Cheng Kai's expression darkened further, and he said, "I never intended to stop living a good life with your older sister."
Xu Bai said, "Let's go first. We can talk as we walk. After we're done talking, you and my older sister can pack up and come stay with us at our residence for a few days. My sister and I have been back for several days now, and we've sent you letters, but you haven't responded. When people came to pick us up, they wouldn't let us go back to our parents' home. Tell me, what kind of situation is this? Isn't it said that marriage is a union between two families? I feel like your family is going to become enemies with our family through marriage."
Cheng Kai thought about the occasional grievances he had seen on his wife's face over the past two years. He had always thought that things would be better once his wife took charge of the household herself. Wasn't his mother the same way back then? But he had overlooked his position between his wife and his mother.
Some people are like that; they never see the sacrifices their partner makes for the family or even for themselves. They always think these are things that are taken for granted. Since everyone else does it this way, they don't feel the need to do anything different for themselves.
Xu Baiting looked down on people like that. They took everything for granted and didn't know how to cherish what they had. Only when they lost it did they realize what they had lost, and at that time they would try every means to get it back.
However, it's quite admirable to see someone who used to be high and mighty get completely humiliated.
To get to the courtyard where Xu Gao and Cheng Kai live, you need to pass through the back garden of the Qingping Earl's Mansion. The Qingping Earl's Mansion and the mansions on the left and right were originally the residences of a princess of the previous dynasty. The princess's mansion used to occupy a vast area. After the fall of the previous dynasty, this large area of the mansion was bestowed by the current emperor to the Qingping Earl and some families who were granted titles of nobility as their residences. The Qingping Earl's Mansion was fortunate enough to occupy the large back garden of that time.
Before they had even left the garden, they heard someone calling from afar, "Big cousin, big cousin, wait a moment."
Everyone stopped and looked over. A young woman of about sixteen or seventeen, accompanied by two maids, entered from the other entrance of the garden and hurried toward them.
Upon seeing the slender figure, Xu Bai asked, "Who is this?"
Cheng Kai's attendant was quite touched by Xu Bai's kindness. Upon hearing Xu Bai's question, he quickly replied, "This is our family's cousin, the daughter of our madam's sister."
Cheng Kai glanced coldly at his attendant, who quickly lowered his head and stood to the side, carrying two large food boxes in his hands. Otherwise, he would have had to stand with his hands at his sides and a slight bow by the roadside.
Cheng's cousin hurriedly walked up to Cheng Kai, gave him a proper curtsy, and said sweetly, "I saw you coming back from afar, cousin, so I quickly came over to say hello. Oh my, these are pastries from Jinshiji, right? Cousin, did you buy so many to share with us?"
Cheng Kai glanced at the two large food boxes his attendant was carrying and thought that even if he took them back to his own courtyard, he wouldn't be able to finish them. Just as he was about to ask his attendant to take out one of the boxes to share, Xu Bai said with a smile, "Sister, I'm really sorry, these were all bought by my brother-in-law for my sister, so it's not convenient to share them with others."
The younger cousin of the Cheng family was so embarrassed that she was turned away so quickly after asking for something. Her face turned bright red with shame. A maidservant who was with her saw her mistress being bullied and said, "Our young lady asked her cousin for something, and you say no? Who do you think you are?"
Xu Bai said to Sixi standing behind him, "Sixi, slap yourself. I can't stand servants who have no manners. Her master hasn't even spoken yet, what are she acting like?"
Si Xi was a man, so naturally he couldn't take the lead. He gave a wink to an old woman standing next to him, and the old woman immediately stepped forward and slapped the maid twice. The old woman was used to manual labor, and her hands were very strong. After those two slaps, two bright red handprints were visibly left on the delicate face of the maid.
The three of them, master and servants, were stunned. Xu Bai nodded and said, "You must understand the rules and abide by them. In this world, rules are the most important thing. Do you understand?"
Cheng Kai nodded to his dazed cousin, then carried Xu Bai and continued walking. After walking a while, they heard a crying sound coming from behind. Xu Bai said to Cheng Kai, "Brother-in-law, you're already married. From now on, you should keep your distance from these cousins. Reputation is very important. If you ruin the reputation of your sisters, are you going to take them home as concubines?"
Being spoken to like that by such a young child, Cheng Kai blushed quite a bit, even though he was usually indifferent. Fortunately, he trained under the sun all day and his skin was relatively dark, so the blush wasn't very noticeable.
The commotion in the garden was so loud that the people in the surrounding courtyards naturally heard it. When Cheng Kai carried Xu Bai to the gate of his courtyard, two old women were already waiting there.
Upon seeing that it was indeed the seventh young master of their household, one of Xu Gao's personal maids, who was waiting at the door, bowed to Cheng Kai and exclaimed in surprise, "Seventh Young Master, it really is you!"
Xu Bai nodded somewhat reservedly and said, "Of course it's your seventh young master, me. My older sister, I couldn't wait for her to come home, so I came over to see her first. What is she doing right now?"
When the old woman heard Xu Bai ask Xu Gao, she wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and said, "Our eldest young lady is lying in bed. When Granny Chen took her to the second gate this afternoon, she fainted on the ground."
Upon hearing this, Xu Bai asked in surprise, "Fainted? How could you faint? Brother-in-law, quickly put me down, I'm going to check on my older sister."
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