Chapter 33
The next day, after Ai Yu and Ye Hu served her breakfast, she wiped her greasy mouth with a handkerchief and turned to Ye Hu, saying, "I heard from Feng Xiaosai that the mistress of Shengweixuan has been preparing my meals these past few days. She's left her family chores just to come and make three meals a day for me. I'm feeling uneasy. Go to the kitchen and invite her over. I want to thank her in person."
Ye Hu was stunned at first. This was the proper duty of serving the master. The master's praise and reward already showed his kindness. How could the master thank the servant, and even call her over to thank her in person? Although she was full of hesitation, after learning her lesson last night, she felt that she had better go to the kitchen immediately to invite Mrs. Du over.
Mrs. Du was also surprised when she heard Yueming wanted to see her. She washed her hands and smoothed her hair in front of the water tank. Feeling that there was nothing wrong, she followed Ye Hu to see Yueming.
When they reached the door, Ye Hu lifted the curtain and Mrs. Du took off her shoes and stepped into the house. Yue Ming was drinking tea and said without waiting for Mrs. Du to greet her, "You must be the proprietress of Shengweixuan! Thank you for your care recently. Ai Ye, serve tea to Mrs. Du."
Mrs. Du quickly said, "Miss, you are too kind. It's just a few meals. This is our livelihood. I don't deserve your thanks."
Mugwort tea was already on the table, and Mrs. Du was still standing by the table. Yueming looked Mrs. Du over. He heard that her family had only been in Yunxiang for a few years, and with no relatives or friends, they had turned a thatched house that sold cold food into a large restaurant with their own skills. Their family was not making a fortune every day, but they certainly had enough spare money. But Mrs. Du only had a silver hairpin in her hair, and no other ornaments on her hands or ears. She was wearing a gray-blue knee-length top with a slanted collar, which was commonly worn by Han people in Yunnan, and a pair of loose-leg trousers. It was ordinary and common. Yueming remembered what Yunkai had said about Lan Yingde before, "Your father is a doctor in a nice way, but he is actually a commoner who can't even use gold utensils much."
Seeing the white socks on Mrs. Du's feet, Yueming smiled and said to Mrs. Du, "It seems that Madam has been in Yunxiang for many years but is still not used to the rule of taking off shoes when entering the house." After that, he gave Ye Hu a wink, and Ye Hu took Mrs. Du's arm and helped her sit on the round stool.
Mrs. Du felt more relaxed after hearing Yueming's kind words. She placed her hands on her knees and smiled at Yueming, "Excuse me, young lady. I've been wearing shoes and socks for decades and I can't change it."
Yueming reached out and pushed the teacup toward Mrs. Du, who quickly picked it up with both hands. Yueming said, "Old habits die hard, I know for sure. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered you to come into the house. But there's something I don't understand that I hope you can clarify."
Mrs. Du put down her teacup and said, "Miss, please speak."
Seeing that Mrs. Du didn't drink, Yueming picked up her own teacup and blew the small bubbles floating on the tea to the edge of the bowl. Looking up at Mrs. Du, she said, "I heard from Feng Xiaosai, who works beside the Second Young Master, that your boss, Mr. Du, didn't want you to come into the mansion at first. How come he changed his mind when he mentioned that you should come in and serve me?"
Mrs. Du said calmly, "Of course it's because of Mr. Lan."
Yueming raised an eyebrow in interest: "Because of my dad? What do you mean?"
Mrs. Du looked at Yueming and spoke with a hint of emotion: "When our family came to Yunxiang from Tengchong, it was thanks to Mr. Lan's help that we were able to gain a foothold in Yunxiang. Two years ago, my youngest son had malaria and it was Mr. Lan who saved his life. Mr. Lan has helped us so much that we cannot repay him. Now that you are not feeling well, we must do our best to help you."
Although her words were well-reasoned, Yueming still didn't dare to take it lightly. She picked up the round fan on the table and waved it slowly: "That being said, I'm sorry, Madam. I heard that you and Boss Du had stopped cooking a long time ago, and now you're working hard again for me."
Mrs. Du waved her hands repeatedly, "Young lady, you're being too polite! To be honest, I'm afraid the servants here are all veterans, and our boss is worried that you'll be wronged here. Now that I'm here, I can look after you."
Yueming shook her head: "That's not a long-term solution. You have a lot of things to take care of at home!" She called Aiye over and pointed at her and said to Mrs. Du: "This is my personal maid. She knows a little bit about cooking. I'd like to trouble you to help me train her. I don't need any unique skills or secret recipes passed down from your family. Just let her make soup and roll noodles. Is that okay with you?"
