Yu Shaoqing originally wanted to put on his shoes and walk around Yan Jiuchao to show off. Now, he couldn’t anymore. He limped back to his bed, looking extremely pitiful.
Yu Wan stretched out her hand speechlessly. “Then… then why don’t I take the shoes away first…”
“Don’t even think about it!” Yu Shaoqing hugged the shoes tightly, not letting Yu Wan take them away.
Yu Wan could only leave the room with her head lowered. Those were her earliest shoes. She was not very proficient in sewing and the steps were also incoherent. Unexpectedly, she dropped the embroidery needle inside. Yu Wan was also resentful.
Dinner was cornbread that Aunt brought over and braised pork belly and bamboo shoots. Yu Wan split a portion and sent it to Yan Jiuchao.
Yan Jiuchao seemed to have fallen asleep. He lay on the bed and let out even breathing. It was not until Yu Wan walked close that he suddenly woke up. A moment of vigilance flashed across his eyes. When he saw that it was Yu Wan, he returned to his normal expression and said stiffly, “What are you doing here?”
“It’s time to eat. My uncle’s braised meat and braised bamboo shoots taste very good,” Yu Wan said as she placed the bowl and chopsticks on the table and lit the dim yellow oil lamp.
At this moment, Yu Wan finally saw his face clearly. He had taken off his crown and his black hair hung casually. There was a strand of hair resting on his shoulder, decorating his handsome face. Yu Wan had seen many beautiful faces in her previous life, but she really could not get tired of the one in front of her. However, Yan Jiuchao seemed to be a little pale today. Yu Wan subconsciously touched his forehead. “Did my father beat you up?”
“Hmph.” Yan Jiuchao turned his head away angrily.
Was he throwing a tantrum again? Yu Wan felt that Yan Jiuchao gave off a very strange feeling. Sometimes, he was as mature as an unfamiliar and cold man, and sometimes, he was as childish as a child. She did not know if his aura was different or if her gaze towards him had changed.
It’s quite interesting, Yu Wan thought. Of course, it was not interesting if he was sick. Yu Wan saw that his complexion was so bad and probably did not have much of an appetite, so she was not in a hurry to urge him to eat dinner. Instead, she pinched his wrist and placed three fingers on his pulse.
Yan Jiuchao frowned. “What are you doing?”
“Yan Jiuchao.” Yu Wan’s expression turned solemn. “Your pulse isn’t right.”
Yan Jiuchao retracted his hand indifferently. “With your lousy medical skills, what’s right or wrong?”
Yu Wan said seriously, “Don’t underestimate my medical skills. I’ve already finished reading the medical books Grandpa Bao left for me. I don’t dare to say anything else, but I won’t make a mistake with my pulse.”
Yan Jiuchao snorted in disdain. “You became a divine doctor just by reading a medical book. Do you think it’s so easy to be a doctor?”
“I’m not like them.”
“What’s different? You’re a woman, and they’re men?”
There was no way to chat today. Yu Wan stuffed the bowl and chopsticks into his hand and said, “Eat by yourself,” before getting up and leaving.
Shadow Thirteen walked in silently and looked at Yan Jiuchao. “Why didn’t you tell her?”
“Tell her what? That I’m about to die?” Yan Jiuchao said coldly. “I’m not dead yet.” If he’s going to die, he has to drag everyone with him.
Yan Jiuchao took a bite of the braised meat that looked extremely good. It was tasteless.
He couldn’t even taste the food. From the moment he was born, he had been waiting for death day by day. This kind of thing didn’t happen to Shadow Thirteen. Shadow Thirteen didn’t dare to say that he empathized, but his heart ached for Young Master.
At such a young age, he had carried too many things that he shouldn’t have. Sometimes, Shadow Thirteen even thought that Young Master had lived too tired. The moment the curse came true might be a relief.
“Shadow Thirteen,” Yan Jiuchao said indifferently. “Do you think they’ll be the same as me?”
They would start to have an attack when they were five or six years old. After that, they would not be able to eat properly. They would be eating medicine for their whole lives. They would weaken year by year until they were twenty-five… No, perhaps not even that. Didn’t they say? They would not live past twenty-five, or they might die at twenty. Who knew what their fate was?
