Chapter 37
The rain in April was intermittent and unpredictable. One day it might be clear and blue, and the next it might be covered in dark clouds. The weather was so unpredictable that Yueming was too lazy to move. Yehu was worried that Yueming would get sick from being bored in the house all day, so he advised her to go for a walk in the garden.
Yueming was feeling sleepy after lunch and picked up a book to read a few pages before going to sleep. She refused and said, "The sun is so hot, what's the point of walking around the garden? I'll get a black tan after just one walk."
Seeing her being lazy, Ye Hu was worried: "It's not a good idea for you to eat and sleep all the time!"
Yueming thought so too. If she continued like this, she would really be able to be slaughtered when her father came back.
She wanted to go out for a stroll in the market, but she hadn't even had the chance to ride in the carriage Li Shengmeng had sent her! But after asking the second housekeeper, she found out that she could go out without asking for permission, but she had to inform the person in charge of the mansion, the second young master.
Forget it. Yueming would rather stay at home and grow mushrooms than talk to Yunkai.
She resisted the urge to sleep and said to Ye Hu and Ai Ye, "Then go make a pot of tea to help digestion, and we can chat for a while before we go to sleep."
After Ai Ye brewed a pot of roselle tea and brought it over, the two sisters knelt on the floor, ready to have a long chat with her. Yue Ming felt the need to correct their mistakes. Her family's house in Yun Xiang was not entirely inlaid with wooden floors. Most of it was covered with cement and slate. Would they still sit on the floor like this when they returned to the house in the future? Wouldn't that make them sit on the dust? She pulled one of them with one hand and said, "Get up and sit on the stool."
Ye Hu shrank his arms and said, "This is against the rules."
No matter how she struggled, Yue Ming refused to let go: "We don't have such rules in our Lan family. You just have to follow our family rules."
Ai Ye always obeyed Yue Ming's orders. She quickly got up and sat beside Yue Ming. She smiled and said, "I will listen to you, young lady."
"Hey...sister, you..." Seeing that her sister really sat down, Ye Hu couldn't shout in time and could only stare at her.
Yueming pretended to be displeased and said, "She listens to me so well, why are you glaring at her? You are the one who should be punished, the disobedient one."
Ye Hu had no choice but to stand up and sit next to Ai Ye. He didn't dare to sit firmly, so he just sat on the edge of the stool.
Yueming personally poured each of them a cup of roselle tea, and Aiye happily accepted it. Seeing this, Yehu patted Aiye on the shoulder and said, "You just stood there and watched, asking the young lady to do the work, and you dared to take it. You really didn't get beaten too often in the mansion before."
Yueming handed the tea to Yehu: "Okay, okay, we said we were just chatting casually, why are you still thinking about serving me? My hands are not broken, what's wrong with pouring a cup of tea?"
Ye Hu said with a stern face, "The more kind the young lady is to us, the more we must remember our duties. Yesterday, Third Madam wronged you, and we didn't protect you. That was already a great sin. Now we have to drink tea with you on an equal footing. How can we bear it?"
Yueming didn't know what to say. To put it nicely, Ye Hu's words were just a matter of duty. To put it bluntly, they could be considered ungrateful. But then she thought, they had been taught since childhood how to serve others and put their masters first, so there was nothing wrong with doing so.
Yueming was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Why do you always take all the blame on yourself? It's not like you asked the Third Madam to come here and find fault. I told you before that as long as you are loyal to me, I will let you live the life you want. Do you just want to serve me for the rest of your life?"
Ai Ye blinked in confusion and said, "But we came here to serve you! What else can we do if not serve you?"
Yueming counseled, "You'll all get married someday! After you get married, you'll have your own lives!"
Ai Ye was even more puzzled: "There is no conflict! We will marry whoever you tell us to marry, and our children will continue to serve the young lady and the young master."
Yueming was dumbfounded. "Will they marry whoever she says?" "Who told her that Dai people have freedom of marriage?" "And their children will have to continue to serve her children. Is this a lifelong fate?"
Yueming said helplessly, "What I said before counts. I won't force you to stay in Yunxiang. If you come back to Kunming with me, you can study, get married, or start a small business. It's up to you."
After hearing this, Ai Ye was not as moved as she was the first time. Instead, she asked with a worried look on her face, "Don't you want us to follow you?"
Yueming almost wanted to scream, "What's the point of following me as a slave forever?" She looked at Ye Hu, who had been keeping his head down and not saying a word, and asked softly, "What about you? Do you also want to be a slave forever?"
Ye Hu raised his head, his face calm and expressionless: "Miss, we have been taught to serve people since we were young, and we only know how to serve people. We don't know how to live if we leave here."
Yueming was speechless. This girl was too modest. She had only learned to serve others? Wasn't she literate and able to do accounting? Couldn't she survive like this?
She didn't know where to begin, so she said earnestly, "That's because you haven't seen the outside world. I grew up in a different place than Yun-sang did. Your abilities are already very impressive among women."
Ai Ye asked curiously, "Miss, what was the place you grew up in like? Is it better than Yun Xiang?"
Yueming said firmly, "Of course. Kunming is much better than Yunxiang. We have cream cakes, soda, and theaters. On my day off, I can buy a bottle of soda, a box of butter cookies, and go to the theater with my classmates to watch a movie. It's such a blessing."
Although Ai Ye and Ye Hu did not understand what the young lady said, the ease and comfort in her words made them fascinated.
Ye Hu couldn't help but speak up, "I heard from the horse-racing gang that people in Kunming don't ride carriages, they all ride cars. And cars don't use grass or black beans, they use oil. Miss, does it use rapeseed oil or walnut oil?"
