Chapter 34
Zhang Yunniang stood aside, she didn't want to shorten her life.
"Master Jun, I have nowhere to go. Please, give me a meal. I can do any work. Please, please."
Lanzhi knelt on the ground and kowtowed hard.
He used so much force that his forehead soon became red and swollen.
"I can't make the decision. It's useless for you to ask me." Jun Qingmo pushed the wheelchair aside without accepting the offer.
Lanzhi knew about the past between Xu Shuying and Jun Qingmo. She had even advised the young lady not to waste her life on love and not to be sad because of the cancellation of the engagement.
However, she never expected that her young lady's marriage would be extremely bumpy. If she could have foreseen such an ending, marrying Jun Qingmo might have been a good destination.
At this point, she had no other choice. A woman, alone and penniless, had no choice but to die if she didn't want to end up in a brothel.
She adjusted her direction and kowtowed to Jun Qingmo continuously, just wanting a place to stay.
"I am not the master of this place. It is useless for you to ask me for help."
Lanzhi lay on the ground, looking up at him in confusion, her face pale. She understood that he just didn't want to keep her.
This was her last chance, and she couldn't help but look at Zhang Yunniang, then began to kowtow again. Blood marks had already appeared on her forehead.
"Sister, please help me to speak for you. I can do any dirty work, but I don't want to go to such a place. We are both women, so please have pity on me. Sister, please have pity on me."
Zhang Yunniang couldn't avoid it, so she could only pull the man up forcefully and looked at Jun Qingmo in embarrassment.
Jun Qingmo: "I live in your place too, so of course you, the owner, have to make the decision on this matter."
Zhang Yunniang opened her eyes wide. She didn't expect Jun Qingmo to say that. The woman in front of her was really pitiful. Having more people eat was not a big problem. The main thing was that she was afraid of other troubles.
So I asked, "I don't know who she is, and I don't want to know what happened to her. Let me ask you, what will you decide?"
"I will stay, so you can relax."
After all that had happened, Jun Qingmo wasn't being overly kindhearted. Rather, he and Lanzhi were old acquaintances, with no grudges between them. Furthermore, his former master had already passed away, so leaving her behind wouldn't cause any trouble.
"Then you can stay. There's a room available in the east wing, so it's just a matter of having an extra pair of chopsticks."
"Thank you, young lady, thank you, young master. Lanzhi will serve you well in the future."
Lanzhi kept wiping her tears. It was not known whether she was crying because she had a place to stay in the future, or for some other reason, but she looked obviously much more relaxed.
"Okay, stop crying. If you don't mind, put on my clothes and go take a shower and change. Squeeze with me for the night. After I clean up the east wing tomorrow, I'll buy you a bed."
"Thank you, young lady. I will always remember your kindness."
"That's not necessary. My name is Zhang Yunniang, so you can just call me Yunniang."
Zhang Yunniang prepared hot water for people to wash up and go to bed.
Looking at her haggard appearance, as a woman herself, she couldn't help but feel pity for her.
Since Jun Qingmo said that I can stay, it seems that there is no danger.
In the middle of the night, Zhang Yunniang was sleeping when she vaguely heard a suppressed cry.
The voice was full of sadness, as if he was afraid of disturbing her, so he gritted his teeth and dared not make a sound.
She didn't open her eyes, nor did she try to comfort him. She pretended to be still asleep, and she kept pretending like this for half the night.
At times like these, unless the heartbroken person is willing to open up, it's best not to interrupt their emotional release. Cry, men and women, everyone has the right to cry when they encounter difficulties; crying will make everything better.
She was really sad, crying so hard that Zhang Yunniang couldn't help crying too.
It was not easy for her to be alone in this strange world.
Stop, stop! She quickly stopped this dangerous thought in her mind.
Only when the dim light of fish belly white appeared outside the window did the suppressed and sorrowful crying gradually stop. She could finally relax. Pretending to be asleep was very tiring. The more she couldn't move, the more she wanted to move. The slightest sound around her would make her more and more awake.
Finally, she heard the sound of even breathing beside her. Her eyes were wide open, as if she had not slept all night.
The next day, I got up early.
After a quick wash, she went to the yard to practice Tai Chi. She had maintained this good habit from her previous life, and whenever she could spare a little time, she would insist on exercising.
For self-defense, I followed online videos and learned some simple punches and kicks.
But at that time, she had no time to really practice, just practiced some fancy moves and poses to comfort herself. After coming here, she had more free time and picked up this interest again.
I also went to the bookstore and found a book on basic martial arts, and tried to practice it on my own.
After a while, the sound of someone getting up was heard in Jun Qingmo's room.
Except for the loss of sensation in his legs, his upper body can move normally. With the training of Zhang Yunniang, he can now dress himself, sit in a wheelchair, and go to the toilet.
Apart from the inconvenience of bathing, he can almost completely handle other daily life activities by himself.
The practice was difficult and painful. Whenever Jun Qingmo felt like giving up, he would look at Zhang Yunniang's calm eyes and continue to practice with trepidation.
At first, he couldn't maintain his balance, so he fell down again and again and got up again and again.
