Chapter 35: She was so coquettish and refused to get off him
Although Shen Youran loved eating meat, she had never killed anything. Seeing that she was hesitant to kill the fish, the cook wanted to help her. However, Mrs. Zhang, who was accompanying the eldest lady, had already instructed that no one was allowed to help the young lady. All she could do was to fish the fish out of the basin, hold it down, and look at the young lady, who was holding the mallet at a loss, and teach her: "Young lady, just give the fish a little hard on the head, and it will be fine..."
Shen Youran looked at the mandarin fish that had been taken out of water and was struggling under the cook's hands, its mouth opening and closing as if begging for mercy.
"I, I don't dare..."
"Madam, the pot is about to heat up. If you don't kill the fish now, it will be too late and it will taste fishy when cooked."
"Then come and kill me."
"Please forgive me, Madam. I cannot do this for you..."
At the cook's urging, Shen Youran raised the mallet a little higher, aimed at the fish head on the counter, gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and struck it down...
The mallet didn't hit the fish's head, but instead struck the back of the cook's hand. The cook cried out in pain, and as her grip loosened, the fish slid off the chopping board, landing squarely on Shen Youran's embroidered shoes...
Shen Youran retreated repeatedly, screaming louder than the cook.
"ah……"
Suddenly, a warm chest pressed against her back, and someone supported her from behind.
"What happened?"
Pei Huaijin is here.
The fish was still thrashing on the ground. Terribly frightened, she didn't care about anything else. She dropped the mallet in her hand, turned around, and jumped onto him to avoid him: "Wow, wow, I don't dare to kill the fish..."
Pei Huaijin subconsciously grabbed her knees, and the two thin legs at her waist flapped more vigorously than the fish on the ground.
At the same time, Qing Jian also walked in. When he heard her say to kill the fish, he walked over, picked up the mallet on the ground, held the fish with one hand, and swung it down with the other hand.
After a muffled sound, Qing Jian picked up the dead fish and held it up to show Shen Youran: "Madam, the fish is killed..."
Shen Youran, who was leaning on Pei Huaijin's shoulder, looked up and happened to meet those dead fish eyes. She screamed again: "Ahhh, who told you to kill it?"
Then he closed his eyes and muttered: "Every wrong has its perpetrator, fish, fish, I didn't kill you, don't look for me after you die..."
Qing Jian was a little confused at first, but when he heard what she said next, he almost laughed out of anger.
He threw the fish back onto the chopping board and stood aside, speechless and choked.
Everyone in the kitchen stopped what they were doing and looked in astonishment at the eldest young lady and the eldest young master hugging each other.
Pei Huaijin knew that this was not in accordance with etiquette, so he patted her lower back and said, "Okay, it's okay, come down."
"No!" Her arms were still tightly around his neck, and her legs were wrapped around his waist. She clung to him and refused to get down. "My shoes are wet, I can't walk..."
"Then I'll ask someone to go back and get you a pair of shoes..."
"My footwear is also wet. It's so uncomfortable. I can't wait that long. Carry me back and change my shoes."
You can't walk just because your shoes are wet? You can't be so squeamish.
"How can I carry you back like this in broad daylight? How can I be so rude?"
"It's not decent, but my feet are wet and I can't walk..."
Pei Huaijin tried to pull her off him, but she clung to him tighter and tighter like an octopus. He had no choice but to hold her up and carry her as he walked out.
"Just this once, don't be so squeamish next time!"
"Oh." As she was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something and pointed at the fish on the chopping board and said to Qing Jian, "Fish, fish, fish, take the fish with you too?"
Qing Jian didn't know why she was going to take the fish away, but he still picked up the fish with a cold face and walked out with them.
Mother Zhang was guarding outside the kitchen. When she saw Shen Youran being carried out, she thought she was injured. When she learned that she was just scared by a fish, she rolled her eyes secretly.
She followed Pei Huaijin for a while and realized that they were not heading towards Begonia Garden. She couldn't help but remind him, "My dear, the Madam is still waiting for the Young Madam to come and pay her respects..."
"Greetings?" Pei Huaijin paused, staring at Mother Zhang, and said slowly, "How can I greet you when she's so frightened?"
Mother Zhang didn't care: "It's just a fish..."
"It's just a fish?" Pei Huaijin's eyes flashed with coldness. "She's the daughter of a minister, pampered and delicate. How dare you ask her to do such a dirty thing as killing a fish?"
