine and instinctively changed her words, "A good teacher is someone you can be proud to talk about."

This is why the teachers and students in the academy did not want the headmaster to expel Li, the scholar. After all, he had the title of a scholar, and he could simply say "My teacher is a scholar" to avoid being looked down upon.

Su Rou was once the legitimate daughter of the Minister's family, so her manners and upbringing were beyond question. Learning to manage household affairs, do accounting, and check estates from her was like giving her a golden touch.

If the Su family's case is overturned in the future, she, as Su Rou's student, will be able to find a job in the mansion of a wealthy family.

Li Yue'er didn't say these words explicitly, and had only thought about them casually once or twice in her mind. But the moment she opened her mouth, the mistress saw through her thoughts just by saying "say it out loud." She grabbed her wrist, pulled her into her arms, and bit her lower lip.

The two had made love quite a few times today, and it was clear they had no intention of doing that now, especially since the mistress was so forceful with her kisses; there wasn't a hint of tender foreplay between them!

Li Yue'er groaned in pain, and only then did the mistress let her go.

After releasing her lower lip, the mistress turned over and lay down with her back to her, pulling the blanket over her shoulders. "It's a good thing I didn't give you the indenture."

If the indenture were given to Li Yue'er, she might take it and move back to the academy right after Li Juren's funeral.

Li Yue'er looked at her back in bewilderment, lightly licking her lower lip with the tip of her tongue. Fortunately, there was no bleeding, but the moment the mistress bit her, it did hurt. The pain made her breath tremble and her eyes redden on the spot.

Li Yue'er lay down and realized that the blanket was only enough to cover half of her body. "..."

She hummed in response, "I never intended to have it."

The mistress, "stubborn to the end."

Who's being stubborn?

The two remained silent for a while, until Li Yue'er felt uncomfortable without a blanket. She turned to the side, placed her fingers on her mistress's waist, and slowly hugged her, asking softly:

“Weren’t we talking about Sister Su and Shi Yi? How did we end up talking about my indenture?”

The mistress's back was stiff, her arms were crossed, her body was tense, and she completely ignored her, still looking angry.

Li Yue'er coaxed her, "If I learn Sister Su's skills, I can help you share your worries and troubles in the future."

She pressed her cheek against the mistress's arm and spoke softly, "Of course I want to stand behind you and be a parasitic vine clinging to you, without having to think about anything, just eating, drinking and having fun. But you're a year younger than me, so you'll get tired eventually."

She kissed her mistress's back, gently bit her shoulder, rested her chin on her shoulder, and leaned half her body against her, trying to see her expression:

"If I were capable, I would stand beside you, and you could lean on me to rest if you got tired. Look at our house, isn't it supported by two halves? How can you manage if you only lean on one side?"

"If I can stand up, our family won't collapse because one person can't hold on."

No one knows which of her words touched the mistress's heart, but the mistress slowly turned around, looked up at her, and scoffed, "Sweet talk."

Li Yue'er kissed her lips, "These are sweet words."

She pursed her lips slightly, "Try it and see if my lips are still hard."

The mistress, "..."

The mistress held her and kissed her gently for a while, her body completely softening. She then reached out and covered her with the blanket again. "Did you learn this from a book?"

Li Yue'er nestled against her chest, her fingers entwining her long hair over her shoulder, braiding it together with her own, tying it into a plait, and then knotting it. "I learned it from my mother."

Her mother's example was right before her eyes. Because she trusted Li Juren's promises, she gave everything away without reservation, and that's why she suffered for more than ten years.

If her mother had held onto the ancestral home's land deed and refused to budge, Li Juren would have pretended until now to deceive her out of what she had, and the two sisters wouldn't be starving in their small courtyard.

Unfortunately, her mother was too well protected by her maternal grandparents. She was too weak-willed and could not stand on her own. She was unaware of the wickedness and greed in people's hearts and suffered a great setback.

Li Yue'er is different. The changes in her family's circumstances and her father made her vow after her younger sister was born that she must be strong and rely on herself to earn money to support her mother and younger sister!

Otherwise, with her looks, how could she have remained unmarried until she was seventeen?

She was beautiful and capable, and there were many men in the alley who would like to marry her. It wasn't just Aunt Qiu who thought so; it was just that she didn't want to get married.

Li Yue'er sighed softly, "It seems like no matter which path I choose, I'll always make a mistake."

