Chapter 67 Nightmare Revealed: Her voice has recovered!!!
The guard presented the portrait. Chu Ze opened it and glanced at it. The baby in the portrait was fair and chubby with a round face, looking like a very lucky child. However, no matter how he looked at it, he couldn't see any resemblance to her.
The portrait was rolled up, and Chu Ze held it in his hand, saying in a low voice, "The young master is asleep. I will present this painting to him again tomorrow. You may leave now!"
The guard had no doubt about his words and quickly withdrew after responding.
After returning to his room, Chu Ze placed the portrait on the bookshelf, intending to present it to Lu Xiuyi the next day. However, when he woke up, Lu Xiuyi hurriedly sent someone to tell him that he had to leave for Yichuan early that morning and was in a rush. He immediately forgot about the portrait.
***
As the autumn wind rises, the aroma of wine becomes intoxicating.
The first batch of peach wine this year has been harvested.
Feng Huai happened to be patrolling near Zhuoshan with two men when he saw Meng Yu wearing a straw hat and carrying wine jars with the workers. A few strands of hair fell over her shoulders, and although her face, which was slightly red from the sun, had fine lines, it still couldn't hide her beautiful appearance.
"Miss Xi looks to be about twenty-eight years old. Why doesn't she have a man by her side?"
"Haven't you heard? She's a widow. Two years ago, there was a flood in Yuezhou, and her husband died while fleeing. She went through many hardships to get to our village. Thanks to Miss Cui for taking her in, she survived."
As his thoughts wandered, he suddenly heard whispers behind him. Feng Huai's heart sank, and he shouted in a low voice, "What nonsense are you talking about? How could Miss Xi be a widow?"
The two subordinates sheepishly withdrew their gossipy expressions. Seeing that Feng Huai seemed unconvinced, one of them mustered his courage and said, "Captain, it's true. I didn't believe it at first either, but it's all over the place. They're even telling you the details, including the exact date when Miss Xi came here. Later, some people didn't believe it and even asked Miss Xi about it, and the date actually matched."
He spoke with such conviction that Feng Huai's heart sank as he watched the person chatting and laughing with Ren Ling not far away.
After a while, he continued walking forward.
Meng Yu had seen him earlier, but she was busy with her work and noticed that he seemed to be acting strangely, so she didn't come over to greet him.
Seeing him approaching, she hurriedly put down her work and turned to go back to the storeroom to get his usual wine cup. Feng Huai quickly said, "Miss, there's no need to rush. We're on patrol right now and we're not drinking today."
Meng Yu turned around and smiled, raising her hand: "I know, it's not wine, it's peach drink I made yesterday. You must be tired after patrolling all day, have some water and rest for a while."
Before Feng Huai could even respond, his two subordinates, who often accompanied him to Zhuoshan and now understood Meng Yu's sign language, immediately chimed in with laughter upon hearing about the peach drink, "Great! Great! If there's any more..."
Peach mochi would be even better.
Before he could finish speaking, his voice abruptly stopped. Feng Huai glared at them, and the two lowered their heads sheepishly.
Meng Yu smiled, knowing what they meant, and raised her hand: "Peach drink paired with peach cakes also has a unique flavor. Please wait a moment, I will bring it out."
Outside the storeroom was a stone table and several stone benches. Meng Yu took out the items, placed them on the stone table, and invited the three men to try a couple of sips. The three men drank them and praised them highly.
Before long, Ren Ling and the workers finished moving the wine jars. Seeing that it was getting late and Chun Restaurant was urging them to hurry, Meng Yu quickly raised her hand to Feng Huai: "Uncle Ge is in a hurry, so I'll go deliver the wine first. If you've finished drinking, just put the cups on the shelf by the door for me. I'll clean them up when I get back."
After saying that, Meng Yu lifted her foot to leave.
"Miss Xi..."
Meng Yu turned around at the sound and saw Feng Huai standing up, looking at her meaningfully, his lips moving as if he had something to say.
The twilight enveloped his face, its radiance dazzling. Meng Yu looked at him with a hint of doubt, squinting slightly.
Feng Huai seemed to sigh: "Miss, please be careful when you deliver goods. If you need my help, just let me know."
Time was a bit tight, and Meng Yu didn't have time to guess what he wanted to say. Hearing this, she simply nodded and hurried off to deliver the goods with Ren Ling.
***
Early November.
The autumn wind was chilly, and the air was already a little cool. The carriage rumbled through the bustling streets, and the aroma of roasted chicken wafted out from the half-open window, seeping into the carriage through the bamboo curtain.
