Minglan was not always so passive and lazy. Back then, she was a good child who was diligent and hardworking, adhering to the five good ethics and four beauties. She wore a red scarf, joined the Young Pioneers, and joined the Communist Youth League. She was always the first in the group. Although she had never been a class monitor, she was often elected as a committee member or a class representative. When she was a propaganda committee member, her blackboard newspaper won an award. When she was an organization committee member, she led everyone to visit sick teachers. When she was an English class representative, she led everyone in morning reading every day. When she was a study committee member, she also successfully organized a one-stop homework copying activity. Except for the time when she was kicked out of the entertainment committee in the fifth grade, she was basically a good student who was liked by teachers and trusted by classmates.
Unexpectedly, Minglan's fortunes plummeted. This time when she moved from Wang's place to Old Lady Sheng's place, only Xiaotao, who was even dumber than herself, was willing to go with her. When the other maids heard that they were going to Shou'an Hall, they either said they were sick or asked for leave, or asked their families to intercede. The mother had even complained of back pain for a few days and was unable to use the service.
"Xiaotao, why are you willing to follow me?" Minglan asked hopefully.
"Can I... not follow?"
The world has changed so much, and a feeling of desolation and emptiness came over her. Minglan took Xiaotao's hand and left in dejected condition. She felt that this was an innocent crime. It was like being assigned to a family business that was nepotistic. No matter how hard you worked, you would still be a second-class citizen. Why bother to make progress? Well, she decided to go and have a look at the new unit.
The main house of Shou'an Hall has five upper rooms. The middle one is called Mingtang, and on both sides are the side rooms and the secondary rooms. There are also several porches in front and back for maids and old women to live in on duty. This is a typical ancient courtyard building. The Mingtang is somewhat similar to the modern living room. The side rooms and the secondary rooms are leisure rooms or bedrooms. The old lady slept in the left side room herself, and settled Minglan in the left secondary room. Because the middle room was separated by a yellow pear wood carved lattice fan, the place where Minglan lived was also called Pear Blossom Cabinet.
The room was just cleaned up by Fang Mama last night. The furnishings were simple and plain, all using cool colors: stone blue, crow blue, navy blue... Only the warm room where Minglan slept was in bright apricot yellow.
Just as they were settled, Cuiping, the maid in the old lady's room, came to tell her that the old lady wanted to see Minglan. Minglan followed her and saw the old lady wearing a thick black brocade jacket with eight groups of Ruyi flowers on it, half lying on the kang. On the kang table lay a scroll of scriptures and a few strings of sandalwood beads, and there was also a small white jade chime inlaid with gold thread and shaped like a cloud.
Seeing Minglan, she beckoned her over. Minglan had greeted several times and knew the etiquette. She bowed first, then stood beside the kang at a 45-degree angle in front of the old lady, looking up and waiting for instructions. Old Lady Sheng saw her reserved little adult demeanor, smiled, and pulled her onto the kang. She said gently, "You are the fourth child I've raised. The first three weren't meant to be with me. I wonder what you are like? Let's talk. You don't have to be so formal. Say whatever you want. It doesn't matter if I say something wrong."
Minglan opened her eyes wide and nodded. She had no intention of lying. Compared with those ancient women who stayed in the inner house all their lives, her scheming was not even enough to carry shoes.
"Have you ever read a book?" asked Mrs. Sheng.
Minglan shook her head and whispered, "Big Sister was going to teach me 'Sound and Rhythm Primer', but after teaching me the first two lines, she was locked up to embroider her dowry. Madam Liu is keeping a close watch on her, so Big Sister can't get out."
A smile flashed in Old Lady Sheng's eyes, and she asked again, "Can you write?"
Minglan smiled bitterly. She used to be able to write, but that wasn't the case here. So she whispered, "I only know a few words."
Old Lady Sheng asked Cuiping to bring up paper and pen for Minglan to write a few words. The ink had been ground long ago. Minglan rolled up her sleeves over her short arms, stretched out her little hand, and held the pen with slightly trembling hands. When she was a child, she had attended calligraphy classes for two summers at the Youth Palace, and all she learned was her poor handwriting and pen-holding posture.
She used her five short fingers to 'press, press, hook, push and resist', and held the pen steadily. She wrote a crooked character '人' on the plain paper, and then wrote a few simple characters, '之, 也, 不, 已' and so on.
The old lady noticed Minglan's gestures and secretly admired them. Though young, the child's arm and wrist were perfectly positioned, her wrist resting on her arm, her back straight, her gaze focused. However, due to her small size and frailty, her handwriting wasn't particularly elegant. Minglan wrote every two- or three-stroke character she could remember, then finished with a chaotic mess of ink. The old lady leaned in to decipher it, and it turned out to be the complex character for "Sheng."
"Who taught you to write?" asked the old lady. She remembered that Aunt Wei was illiterate.