"No, no, no, it's not the old slave..."
Mother Zhang wanted to make amends for herself, but Pei Huaijin was too lazy to listen to her excuses.
"Go back and tell mother that since she didn't sincerely ask anyone to come and pay her respects, then from now on, don't ask for it..."
*
At Haitang Garden, after hearing what Madam Zhang had said, Mrs. Zhu was furious: "Did he really say that?"
"Yes," Mother Zhang still harbored resentment for the day when Chen Youran snatched her hairpin. She naturally exaggerated what happened today when she spoke. "I just asked her to make a bowl of mandarin fish porridge for you, Madam. She made a scene in the kitchen, saying that she was frightened and couldn't walk, so she relied on the eldest young master and asked him to carry her back..."
"How ridiculous! There are so many people coming and going along this road, how can she be so shameless?"
"Isn't it..."
Zhu got a headache whenever she got angry. She held her forehead and took a long moment to calm down before saying, "Didn't we agree that if Dalang came with her to pay her respects, she wouldn't be asked to go to the kitchen? Why did you still lead her there?"
"I'm innocent. When the young mistress came to pay her respects, she only brought a maid with her. I even specifically asked her why the eldest young master wasn't with her. She said the eldest young master wouldn't come, so I took her to the kitchen. Who could have expected the eldest young master to come to the kitchen right afterward? I guess she must have been bluffing to trick me..."
After hearing this, Zhu agreed with Mother Zhang's guess and snorted coldly, "You underestimated her..."
*
Pei Huaijin carried the person back to Ciyouyuan. Although she was not too heavy, the kitchen was a bit far from Ciyouyuan. His arms began to ache halfway through, and he couldn't put her down, so he could only barely support himself and carry her back.
She seemed relaxed, swinging her legs and coming back leisurely.
Pei Huaijin carried her to the bedroom, and only then did he have time to look at her embroidered shoes.
There was only a small water stain on the pearl-embellished upper of the shoe, and after taking off the shoe, only a thumb-sized spot was wet on the footwear.
Just a little bit of wetness made her feel uncomfortable and refused to walk. It was obvious that she was deliberately playing tricks.
Pei Huaijin pinched her with some force and she cried out in pain. Pei Huaijin ignored her and walked out of the dormitory.
Qing Jian still held the mandarin fish in his hand and asked him, "My dear, what should we do with this fish?"
Pei Huaijin didn't know why she had to bring the fish back: "Wait until she comes out, then ask her."
After changing into clean footwear and embroidered shoes, Shen Youran came out and asked Tinglan to find a small shovel and a piece of black cloth. She then walked over to Qingmian and looked at the fish in his hands, which was already completely dead. She said with a face full of guilt, "Although I didn't kill this fish myself, it died before my eyes. I couldn't bear it. Should we bury it later?"
Qing Jian couldn't understand: "Young Madam, it's a fish..."
"What happened to the fish?"
"It would be a shame to bury it. Why don't you give it to me, Madam? I'll steam it."
"Hey..." Shen Youran frowned and glanced at him, "You killed it and are going to eat it? You should just give it a proper burial..."
A grand funeral?
Qing Jian, who usually kept his emotions to himself, lost control of his expression for the first time. "Should we erect a monument for it?"
"That's not necessary..."
Qing Jian stopped talking to her and turned to look at Pei Huaijin: "My dear, what do you say?"
It was the first time Pei Huaijin had seen Qing Jian, who was usually very frugal with words, actually talk so much today. He even wanted to tease him for a moment: "Then... bury it."
Qing Jian didn't say anything else...
But Shen Youran felt that his eyes were scolding.
Dan Ruo brought a shovel and black cloth. Shen Youran asked her to wrap the fish with the black cloth, dig a hole under the magnolia tree in the yard, and bury the fish.
Danruo and Qinghe were also used to their daughter's occasional childish behavior. They didn't say much and followed her instructions to go about their business.
At this time, the kitchen staff brought in breakfast. After a long morning of hard work, Shen Youran was hungry. She sat down and took a few bites. She felt that the taste was not right. "The breakfast I had a few days ago tasted very good. Why is it so different today?"
"We haven't figured out who drugged you a few days ago, so we didn't dare let you eat the food prepared in the mansion. What you ate for the past three days was all bought by Qing Jian himself at a restaurant outside..."
