She stood in front of the gate of the Night Mansion, clutching a faded canvas bag, as morning mist swirled around the Gothic spire.
The copper lion on the doorbell button has oxidized green and makes an old coughing sound when pressed.
"Walk to the end of the Wisteria Corridor." The voice on the intercom was filled with electronic noise. "The young master is in the piano room."
Dark green sycamore leaves were floating in the courtyard. When Chen Chunhua's cloth shoes stepped through the puddles, she saw a white peacock spreading its tail feathers beside the fountain.
The red brick walls of the main building are covered with withered trumpet creepers, and dark blue velvet curtains hang from the bay windows on the second floor, like eyes that never open.
The piano music came from the west wing. Chen Chunhua counted the faces of the twelve apostles in the stained glass windows as she walked forward, stopping under the seventh fleur-de-lis window. A faint chord of "Moonlight" seeped through the crack of the door, suddenly breaking into a hammering chord in the third measure.
When he pushed open the door, the boy's frail figure was enveloped in the halo of the crystal chandelier. He was sitting at the piano in a white shirt, and he didn't turn around when he heard the noise. The piano stool was littered with crayon drawings—a woman wearing a crown, holding a baby, standing under the stars.
The black tea on the silver tray had long since gone cold. The chirping of August cicadas pierced through the floor-to-ceiling windows, echoing delicately in the seven-meter-high hall.
"I'm the new nanny, my name is Chen Chunhua. Madam asked me to take care of you." She clutched the faded canvas bag and saw the spots of light that fell when the boy's eyelashes fluttered.
"I don't need a babysitter."
There was a fresh scratch on Ye Qingliu's neck, hidden in the shadow cast by the stand-up collar, like a rose petal torn by sharp claws.
After a while, Ye Qingliu suddenly pressed the center C key hard. The roar echoed for a long time under the high dome, startling the gray magpie on the sycamore tree outside the window.
"You smell like disinfectant." He turned away, his eyelashes casting crow-feather shadows under his eyes. "Just like a hospital."
Chen Chunhua instinctively reached for her apron pocket, where she found a half-filled bottle of medical alcohol. Morning light slanted in through the rose-shaped window, tinting the boy's left face amber while shrouding the right in shadow.
Only then did she notice that there was a silver pocket watch on the music stand, its surface cracked like ice crackle porcelain, and its chain wrapped with faded blue ribbon.
The young master from a wealthy family was very cold; this was her first impression.
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"Young Master, it's time for breakfast." Butler Li appeared at the door holding a gilded tray. The sweet aroma of almond pastries mixed with the hot steam of Darjeeling black tea filled the room.
The boy grabbed the locomotive and smashed it against the piano keys. Amid the metallic tremolo of the F-sharp key, Chen Chunhua saw the gauze sticking out of Ye Qingliu's cuffs—a square with neat edges, the shape of a tooth mark.
The long dining table was covered in dark green velvet, and the candlesticks were thick with wax tears. Hua Jinyue sat in a raised dining chair, her pink tutu skirt stained with jam, and she was tapping a gilded plate with a silver spoon.
"I've been waiting for my brother for a long time." Hua Jinyue said in a baby voice, and suddenly threw the spoon at Ye Qingliu, "Bad brother, you won't take your medicine!"
The silver spoon knocked against the crystal vase, and the cornflowers trembled in the morning breeze. Ye Qingliu grabbed the table knife and slashed it across the tablecloth, making a ripping sound. Chen Chunhua noticed that he was wearing a pinky ring on his left pinky finger, with "LQ1912" engraved on the inside.
"Madam told me before she left for Switzerland," Butler Li pushed the fried egg in front of him, "If the young master goes on a hunger strike again, please ask the family doctor to give him an IV."
Ye Qingliu unexpectedly didn't say anything. Instead, he picked up a fried egg from the plate with chopsticks and took a light bite.
"Brother, come and try Jinyue's."
Hua Jinyue picked up her fried egg and placed it directly in Ye Qingliu's bowl.
Ye Qingliu said nothing and just ate the fried eggs.
"Be good, brother. Eat slowly."
Today's breakfast was different from usual, and he immediately realized that it was made by the new nanny, Chen Chunhua.
Nanny Chen Chunhua still lives a "peaceful" life in the Ye family.
A late spring rainstorm pounded against the French windows. Chen Chunhua pushed open the piano room door, following the intermittent sounds of piano music. Beneath the Steinway grand piano, a snow-white shadow curled up. Six-year-old Ye Qingliu, barefoot, huddled in the angle between the piano stool and pedals, ice-like raindrops condensing on his wet eyelashes.
"Young Master should have had dinner three hours ago." The butler held up a silver tray, the baked snails gleaming bluish-gray in the cold light. "Madam instructed you to cultivate an independent character."
As Chen Chunhua took the tray, she felt a lump of oil on the bottom of the porcelain dish. She squatted down and saw half a moldy sandwich stuck in the crack of the piano stool. Purple-red scabs formed on the young master's knees, as if he had repeatedly bumped against some sharp-edged furniture.
The next morning, a smiling sunny-side-up egg lay in a carved lunch box. The egg whites were fried into fluffy clouds, the yolks were painted with ketchup to create a smile, and the bacon was rolled into a rose and placed on a hill of oatmeal.
Ye Qingliu was wrapped in a plush panda one-piece pajamas, and his fingers were quietly picking at the starry sky stickers on the edge of the lunch box.
"There's magic in the kitchen today."
Chen Chunhua lifted the thermal cover like a magic trick, and the corn soup steamed up into a small mushroom cloud. "Take three sips, and I'll tell you where the squirrel hid the pine cones."
"childish………"
Ye Qingliu turned around and was about to leave, but Chen Chunhua grabbed his wrist.
"Young Master, drink three sips of soup and you'll get a reward."
"award……?"
The expression on Ye Qingliu's face had shown some emotion. He had been observing the nanny named Chen Chunhua these days. No matter how cold his attitude towards her was, she would still come to him without hesitation.
"Then I'll try..."
When Chen Chunhua heard Ye Qingliu agree to drink the soup, a faint smile appeared on her face.
What really changed the young master was what happened next.
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