The person who was engrossed in reading was drawn by the familiar fragrance. He looked up from between the lines of text, lifted the bamboo curtain, and saw the three large characters "Longxianglou" come into view.
Scenes from the past flooded his mind like a burst dam, and a sudden throbbing pain struck his heart. He quickly put down his book, took out a porcelain bottle from his pocket, poured out a calming pill, and swallowed it. After a while, the intense throbbing pain in his head was slightly relieved.
Hearing the commotion inside, Chu Ze, who was driving the carriage, frowned with worry and couldn't help but turn his head to ask, "Young master, should we stop and rest for a while?"
Lu Xiuyi propped his head up, not even looking up, and said, "No need. After we check on this baby girl, how many are left?"
"That's all, this is the last one."
After he finished speaking, there was no more sound from inside. The carriage drove out of the market, and Chu Ze whipped his horse, then tentatively said after thinking for a moment, "Young master, let's go back to the capital after we've seen this!"
After a long pause, a voice came from inside: "Has anything happened at the Western Camp lately?"
"No, everything is as usual."
"Then let's not go back to the capital, let's travel around."
Chu Ze was slightly surprised. The headaches from the past few days had flared up several times. Each time he saw a baby girl, he became more and more depressed. He didn't know how much of his usual energy had dissipated. He didn't understand what the point was of his insistence on seeing those baby girls. Even if their eyes and eyebrows resembled hers, the deceased were gone, and it was all in vain.
Chu Ze originally wanted to persuade him to return to the capital, but when the words were on the tip of his tongue, he suddenly felt that the capital was a place of sorrow after all, and it wouldn't be a bad thing for him to travel around and clear his mind, so he changed his mind and asked, "Where would you like to go, young master?"
Lu Xiuyi didn't have a specific destination in mind. He just didn't want to return to Shangjing so soon. Anywhere was fine as long as it could calm his mind.
"It's up to you to decide."
Having followed Lu Xiuyi for so many years, Chu Ze had always followed his advice. If Lu Xiuyi wanted to go east, he would never ride west. Now, suddenly being asked to make a decision, he found himself in a dilemma.
Just then, something from two months ago suddenly came to mind. He quickly stopped the carriage and lifted the curtain: "Young master, why don't we go to Crane Nine Cloud Village?"
***
Throughout the year, the period from Jiayue to the following year's Canyue is the quietest time in Zhuoshan. During this time, Mengyu would arrange for some workers to take a break in turn, and Renling would take care of most of the daily chores.
Yun'an named her daughter Zhaoyuan, hoping that her wishes would come true and that she would be safe and sound year after year.
At the foot of Zhuoshan Mountain, there were several clumps of bamboo. Meng Yu asked someone to help cut down a few stalks and made two small flower lanterns to give to Zhaoyuan.
"The little lantern sways and sways, revealing a little red hood. Little red hood is a good girl; she has a pair of curved little earlobes and a pair of bright, big eyes. Little red hood is a good girl..."
Xiao Zhao lay in the cradle, wearing a little red hat woven by Yun An, while Meng Yu shook a lantern, making her laugh happily.
Xiao Zhaoyuan was already over five months old. Yun'an didn't want to spend Meng Yu's money anymore, so she let the wet nurse leave and cooked rice porridge for her every day with minced meat and vegetables.
Yun'an went to the market to buy meat. Because Zhaoyuan was a girl, Cui's mother would go out with a hoe every day and not return until sunset, not even wanting to look at her. Meng Yu had never seen her so busy before. Since Yun'an was busy, she came over to look after little Zhaoyuan for her.
The sky was ablaze with colorful clouds, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone on Xiao Zhaoyuan's rosy face. Suddenly, a low, angry shout leaked through the crack in the door: "Zhaoyuan is still young. She can't use that much, nor can she eat that much. I'm telling you to be more frugal, to buy fewer things, and to argue with your mother less. Is that wrong?"
Cui Xun's voice drifted over from afar, and the person beside him should be Yun An.
Little Zhaoyuan in the cradle grinned and laughed happily, as if all the troubles of the world had nothing to do with her.
They seemed to be quite far apart, but Meng Yu had sharp ears, and the argument seemed to be escalating, with her voice rising higher and higher.
"What do you mean by that? Are you saying that all the money you gave me went to my mother and me? Do you think the hot meals you eat every day after school don't cost money? Do you think you don't mend your clothes when they're torn? Do you think the firewood in the house just appears out of thin air?"
Cui Xun seemed furious: "Mother grows vegetables, how much money can she spend on food in a day? There's plenty of firewood on the volcano, why do we have to buy it?"
