"Thank you!" Hu Mingmei said with a faint smile, took the basin, and placed it on the stool. Aunt Liu happily said, "You're welcome," and then left cheerfully.
Aunt Liu always timed things so perfectly. Just as Hu Mingmei finished washing her face, Aunt Liu had already brought over breakfast.
Breakfast was very simple, far inferior to what he ate at the Hu family's house. There was only a bowl of white porridge—served on a plate instead of a bowl, a full plate, along with a small bowl of pickled vegetables and two eggs.
"Breakfast is here!" Aunt Liu said with a smile, placing the breakfast in front of Hu Mingmei and introducing it to her one by one. "This white porridge is made with ordinary rice, this pickled vegetable is homemade, the greens for making the pickled vegetable were provided by the girl, and this egg is also cooked by myself. Try it and see if you like it?"
Hu Mingmei obediently ate a mouthful of plain porridge and a bite of pickled vegetables before saying, "It's delicious! Your cooking is superb!"
"Really?" Aunt Liu was even happier.
"Yes!" Hu Mingmei gave an affirmative answer. Looking at Aunt Liu's beaming face, he casually asked, "How long have you been here? Do you have to do so much every day?"
Aunt Liu leaned against the table watching Hu Mingmei eat, and answered Hu Mingmei's questions one by one. "I've only been here for a little over a month. I don't have much to do. I just take care of Auntie and do some housework. But Auntie can't be left alone, so I don't have much free time!"
Hu Mingmei nodded and said considerately, "Do you have to do so much? Thank you for your hard work!"
Aunt Liu exclaimed, looking at Hu Mingmei's expression as if he had never suffered any hardship. "You haven't suffered much hardship, have you? The price you're paying here is the highest I've ever paid in all the jobs I've done. It's a full three taels of silver!" Aunt Liu held up three chubby, short fingers, making a "three" gesture. "Three taels of silver is a lot. In town, a head maid in our county only gets one tael of silver a month. I'm getting two taels more than her. Besides, all I have is strength. I can't read or write. I can't do much at other people's houses. I can only do heavy work, but I can't earn that much."
Aunt Liu is very satisfied with her current job. The girl is easy to talk to, and as long as you do your job well, she won't say anything to you. The old lady doesn't have any strange temper or cause trouble for you. As long as she takes good care of the old lady and does the housework, she can earn three taels of silver a month. She has saved three taels of silver now, and in a few years, she will be able to replace her old house.
"Is Miss Bai very rich?" Hu Mingmei asked casually. "She gives you so much money, is it because she's a very wealthy person? What does she usually do?"
"Their family is quite well-off!" Aunt Liu suddenly leaned down and whispered in Hu Mingmei's ear, "I've been here for over a month, and I see them eating big meals every day. I've even eaten with them, and I've gotten much fatter than usual. Besides, the young master is studying in town. If they weren't so poor, how could they afford to eat like this every day? They even send their younger brother to school, which must cost a lot of money. But I don't know what the young lady does. I only know that she goes to town every day and comes back at night."
Seeing that Aunt Liu knew so much, Hu Mingmei quickly finished her breakfast and smiled at her, saying, "Thank you, breakfast was delicious!"
That smile touched Aunt Liu's heart, melting her soul. She repeatedly said, "Would you like me to take you out? You don't know the way, do you? Auntie will take you for a walk."
Hu Mingmei's smile was as warm as a spring breeze, melting away winter snow and blossoming into spring flowers. "No need, Auntie, you go ahead with your work. I know the way."
"If you don't know the way, remember to come back and find me, I'll take you!" Aunt Liu watched Hu Mingmei walk away with a big smile on her face.
After leaving the Bai family, Hu Mingmei headed towards the fishpond. Although Bai Nuo's explanation was perfectly reasonable, Hu Mingmei felt something was off and didn't make sense, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. This strange feeling lingered in Hu Mingmei's mind and wouldn't go away. So, Hu Mingmei decided to come here herself to take a closer look and see what was so strange about that thing.
Does he eat small fish, as Bai Nuo said?
Soon, Hu Mingmei walked to the edge of the fishpond and stood in the same spot as yesterday. He hadn't been able to see clearly last night because it was dark, but now he noticed that there were patches of vegetable gardens along the edge of the pond, growing lush and green, which was very pleasing to the eye. The water was shimmering, with ripples spreading out in circles, and there were quite a few fish swimming around in the water.
This is a fishpond. What Hu Mingmei finds strange is that Bai Nuo threw a lot of things up here last night, but now they are all gone. Looking at the ground, there are still large traces left.
No matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find Hu Mingmei. Looking at the water, Hu Mingmei really wanted to go into the water, but then she thought about her current physical condition. After hesitating for a long time, Hu Mingmei still didn't go in. She turned around and walked towards the Bai family, secretly making a mental note of the matter.
She made up her mind that she must bring Lu Ying to see this place when Bai Nuo was not around, to see if these things really did eat fish as Bai Nuo said.
"Who are you?" Hu Mingmei walked back along the road she came from, and when she passed the dilapidated house next to the Bai family, she was suddenly stopped by someone.
Hu Mingmei looked at the person pulling him, frowned in disgust, and subtly shook himself off. Apart from Lu Ying, he didn't like anyone else touching him.
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