"Okay..." Shen Youran pinched the chopsticks and picked up a piece of Suqiong leaf in dissatisfaction.
Oh, if I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have deliberately angered him.
Pei Huaijin went out after finishing breakfast. Before leaving, he told her that when she went to Ciyouyuan today, she should pay attention to her uncle and sister-in-law's protection, not to get too close to Pei Huaian, not to stay too long, and to come back before lunch.
She said this as if there was something fishy going on between her and Pei Huaian.
"You can't trust me, but you can't trust your own brother?"
"Neither of you two is a worry to me..."
*
Around noon, the stewards from inside and outside the Pei family mansion arrived at Ciyouyuan one after another, and Shen Yunshu was already waiting in the hall.
According to the order of arrival, only one manager entered the central hall at a time, while the others gathered in the corridor in twos and threes, talking and chatting in low voices.
Pei Huaian walked through them and headed towards the study when he heard them talking about an interesting thing that had just happened.
"I heard that the eldest young lady fainted in the kitchen this morning after being frightened by a fish..."
"What kind of fish is it? It can scare people unconscious?"
"It's said to be a small mandarin fish the size of a palm..."
"That fish is a little ugly, but it's not so ugly that it can scare people..."
"It's true. I heard that after the eldest young master's wife fainted, she was carried back home by the eldest young master..."
"It seems that he was really scared..."
Shen Youran was frightened by the fish and fainted?
It was such an interesting thing, but he didn't get to see it with his own eyes.
Thinking that she would come to Ciyouyuan soon, Pei Huaian came up with an interesting idea and wanted to play a trick on her later.
While the teacher had not arrived yet, he quickly ran to the study and asked Qingwu to grind ink for him. He spread out the rice paper, picked up the red sandalwood goat hair brush, dipped it in the ink, lowered his eyes and began to paint.
Although he was very poor at studying, he had some talent in painting.
Soon, a vivid mandarin fish appeared on the rice paper.
Pei Huaian glanced out the window, but Shen Youran hadn't come over yet.
very good.
He blew the ink dry on the paper, rolled it up from both ends, took it out of the study, and squatted on the road that must be taken to Ciyouyuan.
In the hall, Shen Yunshu was flipping through the account books while listening to the manor's steward detailing this year's harvest. Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure sneaking out of the yard...
It’s Pei Huaian. Is he trying to escape again?
Shen Yunshu was unable to get away, so she had to ask Tinglan to catch up and take a look.
In a moment, Tinglan came back and whispered to her, "My dear, he didn't run away. He hid behind the ginkgo tree and said he wanted to give the eldest young lady a surprise..."
This bastard! Last night, I was so ashamed that I couldn't even lift my head because I dreamed about my third sister. This morning, when I knew my third sister was coming, I couldn't wait to wait outside the yard...
Shen Yunshu put down the wolf hair brush in her hand with a snap, startling the steward who was reporting the matter. She asked carefully, "Seventh Young Master's Madam, what did I say wrong?"
"Manager Li, have a cup of tea to moisten your throat first. I'll be back soon." She had to go out quickly and bring that bastard back.
At the beginning of winter, the wind was particularly cold. After a night, many dead leaves and ginkgo nuts fell on the bluestone slabs. They were trampled into a mess by the stewards who came to the Ciyou Courtyard. Even after sweeping, there were still clumps of black mess left. The maids in charge of sweeping had to bring several buckets of water...
Pei Huaian hid behind a thick ginkgo tree, occasionally poking his head out, and finally saw Shen Youran who was late.
An evil smile appeared on the corner of his lips. He clenched the painting in his hands and was about to scare her when she came closer, but suddenly he saw a maid with a strange expression, carrying a bucket and following Shen Youwei stealthily.
Although I don't know what the maid is going to do, it's obvious that she has bad intentions. Yesterday, my grandmother punished Second Aunt because of Shen Youran. It's hard to say whether someone from the second house is deliberately trying to retaliate against her.
So he quickly jumped out, wanting to remind Shen Youran.
However, Shen Youran was inevitably startled by his sudden appearance and instinctively took a step back, bumping into the maid behind her.
The wooden bucket in the maid's hand fell, and the water in the bucket splashed, soaking half of Shen Youran's body...
"Madam, please forgive me," the maid also fell down, and quickly got up and knelt, immediately defending herself, "This servant did not mean to do it."
