Chapter 82: I have a lot of experience.
After Qu Rong became the head of the family, the things she had to manage were different from before.
At least she can't just focus on the inner quarters; she has to go out frequently, so she spends very little time in the house and can't attend to many things.
At this time, Li Yue'er, whom Qu Rong had been training for almost half a year, began to play a role.
Li Yue'er still had to learn accounting from Su Rou, but now that she was taking over the inner quarters, she had no one to ask about the affairs of the household, so she could only ask Su Rou, who was right next to her.
Su Rou sighed and closed the ledger. "She did it on purpose."
His tone was very confident.
Li Yue'er covered for her mistress, tilting her head and feigning ignorance, "Huh?"
Su Rou looked at her gently with a reproachful gaze.
Seeing that pretending to be stupid was useless, Li Yue'er stood up with a smile and fawned over Su Rou by pouring her tea and adding water. She then confessed honestly, "The head of the family said that you, teacher, are also good at managing the inner quarters. He said that you should teach me so that I can practice at the Qu residence first."
She took charge of the inner quarters with Teng Huang, relieving the mistress of her worries so that the mistress could freely subdue or dismiss those unruly stewards in the neighborhood.
The Qu family had finally been brought under the control of the matriarch, and Li Yue'er, even if she gritted her teeth and stubbornly insisted on managing the household, would never admit defeat and hand over the power of housekeeping to the old lady.
In mid-February, Wu's mother came over to show concern for her, saying that she could lend a hand and teach her how to manage the house.
Li Yue'er wasn't stupid; she could naturally see that her concern was feigned, and that she was actually there to watch her and her mistress have a good time.
Because the mistress had schemed against the old lady, the old lady hated her to death, but she couldn't do anything openly, so she could only make things difficult for her behind her back.
Not only did the manager in the neighborhood make things difficult for the new head of the household, but the newcomer in charge of the inner quarters also started to make things difficult for her.
Last night, Li Yue'er nestled in her mistress's arms, asking her for advice on managing the household. The mistress, with a kiss on her lower lip, guided her in the right direction—
Su Rou.
Su Rou was originally the legitimate daughter of the Minister's family, and she had already learned to manage the household before her marriage. For young ladies from prominent families like them, from the age of fifteen, they gradually took over the management of the affairs of the inner quarters.
Before the Su family's incident, Su Rou had at least two years of housekeeping experience. Teaching Li Yue'er to manage a small Qu residence was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Su Rou knew that.
Su Rou said, "She's a shrewd strategist; she's a born businesswoman."
They wanted to squeeze every last drop of value out of every available person.
Li Yue'er instinctively defended her, saying, "The head of the family has her own difficulties, which is why she always tries to take advantage of others. But she's actually tough on the outside but soft on the inside, and a very good person."
Su Rou, "..."
Realizing that Su Rou was watching her quietly, Li Yue'er's cheeks slowly warmed up, her eyes darting around as she tried to make amends, saying, "It's just that sometimes the way you talk is weird."
Su Rou gave her a deep look, shook her head and lowered her eyes, "It's alright, she's annoying when she talks, but you speak nicely."
They are truly a match made in heaven.
Li Yue'er stared longingly at Su Rou.
Su Rou nodded helplessly and agreed to the matter. "I will come to teach you in the morning, and you can take care of the house in the afternoon. If there is anything you don't understand or have any difficulties, just ask me in the morning. Although I don't like Qu Rong's personality, I did my best when I taught her."
"Now that I'm teaching you, I'll naturally be holding nothing back."
Li Yue'er, "?!"
What did she hear?!
Li Yue'er couldn't help but ask, "Sister Su, you taught the mistress what?"
She still sometimes makes mistakes, such as when she is with close friends or when she is intimate with the Lord Mother.
Su Rou smiled slightly, "Before her fake marriage, I taught her etiquette."
Li Yue'er was in a daze. In public, the mistress was dignified and composed, but in private, she would sometimes sit idly with her head propped up on her hand and leaning back. However, the mistress was serious and beautiful. Even if she twisted her neck like a crooked tree at the table without any manners, she was still pleasing to the eye.
