The Yan family's home is only half an hour's drive from the Zhu family's home. During that half hour, Zhu Qianying did not stay in the living room, but instead used the excuse of packing her things to go out to return to her room.
She's not stupid; naturally, she wouldn't sit in the living room listening to those pointless gossips. Of course, after all these years, those gossips can't hurt her in the slightest. She just doesn't want to be used as a free target.
As she walked downstairs with a backpack containing a change of clothes, she heard Zhu Shaofen say to Zhu Zhizhou.
"Didn't you say you'd come to pick them up in December? Why are you so eager to do it now? Do you not respect the Zhu family? Or are all men the same, unable to restrain themselves and wanting to cheat?!"
Zhu Qianying pretended not to hear, easily skipped down the last step with her backpack, glanced at the people sitting in the living room as if they were just scenery, and walked straight to the entrance without even bothering to greet them.
As she bent down to change her shoes, she heard her father scolding her aunt, "Shaofen, don't talk nonsense! Young Master Yan sent Ying'er to look at wedding dresses!"
"Who knows!" Zhu Shaofen replied dismissively.
Even Zhu Qianying didn't believe Yan Shao's reason, so it's no wonder Zhu Shaofen didn't believe it either.
However, none of that matters. What matters is that Young Master Yan called home directly, so even if Zhu Zhizhou had a lot of grievances against his daughter, he wouldn't dare to do anything openly to Zhu Qianying.
Similarly, she would not allow anyone else to do anything to Zhu Qianying.
Just as Zhu Qianying reached the door, Chen Jing, her mother, unusually caught up and shoved a large bag into Zhu Qianying's hands.
"Ying'er, you haven't had dinner yet, have you? Take these snacks with you."
Zhu Qianying wanted to say that she had already eaten before she came back, but seeing her mother's pitiful look, she took the bag and obediently replied, "Okay, thank you, Mom. I won't be back tonight."
In fact, in Zhu Qianying's memory, her mother never seemed to care whether she came home or not. Fortunately, she was upright and honest, which is why she did not go astray all these years.
Zhu Qianying mocked herself all the way, and even after entering the Yan family home, she was still thinking about her first trip abroad. She must have been only sixteen or seventeen years old then. Thinking about being away from home for more than half a month, she felt reluctant to leave. Little did she know that when she told her mother, her mother didn't even ask why her daughter wanted to go abroad. She just replied with an "oh" and then said nothing more.
There was a time when Zhu Qianying really wanted to leave. But when she thought of her younger sister, who was two years younger than her, she gave up the idea of leaving the Zhu family time and time again.
In the last two years, she seems to have developed a deep sympathy for her mother. After all, she was the one who gave birth to her and raised her. She could give up many things, but she could not give up her mother and sister.
"Wu... Ying'er, the young master is in a meeting in the study. He asked me to take you to the fitting room to look at wedding dresses."
Uncle Hai, who came to greet her, interrupted her thoughts.
Zhu Qianying was slightly taken aback. So he really came to look at wedding dresses? She had thought that this was just an excuse for Young Master Yan to pick her up.
"Uncle Hai, see if Young Master Yan wants any of these snacks. If he doesn't, you can share them with everyone."
Zhu Qianying took the large bag her mother had given her and, as a gesture of respect, handed it to Uncle Hai.
Uncle Hai happily accepted it, "Young Master will definitely love it. He really liked the pastries you sent over the last two times."
Uncle Hai wasn't lying. Young Master Yan wasn't particularly fond of Chinese pastries, but ever since Zhu Qianying sent them over twice, he occasionally asked the chef to make some. However, each time he made them, he would only take one bite and then stop eating them.
Perhaps he didn't get the taste he wanted.
So, Zhu Qianying asked Uncle Hai to share the food with everyone, but Uncle Hai didn't have the guts to do so.
Are they out of their minds trying to steal snacks from the young master?
"Uncle Hai, you give him the snacks first, I'll sit down and rest for a while."
This was Zhu Qianying's fourth visit to the Yan family. She was already quite familiar with not only Uncle Hai, but also with the other servants in the Yan family.
Uncle Hai responded and went upstairs. She took the tea brought by the maid, sat down on the sofa, and took out her phone to browse the web.
Zhu Qianying opened an auction website and looked at the treasures one by one, becoming quite engrossed. She even found a few items so appealing that she couldn't resist adding them to her favorites, planning to buy them when she had some money.
Uncle Hai saw her looking at her phone from afar, a smile on her face. He assumed she was chatting with a friend and walked up to her, stopping in front of her. "Ying'er, let me take you to look at wedding dresses."
Zhu Qianying put her phone into her bag, picked up her backpack, smiled at him, and said, "Thank you, Uncle Hai."
Uncle Hai then noticed that her backpack was bulging, as if it contained a lot of things. "Ying'er, let me help you carry it."
"No need, it's just a change of clothes, not heavy!" Zhu Qianying casually lifted her backpack behind her, showing no sign of being delicate.
No wonder the old lady liked her so much; her straightforward and unpretentious nature was quite similar to that of the old lady when she was young.
Uncle Hai thought to himself, but he didn't quite understand why she was carrying such a big bag of clothes over.
"Ying'er, are you going on a long trip later?"
He couldn't find a more suitable reason.
Zhu Qianying, holding onto the handrail, had already made her way halfway up the stairs when she heard Uncle Hai's question. She turned around and asked in surprise, "Young Master Yan told me to bring a change of clothes. Didn't he tell you?"
Zhu Qianying thought that since Young Master Yan had said so, he would definitely instruct Uncle Hai to prepare a guest room for her. However, Uncle Hai's question just now indicated that he had not received any notification from Young Master Yan.
Uncle Hai was at a loss for words. The young master had indeed not told him that Zhu Qianying was staying overnight, so naturally, there was no mention of preparing a guest room.
So, the young master's original intention in letting Zhu Qianying stay overnight was to have her share a bedroom with him? Therefore, there was no need to prepare a guest room?
Seeing that he didn't answer, Zhu Qianying didn't think much of it. "Uncle Hai, I just remembered that I have an appointment with a friend later. I'll leave after I finish looking at the wedding dresses."
Uncle Hai quickly waved his hand, "No, no, the young master said I'm getting senile and forgot."
Zhu Qianying didn't say anything more. She followed Uncle Hai up to the third floor, walked to the end of the corridor, and opened the door to the last room.
“Originally, Madam was planning to wait for you to come back to finalize the dress and some details before leaving, but a friend’s daughter got married a few days ago, so she and Master had to go abroad to attend the wedding. Ying’er, please don’t blame Madam.”
These words were probably spoken by Madam Yan to Uncle Hai.
"Uncle Hai, I should be the one apologizing. I was so impulsive, leaving without saying goodbye to you and your wife."
Zhu Qianying left without a word because she was afraid that Young Master Yan would make trouble and prevent her from going out. Therefore, she did not dare to greet Old Madam Yan and the old gentleman. Looking back now, she realizes that it was indeed inappropriate.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