Shadow Thirteen wanted to say that no matter what the outcome was, he would be by the little masters’ side. As long as he was alive, he would search for the antidote for a day until the little masters’ curse was lifted. If it was really impossible, he would protect the three little masters until the last moment of their lives.
However, he did not say that in the end. Instead, he asked, “Young Master, if you had known that Miss Yu was pregnant back then, would you have let her give birth?”
“No,” Yan Jiuchao said firmly. “What’s the point of such a life?”
Shadow Thirteen was silent.
Young Master had never thought of living well. He wanted to die all the time, but he did not want to break the hearts of those people so quickly. Even if living was a torture, he gritted his teeth and endured it. He did not want the little masters to live such a twisted life, so he would rather they not be born.
However, only when they saw how Young Master treated the little masters with their own eyes would they understand how much Young Master doted on them.
Yan Jiuchao forced himself to swallow the bowl of food. He did not lose his taste buds all of a sudden. In the beginning, he could not taste the sweetness, and then he could not taste the saltiness. After that, he could not even taste the spiciness and bitterness. He ate so much that he could vomit. Now, he was much better because he was used to it.
Yan Jiuchao lay down calmly after eating.
The next day, Yu Wan woke up early. As usual, she squeezed some goat milk and placed it in a small bottle after cooking it. She took it to nourish the three little lads’ bodies. She had also filled some for Bruiser and Zhenzhen yesterday, but the two of them were not used to this taste, so she did not make it for them today.
The little munchkins sat on the threshold and drank their milk.
Yu Wan was drying clothes in the open space outside the door. Without turning around, she knew that the three little fellows were looking at her intently.
The villagers had seen the little munchkins before and knew that they were Young Master Wan’s sons. They must have seen them appear at her house these two days. Yu Wan did not care how the villagers discussed her, but if they asked her in person, she would tell them truthfully that she was the little munchkins’ mother.
After Yu Wan finished drying the clothes, she walked over and kissed the little munchkins’ foreheads one by one.
Today was the day that the Drunken Immortal Pavilion would settle the payment for the goods. Later, the people from the Drunken Immortal Pavilion would come to collect the goods. She planned to take their carriage to the Capital, but it was still early. Yu Wan did not want to stay idle, so she took the basket and wanted to go up the mountain.
The three little lads followed her.
“You guys want to go too?” Yu Wan asked in amusement. Weren’t the little fellows too clingy? They had to follow her no matter what she did. They even had to watch at the side when she bathed.
The three of them nodded.
Yu Wan laughed. “Alright then.” Then she would not go deep into the mountains. She would only walk around the periphery.
The three of them returned to the house and grabbed three pieces of clean cotton cloth for Yu Wan. Yu Wan quickly realized that they wanted her to use the cotton cloth to make a bag on them like last time. Yu Wan tied the cotton cloth around their necks and a simple version of the bag was completed.
The three of them were very satisfied. After drinking the last mouthful of milk, they went up the mountain with Yu Wan.
As spring grew stronger, the wild grass by the roadside became even more exuberant. They still wanted to pick everything they saw. After they were done, they showed it to Yu Wan. Yu Wan noticed that they had picked those they had picked the previous time.
“This is foxtail grass.”
“This is purple flower.”
“This is plaintain.”
Yu Wan patiently said the names of each grass. When they picked the ditch polygon and came over, Yu Wan accidentally said ‘pig calamity’. This made the three of them anxious. The three of them looked around and picked three sawgrass. They looked at Yu Wan solemnly, as if they were saying that this was the real ‘pig calamity’!
So… were these little fellows testing her? They actually remembered everything? In order to confirm her guess, Yu Wan deliberately made a few mistakes. Every time she made a mistake, the three of them could pick the right grass.
It had been many days since they last entered the mountain, but they still remembered the names of those grasses. It could be seen that their memories were extremely good.
Yu Wan was overjoyed. There was nothing more exciting than this. They grew slower than children their age and did not speak. Yu Wan had once suspected that their minds might have developed slower, but it seemed like that was not the case at all. They were all super smart children.
