Chapter 75: Seventy-seven, Inferiority-Complex Girl

Seventy-seven, Inferiority-Complex Girl

It was currently uncertain whether the Liu family would come to the door to admit defeat regarding the Di Gong Sluice matter and exchange it for an admission ticket to the Zhe Yiqu with the county government.

But the young Magistrate was never the type to put all his study materials on one USB drive.

Except for when he was preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam, when he really burned his bridges and staked everything on one throw.

After finishing his daily inspection of the progress of the Zhe Yiqu, Ouyang Rong returned to the Longcheng County government office.

Before parting with Beside Yan Liulang, who was preparing to go down to get busy, he suddenly turned his head and asked such a question:

"Liulang, if Yunmeng Ze is about to have another big flood, even more severe than the flood in May last time, what would you do?"

Beside Yan Liulang was stunned. "Isn't there the Zhe Yiqu?"

"What if the Zhe Yiqu is far from being finished?"

Under the young Magistrate's serious gaze, the blue-clad Constable lowered his head and pondered for a while, then nodded and said:

"I would carry the Magistrate on my back to Donglin Temple again."

Ouyang Rong's mouth twitched, and he laughed and scolded: "Why the hell would I need you to carry me? It's not like last time when I fainted; I can run myself."

He changed the subject and nodded in approval:

"However, your line of thinking is not bad. Dagu Mountain has high terrain and is a good place. There is also a hospitable Donglin Temple. En, Venerable Shan Dao would certainly welcome us very much, although there might be a few more guests at that time."

"What about Ashan? If you encountered it, what would you do?" Ouyang Rong turned his head and asked the dull, thin man behind him.

Liu Ashan was silent for a moment, then squeezed out words: "Master, my swimming skills are good; I'm not too afraid of water."

"..." Ouyang Rong.

Liu Ashan scratched his head a bit embarrassedly and added:

"But my younger sister and mother wouldn't be. I would prepare wooden barrels or bamboo rafts in advance. When the flood comes, I'll protect them. The big flood in May last time was because it was too sudden, and everyone hadn't prepared anything, which is why so many people died..."

He raised his head again and said:

"But if we could mobilize big ships in advance, that would be great. However, this must be something only wealthy families have the money to prepare. We poor people can only prepare more wooden barrels. No matter where we drift, as long as we don't drown, that's fine."

Ouyang Rong nodded slightly. "Evacuation by ship? That's also a good idea."

The three of them chatted for a few sentences and then dispersed.

Ouyang Rong stretched, stepped into the main hall of the county government.

Having become idle, he became busy again, because there were things that needed to be seriously prepared again.

Ouyang Rong very much appreciated a sentence someone once said.

You fight your battle, I fight mine.

Facts proved that even if you are saving the world, you still have to be called back by Auntie to eat.

Meilu Yuan.

Ouyang Rong pushed the door and entered the room.

Before he could sit firmly at the dining table, a warm sandalwood food box was stuffed into his arms by Auntie.

"Go, go, go, go deliver food to Wanwan?"

Ouyang Rong, who had been tired from burying his head in official documents all morning, had just returned and asked the silver-haired maid to move over a recliner.

Throwing his body into the chair, too lazy to move again, he said sincerely:

"Auntie, the food eaten by the maids in the Su residence might be better than ours. Let's not lower the dietary level of Little Junior Sister."

Madam Zhen glanced at the stinky brat and smiled:

"Coincidentally, Wanwan just wants to taste the specialty dishes of our Southern Long. I went to visit her this morning, and we already agreed that you would go over to deliver food. She won't eat the Su residence's food today."

The dignified and graceful woman in a silk skirt lightly kicked her nephew's calf under the table. "So, I trouble a certain Senior Brother to move a little."

Ouyang Rong was speechless: "The food made by the cook in the back kitchen is not hometown food at all. It's not spicy at all, and the taste is soft and bland."

I don't know if it was a coincidence, but whether in his previous life or this life, the place where Ouyang Rong was born was a disaster area for spicy food. Currently, the taste in Longcheng County was on the sweet side, and he felt it was as bland as eating vegetarian food every day.

Madam Zhen didn't deny this, just nodded:

"That's true. The food made by this cook is indeed not as spicy as the food in our Southern Long. Your mother used to be the best at making spicy food. It seems to be a craft passed down from her family..."

"Just make do for now. See if we can change the cook another day. Don't be lazy, hurry up and deliver the food. Wanwan is waiting with eager anticipation. There are two portions in the box. Tanlang, accompany her to eat while you're at it. Hurry up, don't let your own food get cold too."

"What eager anticipation? Auntie is misusing idioms again."

Ouyang Rong took the teacup carefully handed over by Weilai, took a sip, and touched her warm, white-haired little head.

He hooked the food box with two fingers and went out, looking reluctant.

Madam Zhen watched with a faint smile as Tanlang's back disappeared.

"Wait, white-haired maid, why are you following him? What if you scare the Su residence neighbors? Come back."

Catching a glimpse of something, Madam Zhen frowned slightly. Ye Weilai, who was following Ouyang Rong with eager eyes, trembled all over, stopped in her tracks, lowered her head, and returned to the room.

The silver-haired maid went to pour another cup of hot tea and presented it with both hands to the woman in the silk skirt before her, whom she feared to her bones.

She hadn't been in Meilu Garden for long. When the master was away during the day, she followed behind senior maids like Banxi to learn.

