Chapter 10: The Dandy and the Lady Part 3

Just as she was thinking this, there was a soft knock on Chu Wang's door. She opened the door a crack and saw Xue Zhenzhen squatting on the ground, whispering through the crack: "Sister Chu Wang, let me in."

Chu Wang was caught in a dilemma and had to open the door a little wider, let her in, and then close the door.

She thought, Zhenzhen is quite clever, knowing that her room is in a good location, she came here.

Then the two girls lay on the floor and continued listening.

Qiao Maling: "Mom, Auntie, I've embarrassed you - I don't want to live anymore."

Mrs. Ge: "Why are you so desperate when everything is fine? When you came to see me this morning, your aunt explained it to you clearly: Xie Zeyi is unbridled and no one can restrain him. You are still too young and no match for him. Can you control him? Not to mention that his father forbids him from marrying a Chinese woman, even he himself - a simple-minded girl would be easily taken advantage of by him and would get tired of him after a few days. Do you expect him to marry you?"

Qiao Maling: "He treats me..."

Mrs. Ge: "You probably don't even understand one tenth of what kind of person he is. If you want to marry him, it would be easier to marry his father and become his tenth concubine!"

Mrs. Qiao: "What's the point of being called a concubine? Not everyone is like you, willing to marry an old man half buried in the ground and be his mistress, just hoping to inherit his family business when he dies! Don't be so harsh with your words."

Mrs. Ge: "If it weren't for the fact that your daughter calls me aunt today, I wouldn't care about the Xie family's affairs and let them go. Tomorrow morning, just wait. Your daughter might not even marry and become a concubine, and others will think she is his leftover playthings - whether you want me to take care of it or not, it's just a matter of words. If you don't want me to interfere in your family's private affairs, then I'll leave. Just think of it as a walk today."

Qiao Maling remained silent, while Mrs. Qiao said in a trembling voice, "I told her not to offend Xie. You... please save your niece too."

Zhenzhen widened her eyes, looked at Lin Chuwang with a look of panic, and asked in a low voice, "Who is Mr. Xie?"

Chu Wang struggled to decipher her lip movements and said, "I don't know—probably a well-known playboy."

Zhenzhen asked, "Is he like Kou Zhun?"

Chu Wang ignored her and continued listening while lying on the ground.

Mrs. Qiao was so disappointed with her: "You...you...are you still thinking about that kid named Xie?"

Qiao Maling sobbed.

Mrs. Ge sighed, "In the whole of Hong Kong, you're the most outstanding girl of your age. It's no problem to marry anyone you want. Someone richer than his Xie family, someone with a cleaner family background than his Xie family, someone more ambitious than that Xie boy. There are so many talented people, who wouldn't be the one to marry? I don't know what kind of magic potion he has poured into you."

There was silence downstairs for a long time, with only Qiao Maling's sobbing and Mrs. Lin's sighs.

Zhenzhen said, "Sister Ma Ling is so beautiful and has a good family background, why don't you marry her?"

Chu Wang couldn't help but shake his head. Being able to feed a man so much would probably make it less challenging and fun for him.

She thought for a moment and then said, "Do you play chess?"

Zhenzhen said: "It rains occasionally."

Chu Wang said, "Suppose you were playing chess with me and my sister. If you were playing with my sister, you would win and lose, and every game would be exciting and exciting. But if you were playing with me, you would beat me to a pulp in less than five minutes, without a doubt. So, would you rather play with me or my sister?"

Zhenzhen said without hesitation: "Of course I'm happier playing with you."

Chu Wang rolled his eyes to the sky: "Miss Xue is really not an ordinary person."

Zhenzhen was so impressed that she had forgotten her confusion. She raised her chin and said, "Of course."

At this time, the people downstairs seemed to have come up with a plan. Mrs. Lin Si was saying, "Alright, I'll go talk to Sir Xie and suppress this matter for the time being. And please keep the maids, servants, and other outsiders quiet. Don't let me waste my energy outside, while you're at home."

Mrs. Qiao agreed, "Don't worry, there are still rules in my mansion."

Mrs. Ge chuckled and said, "I told you all along. Let her go out and socialize in any high-class place you like, so she won't be led around by the nose. Sixteen is not young anymore. If she likes someone you like and she's satisfied, it's not bad for her to marry off sooner. If you take too long to choose and get bored, it's better to get married right from the beginning."

Mrs. Qiao responded.

Mrs. Ge finished her instructions and left as fast as the wind. Mrs. Qiao asked Zhao Ma to see her off, but she declined, her high heels clacking furiously on the wooden floor.

Xue Zhenzhen said, "Mrs. Ge is so cruel. She shows no mercy to anyone."

After a while, Mrs. Qiao ordered a maid, "Help the young lady go upstairs to rest. Also, call down the three maids."

The maid agreed.

Lin Chuwang quickly pushed Xue Zhenzhen. Xue Zhenzhen woke up as if from a dream, and hurriedly tiptoed out of her room and returned to her own room.

——

After the three maids came downstairs, they lined up neatly in front of Mrs. Qiao.

Mrs. Qiao's face showed no sign of displeasure, only a hint of weariness. This was quite remarkable for her expression management, and Lin Chuwang was deeply impressed.

Mrs. Qiao asked Zhao Ma to bring three pens, one for each of them. She said, "Starting today, you won't need to write with a brush. Since your fathers have written to you today, I'll give you a task: write back to him with a fountain pen. Give me your reply next week and I'll mail it for you. Don't worry if your handwriting is a little ugly; at least it'll let your elders know you've learned something new."