"Your mother grows vegetables?" Yun'an's voice sounded like she was about to break down, with a hint of sobs. "She does go out every day with a hoe, but is she going to grow vegetables? She goes to town to chat. When has she ever brought any vegetables back? There is indeed a lot of firewood on the mountain, but when I go up the mountain, who will look after Zhaoyuan for me? After Zhaoyuan was born, did your mother even look at her once? Did she even hold her once?"
Upon hearing this, Cui Xun seemed to fall silent. After a long while, the door opened, and Meng Yu looked up to see that both of them had smiles on their faces, as if the argument just now was a hallucination.
Meng Yu didn't expose them, but just smiled and raised her hand to Yun An: "Now that you're back, I'll be going now. It's getting dark, and I haven't fed the chickens at home yet."
Yun An nodded hurriedly, thanked her, and asked a couple of questions about whether Zhao Yuan had cried or fussed. Meng Yu quickly raised her hand and said, "Don't worry, she's very well-behaved."
Even though she tried to hide it with a smile, the bitterness in her eyes was still clearly visible.
Meng Yu sighed silently, turned around and went back to her home.
The most difficult thing in the world is family affairs. Yun'an was completely helpless in her situation. What stood between her and Cui Xun was not only Cui's mother, but also the daily necessities of life. Perhaps Cui Xun was like a chicken rib to Yun'an. She couldn't bear to throw him away, but she couldn't eat him.
After feeding the chickens, Meng Yu noticed there was a piece of pork belly left in the kitchen. She chopped it into filling, mixed it with chopped green onions, stir-fried it, and then wrapped it into wontons. She also picked two bunches of green vegetables from the vegetable garden and put them into the wontons to cook together.
She was slow and chopped the filling, kneaded the dough, and rolled out the wonton wrappers. By the time she finished all that, it was almost midnight.
Meng Yu simply boiled water, washed up, went back to her room, lit two lamps, lay back on the couch, and picked up a book to pass the time.
The wax dripped, the windowsill was old and Meng Yu hadn't had time to replace it. Even after closing it, wind still leaked in, causing the half-burnt flame to sway erratically.
"Squeak!"
Suddenly, a slight sound came from the door. Meng Yu, who was engrossed in her book, was startled and quickly got up to look. When she opened the door, she saw that dark clouds covered the sky, and the moonlight had long since hidden behind the clouds. Everything in the courtyard seemed normal, and there was nothing strange about it.
Meng Yu frowned, about to close the door.
Suddenly, a hand with distinct knuckles reached out from the darkness, grabbing the door and stopping her movements. A soft voice seeped into her ears: "Yu'er, it's been a long time."
The voice was so familiar that Meng Yu turned pale with fright. A figure in black immediately came into view, and as her gaze moved slightly upward, a familiar jawline unexpectedly entered her eyes.
Under the darkness, Lu Xiuyi, his face pale, smiled and looked at her with a sinister gaze, devoid of any smile, like a cold snake that wanted to coil around her tightly, entwine her, and then devour her whole.
He raised his foot and pressed closer step by step. She was so frightened that she kept backing away, but he forced her to cower in a corner.
"Yu'er, I've been so good to you, why are you running away? Come back with me."
As they were talking, that rough, large hand reached out irresistibly, and she instinctively raised her hand, trying to stop him.
"don't want."
A slightly hoarse voice rang out amidst the pattering rain. The dim light illuminated the white curtains, and Meng Yu sat up in fright, her forehead covered in cold sweat. She stared stiffly at the doorway.
The door was tightly shut, and the rain was pattering.
Only then did she realize that everything that had just happened was a dream, and her scattered pupils gradually focused.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, she touched her throat in disbelief and tentatively opened her mouth: "No...don't..."
The voice was very soft and a little hoarse.
An indescribable surge of joy welled up in his heart in that instant, dispelling the fear he had just felt.
She... she can speak now!!!
Her voice has recovered!!!
Meng Yu quickly threw back the covers, barely having time to put on her shoes before getting out of bed. She turned on all the lights in the room, then sat in front of the mirror, gently touching her throat. She nervously opened her mouth and let out a soft "Ah..."
As the sound entered her ears, the vibration in her throat also traveled through her fingertips to her entire body. She was stunned for a moment, then lowered her hand in disbelief, her limbs trembling with excitement.
She can still speak; she can actually still speak.
After taking the medicine for so long, she had almost given up hope.
The sky was already turning a pale white, and Meng Yu was no longer sleepy. She went to the eaves and lit a lamp. She saw the misty rain falling from the gray sky, and the lamplight in the courtyard added a touch of brightness.