Because she had grown up in a cage before, she wasn't worth the money for the food merchant to cultivate any skills in serving people or playing instruments, chess, calligraphy, or painting. So, the silver-haired girl knew nothing, only having stupidly diligent hands and feet.

It's just that being diligent with hands and feet wasn't considered an advantage among the servants of wealthy families, but rather a basic skill.

Warmth and coldness naturally all depended on the master's joy and anger.

This master's aunt didn't like her. Weilai had been clear about this the first day she grabbed the master's hem and came to this home.

"Great Mistress, please have some tea."

Weilai's gray-blue eyes were full of ingratiating expressions, and her two little hands, ignoring the heat of the cup, held the tea and presented it.

The only thing she was good at currently was this tea art. This was something the master had taken time to teach her with a smile after seeing her clumsily fiddling with teacups at night recently...

Madam Zhen glanced at the teacup, didn't take it, continued to pick up a mouthful of food, chewed with her pink cheeks, and nodded, muttering: "It's indeed not spicy enough. Tanlang likes spicy food..."

After finishing, she put down her chopsticks, took the napkin handed over by Banxi, touched the corner of her mouth, and suddenly asked:

"How has Tanlang been sleeping recently? Has he been suffering from insomnia in the middle of the night?"

Before Weilai, whose hands were numb from holding the teacup, could speak, Banxi whispered from the side:

"Great Mistress, asking her is a waste of time. The young master and she sleep in two separate quilts. When the young master gets up at night, she's probably sleeping like a little pig. How would she know?"

Madam Zhen's jade face sank.

Weilai said in a panic:

"No, no. The master said he was afraid that if he slept and turned over, he would crush the slave. That's why they had two quilts. The master likes to touch the slave's hair to fall asleep. Every time he gets up and turns over, he would crush the slave's long hair. The slave knows everything; I haven't been lazy."

Madam Zhen frowned: "Are you taking care of Tanlang, or is Tanlang taking care of you? Also, if you don't sleep in the same quilt with him, what are you warming the bed for?"

Weilai's gray-blue eyes welled up with water mist. She trembled her lips and said softly:

"It's the master who won't let me. When the slave hugs him from behind, his body stiffens, and he says he can't fall asleep, he's not used to it... The slave didn't dare to hug him anymore, afraid of affecting the master's sleep. He is very tired every day from official business..."

Madam Zhen shook her head: "Nonsense. Tanlang used to be hugged by me to be coaxed to sleep. Didn't he sleep very well? Where was he not used to it?"

A maid behind Banxi interjected:

"Great Mistress is absolutely right. The young master is not 'not used to it'; he's not used to you. Also, maybe he's afraid that if he opens his eyes at night, he'll see your strange face and be scared into having nightmares."

Banxi also nodded, glancing at the white-haired maid: "So, is the young master sleeping with his back to you?"

Weilai's little body stiffened. For a moment, she even forgot the heat of the teacup she was holding. Her little face was redder than her burned fingers. "Slave... slave..."

Madam Zhen never took the tea from beginning to end. After eating in a leisurely manner, before getting up, she dropped a sentence:

"If you can't be a good personal maid, then take the initiative to tell Tanlang to change to a suitable one. Don't rely on that little bit of pity left to kidnap Tanlang's kindness."

Banxi nodded in agreement:

"That's right. Anyway, you can't do anything. It's better to give up the position. This is good for the young master and for you. At least it proves you're not a little white-eyed wolf and are truly good for the young master."

"Ah ah..."

The silver-haired maid flushed, her little mouth open, wanting to agree, but when she thought about leaving the master's side—the master who gently touched her head and coaxed her to sleep first at night—her fragile heart, which hadn't seen much of the world, felt a burst of sharp pain.

The girl was reluctant to say those words for a long time, but then she thought that her face might scare the master into having nightmares at night, and the master was just pitying her...

Rich expressions appeared on Weilai's little face: inferiority, shame, self-reproach, and so on.

The silver-haired maid lowered her head deeply.

"Alright, stop gossiping. If you are all so capable, go and get Tanlang to choose you to enter the room. Why bully a white-haired maid? Forget it. Since Tanlang hasn't said anything, let's wait and see."

Madam Zhen glanced sideways at the maids who were fanning the flames behind her.

The latter hurriedly lowered their heads, honestly nodding.

The woman in the silk skirt shook her head, feeling that this inner residence was a mess. Why was it so difficult to find a maid suitable for taking care of Tanlang?

Madam Zhen's face showed melancholy, and she led Banxi and the other maids away.

In the empty room, with only a table of leftovers, a certain silver-haired girl stood blankly in place, with two wet marks on her pale little face. It wasn't until a long time later that her slender body moved, and she tremblingly put down the teacup that had been heated and cooled.

In front of the table and stool, the girl squatted down, curled up, and hugged her knees. Water droplets fell onto the cold floor. She raised the back of her hand, wiped her stained face messily, and the girl's wet hand took out two copper coins that still carried warmth from the collar of her jacket. With red eyes, she stared at them, her mouth seeming to be muttering something...

In the distance, someone didn't know that his gentlemanly conduct of suppressing his "Haoran Zhengqi" every night while secretly feeling proud would cause so many ripples in Meilu Yuan and be watched by so many daughters.

Currently, he wasn't taking the main road. Carrying the food box, he was "bravely venturing into the world" in that unfamiliar plum blossom forest in the back residence.

Honestly, this little path was quite a shortcut. Before long, Ouyang Rong saw the buildings of the Su residence.

... ===== CHAPTER 76 =====