Bai Ying's voice was calm. Xu Zhi felt that over the years, the sadness and sorrow in Bai Ying's heart had probably faded away with the passage of time. Xu Zhi had once heard her father say that after such a natural disaster, those who were able to witness the disaster and survive it usually lived their lives very seriously. Water and fire are merciless, especially floods, which are the primordial power of nature. In the face of such power, humans are very insignificant.
In the darkness, Xu Zhi couldn't see Bai Ying's expression clearly, but she still felt that behind this calm demeanor, the girl who had lived with her for over a decade was probably still feeling sad.
Xu Zhi held Bai Ying's hand and said, "Sister Bai Ying, if you're sad, just cry it out. Crying will always make you feel better."
Bai Ying gently shook her head and said, "Girl, back then, so many of us girls were either sold or sent to matchmakers. Some families were truly destitute and wanted to find a place for their children to eat. Others had lost their relatives, and their families were unwilling to support them. Kind people sent them to matchmakers, asking them to help find good families. Bad people just sold them directly to matchmakers, not caring where the matchmakers sold them. We dozen or so of us are lucky to have met our mistress. Over the years, we have learned to read and write with her. Bai Shu and a few others have even learned medicine from her. This is truly a great blessing. Girl, we were unfortunate because we encountered natural disasters. We are lucky because we met kind mistresses. They don't beat or scold us, but teach us skills so that we can be self-reliant even if we leave home. How could I be sad?"
Xu Zhi thought back to the days when she was in the Duke's mansion and what the maids there had gone through. Compared to the maids in the Duke's mansion, Bai Ying and the others were indeed much luckier.
In fact, the Xu family did not arbitrarily beat or scold their servants. This was probably because when the Xu family went to war, the servants in the family went with them. The relationship was not only that of master and servant, but also that of comrades. Over the years, the Xu family has always treated the servants around them well. Of course, the servants around them had to be completely loyal. If there were any servants who betrayed their masters, being sent to the estate and imprisoned would be the least of their worries.
Xu Zhi took Bai Ying's hand and asked, "Has Sister Bai Ying gone to look for her family?"
Bai Ying wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve and said, "I have searched for her. When Madam was about to leave Ganzhou, she told us that if we were willing to return home, she would return our indentures. I inquired and found that of the people in my family, only my father survived. Later, my father returned home, built a house, and found a widow who had lost all her relatives to live with. When I went to find her, my father had a son again. I left my father the monthly salary I had saved from working for several years and went to Liaodong with Madam."
When Bai Ying said these things, there was a hint of melancholy in her voice. She probably did not expect that her surviving father would find another wife so soon, and then have a child.
The fourth watch drum sounded outside, and Bai Ying urged, "Good girl, it's already the fourth watch. Why don't you go back to your room and lie down for a while? This morning, I'll have the kitchen prepare lotus root starch soup for you, with some osmanthus honey. How about drinking it cool?"
Xu Zhi smiled and said, "Okay, I'll listen to Sister Bai Ying."
Xu Zhi lay down and quickly fell asleep. In her dream, she dreamed again of following the Duke's mansion to Lingnan. Along the way, they abandoned those who couldn't walk. Xu Zhi was afraid of being abandoned, so she gritted her teeth and followed the group, afraid that if she was too slow, she would be left to fend for herself halfway.
I sat on the bed for a long time after waking up, because I couldn't fall asleep in the middle of the night, and after trying to fall asleep again and then waking up again, I felt sore all over.
Xu Zhi had just put down her bowl after drinking a large bowl of cool lotus root starch soup when she saw Shi Liu rushing in from outside.
Seeing that Shiliu was covered in sweat from running, Honggu stopped her and asked, "Shiliu, why are you running?"
Shi Liu said with a serious expression, "Just now, Elder Jia San said that it has started to rain upstream of the Miao River. We can see the clouds moving towards us from the embankment."
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhi quickly got out of bed, put on her shoes and clothes. Meanwhile, Bai Ying had already led people to tidy up the kitchen and then hurriedly distributed the raincoats that had been made.
Xu Zhi looked at the raincoat Bai Ying brought over and asked, "When your son-in-law came back yesterday, did he take the raincoat with him when he left?"
Bai Ying nodded and said, "The young master brought it with him, and he brought quite a lot more. I kept enough for us, and the rest he took with him."
Xu Zhi nodded and said, "Arrange for someone to go to the Yun family and tell the eldest wife of the second branch of the Yun family that there is heavy rain upstream and the Miao River may rise. Make the necessary preparations as soon as possible."
Bai Ying agreed and quickly went down to make the arrangements.
It was hot, and dry food couldn't be stored for long, so Xu Zhi asked the cook to mix the flour in the house and make dry pancakes. Then she had the steward send a lot of them to Zheng Boyuan.
The rain came quickly. Not long after lunch, the weather turned gloomy, and soon the sound of rain could be heard outside. Gradually, the sound of rain grew louder and louder. Xu Zhi stood at the door, looking at the torrential rain outside.
Xu Bai and Chen Yuyuan ran over from outside, each wearing a raincoat. Xu Zhi quickly helped them take off their raincoats and said, "What have you two been busy with these past few days? We've been missing you for ages."
Xu Bai took the handkerchief from Hong Gu, wiped the rain from his head, and said with a smile, "We've been on the dam all this time. My brother-in-law saw that it was raining and told us to come back and keep my sister company. He also told us to tell my sister not to worry about him, because he was someone who had experienced stormy seas back then."
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
