Chapter 11 The Old Lady

"Uncle Xing is the one who takes care of me."

"oh."

Chu Ran opened the paper package. The pastries inside should have been cold, but because they had been carried all the way, they still had a trace of residual warmth. Thinking of this, Chu Ran couldn't help but feel a little warm in his heart.

"Thank you." Chu Ran said.

This was the second time that Li Fu brought him food late at night. Coincidentally, both times happened when Chu Ran was almost unable to bear the hunger.

Maybe when people are hungry, their spirit will be more fragile than usual. At this moment, Chu Ran's eyes were warm and he seemed to have the urge to cry, but he didn't know whether he felt more uncomfortable or more moved.

The darkness hid the warmth in his eyes, making his bright eyes even brighter.

After watching Li Fu leave, Chu Ran got up and went back to the yard. He closed the door again, sat on the bed and finished the pastry in his hand, then lay down and fell asleep peacefully.

Although it was already past dawn, the weather outside was gloomy and it looked like it was going to rain.

Chu Ran looked at the gray sky outside the window and thought that if it rained today, maybe he could take a day off and be lazy.

He lay flat on the bed, feeling somewhat bored. At this moment, there was a knock on the door, and Guo Maoxue's voice rang out from outside the door.

"I'm going out for something. There's a pot of tea on the table. Remember to deliver the tea to Eunuch Zhao's residence later. Don't forget."

Guo Maoxue seemed to have forgotten what happened last night. He told Chu Ran something and left.

Chu Ran slowly got up from the bed, washed his face, put on his clothes, and put on a hat. After he was dressed, Chu Ran walked to Guo Maoxue's room and saw a pot of tea on the table. Chu Ran picked it up and went to Eunuch Zhao's residence.

Eunuch Zhao refers to Eunuch Zhao Zhongyi, who was once the most trusted eunuch by Emperor Chengwen. After Emperor Chengwen ascended the throne, Zhao Zhongyi was appointed as the factory lord of Dongchang, in charge of the entire Dongchang, and secretly did a lot of things for Emperor Chengwen. Now Zhao Zhongyi is old, and the emperor sympathizes with his age, so he allows him to resign from the post of factory lord of Dongchang and only takes a leisurely job in the palace, so that he can live a leisurely and comfortable retirement life. Although Zhao Zhongyi does not hold real power at present, he has been in the palace for a lifetime and is favored by Emperor Chengwen. His roots are very deep, and the young eunuchs in the palace are all eager to get close to him, and there are many people who want to please him.

Guo Maoxue didn't know how he got in touch with Zhao Zhongyi, but after all, Guo Maoxue is now considered to be someone close to Zhao Zhongyi.

The teapot filled with tea in his hand looked unremarkable, but the tea given to Zhao Zhongyi was definitely not ordinary tea. This tea must be the best, but Chu Ran had no idea how good it was.

Chu Ran wondered, when will someone come to curry favor with him like they did with Eunuch Zhao?

Chu Ran was just thinking about it. He was such a jerk. It was already a great thing for him to live a safe and happy life. Why did he want to climb up to the top and be flattered? It was like pie in the sky. He was a person who had never won five dollars in the lottery. He was just daydreaming.

But think about it, no one says you can't think about it.

He just likes to think good things.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on?"

Chu Ran was walking forward with his head down, and he didn't know which fork in the road was ahead when an old eunuch appeared. She had her back to Chu Ran, and she stood straight up at him like a mountain, pressing down on him.

Chu Ran quickly reached out to hold the man back, repeatedly saying, "Hey? Stand still, don't fall, hold on."

The half-white-haired old lady in front was indeed stabilized. Chu Ran used his hands and arms to push the person's back forward, and finally made her stand up straight.

Chu Ran adjusted his crooked hat and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you all right?"

Once a person entered the palace and became a eunuch, unless there were special circumstances, he would basically spend his entire life in the palace, unless he reached a certain age and could no longer do anything, or had a lot of health problems, in which case he might be allowed to leave the palace to retire. But the fact is that many eunuchs have lived in the palace for half their lives, and even if they leave the palace, they have no home or relatives, so it is better for them to stay in the palace.

There were quite a few old eunuchs in the palace, and Chu Ran had seen several of them.

But this old lady supervisor doesn't look very old, at most around 60 years old. People of this age in modern times can still go to the park to dance square dance.

He also thought that people in ancient times generally had short lifespans. Sixty years old is nothing to modern people, but to ancient people, it should be considered old.

"It's okay." The old lady stood up and took a breath.

Chu Ran had already passed the old eunuch and walked in front of him. He glanced at the old eunuch behind him and found that he had a stern face from beginning to end. He looked very fierce and looked like someone who was not easy to mess with. However, it might be because of his age that the sharpness on his face was less. In addition, even though he was very fierce when he was young, he couldn't even move his legs now, so Chu Ran naturally had nothing to be afraid of.

Chu Ran stared at his legs and said, "Rheumatism?"

The old lady frowned.

Chu Ran immediately changed his words, "I mean, is there something wrong with your legs?"

"As I get older, my legs tend to ache on cloudy days and I can't stand the cold."

"oh oh."

It really is rheumatoid arthritis, a common disease among the elderly, not uncommon.

Chu Ran wanted to leave, but turned around and saw him bending over, rubbing his knees with his hands. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Where are you going? I'll carry you over."

The old lady looked up at Chu Ran and said, "Come here."

Chu Ran walked up to the old eunuch. The old eunuch put her arm on Chu Ran's shoulder and pointed to a smooth and flat stone in front of her. "Go there."

He seemed to be using Chu Ran as a crutch. Chu Ran didn't think much about it. He dutifully escorted the man to sit next to the stone before leaving.

When they arrived at Eunuch Zhao's residence, Chu Ran handed the tea leaves to a young eunuch working in the yard, saying that Guo Maoxue had asked him to give it to Eunuch Zhao. After settling him, Chu Ran turned around and went back to his own residence.

Not long after Chu Ran left, Zhao Zhongyi came back.

The young eunuch hurried forward, bent slightly, and slipped under Zhao Zhongyi's arm with great skill. Zhao Zhongyi put his hand on the young eunuch's shoulder and walked back with unsteady legs.

"Eunuch, just now Guo Maoxue called a little eunuch to bring a can of Biluochun over. I just checked it and it was newly picked this year. It's very fresh."

Zhao Zhongyi didn't say anything. The young eunuch raised his head and carefully glanced at Zhao Zhongyi's face. Seeing that his brows were furrowed, he didn't dare to say another word.

On the way back, a few drops of rain fell at first, and soon, the rain became heavy. However, he was still some distance away from where he lived, but closer to where Li Fu lived, so Chu Ran turned and went to Li Fu's place.