Zhuang Liuyun was driven to despair by what Chi Ming said.
Indeed, she grew up in seclusion and knew nothing. Even though she had more experience than others, she could only do laundry, cook, and work as a nanny. It was hard for her to support herself, let alone her younger brother who had been spoiled since childhood.
“I, I—”
I can also work as a maid in someone else's house - this is what Zhuang Liuyun really thinks, but she dare not say it out loud. Brother Chi will definitely laugh at her after hearing it, and then send her back to her hometown in the name of doing good for her.
In this case, what was the point of her escaping with her brother through so much hardship?
Just when Zhuang Liuyun was unsure what to do, a fat orange cat ran into the side hall and headed straight for Zhuang Li. It seemed to be very interested in Zhuang Li's long cloak and kept scratching at it with its claws.
Zhuang Li raised his toes and gently touched the fat cat's little nose.
Chi Ming's face darkened.
He bent down, lifted his cloak, grasped Zhuang Li's ankle, and asked, "Why are you putting cotton shoes on Xiaobao? Don't you know that winters in the south are very cold and damp, and cotton shoes will easily get soaked when walking outside?"
He said with great dissatisfaction, "Xiaobao's shoes are soaked. He doesn't know the difference between cold and heat, and he didn't tell anyone when he was frozen. Don't you know it either?" He raised his hand to the servant and ordered, "Bring me a basin of hot water and light a charcoal fire."
There was a water heater in the house, but the heat was not enough for people with frozen toes.
Two servants quickly came in with hot water and charcoal. One of them stretched out his hand, ready to take off Zhuang Li's shoes and wash his feet, but Chi Ming waved his hand and sent the other person away.
He knelt on one knee, took off Zhuang Li's half-worn cotton shoes with his own hands, untied her wet white socks, and put the pair of frozen little feet into the warm basin of water.
The boy's toes were as white, tender and small as he was, with round nails and soft and tender soles. Holding them in the palm of his hand felt like holding two dough balls.
Chi Ming pinched the boy's toes, and his heart trembled.
He was suppressing his inexplicably rising desire, a desire that he called protection, but more accurately, possession. Consequently, even in the freezing weather, a thin layer of sweat formed on the tip of his nose.
He dipped the cute little feet into the water and rubbed them carefully from toes to heels. Then, his servant added some hot water and earnestly instructed, "Xiaobao, soak your feet well and don't move. Your skin is cold."
Zhuang Li lowered his eyes to look at the top of Chi Ming's head and sighed, "You little idiot, see? This is life."
7480: "..." Its feet felt sore, and it also wanted someone to rub its feet.
Zhuang Liuyun was stunned. Even if she had two more heads, she couldn't imagine what it was like for Chi Ming to wash someone's feet.
Noticing Zhuang Li's toes curling up and down restlessly in the hot water, Chi Ming chuckled twice.
He took a clean, wet towel from the servant and wiped his hands, then sat down next to Zhuang Li, pressing his palms against Zhuang Li's knees to prevent him from moving around and knocking over the basin. Then he looked at Zhuang Liuyun and coldly rebuked him, "You said you were worried about leaving Xiaobao in someone else's care, but I don't think you're taking good care of him. You knew it was going to rain in the south for days, but you shouldn't have given him cotton shoes when you went out."
He pointed to an attendant and said, "Go to Ruifuxiang right away and buy a pair of leather shoes. Size 23 cm."
Zhuang Li's feet were exactly 23 centimeters long, and Chi Ming found out by measuring them with his palm.
Zhuang Liuyun hid her own equally soaked embroidered shoes under her skirt and said sadly, "Brother Chi, I wanted to give Xiaobao leather shoes, but my brother sold all his shoes. I even had to buy Xiaobao's clothes from the pawnshop."
Chi Ming gently rubbed the boy's curly hair with a gentle expression. When the boy bent down to touch the fat cat on the ground, he said with a gloomy face: "You are a Zhongshan wolf. When you succeed, you become arrogant. Even your father can make mistakes sometimes."