Mrs. Du readily agreed, "Why not? I'm going to make you some dumplings at noon. Let this young lady learn from me. You've lived in Huiying Street for a long time, so you must love noodles."
When Yueming heard about the steamed dumplings, she beamed, "Great! Great! Make some more. I'll have lunch with the Second Young Master today." Then she exclaimed, "Your family makes excellent noodles and egg cakes, too. You must have been to Kunming, right?"
Mrs. Du shook her head. "My husband and I were both born and raised in Tengchong. We fled to Yunxiang and settled there. We've never been to Kunming, and we learned this craft from a master."
Hearing that they had never been to Kunming, Yueming's eyes flashed with a fleeting cold light. She smiled and said, "I've taken up quite a bit of your time. You're busy with other things, so I won't exchange pleasantries with you. When you're free, you can come and talk to me often."
Mrs. Du stood up and bowed, then led Ai Ye to the kitchen, ready to teach her all her skills. When they reached the door, Yue Ming suddenly said, "Mrs. Du, do you know Du Song?"
Mrs. Du froze and slowly turned around. Looking at Yueming, who was smiling but had a deep look in his eyes, she lowered her head and whispered, "He is my cousin who is the head of the family."
Yueming fanned herself and said to her, "I understand. Go ahead and get busy!"
Ye Hu looked at Mrs. Du's back with a puzzled look on his face and asked, "Miss, do you think there's something wrong with Mrs. Du?"
Yueming waved her fan slowly and blinked: "I don't know!"
Ye Hu was dumbfounded: "So you were testing her just now?"
Yueming said to her, "Don't stand when you talk to me. My neck is sore. Sit down."
Ye Hu didn't dare to sit down, so he knelt down at Yue Ming's feet and looked up at her. Yue Ming was discouraged and said, "Forget it, kneel down if you want!"
She said to Yehu, "You should know my father's name in Yunxiang, right?"
Ye Hu nodded: "I know, 'Lan Caishen'!"
"Although our family is wealthy, the only servants we have are Aunt Liu and her husband, who raised me since I was a child, and a farmhand who does odd jobs. Besides Senior Brother Changsheng, there are only two apprentices in the pharmacy. Do you know why?"
Ye Hu shook his head.
Yueming looked at her and said word by word, "Because my family absolutely won't hire anyone whose background we don't know. My father would rather pay the patrolling police than hire a security guard. He's afraid that someone he doesn't know will sneak into our house."
Ye Hu asked doubtfully, "But, Mrs. Du only has one cook, and she was invited in by the Tusi Mansion herself, so there shouldn't be any problem, right?"
Yueming stretched out his finger and tapped her forehead: "It's the cook who needs to be questioned carefully. She's in the kitchen. If she gets malicious, a packet of medicine can make everyone in the mansion go crazy."
"So you just tried her, she should be fine, right?"
Yueming threw the fan back on the table: "There shouldn't be any major problems, but it's hard to say what about the minor ones."
Ye Hu's eyes spun around as he listened. "Did I not hear anything just now? Or was there something wrong with your asking her name just now?"
Yue Ming shook his head: "She said earlier that I live in Huiying Street and love to eat noodles. She also said that she has never been to Kunming. I almost wanted to ask you to call the Second Young Master, but since she said she knows the person I mentioned, she should be fine."
"Isn't it normal for them to know where you live? Their family has contacts with Master Lan. Maybe Master Lan mentioned it to her at her house?"
Looking at Ye Hu, thinking about her and her sister's origins, Yue Ming didn't know whether she should explain it to her. But since he was already by her side and they would be living together for a while, she had to mention a few things. She said slowly, "Although the place where I live is mostly inhabited by Hui people, it's not actually called Huiying Street, but Zhuji Street. The patrolmen called it Huiying Street for convenience, and only the locals know it. They said how did they know about it when they hadn't been to Kunming? My father is a careful person, so he wouldn't mention Huiying Street all the time."
Ye Hu was clever and immediately understood the connection. Mrs. Du had lied to the young lady, and their family's origins were a mystery. Remembering Yue Ming's words that she could overturn the entire Tusi Mansion with just a packet of medicine on the stove, she broke out in a cold sweat and gritted her teeth, saying to Yue Ming, "Young lady, my sister isn't very clever and I'm afraid I can't keep an eye on her. Let me go. Don't worry, I'll keep a close eye on her and won't let her do anything else."
Yueming was amused by her seriousness: "It's okay, she won't do anything to me."
She picked up the tea and wanted to drink it, then remembered that she had just said that she wanted to eat dumplings with the Second Young Master. She said to Ye Hu, "Go to the Second Young Master's yard and tell him that I will treat him to a good meal at noon and ask him to wait for me."
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