Minglan was sweating profusely from writing. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and said, "It was Fifth Sister. She taught me how to trace red characters."
Old Madam Sheng laughed out loud: "Teach you to trace the red characters? I'm afraid she'll ask you to write for her so she can be naughty."
Minglan blushed and said nothing, thinking that these ancient women were really amazing.
"Who taught you this character '盛'? It's not on the red sticker." The old lady asked, pointing at the illegible ink ball.
Minglan thought for a moment and said, "They're everywhere in the house: on lanterns, on seals, and even on my eldest sister's dowry box."
Old Madam Sheng nodded in satisfaction and touched Minglan's little face. She immediately frowned. Children of this age who were well fed would have chubby cheeks, but Minglan's face was so plump that she couldn't squeeze out a handful of flesh. So she said with a stern face, "From now on, when you are here with me, you must eat and take your medicine properly. You are not allowed to be rude."
Minglan felt she had to defend herself and whispered, "I'm eating and never leaving any food, but I just don't gain weight."
Old Madam Sheng's eyes were warm, but her face was still stern: "I heard that you often vomit medicine."
Minglan felt very wronged. She kneaded the corner of her clothes and said softly, "I didn't want to vomit, but my stomach wouldn't listen to me. There was nothing I could do. This... anyone who has vomited knows!"
The old lady's smile grew even brighter. She pulled Minglan's hand away, helped her straighten the hem of her clothes, and said calmly, "Not only does your stomach disobey you, I'm afraid even your maid doesn't obey you. I heard that only one little maid came with you this time?"
Old Madam Sheng had been lonely for a long time. Today, she smiled one after another and couldn't help but tease. Unexpectedly, the skinny little man in front of her actually answered seriously: "I heard my elder sister say that water flows to the low places, but people go to the high places. No matter where I go, no one is willing to follow me."
"Then why did you come? I'm a vegetarian and there's no meat here," asked the old lady.
"It doesn't matter if I don't eat meat. As long as I can eat my meal in peace, that's good enough." Minglan shook her head.
The childish voice was full of melancholy. The old lady looked at the little girl for a moment, then shook her head, hugged Minglan and sighed, "There's only a handful of bones left. Let's eat some meat."
In fact, what the old lady thought was that they were all the same.
Old Lady Sheng assigned Minglan a new maid, surnamed Cui. She had a round face and spoke little, but appeared very kind and gentle, especially when she held Minglan. Seeing Xiaotao and Minglan's master and servant were each more foolish than the other, Old Lady Sheng gave Minglan a young maid, Danju. Xiaotao immediately felt inferior to Danju. Danju was only a year older than Minglan, but she was steady and attentive, taking care of Minglan's daily needs. Xiaotao was bought from outside, while Danju was a family child. Her parents worked outside managing the farmland. Because there were so many children at home, they couldn't take care of them all, so she entered the palace at a young age. Later, she was favored by the housemother and brought to Shou'an Hall to serve.
Old Madam Sheng was born in a marquis's mansion. Although her life was simple, she had very strict rules and every word and action had its own rules. The maids and old women here seemed to be more honest than those in other places. Minglan was an adult soul, so naturally she would not act naughty and playful. As soon as Madam Cui took over, she told Madam Fang that the sixth young lady was kind and easy to serve.
Before going to bed that night, Danju had already warmed the bed with a hot water bottle. Minglan had Madam Cui change her underwear, and then she slid directly into the warm bed with her arms, gently patting her to sleep. If she felt thirsty or needed to relieve herself during the night, she just called out and someone came to serve her. The next morning, when Minglan opened her eyes, a warm towel was already prepared, and a cup of warm golden thread red date tea was placed in the warming basket. She first applied a light towel to her forehead and cheeks. After she woke up, Madam Cui held the drowsy Minglan in her arms and helped her drink it. Then she washed her face, dressed her, and combed her hair. Little Danju was by her side, helping her button her clothes, put on her socks, and put on her shoes. Then she went out to pay her respects to Old Madam Sheng.
The series of movements were smooth and natural, without any awkwardness. Xiao Tao was stunned watching from the side and could not help at all. Minglan did not come to her senses until she stood in front of the old lady's kang to pay her respects. She felt warm in her stomach and she was wearing thick clothes, so it was not uncomfortable to get up early in the winter.
Oh God, Minglan has been in this world for so long, and this is the first time she has enjoyed such honor without having to lift a finger. What a corruption, what a depravity! Minglan deeply repents of her decadent life.
After paying their respects to the old lady, she took Minglan to the kang and kept her warm while waiting for everyone to come and pay their respects. Not long after, Wang came with the children, but Molan and Changfeng were missing. They said they were sick. Wang looked concerned, and Minglan glanced at her and saw that the old lady's expression had not changed at all.