After asking this question, Li Yue'er smiled and thanked Su Rou, her soft voice saying, "Thank you, Sister Su."
Su Rou, who dislikes getting involved in trouble, not only has to help with the accounts after getting involved with her, but also has to teach her how to manage the house.
Su Rou didn't even lift her eyelids at Li Yue'er's gratitude, saying, "I'll keep it in Qu Rong's account."
Su Rou gestured to Li Yue'er, "She has paid your tuition in full, so just focus on learning from me. Don't get involved in favors or burdens, and don't think about those unnecessary things."
Li Yue'er nodded emphatically, "Okay!"
Seeing that Su Rou agreed, Li Yue'er breathed a sigh of relief.
The best outcome would be to learn how to manage the house from Sister Su; if that's not possible, then she'll have to consult the mistress.
And the mistress's mouth...
Li Yue'er didn't dare to think too much about it. She just looked at Su Rou happily. The more she looked at her, the more she felt that Shi Yi was really lucky. Such a gentle and helpful teacher who could guide and enlighten people was truly a win for Shi Yi.
She studies with Su Rou in the morning and then handles matters at the house in the afternoon.
Songxinyuan is alright, but Shouhetang is a real handful.
With the arrival of early March and the onset of spring, things started to get busier around the house.
Not only did the household need to re-measure and re-cut the spring clothes, but in April, a group of maids who had turned sixteen would also need to redeem themselves, and she would have to select a new batch of maids to replace them.
These things need to be prepared for starting in March.
Everyone else could buy their freedom, but she couldn't.
Since the head of the Qu family is now the mistress, the household registration information was sent to the government office to be corrected. However, for some reason, it has not been returned yet. The mistress is not in a hurry and just waits patiently.
Once the household registration information is corrected, even if Qu Ming is alive, he will no longer be the master of the Qu family, and naturally, she and Meng Xiaoxiao will no longer be his concubines.
Especially now that the master is nominally "dead," she and Xiaoxiao could theoretically learn from the maids and use money to exchange for their freedom at the Qu residence.
Even a fool could tell that what was easy for Meng Xiaoxiao would be incredibly difficult for her.
To this day, she doesn't even know where the mistress hid her indenture!
Li Yue'er sat in the mistress's original study, resting her chin on her hands, using the mistress's desk and occupying the mistress's armchair. Now, as she rested and relaxed, her gaze followed Teng Huang's figure.
Wearing an orange dress, Teng Huang walked back and forth tidying up the account books on the bookshelves, looking like a busy and hardworking little bee.
Li Yue'er pinched her soft cheek with her fingers, her voice mumbled indistinctly, "How old are you and Dan Sha?"
Without a second thought, Teng Huang replied, "I'm seventeen, and Dan Sha is eighteen. I'm a few months older than the patriarch. The patriarch is the youngest, yet the most mature, hehe."
Li Yue'er, "..."
Li Yue'er calculated that the mistress was younger than all three of them, while she and Dansha were the same age.
Li Yue'er lowered her hands and asked curiously, "Will you and Dansha redeem yourselves and leave?"
Gamboge, "Where are you going?"
She asked in confusion, "This is our home. Wherever you and the head of the family are, Dansha and I will be there too."
Li Yue'er laughed, "For the rest of my life, I and the mistress can rely on each other. Will you and Dansha also rely on each other like that?"
Teng Huang nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and even teased Li Yue'er in return, "You two share a room and a bed, and so do we. How can we not be each other's companions?"
Li Yue'er, "..."
Li Yue'er didn't want to talk about her, but she couldn't stand Teng Huang's smugness, so she said, "When I'm in bed with the mistress, this is how it is, and it's the same for you two?"
Teng Huang was stunned for a moment, then his face turned red instantly!
Her eyes widened as she stared at the desk behind her.