With the encouragement of Zhang Yunniang by his side, he mastered more and more skills and became more and more of a human being amidst her praises.
He came into the yard by himself. Zhang Yunniang did not stop, but just turned her eyes and nodded as a greeting.
He also started exercising at his own pace.
They have been together for so long that they have already reached a tacit understanding on many things.
Zhang Yunniang jumped and danced in the yard, never avoiding Jun Qingmo.
In her eyes, Jun Qingmo is a person who couldn't be more normal.
Her attitude also gave Jun Qingmo great confidence and comfort.
"Are you planning to do multiple jobs, including guarding the house?"
In addition to practicing Tai Chi, Jun Qingmo now also adds strength training. He lifts a large stone in one hand and lifts it up and down, and beads of sweat have already appeared on his forehead.
The new stone is heavier than before, and I’m still getting used to it.
"Just say that you've gotten away with meeting me. One person can do the work of ten. As for the wages, even if it's a little cheaper now, you'll have to make up for it later."
Zhang Yunniang cried in her heart. Look, they were once like cattle and horses, but they were oppressed so badly. After years of internal circulation, no one is forcing them now, but the internal circulation habits they formed have not been lost at all.
Every day I think about how to enhance my professional competitiveness and contribute to promotion and salary increase.
"Nurse, trainer, maid, gardener, guard, servant, cook, errand runner, and part-time psychologist, I've taken on all the responsibilities for you. I haven't let you down yet, right? Look, I'm living up to the job you gave me, right?"
"When others save their lives, they say they'll repay you by being a slave in the next life. Isn't that honest enough? This is the true way to repay them. I'll be a slave in this life."
"Oh no, no, no, if I don't repay the favor in the future, I'll be in big trouble. I have to remember this."
She ran back to the study, retrieved the booklet used for accounting, and took out a pen and ink. "Here, while my thoughts are clear, write it down for me."
Jun Qingmo put down the heavy stone in his hand and took the debt collection book specifically for him with an amused look on his face.
Thinking back to that afternoon, the moment he first learned about the existence of this account book, his three views were shattered and he didn't even bother to pick it up.
At that time, he accidentally caused Zhang Yunniang to fall and injure her knee. He could do nothing but worry.
When someone went back to the house to apply medicine, he followed them in without paying attention, and was "driven" out with a big fuss.
When he went to visit again later, he found the booklet open on the table.
He studied it calmly. The writing was a mess, with thick and thin strokes and font sizes varying. However, he could still tell it was written, but it was different from the official language.
"What's this?"
"Oh, the account book." Zhang Yunniang sat on the couch with her legs stretched straight forward. It was no wonder that she didn't know etiquette. Her knees hurt so much that she couldn't bend them. She felt more comfortable sitting on the couch and stretching her legs.
"Can you read? This isn't Yingzhou script, is it?"
"I was just a lowly thug who couldn't even afford to eat. How could I know how to read?"
Are these just random scribbles? They look very similar to written language, so could they be foreign characters?
"What is this?"
"I drew this talisman to mark myself, to prevent myself from forgetting important things in the future. Give it to me, and I'll read it to you."
Zhang Yunniang wrote in simple strokes, but her calligraphy was so abstract and sloppy that it was even convincing enough to say it was just scribbles.
As for the calligraphy she wrote, probably no one except her can understand it, and she is not afraid of being discovered by others.
Jun Qingmo was very curious. What did the content on it represent? It was so important that he had to go through the trouble of writing symbols to record it.
"Before the first day of April in the fifteenth year of Shuntian, cleaning, tidying, cooking, comforting, and other tasks outside of my duties will be paid as a package deal of five taels."
"On the first day of April in the fifteenth year of Shuntian, I was promoted. My duties include taking care of daily life and tending to flowers and plants. Anything beyond my scope will be charged separately."
"On the ninth day of the fourth month of the fifteenth year of Shuntian, for creating a wheelchair and toilet and formulating a recovery plan, and for demonstrating strong initiative in the work, I award you a project bonus of fifty taels."
"On April 13th, the fifteenth year of Shuntian, I wrote, no, told a story, for ten cents."
"In the fifteenth year of Shuntian,"
"Wait, wait a moment." From the few items just mentioned, Jun Qingmo probably understood that this account book was written specifically for him.
"Not only did you write this down, but you also read it out to me?"
Jun Qingmo was immediately confused. Just who was this person in front of him? How thick-skinned and mentally resilient did he need to be to remain calm and act as if it was natural?
Oh, she's quite clear about the distinction and even knows to remove the things in her work. With her behavior, if she were to change her master, being beaten to death by the family law would be considered a light punishment.
That's not right. She is not a slave. At most she can be kicked out of the house.
Zhang Yunniang closed the booklet and smiled, "If I were to take this out suddenly later, it would be a little hurtful."
After a brief pause, he continued, "If I pretend to be careless and let you find out now, it won't be so hard for you to accept when I threaten you with a favor in the future."
"Repaying a favor?" Jun Qingmo's voice became higher involuntarily, and he quickly put the teacup on the table with trembling hands, otherwise he was really worried that he would drop the cup on the ground without paying attention.
He couldn't afford that consequence.
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