Shi Tou scrubbed the young master's back with the same force he used when bathing, and immediately noticed two glaring red marks on the young master's fair back. Startled, he quickly asked, "Young master, does it hurt?"
Pei Ji answered honestly, "It's a little spicy."
Stone stared, thinking to himself that these young masters and ladies must have bodies that were different from theirs, probably made of tofu, and the tender kind at that.
Keep in mind that he was using a soft, fine cloth, but he might have applied a little too much pressure, and yet the area was already red. If it had been the coarse cloth he used at home, the young master would have been chafed raw.
Shi Tou looked at Pei Ji guiltily and said, "Then I'll be gentler. If it hurts, just say so."
Pei Ji nodded. This time, Shi Tou carefully and gently wiped Pei Ji's back, barely daring to use any force. Instead, he slowly used a fine cloth to gently absorb the water. This time, the back didn't turn red again.
After drying himself off, Pei Ji put on his inner garment, took off his wet underpants and changed into new ones, haphazardly draped his middle garment over his body, loosely tied his skirt in a knot, and left the waistband and belt unattended since he didn't know how to do them. Then, he impatiently squatted down by the stream, took a cloth and wet it, and wrung it out like Shi Tou had done.
He learned the movements very well, but he lacked strength. His two small hands couldn't hold the large cloth tightly, so he could only hold one corner at each end. Therefore, even after several attempts, he couldn't completely wring the cloth dry.
Pei Ji asked in confusion, "Shi Tou, how come the cloth is still wet in the middle even after I wrung it out several times, but it was dry after you wrung it out only twice?"
At this moment, Shi Tou also came ashore, changed his clothes, squatted down next to him, and said with a smile, "Young Master, I am so much older than you, so I must be stronger. When you grow up, your strength will also increase."
As he spoke, Shi Tou stretched out his hand in front of Pei Ji, "Look, my hand is bigger than yours, so I can hold this whole cloth in my hand."
Pei Ji silently stretched out his hands and compared them to the stone, finding that they were indeed two sizes smaller. No wonder he had such difficulty gripping the cloth.
Pei Ji thought for a moment and had an idea. "Then I'll go back tonight and get a small cloth towel to try, or..." At this point, Pei Ji suddenly remembered, "Oh right, although there are no small cloth towels here, I have a handkerchief."
Pei Ji bent down and rummaged through his dirty clothes. Sure enough, he found the small handkerchief he had used to wipe his sweat. He excitedly held up the handkerchief to Shi Tou and said, "Look, this one is much smaller. I'm sure I can wring it dry!"
Stone laughed and said, "Yes, you can definitely wring this dry. Give it a try."
Stone's laughter wasn't because of the small handkerchief, but because he found the young master so amusing that he could be so serious about something as mundane as wringing out a towel.
He watched Pei Ji's movements with great interest and found that Pei Ji was indeed able to wring out the water smoothly this time. He clapped his hands in praise and said, "Well done, young master is really amazing, you learned it in no time!"
Pei Ji touched the dry handkerchief, quite satisfied. Unconsciously, his dimples reappeared on his face. A ray of sunlight playfully peeked through the gaps in the bamboo branches and shone on his little face, making him look incredibly cute.
Shi Tou tilted his head, looking at Pei Ji's happy expression, and thought to himself, "No wonder everyone in Hejing Courtyard treats Pei Ji so well. Every little thing this young master does is endearing." If he had such a cute little brother, he would carry him around even if the little brother wanted to climb on the roof and tear off the tiles.
However, when Pei Ji turned around, Shi Tou suddenly noticed that his clothes were just hastily draped over his body, a mess underneath, with the ties all loose and haphazardly tied, making it a truly pitiful sight.
Shi Tou was taken aback at first, then slapped his forehead. That's right, the young master's clothes were always served by Sister Mei and others. This was probably the first time he dressed himself. No wonder it turned out so shocking.
When Shi Tou first wore the clothes Min Yueqing bought for him, he didn't look much better than Pei Ji does now. If it weren't for Sister A Mei noticing and then teaching him how to wear them, he wouldn't have been able to figure out the correct way to wear them. The clothes of wealthy people are really complicated.
Fortunately, Stone was already quite skilled at dressing himself, and he immediately said, "Young Master, please stand up for a moment, let me straighten your clothes."
Pei Ji was well aware that his clothes were a mess. Although he didn't know how to dress himself, he could tell. No matter who helped him dress, his clothes were never this messy. When he heard that Shi Tou was going to help, he obediently stood up.
Stone untied the knot he had tied haphazardly, straightened it from the inside out, and tied it back up. He then took out a waistband from the package and tied it on for him.
After finally getting dressed, Shi Tou looked himself up and down and found that it wasn't as neat as what Sister A Mei and the others had done. But at least it was presentable. He said to Pei Ji, "It's not as nice as Sister A Mei's. Let's ask her to fix it when we get back."
Pei Ji looked down and thought it was acceptable, so he said, "Anyway, it's better than what I'm dressed for, so it's fine. We're not in the manor anyway."
Shi Tou thought about it and realized that made sense. There were so many people in Guanghe Courtyard when they were in the manor, not to mention outside the courtyard, so it was inevitable that there would be a lot of gossip. After they came to the manor, there was much less gossip.
He quickly picked up the dirty clothes and towels the two of them had changed out of, but he hadn't yet learned how to fold clothes, let alone the young master. So Shi Tou just stuffed them all back into the bag, tied them up haphazardly, and carried them in his hand.
The two quickly tidied up and headed back.
"Mother!" The little one's voice preceded his arrival. Min Yueqing chuckled and stopped what she was doing, tossing the things behind her and looking at Pei Ji.
Pei Ji ran up to Min Yueqing, holding a handkerchief in his hand, and said with no small amount of pride, "Mother, I've learned how to wring a handkerchief. Look, this handkerchief is the one I wrung dry."
As she spoke, she handed the small handkerchief to Min Yueqing.
Min Yueqing was charmed by the little boy's smug expression, and as she took the handkerchief, she pulled the little boy into her arms and said in a supporting role, "You really wrung it out well, Lele is great."
Pei Ji snuggled happily against his mother's shoulder, not forgetting to introduce the unsung hero behind the scenes, "It was Shi Tou who taught me, he's very good too."
Min Yueqing also looked at the stone and chimed in, "That's right, our stone knows a lot, so you can learn from each other in the future."
A blush suddenly spread across Shi Tou's wheat-colored face. Although it wasn't easy to see his blush, his shy little eyes couldn't be hidden.
Shi Tou himself was also puzzled. In the past, his grandparents would occasionally praise him, and most of the time he would act nonchalant, thinking that it was nothing and never blushed. But as soon as his master’s beautiful and clear eyes looked at him, he would always feel embarrassed. When his master looked away from him, he would feel a little disappointed.
Stone felt that he might have made a mistake by living a good life.
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