Because she refused to marry, Li Juren took advantage of her and sold her into the Qu family mansion. She kept saying that she wanted to rely on herself, but wasn't she just climbing into the mistress's bed for money?

But given the current situation, she wouldn't give up on herself. She had to keep moving forward, learn skills to save money, and plan for the future of herself, her sister, and her mother.

When she was young, she could use her beauty and figure to seduce the mistress. When she got older, at least she still had the skill of managing accounts and keeping the household. The mistress would keep her by her side because she was useful.

Li Yue'er kissed her mistress's lips and chuckled.

The mistress will never be able to shake her off; she has plenty of tricks and skills.

Qu Rong, “?”

Qu Rong had no idea what Li Yue'er was thinking. She simply raised her arm and hugged her, gently stroking her back with her palm, and asked casually, "What did you learn from your mother?"

Don't give your heart away completely; you can't put your feet on one foot. You need to have two plans in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

Li Yue'er "naturally learned 'why the roof ridge has two halves'."

Qu Rong hadn't expected her answer, and couldn't help but look up at her.

Li Yue'er said, "Once I can do chores, I can support our small courtyard with my mother. If I don't know anything, the only one who will be tired and secretly wiping away tears is my mother."

After she was sold into the Qu family, her younger sister, who was only six years old, started doing laundry and washing work with their mother. Even without her, the younger sister was trying her best to support their mother.

When Li Yue'er said these things, her tone was full of pride and satisfaction.

Qu Rong silently hugged her tighter, raised her hand and placed her palm on Li Yue'er's face, gently stroking her lower lip that Li Yue'er had just bitten with her thumb.

Li Yue'er bit her thumb and mumbled, "That way, we're even tonight!"

After getting out of bed, no one should bring up past grievances.

Qu Rong smiled and gave a soft "hmm" in agreement.

Distracted by their conversation, Li Yue'er also felt sleepy and turned to lie down next to her mistress.

The conditions in the village were not bad, except for one thing: there was no underground heating system, and there was only a charcoal brazier in the house.

A charcoal brazier is ultimately not as comfortable and warm as an underfloor heater. In addition, Li Yue'er is afraid of the cold, so she put a hand warmer under her feet and pressed herself tightly against her mother's hot skin, like a pancake, sticking herself to her mother's body.

Because of the mistress's good health, Li Yue'er was reluctant to leave after taking the indenture.

Before drifting off to sleep, Li Yue'er seemed to feel her mother kiss her lips and whisper, "I'm here for you."

Li Yue'er fell into a deep, contented sleep. When she woke up and thought back on it, she couldn't quite tell whether it was real or a beautiful dream she had before falling asleep.

The mistress had already gotten up early.

She doesn't seem to have the habit of sleeping in late, but Li Yue'er is different. Before her maternal grandfather passed away, she would sleep until the sun was high in the sky.

Hearing the commotion inside, Teng Huang knocked on the door and came in.

The maids filed in, bringing basins of water to tidy up the things.

Li Yue'er sat in front of the dressing table, letting Teng Huang fuss over her hair.

Gambo: "Huh? Who cut your hair? It's so short now!"

When I combed my long hair onto my head, a strand inexplicably fell down on the left side because it wasn't long enough.

Fujiwara picked up the hair with suspicion and examined the cut closely. He then said with certainty, "It was cut with scissors!"

Her eyes widened. "I must tell the mistress, did someone cut your hair while you were asleep and use it for witchcraft?"

Li Yue'er: "...You've started reading supernatural tales again?"

"We've only turned two pages," Fujiwara said guiltily, clearing his throat twice before becoming serious. "Why is one strand missing?"

Li Yue'er thought back for a moment, "Maybe I wove it too messily yesterday. When the mistress got up, she couldn't untie it and didn't have the patience to untie it slowly, so she simply cut it with scissors."

To make trimming the lamp wick easier, the scissors were placed on the embroidery stool at the foot of the bed. Cutting with scissors was much faster than slowly unraveling the wick.

Teng Huang didn't think so. She looked at Li Yue'er sitting in front of her in the mirror and muttered, "Even if the mistress takes a whole day to untie your hair, she wouldn't be willing to cut it."

Seeing that Teng Huang was about to make some inappropriate guesses, Li Yue'er quickly stopped her and asked what they were having for dinner.