Perhaps this was another form of compensation from the heavens?
Yu Wan felt that she was considered smart. She had the best results since she was young, but she did not know how much was due to her talents and how much was due to her diligence. But the only thing she was sure of was that she could not remember so many things when she was two years old.
Yu Wan thought of the legendary talented Prince Yan. It was said that he was also an out-and-out genius when he was young. Could the three little lads have inherited it from him?
The three little lads were no longer frightened by the frogs and insects because Yu Wan had told them that these little things were not terrifying. After Yu Wan caught three bullfrogs and five mantises, they finally believed that they were not a threat.
Yu Wan picked the wild peppers while the three little lads picked raspberries. They had eaten the yellow and red ones before, so they understood that the red ones were sweeter. They specially picked the big and red ones, but they went to catch frogs while doing so.
Yu Wan did not say anything. Until they caught a flower snake, Yu Wan was so frightened that she almost threw the basket out! I told you not to be afraid of frogs. Who asked you not to be afraid of snakes?!
Yu Wan hurriedly grabbed the flower snake. However, she did not know if it was her imagination, but she felt that this flower snake was being pinched by her son until its eyes rolled back.
After being frightened by the flower snake, Yu Wan decided to leave the mountain early.
The three of them were not satisfied and did not want to leave. Yu Wan would not let them be. Fortunately, although they were unwilling, they did not make a fuss and obediently followed Yu Wan down the mountain.
This time, they were only focused on catching small things. They did not pick many fruits. Yu Wan washed them all out and divided them into three bowls. There were only four to five in each bowl. The three of them first picked out the reddest and largest one and fed it to Yu Wan.
Yu Wan ate it.
After that, they carried the fruits to Madam Jiang and Yu Shaoqing’s room. When they came out, there was only one red fruit left in their bowl.
They liked this kind of fruit very much. It was sour and sweet, and they never had enough of it. However, they did not protect their food. This was much better than her. They saw Yu Wan staring at the fruits in their bowls and probably thought that she wanted to eat more. They paused and handed the last fruit to Yu Wan.
Yu Wan patted their heads. “I’m not eating. You guys eat.”
Only then did the three of them put the fruit into their mouths.
After another half an hour, the carriage from the Drunken Immortal Pavilion arrived. Now, not only did they have to transport stinky tofu, but they also had to transport sour bamboo shoots, so a total of two carriages arrived.
One of them went to the old residence, while the other stopped in front of Yu Wan’s door.
“Miss Yu!”
It was Master Qin’s hearty voice.
Yu Wan came out to welcome him. She imitated Master Qin’s tone and teased, “What brings Master Qin here?”
Master Qin jumped off the carriage and glared at Yu Wan. “You learned this too?”
Yu Wan led him into the central room. The three little fellows were watching Uncle Bruiser study.
Master Qin heard the sound of reading and said in surprise, “It’s your brother, right?”
Yu Wan nodded. “I plan to send him to a private school in town. He has to take an exam and pass it before he can enter the private school.”
Master Qin didn’t ask why he didn’t go to village school. In Master Qin’s opinion, the Yu family’s business had grown big and they didn’t lack money. They should send the children to town.
Yu Wan poured a cup of tea for Master Qin. Master Qin picked it up and took a sip. “I’m here today to settle the payment with you.”
She had never seen anyone who was so enthusiastic about settling the payment.
In fact, Master Qin was indeed not as enthusiastic as others, but Yu Wan’s things were really selling too well. The Drunken Immortal Pavilion was almost in short supply. He had more than one Drunken Immortal Pavilion. There was really not enough stinky tofu and sour bamboo shoots to sell.
Today, other than settling the payment for Yu Wan’s goods, he also wanted to ask Yu Wan if she had any plans to expand production.
Yu Wan said, “To be honest, I bought a mountain at the back. The workshop needs manpower, and so does the wasteland reclamation. The villagers are almost overwhelmed with work.”
“You can recruit people!” Master Qin said.
Yu Wan thought about it and felt that this method was feasible. She was not satisfied with the business of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion. Sooner or later, her small workshop would become a large factory. It was necessary to recruit people. She also had to build a greenhouse, dig a fish pond, and open a farm. The current manpower was far from enough.