Li Yue'er, thick-skinned and unafraid of being looked at, rested her chin on her hands and stared back at her, her bright eyes waiting for her answer.
Teng Huang moved over, bit his lip, and said to the desk, "We two are different from you two. We've been sleeping like this since we were little."
Teng Huang thought for a moment, then said hesitantly, "She used to be happy when I touched her waist or tickled her. But now, for some reason, she won't let me touch her anymore, and she even washes herself behind my back so I can't see."
She sighed, "I thought we had made up."
Clearly, the reconciliation was only superficial. As long as Dansha forbade her from doing those intimate things with her, they had not truly reconciled.
Fujiwara felt a pang of sadness. His fingers traced patterns on the table with the hand he was using to support himself, his eyes darting around. He asked in a low, indistinct voice, "Do you think she is...?"
Li Yue'er was afraid that she had missed something, so she blinked, braced her arms on the table, deliberately lifted her bottom off the chair, leaned over and tilted her head to listen carefully.
Gambo: "Does she... not like me?"
That's why I'm keeping my distance from her.
Li Yue'er looked up at Teng Huang in surprise, feeling that what was on Teng Huang's neck wasn't a head, but a pretty piece of wood. "She doesn't like you?"
Seeing that she had heard him, Teng Huang turned around to face her and leaned on the desk, whispering to her head-to-head, "It's not like I haven't tried to test her according to the stories in the novels, but she won't let me touch her waist anymore. She doesn't like me at all. I saw that when you touched the head of the family's waist, the head of the family was very happy."
Li Yue'er was genuinely curious, her eyes widening as she asked, "How did you figure out that the family head was 'happy'?"
With the mistress's cold and indifferent face, and her act of being serious and aloof from sensuality in front of outsiders, how did Teng Huang figure out that she was willing?
Giampagi chuckled, "The onlooker sees most of the game."
She winked and said, "I have a lot of experience."
Li Yue'er, "..."
Li Yue'er preferred to believe that her mistress was "happy."
She asked Gambo, "You like cinnabar? Otherwise, why would you care whether she likes you or not?"
Teng Huang frowned at her. "Of course I like cinnabar. We've been sleeping in the same bed since we were little."
Her "liking" is probably not the same as romantic liking.
Li Yue'er sighed and sat back down. "If you're curious, go ask her."
Gambo was a little embarrassed, scratching his cheek with his fingers, and mumbled something without saying a word.
She was lying on the table with her butt sticking out, looking distressed. So much so that when Qu Rong came in, Teng Huang was talking to Li Yue'er in this awkward position.
Qu Rong pushed open the door and stood there quietly looking at Teng Huang, already having already decided in her mind which workshop to send Teng Huang to work as a donkey pulling a millstone.
Fujiwara felt a chill run down his spine. He turned his head in confusion and met the head of the family's murderous eyes. "?!"
She scrambled up from the desk, her hands lightly touching her chest and the front of her dress. "I... I didn't say anything."
Then he slipped out of the study like the wind, closing the door behind him.
Teng Huang ran away, and Qu Rong began to stare blankly at Li Yue'er.
Li Yue'er stood up with a smile, went over and pulled the mistress to sit in the armchair, then sat next to her on the armrest, putting her arm around the mistress's shoulder as she spoke, "Teng Huang said you were happy when I touched your waist."
She thought the mistress was too shy to talk to her, but to her surprise, the mistress raised her head with a serious expression, frowned, and asked, "When did you touch it?"
Li Yue'er had no recollection of which time Teng Huang had seen her touching the mistress's waist, since she touched her every day.
Li Yue'er looked down at the mistress, who looked up at her with a faint smile on her lips.
Li Yue'er's face flushed, and she immediately understood. Like water, she slid from the armrest of the chair into the mistress's lap, her hands starting to wander. "I don't know when you started touching me."
She unbuttoned the mistress's clothes, slipped her hand inside, and breathed softly into her ear, "Perhaps, now~"
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Moon: Are you willing? [Yellow Heart]
Mistress: ...[shy]
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