Who cares why she lost a lock of hair? It's all related to the mistress anyway.

Since it was the mistress who did it, Li Yue'er wasn't worried at all. Besides, she had more than three thousand strands of "trouble hair," so let the mistress cut off a piece of it if she wanted.

With skillful hands, Teng Huang braided the short strand into a fine braid and tied it into the top bun of her hair. He even styled it into two buns, like rabbit ears standing up, making her look exceptionally charming and lively. He even brought a few plum blossoms from outside and inserted them on both sides of the buns.

After Li Yue'er stood up, Teng Huang held her arms with both hands, looked her over from all sides, and nodded in satisfaction.

Li Yue'er bent down to look at herself in the mirror, admiring the viewer's expression. "You're so skillful!" she exclaimed.

Rattan Huang proudly twirled his ten fingers, "When I was young, I was a head maid, and when I get old, I can be a hairdresser."

Li Yue'er gave her an approving look.

The two went to eat breakfast happily, and then Li Yue'er went to class alone, feeling uneasy.

Sure enough, Su Rou was nowhere to be seen in the main hall.

Li Yue'er, sporting two "rabbit ears," slumped onto the table, sighed softly, and then sat back down as usual, reviewing what Sister Su had taught her while practicing with the old account books.

She sat in the main hall all day, working as diligently as usual, without slacking off at all.

Li Yue'er was inside the hall holding a hand warmer and doing accounts, while Qu Rong stood watching from a distance under a plum tree, without going in.

Dansha asked softly, "Should we go find Sister Su to come over? Otherwise, Miss Yue'er might have to keep waiting."

The maids said that Su Rou hadn't left her room all day.

Qu Rong said, "No need. She has the right to handle her own interpersonal relationships. Let her resolve it herself."

If Su Rou continues to avoid and hide, then she will talk to Su Rou again.

Fortunately, after waiting for three days, Li Yue'er finally saw Su Rou on the morning of the fourth day.

Today was a rare sunny day, and all the windows and doors in the main hall were open. Although there was a chill from the melting snow, there was also a warm and cozy feeling from the sunlight streaming in.

Suddenly seeing the shadow cast by the sun on the ground in front of the door, she thought it was the mistress coming to see her, until she looked up and met Su Rou's calm eyes.

Su Rou remained calm, perhaps because she was afraid of the cold, she was still wearing a light-colored jacket with a fur collar, and she was still carrying a bamboo box in her slender, white hands.

Li Yue'er was so excited that she stood up abruptly, her pen trembling, and ink spilled onto the paper.

Su Rou said in her usual tone, "Rewrite this one."

The numbers obscured by ink were blurry and unclear, so a new sheet had to be made.

Su Rou had told Li Yue'er that when it comes to bookkeeping, one must be extremely careful with numbers. There can be no ambiguity whatsoever. For important accounts, the numbers must be written down once, and the text must also be written down once, to prevent tampering.

Li Yue'er agreed without hesitation.

Her eyes followed Su Rou's movements, and she even put down her pen and got up to pull out a chair for Su Rou.

“There are a few things I don’t understand,” Li Yue’er said, pulling out her notebook. “I’ve written them all down.”

Su Rou gently smoothed her dress behind her and slowly sat down, still spreading the blanket to cover her knees. She looked down and said, "Let me see."

She said gently, "This should be interpreted as follows."

Li Yue'er's eyes were almost burning, and she nearly cried.

She still preferred Su Rou's teaching style. Not only was she gentle and patient, but Su Rou would also gently guide her to the correct answer no matter how small the problem or how silly the mistake.

Even if she wasn't the legitimate daughter of the Minister's family, Li Yue'er would still be willing to learn from her.

It was through this incident that Li Yue'er came to understand Su Rou a little better. She understood why Su Rou kept her teaching and personal life separate, why she never talked about other people's business, and why she never inquired about her relationship with the mistress.

Li Yue'er's face flushed, and she decided to learn this from her teacher.

If Su Rou doesn't tell her, she won't know.

Seeing the two of them sit back down at the table, Qu Rong took the cinnabar and left from under the plum tree.

Winter isn't over yet, but at least the sun is shining brightly today, and it feels like spring.

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Su Rou: I didn't want to come either, but someone has been watching my door for days. [Smiling face]

Mistress: ...is Gamboge

Gamboge: ? ? ? ?