Zhuang Liuyun bit his lower lip, wanting to cry but not daring to. Big Brother Chi Ming didn't know that man wasn't just a wolf, he was a ghost! In his previous life, he'd beaten Xiaobao to death!
"Everything in the Zhuang family belongs to Xiaobao. What does it have to do with him, an outsider?" Chi Ming said in a deep voice, "I will send someone to bring the Zhuang family's property back to Shanghai. Half of it is your dowry, take it yourself. You still have to get married. Don't waste your youth on Xiaobao."
Zhuang Liuyun thanked him with tears of gratitude, his face full of surprise.
She had no idea that the point of Chi Ming's words was to urge her to get married.
In just a short while, the water in the basin had turned cold.
Chi Ming bent down, picked up Zhuang Li's little feet, placed them on his knees, and slowly wiped them dry with a towel, not even leaving any space between the fingertips.
The servants standing in the hall were all stunned. They had never seen the Marshal so gentle.
Zhuang Li lay back in the chair holding the fat cat, with his feet resting across Chi Ming's legs. His narrow eyes were slightly narrowed, and his slender fingertips were stroking the cat's fur from time to time.
The fat cat snored comfortably in his arms and licked its little paws with the tip of its tongue.
From their expressions to their movements, the man and the cat are cut from the same cloth.
Chi Ming wanted to laugh when he saw this. His usually cold face was now filled with indescribable tenderness.
Zhuang Liuyun, who was sitting nearby, said repeatedly, "Thank you, Brother Chi. Thank you so much. With this inheritance, Xiaobao won't have to suffer with me. I will definitely take good care of him in the future."
Chi Ming put a pair of thick cotton socks on Zhuang Li's white and tender feet and asked, "How many years can you take care of him?"
"I can take care of him for the rest of his life. I won't marry, and I'll stay with Xiaobao." Zhuang Liuyun swore on the spot. Having experienced betrayal and hurt in her previous life, she had long been afraid of love.
This answer was definitely not what Chi Ming wanted, so his face darkened.
At this moment, a servant came in with an exquisite shoe box and said respectfully, "Master, I have bought the young master's shoes."
When the siblings first entered, they were still addressing Zhuang Li as "Second Young Master Zhuang," with a gentle, polite, yet distant manner. Now, without Chi Ming's instructions, they had all changed their address to "Young Master Zhuang Li," demonstrating how adept the servants of the Chi residence were at reading people's expressions.
Chi Ming took the shoe box, opened it and took a look. He made sure that the shoes were well-made before putting them on Zhuang Li's feet.
"New leather shoes usually hurt your feet. Let me try the size on Xiaobao first to see if it fits. If not, you can exchange them. If they do, you can take the shoes away and wrap the leather around the shoe opening with cotton cloth soaked in white vinegar. Let it air-dry in a greenhouse with the water heater on overnight. Give it to Xiaobao tomorrow when the leather becomes soft." Chi Ming instructed carefully.
Several servants nodded cautiously as they listened.
Chi Ming turned to look at Zhuang Liuyun, his tone more serious. "I often correspond with Uncle Zhuang, and I know Xiaobao's situation. He is used to silence. He never speaks when he is thirsty, hungry, cold, hot, or in pain. However, even if he doesn't speak, you can't fail to think about it. You have to consider everything for him first.
"And you have to know that you are a woman after all. Xiaobao is growing up, and it will be inconvenient for you to take care of many things. No matter how strong the blood relationship is, there is still a difference between men and women."
Zhuang Liuyun lowered her head, nearly crying with shame. She had thought she'd taken good care of Xiaobao, but only after meeting Brother Chi Ming did she understand what true attentiveness meant. She hadn't even considered Xiaobao's situation.
No wonder Brother Chi could become the Grand Marshal, he is really good at dealing with people.
Zhuang Liuyun looked at Chi Ming with admiration and gratitude, and repeatedly promised that he would take better care of his brother in the future.
Seeing that she was stubborn and unwilling to change her mind, Chi Ming waved his hand helplessly and said, "Alright, you must be tired after walking all the way. I'll order someone to serve dinner."