The three of them nodded. Chu Wang looked at his sister and whispered, "Father's letter is with my second sister. I haven't read it yet."

Yun Yan threw two pages of letter paper to Lin Chuwang, "Here they are. I've already read them. I'm giving them to you."

Chu Wang picked up the letter: "There is another one..."

Yun Yan then looked up to see Mrs. Lin's expression. She was rubbing her temples, seemingly not wanting to bother with such trivial matters. He then said confidently, "You've always been a loser. I was just keeping it for you, and you didn't come to get it yourself."

Chu Wang said, "Then shall I go get it with my sister now?"

Yun Yan: "I...I locked myself in the cabinet, and the lock...the lock is broken!"

Chu Wang: "There must be some important things in there, right? Then find someone to pry it open."

At this time, even Mrs. Qiao couldn't stand it anymore, and her face was quite annoyed. "Yes!"

Yun Yan then lowered his head and said, "I was just teasing you, Third Sister. You're taking it too seriously... I'm going to gain your trust. Come upstairs with me, Third Sister."

Mrs. Qiao waved her hand and let the three sisters go upstairs.

As he followed Lin Yunyan up the stairs, Lin Chuwang unfolded his father's letter and took a look. He couldn't help but feel overwhelmed: it was two full pages, and every word was written in difficult and obscure classical Chinese.

Lin Chuwang followed Lin Yunyan to her room, sweating profusely as he read the letter. Lin Yunyan opened the door, took out the key to unlock the drawer, took out a stack of letter papers, and handed them to Lin Chuwang with a slightly apologetic look on her face: "Third sister, I'm sorry, I was in a hurry all the way upstairs, and when I opened my father's letter, I opened your letter by mistake..."

Chu Wang took the letter, feeling a little angry. But then she remembered that she needed help from Yun Yan, so she quickly said with a smile, "Second sister, what are you talking about? Daddy and big brother are not here, so I'll have to trouble you to take care of many things."

Seeing that she was so easy to talk to, Yun Yan smiled awkwardly and said, "Of course."

Chu Wang struck while the iron was hot and said, "Sister, you've read father's letter. Why don't you tell me what it says? It's late at night and I'm too lazy to read it. It's a bit tiring for my eyes."

Yun Yan nodded in a friendly manner, stepped aside, and let her into the house, "Third sister, please come in."

Chu Wang only asked Yun Yan to roughly explain what her father had said, but Yun Yan was so eager to teach her that she unfolded the letter and began to explain its meaning to her word by word. Chu Wang was completely bewildered, having somehow gotten the opportunity to learn a piece of classical Chinese.

After she finally finished, Chu Wang thanked her sister again and again and stood up to leave. But Lin Yunyan grabbed her hand and refused to let go, asking eagerly, "Why don't I explain the other letter to you as well?"

Chu Wang took a glance and was about to refuse, but Yun Yan had already snatched the letter away and spread it out on the table.

She read a few lines, then looked up and smiled at Lin Chuwang, her face flushed: "This is a new style of poetry."

Chu Wang couldn't help but curse in his heart: Why are you blushing so hard?! This is a poem written for me! I don't even blush! You are blushing so hard!

Yun Yan read a few more lines and said, "There's parallelism and imagery. 'Sometimes I just want to be a white dove in the gardens of Sanssouci Palace, or a cumulonimbus cloud in front of the Brandenburg Gate, or a melting ice cream in the hands of a couple on a boat on the Spree River... Or maybe I should have been planted earlier in the Shaoxing Forest Garden, like a Xiangfei bamboo leaf, just enough to slip through the cracks in the spring light and fall into my dreams.'"

Chu Wang nodded, almost pleading: "I can understand!"

Yun Yan asked, "But where are these places?"

Chu Wang said: "They are all landmarks of Brandenburg and Berlin..." They are all those that were not destroyed by the artillery fire of World War II. Si Yansang is also very good at picking!

"Oh..." Lin Yunyan nodded thoughtfully.

Chu Wang said with some regret: "He didn't even mention sending some photos back..."

Yunyan's expression paused and his face turned red.

Chu Wang: "...The photos are with you."

Yun Yan immediately protected her drawer tightly: "No, there are no photos."

"The photo was sent to me," Chu Wang stared at her coldly, "taking it without permission is stealing. Give it back to me!"

Yun Yan simply lay down on the desk: "I didn't steal, I didn't steal! It was you who stole..."

Chu Wang knew he was not as strong as her and could not push her away from the desk, so he used words to provoke her: "He sent me something, but my sister intervened and snatched the things he gave me. Why is that? If you want to marry him, you can go to my father and tell him. Give me back the photo."

Yun Yan simply stood up and shoved Chu Wang towards the door. Chu Wang was small and fell to the ground after being pushed by her.

Yun Yan looked at Chu Wang with disgust and said bitterly, "Why isn't it mine? Even your father would never have thought that you would be born! How did you appear in this world? No one in the family wanted you to be born! If it weren't for you, I would be the one promised to Brother Yan Sang in the future!"

Chu Wang sat on the ground in a daze. He never expected that such vicious words would come out of the mouth of a twelve-year-old girl. He couldn't help but look at her with a new respect.

The author has something to say: I have revised this chapter many times but I am not satisfied with it.

Just think of it as...watching the performance of the plastic sisters