Shen Youran didn't bother to forgive the maid, and first looked at the culprit.
"Pei Huaian! Why are you scaring me?"
Pei Huaian originally intended to come over to scare her, but this time he really didn't mean it: "It's not me, it's her..."
He pointed at the maid and was about to explain, but the painting in his hand was seen by Shen Youran.
Shen Youran took the painting from his hand, unfolded it, and threw it to the ground, glaring at him angrily.
Pei Huaian felt guilty and helped her up: "I really didn't mean it."
After Shen Youran stood up, she shook off his hand and turned to let the maid kneeling in the water get up: "It's not your fault, get up."
"I thank the Madam, the Young Master..."
Shen Youran waved her hand to let her go.
"Hey, don't go..." Pei Huaian wanted to call the maid back to ask questions, but the maid ran away quickly.
Pei Huaian had no words to express his pain.
Shen Youran's clothes were quite wet, but fortunately she was wearing thick clothes today and a cloak on the outside, so her beauty was not exposed because of the wet clothes.
Just as they were about to go back to change clothes, they saw the older sister walking towards them.
Shen Youran immediately felt aggrieved, took a few steps forward, threw herself into her sister's arms, pointed at Pei Huaian and said, "Sister, he scared me..."
"Pei Huaian," Shen Yunshu looked at her sister, half of her body was soaked. She hugged her with one hand and pulled Pei Huaian's ear with the other hand. "Look at what you did?"
"Oh my..." Pei Huaian was pulled sideways by her ear. The maid had left, and he had no evidence. Knowing he was in the wrong, he didn't dare to resist. "I just wanted to tease her. Is it okay if I was wrong?"
The jade-like earlobes were pulled red by her, and Shen Yunshu finally let go of her hand and scolded him angrily: "Go back to your study! You are not allowed to come out until I tell you to!"
"I understand." Pei Huaian rubbed his aching ear and walked back angrily.
Shen Yunshu took her sister's hand and said, "Let's go to my place and change your wet clothes first..."
This place is closer to Ciyouyuan. The weather is too cold. If I don’t change my clothes quickly, I’m afraid I’ll catch a cold.
Shen Youran endured the discomfort caused by wet clothes and returned to Ciyouyuan with her sister.
The stewards were still waiting inside and outside the hall, so Shen Yunshu asked Qiongzhi to take her to change clothes.
Her elder sister preferred simple and elegant colors, so Shen Youran chose a pale lilac suit to change into. Qiongzhi took the wet clothes to dry while she went to the central hall to find her elder sister and learn from her how to manage the household chores...
Although Shen Yunshu had learned some skills of being a household manager before, learning is one thing and doing it yourself is another. It is inevitable that she will be in a mess when being the household manager for the first time. Although Shen Youran cannot be of great help, he can help to check the accounts and deal the right cards.
The two sisters were so busy that they didn't even have time to drink a sip of hot tea. After the stewards left one after another, Shen Yunshu heaved a tired sigh of relief and turned to look at her sister who was slumped in the armchair: "Are you exhausted?"
"I'm not tired, I'm tired for my sister..." Perhaps because she hadn't drunk any water all morning, her throat was hoarse and a little uncomfortable. "Sister, why is it so tiring to be the head of the family? Fortunately, you are here. If grandma gives me the responsibility of being the head of the family in the future, you must come and help me, okay?"
Shen Yunshu had no intention of staying in Pei's house for long, and hearing her say that, she couldn't help but feel complicated.
"You Ran, the Pei family is quite small, so it won't be difficult to manage it. Once these things are sorted out in the future, it will naturally be much easier to manage. Don't be afraid..."
Shen Youran came over, hugged her sister's arm and acted coquettishly: "Well, I'm not afraid, anyway, you are with me."
Shen Yunshu touched her head and asked her tentatively: "What if I can't always be with you in the future?"
Shen Youran was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Sister, are you saying that we will separate in the future? Grandpa and grandma are in good health, it's still too early for us to separate..."
Shen Yunshu sighed silently: Silly sister...
Qing Wu walked in and said to Shen Yunshu, "Seventh Young Master's wife, our husband is in a hurry and wants to come out for a moment..."
"Puchi..." Shen Youran couldn't help laughing, "Sister, he really listens to you."
If my sister didn't ask him to come out, he really wouldn't dare to come out.