One autumn rain brings a chill; at the end of November, a gentle breeze caresses the face, and even in the south, a slight chill can be felt.
Suddenly feeling a chill, Meng Yu returned to her room, propped up the window, put on a thin outer robe, and leaned against the soft couch, watching the rain outside the window gradually intensify and her desire to watch the tide rise.
I don't know how much time passed, but the immense joy gradually dissipated and my mood returned to calm. But then the dream I had just had surged back into my mind, and the fear that had faded away swept over me again. My right eyelid started twitching uncontrollably, very fast and very hard.
Her intuition told her that something was wrong, very wrong.
***
Without thinking any further, Meng Yu could no longer sit still. She immediately got up and took out the house deed, the keys, and all the contracts she had signed with Uncle Ge, putting them into a box.
With a heart full of trepidation, she waited until Chenshi (7-9 AM) before picking up the box, holding an umbrella, and going to the Cui family to find Yun'an.
But when the door opened, Yun An's eyes were red and her left cheek was slightly swollen.
No one else was in the house. Meng Yu had deliberately chosen the time when Cui Xun went to the private school to come over. Cui Xun had just left the private school when his mother also left.
Meng Yu was about to raise her hand to ask her a question when Yun An rubbed her eyes and laughed first, "I'm fine, it's just that some sand got in my eyes."
The excuse was so clumsy that even the most dull-witted person could see through it. Meng Yu sighed silently, stuffed the box into her hand, and said directly, "My room is empty anyway. If you don't want to be with Cui Xun anymore, just move to my place with Zhao Yuan. Don't worry about the money; Uncle Ge will send it to you."
Yun'an didn't hear the rest of what she said, only that the house was empty. She was startled and quickly asked, "What do you mean 'empty'? What happened? Where are you going?"
Meng Yu shook her head and feigned a faint smile: "I'm fine. I've just been here for too long and wanted to travel around. I've always dreamed of traveling the world if I had the chance. Now that Ren Ling is helping to manage things in Zhuoshan, I feel at ease. It's just that this house will get moldy if it's empty for too long. If you want to live with Cui Xun, you can occasionally go over and clean the house for me. If you don't want to live with him anymore, you can just move in."
She spoke with utmost sincerity, without a trace of pretense, leaving Yun An somewhat skeptical: "When are you leaving?"
"This afternoon."
Yun An was so surprised that her mouth dropped open: "Why the rush?"
Meng Yu smiled and said, "It's not in a rush. I had this idea a couple of months ago, but Chun Restaurant was very busy at that time and I couldn't get away, so I forgot to tell you."
How long will it take?
"It could take one or two years at the shortest, or three or four years at the longest; it's hard to say."
Seeing that she was determined to leave, Yun An sighed and didn't know what else to say. He could only hug the box tightly and nod, "I'll wait for you to come back."
Meng Yu ultimately didn't tell Yun An the truth. The less Yun An knew about her past, the safer she would be. Although she didn't know if Lu Xiuyi had really discovered that she had faked her death, this feeling of panic was too strange and too uncomfortable. Her intuition told her that she couldn't stay any longer.
This rare freedom was something Aunt Shen fought desperately for for her; she dared not, and was even less willing to, take the slightest risk.
After delivering the box, she went to Ren Ling's house and told her to take good care of things in Zhuoshan. Then she rushed to Chun Restaurant and asked Uncle Ge to give Yun An a share of the monthly profits for her and Zhao Yuan's daily expenses.
Everyone found her sudden desire to travel the world strange, but fortunately, no one pressed her for details.
Meng Yu hurriedly returned to Hualing Lane, packed a few of her usual clothes, some food rations, and over a thousand taels of silver notes, and was about to leave.
"Yunhe, I made some osmanthus cakes. Take them and eat them on the way." Yun'an appeared at the door carrying two small boxes wrapped in oil paper. The color had faded from her slightly swollen face.
Meng Yu sighed. Just then, the carriage she had hired arrived. She could only take the things from Yun An's hands and reluctantly wave to her: "Yun An, there is a saying in my hometown: sunk costs should not be included in major decisions. Before you make any major decision, don't factor in past efforts. Only by moving forward can you bring Zhao Yuan out of the mire. The future is always more worthwhile than the present or the past."
After saying that, she didn't wait for Yun An's reply. She gently patted the back of Yun An's hand, then boarded the carriage and left without looking back, leaving Yun An standing there in a daze.
The author notes: "Sunk costs are not involved in major decisions." (Quoted from Joseph Stiglitz's *Economics*)
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