Liu Xu watched calmly as Liu Huan poured tea and water for her, ignoring her request to sit down, insisting on the difference between master and servant.

Uncle Huan is getting old, and he can't change the rules ingrained in his mind, so let it be.

Miao Cuifang watched her apprentice enjoying herself from behind and couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement. No wonder the girls in the brothel were so extravagant. Look at her style. If it weren't for the incident, she probably would never have met her in her life. An apprentice? She might not even be qualified to be her grandson.

“Young Miss, all these years, you…”

Where are you?

The girl took a deep breath and answered.

"I was sold by my stepmother and now I'm in a brothel."

The man's hand holding the teapot trembled after hearing this. He knew that the new mistress had always disliked the eldest daughter, but he never expected her to be so ruthless. What could a girl possibly compete with her for? She was going to get married anyway, so why couldn't she tolerate her?

A young girl who had rarely left her home since childhood was abducted to a brothel. How terrified the young lady must have been!

Liu Huan opened her mouth, but couldn't say a word.

"It's alright, Uncle Huan, I'm doing very well now," Liu Xu comforted the man.

"Miss, I...I'll redeem you and let you go home. We'll go home. It's all over now."

Yes, the young lady needs to go home and tell the master everything her stepmother has done, and then take her to the yamen. This kind of woman should be drowned in a pig cage!

The girl smiled knowingly; she understood Liu Huan's thoughts, and said...

"Uncle Huan, would you like to come with me to take a look?"

Where to?

"Go to where I am now."

The man nodded eagerly, "Go, I must go, so I can redeem the young lady."

Miao Cuifang curled her lip behind him. She didn't believe her apprentice could go with her. That's how girls in brothels are. They may be pitiful, but they're really clever and cunning.

I didn't even notice the willow catkins when I came out, but the willow trees at the alley entrance have sprouted new buds, with tender green buds clinging to the branches, swaying in the spring breeze.

"Mom, this is my uncle, he came to see me."

Cen Ang nodded to Liu Huan and said...

"Then take him to the fourth floor to sit. I'll have Er Ya cook him a couple of dishes."

"Mmm."

Liu Xu waited for the man to walk up the steps.

—da da da da

A little dumpling ran down from the third floor, carrying a toy tank, and called out sweetly when it saw Liu Xu.

"Sister Liuxu, I want to eat candied hawthorns, but neither my mom nor my mother will buy them for me."

"Then you buy it for me," Huo Xiaolong said without actually saying it, waiting for Liu Xu to bring it up herself.

"Huo Xiaolong! You've eaten five candied hawthorns in the last two days! Liu Xu, don't buy her any!"

The girl looked at the aggrieved little dumpling, bent down to pick her up, and smiled broadly.

Eating too much is bad for your stomach and intestines.

"I just want to eat them! Grandpa Qi's new batch of hawthorns is incredibly delicious."

"Then we'll eat it the day after tomorrow. I'll buy it for you secretly!"

Really?

"real!"

"Sister Liuxu is the best to me!"

The man watched as the ladies were led into the rooms by the girls, and a young girl played music on the ground floor nearby. He then asked...

"Miss, is this a brothel?"

"These brothels are all run by virgins."

Fortunately, Liu Huan comforted herself, thinking that as long as she paid the money to shut everyone in the brothel, the young lady would still be the same Liu Ruoxi as before. She could just make up a lie and say that she had been adopted by a wealthy family.

"May Lady Liu be well."

"Oh, you're finally back! Your girlfriends told me you went out on errands, so I had someone else help me get ready."

"Everyone uses the same technique; it just depends on which one Madam prefers."

"Of course I'm used to you! Besides, I don't understand any of the poetry and songs, but you sing much better."

"Alright, then I'll sing for you again next time Madam comes over."

"become!"

The group sat down in the private room, where they could see the guests coming and going downstairs.

"The woman I just spoke to is the centurion's wife; she's very straightforward."

"Miss……"

Liu Huan wanted to find the madam as soon as possible to redeem her from her servitude. She wanted to stay in this place as little as possible, since her young mistress was going to get married someday.

"Uncle Huan, do you still remember what I used to like doing the most?" The girl from Jiangnan had also picked up a bit of an accent.

"I remember, the young lady always liked to hum little tunes in the courtyard."

It's just humming a little tune, casually humming a couple of lines. It's not singing. If you sing, you're just an actor, someone who tries to please others, not someone who's respectable.

"It's singing. This place is different from Jiangnan. The girls here can sing and dance. Just look at these young ladies who have come here; which one of them can't dance a couple of songs?"

When Liu Xu said this, she had a smile on her face, a kind of happiness that Liu Huan had never seen before.

"Uncle Huan, I like it here."

"I can earn several dozen taels of silver a month here, and I can spend it however I want without worrying about being harmed. I don't need to wear a veil when I go out, and I can do what I like."

"But……"

"But prostitutes and people of low social status don't sound good, do they?"

Liu Huan nodded.

“I used to hate my mother, hate that she left me alone in the Liu family, and I hated my stepmother for selling me to a brothel. But not anymore. Without them, I wouldn't be able to see this world outside. Uncle Huan, I'm not Liu Ruoxi anymore. I'm Liu Xu, a willow catkin, drifting wherever the wind takes me.”

In life, one should not be too obsessed with anything.

The girl knew that she hadn't fully recovered from her mother's death yet, but it was okay; time heals all wounds, and it would pass eventually.

As long as you're with the people you love and care about, no problem is a problem.

"Miss, why don't you come home with me?"

"Go home, and then what?"

"Then I'll kill my stepmother first, then stay home and behave like a proper young lady, waiting for my father to marry me off so I can get some benefits in return?"

Liu Huan couldn't believe that the once frail and delicate young lady, who resembled Daiyu burying flowers, now spoke of killing others at every turn.

So many years have passed, things have changed, and the young lady has truly changed, changed...

They became able to protect themselves.

"Uncle Huan, I will go back."

The man looked up at her, his eyes conveying a single question: When are you going back?

"Just not now."

Not now, she's not ready yet; we have to wait. When Huaxuetang blooms all over Great Yan, when Huo Xiaolong grows up, things will definitely be different.

Liu Xu didn't place her hopes on anyone. She was currently managing the paper mill that Fengyue Tower was cooperating with the Hou family. The girl was waiting for the day when she had the strength to challenge the Liu family, and for the day when her father would respect her.

Even if she goes back now and presents the evidence to her father, he might not necessarily stand up for her, and the matter might just pass by without any real consequence.

"Yes, Miss."

Liu Huan respects the young lady's ideas and will obey all her orders. As long as she wants, the man will do his best to do everything she asks.

Madam Liu, I didn't have a chance to repay you back then.

Now, I will do everything in my power to help Miss.