"They both fell ill. Could it be a cold? This disease is easily spread. I have already sent someone to call a doctor. I just hope that Buddha will bless the two children and that they will be fine." Wang said worriedly.
Minglan secretly gave a thumbs up in her heart. Wang's acting skills have improved over the past year. With her eyes and expressions, people who didn't know her would think that Changfeng and Molan were her children.
Old Madam Sheng suddenly said, "Let the master go and take a look at them later. If the two children are kept together, they will easily catch diseases. Feng'er is already grown up, so it's better to separate them as soon as possible."
Wang was startled, but in her heart she was delighted. She was surprised that the old lady hadn't bothered with this for years, and now she suddenly became interested. She was happy that the old lady would show Aunt Lin her displeasure, which was more righteous than her own actions. She quickly said, "The old lady is right. Brother Feng and Sister Mo are the master's favorites. They are both sick this time, so the master must go and see them."
Old Madam Sheng glanced at her indifferently and lowered her head to drink tea. Wang smiled and turned to look at Minglan, who was wearing a brand new pink feather gauze jacket and standing neatly by the side. She asked her about her well-being for a few more words. Minglan talked about her feelings about moving into the new house, and Hualan made a few more jokes. After everyone laughed happily for a while, they went back.
After the people left, Fang Mama immediately came in from outside with a group of maids holding octagonal food boxes. She helped the old lady get off the kang. Cui Mama led Minglan to the right room and saw that the maids had already placed the breakfast in the food boxes on a black lacquered hexagonal table with carved patterns. After the old lady sat down, Cui Mama carried Minglan onto the round stool. As soon as Minglan sat down and saw the breakfast on the table, she was shocked - no way, they had upgraded their weapons!
There was a large and sumptuous table, with red date paste cakes, purple yam cakes, a plate of steaming fragrant frosted millet cakes, crispy and golden fried sesame oil fruits, steamed dumplings in a steamer, and even a bowl of buckwheat wontons sprinkled with coriander. In front of them was sweet, glutinous and fragrant date-cooked rice porridge, and next to it were a dozen plates of various small pickles.
Minglan held her chopsticks, a little stunned. She had a deep impression of the humble breakfast at Shou'an Hall. She looked up at the old lady and said softly, "...So many."
The old lady didn't even raise her eyes and began to savor the porridge carefully. Fang Mama smiled and said, "Yes, today the old lady suddenly wanted to try it." She had advised her for so many years but she refused to listen. Now, thanks to the blessing of the Sixth Miss, the old lady was finally willing to stop living such a hard life.
Minglan was touched. She looked at the old lady again, her little mouth moved, she lowered her head, then raised it again to glance at her, and said softly, "Thank you, grandma. I will eat more and grow a lot of meat for you."
The old lady only smiled inwardly when she heard the first half of the sentence, but when she heard the second half, she couldn't help but smile. What "grow a lot of meat for you"? Was she raising pigs? Fang's mother even tilted her head and covered her mouth with her hands to laugh.
After breakfast, the grandparents returned to the kang. Old Madam Sheng took out a copy of the Three Character Classic and asked Minglan to read a few lines to see how many she knew. Minglan took it with a guilty conscience and decided to discredit herself, so she started with: "The knife of man gives birth to the wooden sheep, which gives birth to the wooden pound, which gives birth to the wooden yuan..."
The old lady nearly spit out a mouthful of tea and coughed several times. Minglan was startled and quickly walked around the kang to pat the old lady's back to soothe her breath. As she did so, she asked naively and nervously, "Old lady, did I read it wrong?"
The old lady took several deep breaths before she recovered. Looking at her granddaughter's confused face, she managed to say, "You read...very well. You just made a few mistakes. It's nothing serious. Just learn slowly."
Only three out of twelve words were correct, with an accuracy rate of 25%. Minglan was very sad. She thought, how could it be easy for a college student like her to pretend to be illiterate?
Minglan wasn't the only one who felt sad that day. That evening, after Sheng Hong returned home from his duties, Wang Shi immediately reported Old Madam Sheng's words, adding her own interpretation. Without even changing out of her official uniform, Sheng Hong went to Aunt Lin's place with a sullen face. After closing the door, no one outside knew what was happening inside. They could only vaguely hear cries, roars, and the crisp sound of porcelain breaking...
About half an hour later, Sheng Hong came out with a pale face. When the maid went in to serve him, she found Aunt Lin's room in a mess. Aunt Lin was lying on the kang, crying so hard that she almost fainted.
After learning this, Wang was so excited that she drank three cups of strong tea in a row, then lit a stick of incense to Yuanshi Tianzun and Tathagata Buddha respectively, muttering to herself. Even knowing that Sheng Hong went to the study to sleep did not dampen her good mood; as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, Wang decided to be doubly filial to the old lady in the future.
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