Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 49

“Chef Xiang! That’s enough! Really!”

Zhao Siyan held her bowl high to the left, trying to escape his ladle.

Unhurried, Chef Xiang hooked the bowl back with one sweep, shook his hand, and filled it again.

“This is for you and your sister. Share it. Winter is coming, so eat more.”

He sounded as kindly as though he were feeding piglets of his own, then carried the rice bucket elsewhere.

“Sister… why do I feel Chef Xiang has been watching our bowls lately?”

As Zhao Siyan spoke, she rapidly transferred most of the rice to Zhao Die’s bowl and gave her an ingratiating smile.

The sisters had expected everyone in the General’s Mansion to make life difficult for them because of their father.

Instead, Chef Xiang had begun fattening them up.

Zhao Die found it strange too. Then, almost involuntarily, she looked at Xia Heng. Somehow, this had to involve her.

Xia Heng remained serene, concealing her contribution.

When Chef Xiang approached, she obediently held out her small bowl.

“Just enough to cover the bottom, Chef Xiang!”

Chef Xiang shook his ladle. Then shook it again.

When Xia Heng took her bowl back, she saw that cooks possessed no concept of “covering the bottom.”

Half a bowl was the minimum.

“Eat quickly. The ladies of the Xiao Mansion are visiting today. We need to prepare soon,” Chuqing said.

“The Xiao Mansion? The family that sells Drunken Spring Breeze?” Zhao Die asked.

“Yes! They used to be merchants, but their master is the Minister of Revenue now. If you meet him, call him Lord Xiao!”

The Zhao sisters marveled. A leap from merchant to high official was rare.

As for the former Minister of Revenue being their father?

That was in the past. Best not mention it.

Xia Heng recalled the plot.

The Xiao Family had known Cang Chuli since childhood. They must be visiting to reminisce.

It had nothing to do with her.

She wondered whether the heroine would come. It had been so long since she saw the beautiful big sister.

When Xiao Yaqing stood before her, staring excitedly, Xia Heng realized it did concern her.

“This is the person you asked about. She read the Numerical Bookkeeping Method in a book,” Cang Chuli introduced.

He would have concealed it from anyone else, but not from the Xiao Family.

“Isn’t she the young woman you took to Lehua Tower? Didn’t she also attend our housewarming banquet?”

Xiao Yaqing wore a pale-pink dress that made her face especially radiant. She leaned close and winked at Xia Heng.

Despite having seen countless celebrities and models, Xia Heng was dazzled by the heroine’s beauty again.

Madam Xiao smiled helplessly at Cang Chuli when she saw her daughter’s unusual liveliness.

Did the child truly like *Mathematics* that much?

She had seen this maid at the housewarming banquet. Though masked then, the girl had clearly been clever.

Yet the way she stared foolishly at Yaqing now was completely different from the woman who had humiliated Xia Lang into leaving the banquet.

Xiao Huan looked curiously at her too, then quickly withdrew his gaze.

A woman? Never mind. He would ask Mingxu.

“Yaqing, don’t frighten her. You little monkey, why are you so restless today?”

Xiao Yaqing returned to her mother and stuck out her tongue.

“Yaqing was wrong!”

She had been too excited at meeting someone from home. All the etiquette she had learned over the years had flown out of her mind.

“Mingxu! I want to learn Mathematics from her!”

Her mother lightly smacked her.

“I told you to call him Elder Brother Mingxu!”

“Mother! We were born the same year! He’s hardly older!”

Ordinarily she might have let it pass, but a fellow transmigrator was watching. How embarrassing!

Madam Xiao was about to continue when Cang Chuli agreed.

Dongfang Wei probably had never heard her call him “elder brother.” If Cang Chuli made her say it now, that man might lose several nights of sleep.

Xiao Yaqing grabbed Xia Heng and hurried away.

“Father, Mother, I’m going to study!”

Cang Chuli watched them leave, thoughtful.

“Mingxu, Aunt brought you some things. Come look.”

“Aunt Xiao, you’re too kind.”

“Don’t say that. I couldn’t help you all these years, while you went to so much trouble for your uncle and me.”

Xiao Huan nodded repeatedly.

“Exactly. You’ve worked hard, Mingxu. If you ever need anything, ask!”

Cang Chuli could not say many arrangements had been Dongfang Wei’s orders, so he remained silent.

The couple did not mind. Mingxu and Guangji had been close since childhood. Neither spoke much, but both had good hearts.

“This is spun silk your uncle brought from the south, and with the weather getting cold, we brought fresh cotton. Have several new outfits made.

“A mansion truly can’t manage without a woman. Is there a young lady from a noble family you like? Now that Aunt is back, I can ask around for you.”

“……”

* * *

Xiao Yaqing had excitedly dragged Xia Heng out of the reception hall, but now she did not know where to go.

Her father and Cang Chuli would probably use the study to discuss Mathematics.

Xiao Yaqing stared blankly. Xia Heng sighed and led her to her small room.

When Xiao Yaqing saw the chili peppers outside and potato seedlings inside, her eyes grew brighter.

She hurriedly shut the doors and windows, then began a series of twenty-first-century countersigns.

“Imperial Jade Nectar Wine!”

“One hundred and eighty yuan a cup.”

“The Heavenly King covers the earthly tiger?”

“The pagoda suppresses the river demon!”

“I am Baiyun, and you are—?”

“Heitu!”

“Oh my God!”

Xiao Yaqing cried out, then remembered where she was. She covered her mouth and looked around.

Tears in her eyes, she gave Xia Heng a fierce hug.

“Sister! What took you so long? Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you?”

Xia Heng patted her back with satisfaction.

No one could refuse a beauty throwing herself into their arms. No one!

“Did you only arrive recently?” Xiao Yaqing asked.

“I came when I was three! I was a complete mess then!

“How did you become a maid?

“What year did you come from?

“What will you do in the future?”

After years without another modern person, Xiao Yaqing could not calm down. Questions poured out faster than Xia Heng could answer.

Then she began crying.

“I’ve carried this secret alone for years,” she sobbed. “I nearly went mad.

“I didn’t dare do this or that, terrified people would call me a demon and burn me… Sister, I’ve suffered!”

Xia Heng rubbed her back and handed her a handkerchief.

She understood the feeling of being forgotten by the whole world.

She had come alone from a socialist society to an unknown feudal dynasty.

One careless word or action could cost her life.

“It’s all right. Don’t cry. I’m here now. From now on, I can understand you. At least we can suffer together.”

Xiao Yaqing finally calmed down and wiped her tears in embarrassment.

“Sorry. I was too excited.

“Yesterday, Father said someone taught Mingxu Mathematics, and I wondered whether someone from home had finally arrived.

“Then you answered our countersigns, and I… I…”

The tears came again.

No! She had to hold them back!