“I’ll think about it,” she said.
“That’s right!” Master Qin smiled in satisfaction and took out a stack of banknotes and a list. “Look, see if there’s any difference in the number.”
With that, he said to the coachman, “Take down my abacus!”
“No need.” Yu Wan’s calculations were not slower than an abacus. When the coachman brought the abacus in, she had already finished checking it. “Three hundred and eighteen taels. That’s right.”
Three hundred and eighteen taels a month. This was something she didn’t dare to think about when she first transmigrated. Yu Wan put away the banknotes. “Thank you, Master Qin.”
“We’re family, there’s no need to be polite!” Master Qin smiled.
Master Qin chatted with Yu Wan for a while more. On the other side, the goods had all been served. Master Qin stood up and bade farewell. Yu Wan gave him a jar of old marinade made by her uncle. This was not for sale, but for him to bring home to eat because he had a little foodie at home.
“I thank you on Zixu’s behalf.” Master Qin happily accepted the braised food and left with two large carts of stinky tofu, beancurd, and sour bamboo shoots.
Yu Wan went into the house to check Little Bruiser’s homework, but before she could check halfway, another carriage stopped outside the house. Unlike Master Qin’s carriage, although this carriage was also pulled by a horse, the horse was abnormally powerful and tall, and it vaguely emitted a cold domineering aura.
This was…
Just as Yu Wan was wondering who the other party was, she saw the curtain of the carriage being lifted. A man in navy blue brocade clothes walked down. He was tall, well-built, had deep eyebrows, a handsome face, and bronze skin. His aura was powerful.
Yu Wan felt the same killing intent as her father. Some children in the village surrounded them curiously, but none of them dared to approach. It was obvious that they were frightened by the man’s aura.
Yu Wan did not know who he was, but she could guess that his status was not simple. She really did not know how her small temple could attract such a big Buddha.
The man walked up to Yu Wan. He was so tall!
Yu Wan raised her head and looked at him like a pitiful woman.
The man did not have any ill intentions. He looked at Yu Wan and said, “May I know if Miss Yu is around?”
“I am,” Yu Wan said.
When many girls saw him for the first time, they were scared to tears by his almost fierce appearance. However, Yu Wan stood there calmly. Other than a blank expression, she did not have any other emotions.
The man’s lips twitched. Yu Wan felt that he might want to smile to express his friendliness, but it was really not suitable for him to smile. The corners of his lips twitched, making him even more terrifying.
Some children in the village cried in fear.
“Who are you?” Yu Wan asked calmly.
The man also replied calmly, “I’m Xiao Zhenting.”
Xiao Zhenting? Yu Wan was not unfamiliar with this name. He was the legendary Grand Marshal of the army, Shangguan Yan’s second husband, and Yan Jiuchao’s stepfather. Why was he looking for her?
Yan Jiuchao was just next door. Should she call him, call him, or call him?
As if seeing Yu Wan’s confusion, Xiao Zhenting slowly said, “I’m not here to look for Cong’er.”
Cong’er? Yan Jiuchao?
“Then you’re here to… buy stinky tofu?” Shangguan Yan liked her stinky tofu.
Xiao Zhenting took out a porcelain bottle and handed it to Yu Wan. “This is Cong’er’s medicine. I hope you can let him take it.”
“Why didn’t you give it to him yourself?”
“He won’t eat it if I give it to him.”
Yu Wan had heard from Bai Tang that Yan Jiuchao did not have a good relationship with his stepfather. Otherwise, he would not have preferred to live alone in Yan City than move to the Xiao family in the Capital with Shangguan Yan.
Yu Wan’s eyes moved. She removed the cork and poured out a pill. “Eat first.”
The coachman was shocked. Was this girl suspecting Grand Marshal Xiao? How dare she?!
Xiao Zhenting did not say anything and ate it without hesitation.
“You have to eat too!” Yu Wan gave another one to the coachman.
The coachman was stunned. Why did he have to eat it? The coachman looked at Xiao Zhenting, who nodded. The coachman took the pill and swallowed it.
Yu Wan was relieved to see that nothing happened to the two of them.