Yueming was amused by Yehu's words. Rapeseed oil? Hahaha. Walnut oil? Hahaha. Yehu and Aiye looked at each other in confusion. Could it be that the caravan uncle had lied to them? Otherwise, why was the young lady laughing like that?
Yueming finally stopped laughing and said seriously, "It runs on gasoline, which is similar to the kerosene you use to light lamps. We have a very long car here that can seat hundreds of people, but it doesn't run on oil. It runs on coal? My family doesn't use oil lamps or candles, we use electric lights. We don't need to light a fire, we just pull the cord and it lights up."
Ye Hu and Ai Ye opened their eyes wide in disbelief. A car that could seat a hundred people! No oil or candles needed, just a light that would light up by pulling a rope! Kunming, what a magical world!
Looking at their expressions, Yueming was very satisfied. This was the way to chat. She continued, "Every morning I go to school in a gasoline-powered car. I go to a girls' school, and it's all girls."
Ye Hu was puzzled: "Why are they all girls? Are you going to a nunnery to study?"
Yueming chuckled again. She suppressed her laughter with difficulty and said, "Our schooling is different from yours. We learn to read and write in school, not in a temple."
Ye Hu still didn't understand: "So, do you have separate schools for boys and girls? Boys go to boys' school, girls go to girls' school?"
"Not really. There are also coeducational schools."
Ai Ye said with a knowing look, "Your school must be worried that boys and girls will be too busy flirting with each other to focus on their studies."
Ye Ming...what you said really makes sense!
Ye Hu also agreed and said, "That's right. At 13 or 14, it's already marriageable age. Who would have the time to study when boys and girls are living together all day and night?"
Yueming just wanted to go to the bed, cover himself with the quilt and have a good laugh.
Ai Ye asked hopefully, "Miss, if we go back to Kunming with you, can we go to a coeducational school?"
Is this a plan to find a son-in-law for yourself at school? To study and start a family without any delay? Yueming deliberately said seriously, "Of course not. I have to continue my studies when I go back. You must go to the same school as me. Otherwise, how can you serve me?"
Ai Ye nodded regretfully: "That's right."
Unable to hold it in any longer, Yueming threw herself on the table, buried her face in her arms, and laughed until she was out of breath.
Just as he was laughing heartily, a commotion erupted in the courtyard. Ye Hu frowned, "Third Madam, you say I'm unruly, but the servants in this mansion are the ones who truly are unruly. What are they yelling about while you're taking a nap? What are they trying to do?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yunkai lifted the door curtain and rushed in, leading Feng Xiaosai and two servants, still wearing shoes. Yueming looked at him in confusion, not knowing what this scene was about.
Yunkai walked in and saw Yueming's position. He took a few steps towards her, picked her up without saying a word and walked out.
Yueming struggled and shouted, "Second Young Master, what are you doing?" She didn't understand how she had offended this bastard again.
Ye Hu and Ai Ye also hurriedly surrounded Yun Kai to snatch Yue Ming, but before they could get close to Yun Kai, they were stopped by Feng Xiaosai and the two servants.
Ye Hu pinched Feng Xiaosai's arm and said to Ai Ye, "Sister, go and call Xiao Lahu and ask him to rescue the young lady."
Ai Ye was fighting with two servants and couldn't get away. He was so anxious that his eyes were red.
Feng Xiaosai was pinched by Ye Hu until she cried out in pain and begged for mercy, "Auntie, please be gentle. The young master wants to talk to Miss Yueming alone. He won't do anything to her."
Ye Hucai didn't believe it. She spat at Feng Xiaosai's face and said, "Pah, from the master to the servants in your mansion, who is a good person? The Second Young Master wants to talk to Miss Yueming alone, so why can't he say so? How can he kidnap her like a robber?"
It is not your place as a servant to be responsible for the Second Young Master's affairs. Feng Xiaosai did not explain and teamed up with two servants to stop the two sisters from going out to do anything bad.
Yueming was very angry because Yunkai was holding her like a chicken. She didn't care about courtesy or hierarchy and cursed, "Han Yunkai, you lunatic, let me go quickly." After cursing, she kicked him.
Yunkai was kicked twice and his hand that was holding her collar loosened. Before Yueming could breathe a sigh of relief, she saw him bend down and put his arms around her waist. After a dizzy spin, she found herself being carried on Yunkai's shoulders like a bag of rice. His hard shoulder pressed against her stomach, causing her pain.
She was panicked: "Han Yunkai, what are you crazy about? Put me down." After shouting for a long time without any result, she stretched out her fingernails to pinch the flesh on Yunkai's back.
Yun Kai hissed and gasped as she pinched him. He reached out and slapped her buttocks twice, threatening, "If you don't behave, I'll throw you to the ground."
Yueming was furious. Didn't he know there were differences between men and women? Even though she was young, he couldn't spank her! Even her father had never spanked her. But she was afraid he would spank her again, and throw her on the ground? How painful that would be! She was so angry and ashamed that she didn't dare to hit him again, and could only curse. Yunkai carried her out of the mansion through a corner gate and followed a path to a pool formed by a small waterfall.
Yueming cursed until his mouth was dry. Listening to the sound of the waterfall hitting the water, and then looking at the clear pool of water, he couldn't help swallowing.
Yunkai paused by the pond, but didn't let Yueming go. Yueming felt dizzy from being upside down for so long. She patted Yunkai on the back and said unhappily, "Can you put me down? I feel like all the blood in my body is flowing backwards."
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