"Okay, you've been busy today, go back and have a good rest." After Shen Yunshu knew how Pei Huaian felt about his third sister, she tried not to have them meet. "I heard that your throat is a little hoarse, go back and drink more water."
"I know."
Qiongzhi brought Shen Youran's cloak and said to her, "I will dry the cloak first. I will send you the other clothes later..."
"good."
After Shen You left Ciyouyuan, Shen Yunshu asked Qingwu to release Pei Huaian from the study...
Since Pei Huaijin had not yet told her when to invite Aunt Xiao to continue teaching her, she had nothing else to do today and planned to go back and catch up on some sleep.
As soon as I returned to Yunzhi Courtyard, I saw Danruo and Qinghe squatting under the magnolia tree and sighing.
"What's wrong?" She walked over.
"Young Madam, don't come over!" Dan Ruo hurriedly spoke out to stop her.
But it was too late. Shen Youran still saw that the fish he buried in the morning was now only left with a fish head.
Dan Ruo explained, "A cat came into the yard and dug out the fish. Qing Jian had to work very hard to get back only the fish head..."
Shen Youran muttered "What a miserable death" and moved his gaze away from the tree to look at Qing Jian who was standing in the corridor.
Qing Jian thought she would blame him, but unexpectedly, when she passed by him, she glanced at the scratches on his hands caused by the cat and muttered, "Let the cat eat the fish. It's not worth it to hurt yourself..."
During lunch, Shen Youran's appetite became poor. He ate only a few bites and asked Danruo and Qinghe to share the rest of the food.
She had clearly made up for her sleep in the morning, but Shen Youran felt listless and had no strength to move. She staggered back to her room for another nap. In the afternoon, Qiongzhi from Ciyouyuan came to deliver clothes. Danruo then realized that her daughter's clothes had been wet that morning. No wonder she was wearing the older girl's clothes after returning from Ciyouyuan.
Shen Youran slept for two hours and didn't wake up. Dan Ruo felt something was wrong and went into her bedroom to check on her. She found that her lips were pale and her forehead was burning hot...
I actually have a fever.
She hurried out and asked Qingjian to go outside to call a doctor.
The doctor took the patient's pulse and said that it was wind-cold that had entered the body and that the pulse was not continuous. It must be that the patient not only caught a cold, but was also frightened, which caused this pulse.
The cold entered the body because the clothes were wet, and the shock...
Dan Ruo thought that he must have been frightened by the unrecognizable fish.
When Pei Huaijin returned from the government office, Shen Youran had already taken the medicine, but the fever in his body had not subsided and he was in a daze.
Dan Ruo told Pei Huaijin the cause of Shen Youran's illness in the morning.
Pei Huaijin didn't believe it at first. How could such a big man be frightened by a palm-sized fish? But late at night, the person in his arms was still burning hot, and from time to time he let out a few uncomfortable moans, and occasionally hummed a few words in his mind.
"Ah, you died tragically..."
“Who died tragically?”
"Fish... Alas... I didn't kill you, so don't look for me..."
Pei Huaijin patted her gently, frowning, and began to believe that there were people in this world who were frightened by fish and became sick, such as this delicate girl in his arms...
The person in his arms began to sweat, probably because she felt hot. She squirmed and tried to push him away: "Thirsty..."
"Okay." Pei Huaijin had been holding her for so long that he felt hot from her scorching body. He was also thirsty, so he let go of her, went downstairs to pour her a cup of warm water and drank it, then poured another cup and brought it back.
He lifted her up, asked her to lean on him, handed the warm water to her lips, and looked down at her as she drank the water in small sips.
At this moment, the lips were no longer pale, but had become an exceptionally bright red. After being stained with water, they became even more plump and attractive...
Pei Huaijin's mind shifted, and she lost her grip on the teacup, causing it to fall an inch. She drank it all in one gulp. The water flowed down her chin, across her long neck, and into her slightly opened, lotus-colored dress beneath her white nightgown, disappearing...
His eyes followed the trace of water and caught a glimpse of spring.
His Adam's apple rolled and he felt inexplicably hot all over, so he subconsciously fed the half cup of tea left on her lips into his own mouth.
The person in my arms was dissatisfied and raised his head to ask for water: "I haven't finished drinking yet..."
Before he could swallow the water in his mouth, he didn't know why, without thinking anything, he held the back of her head, looked at her red lips, and passed the water to her...
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