A servant immediately went to the kitchen to serve the meal, and another servant came in with a pair of brand new cotton slippers. Instead of putting them on the young master, he handed them to the Marshal.
Chi Ming really took the slippers and put them on Zhuang Li himself, but still put Zhuang Li's feet on his knees.
Zhuang Li snuggled in a chair holding Fat Cat, squinting his eyes as he listened to the conversation between his lover and his sister.
These two people are also interesting. One makes explicit hints and jabs, while the other is ignorant and doesn't respond at all, yet they can still chat for such a long time.
The hot meal soon filled the table. Zhuang Liuyun and Chi Ming finally stopped their misunderstanding and reached out to hold Zhuang Li's hand.
Zhuang Li, however, sat in the chair holding the fat cat and refused to move.
"You go eat, I'll feed Xiaobao." Chi Ming looked helpless, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise.
"I feel embarrassed. I'll feed it myself." Zhuang Liuyun quickly bent down and opened the wicker box he brought with him.
The box contained several bibs that Xiaobao wore when he ate. He was completely unable to take care of himself and usually relied entirely on the nanny for care.
By the time Zhuang Liuyun finally managed to turn his bib out, Chi Ming had already put a white napkin on Zhuang Li's collar, filled a bowl with soft and glutinous white rice, soaked it in rich chicken soup, mixed it with egg custard and some meatballs, and fed it to Zhuang Li spoonful by spoonful.
He wasn't impatient or rough, and after feeding Zhuang Li one spoonful, he would quietly wait for him to chew and swallow thoroughly before offering the second. He also had a wet towel nearby, which he would pick up from time to time to wipe the oil stains from the corners of Zhuang Li's mouth.
Zhuang Liuyun had worked as a nanny in her previous life and was considered very attentive and professional. But she had to admit that Brother Chi was indeed better at taking care of his younger brother than she was.
Zhuang Li rubbed the fat cat in his arms and sighed, "This is the life I want."
7480: "...This is also the life I want."
"Just sit down and eat, don't worry about me." Chi Ming glanced at Zhuang Liuyun.
Zhuang Liuyun, who was in a daze, then sat down stiffly and picked up the bowl of rice.
Chi Ming, the host, was the last to eat. The food on the table had already gone cold, so he ate a few bites with his chicken soup, his eyes fixed on the young boy curled up in a large chair, intently petting his cat.
The money box he used to send Zhuang Liuyun away was still on the table, but he had long forgotten it.
Zhuang Liuyun twirled her fingers nervously, wondering how to say goodbye and borrow some money from Brother Chi to rent a house. She also knew that not everyone could live in the Chi residence.
In her previous life, she had heard that when the presidents of the northern and southern governments came to visit the Chi residence, Brother Chi Ming did not let them stay overnight because he did not like strangers to step into his territory.
How should I ask for a loan? The more Zhuang Liuyun thought about it, the more nervous he became. His face flushed, and a thin layer of sweat broke out on his forehead.
At this moment, a young man with slicked-back hair came running out of the courtyard, shouting with a smile, "Brother, brother, my article has been published in the newspaper again."
After entering the side hall, he discovered that there were two strangers in the house, a man and a woman, both of whom were young and very delicate and beautiful.
His eyes lit up and he looked Zhuang Liuyun up and down, then he looked at Zhuang Li who was holding the fat cat.
Chi Ming said calmly, "This is your sister Zhuang."
Sister Zhuang? The young man immediately thought of his fiancée and said, "There's no way I'm going to marry you. Please go back!"
Zhuang Liuyun's red cheeks turned pale in an instant.
Zhuang Li stopped petting the cat and immediately opened his slightly closed eyes. He looked coldly at the young man, then walked to Zhuang Liuyun, gently pulled the corner of her clothes, and glanced at the courtyard outside.
Zhuang Liuyun knew that his brother was very sensitive to other people's ill intentions, so he immediately stood up, bent down and said, "Brother Chi Ming, I will take Xiaobao and leave first."
She had completely forgotten about borrowing money.
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