Chapter Twelve: Night Crying

  The rain in the early morning is pattering down incessantly.

  Smiling and holding a green oil-paper umbrella, carrying a bamboo basket in hand, walking on the corridor leading to the big kitchen.

  The wooden clogs stepped on the bluestone bricks, making a "giggle" sound.

  Went up to the corridor, smiled and put away the oil-paper umbrella, and shook off the raindrops on the umbrella under the corridor.

  A mouth-watering aroma of food wafted out from the big kitchen, Xiaoxiao sniffed and couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.

  People came and went in the corridor, it was time for breakfast, and the maids were busy delivering food to various courtyards for their masters to enjoy. Only Qingfengyuan was an exception, no one would ever go to prepare meals for Qingfengyuan, they had been taking some raw vegetables from the main kitchen for over a decade, and then went back to their own small kitchen to cook.

  Smiling, he walked along the corridor and turned into the large kitchen after a short distance.

  After sending away the little maids who had delivered meals to each yard, Manager Qin and several old women gathered around a small wooden table set up at the gate of the large kitchen, eating breakfast while chatting.

  "I heard that Wu Lang made a ruckus all night yesterday, and tormented Song Niang and several wet nurses to the point of exhaustion!" said a tall-faced woman wearing a light blue jacket.

  "It's not... he cried all night!" Another round-faced woman in a yellow dress chimed in.

  Qin's mother took a bite of the pancake, chewed it, and glared at them: "I told you to be vigilant, you are all old people in this mansion, don't secretly conspire against the masters behind their backs. If Mistress knows about it...... You also know Mistress's temper, when the time comes, don't say I didn't warn you, being driven out is one thing, and it will inevitably hurt your skin!"

  Looking at Qin's mother with a proud and arrogant expression, the two of them suddenly felt dizzy. Only then did they remember that not long ago, someone had privately spoken about the mistress being cruel in Qingfeng Garden. As a result, not only was the whole family driven out, but also that mouth was beaten swollen. This is the consequence of wagging one's tongue.

  The woman with a long face and drooping eyebrows, wearing a flattering smile on her face, looked at Qin Mama and said: "Qin Mama really didn't need to instruct us, we servants wouldn't dare. It's just that yesterday, Wu Lang made a big fuss for the whole night, and Madame also knew about it. I don't know what happened, but yesterday was fine, after going to Qingfeng Garden, she started making a scene last night, crying all night, and even got Song Niangniang crying too. Last night, it finally disturbed Madame, otherwise, how would we servants in the kitchen know? It's just that Qing Dai girl came over early today and instructed us to prepare a bowl of silver ear lotus seed soup for Madame to clear her heart, saying that Madame was also anxious and had a burning sensation in her chest last night!"

  "It's true, it's true. Miss Qing Dai said so herself. If we can't even see through this much, and just blindly make things up, then it's better to leave the estate early and not cause more trouble for our mother." The round-faced woman flattered.

  Qin's mother was pleased at this moment, and with a smile, she glanced at them, feeling quite satisfied.

  "That Wu Lang made a fuss for one night, did Qing Dai girl ask him to see a doctor?" Qin mom said.

  "It's said that they invited him, and he opened the medicine while the little girl was watching the fire. Mother, you don't know yet, it's said that Wu Lang let...that person hold her for a moment, and that's all, thinking about that unlucky name, still...Ah, Madam is so kind-hearted, taking Wu Lang to see that person, wanting Wu Lang to recognize his sister, but...it really was inauspicious!" The round-faced woman said in a low voice.

  "You don't know, that one still calls herself a heavenly maiden... Ugh, heavenly maiden? Could Gorō have seen her like that? Ah, let's just keep our distance from now on! Otherwise, we'll be affected by that inauspicious aura!" The horse-faced woman also chimed in.

  Qin's mother saw that the two of them had gotten into a good mood and were getting more and more excited, but she couldn't help but frown and let out a cold hum.

  Xiao Xiao carried the basket, had already heard a few maids' conversation, and was furious. No wonder Zhuang's mother and daughter were both gloomy, it turned out that only she was the most naive, thinking that the lady had changed her temper and came to see her daughter with a good heart, but unexpectedly, she had ulterior motives...

  Xiao Xiao ran over, suddenly stopping at the kitchen door. The people who were having breakfast looked up one after another, and when they saw it was Xiao Xiao, two of them who had just been chewing their tongues showed a look of disgust on their faces, as if they had seen something unlucky. Only Qin Mama's expression remained unchanged, asking: "Is that Xiao Xiao?"

  Xiao Xiao saw that Qin Mama didn't intentionally ignore her, a pale small face slightly relaxed, saying: "Qin Mama, I've come to collect some seasonal vegetables and raw meat."

  Qin's mother turned her head and looked at the long-faced woman, saying: "You go in and arrange it!"

  The tall woman put down the pancake in her hand, stood up and responded with a "yes", then walked into the kitchen to busy herself.

  Xiao Xiao followed him in, and when they came out, the basket had some more vegetables, but they were all dry and wilted, obviously leftovers. Apart from these, there wasn't even a shred of meat, which was just as Xiao Xiao had expected, so she didn't mind.

  Qin's mother stared at the smiling vegetable basket and asked, "Is that all that's left?"

  This is of course asking the tall-faced woman.

  "Yes, isn't it raining? It's inconvenient to go shopping on a rainy day. We only have these vegetables left for now!" The long-faced woman replied.

  Qin's mother turned her head and smiled, saying: "When it arrives fresh, I'll send some more over to your wife!"

  Xiao Xiao pulled a smile and replied: "Good! Xiao Xiao will thank Qin Mama on behalf of my wife!"

  "If so, this is what Lao Niu should do!" Qin Mama replied with a smile.

  She had been watching from the sidelines for so many days, and Qingfengyuan was not affected by whether it was the intentional deduction of the housekeeper or the provocation of Siniangzi. She was calm and composed, and this composure alone was enough to make her look at her with new eyes. For some reason, she always felt that Qingfengyuan was not so simple, but couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. Thinking to herself, adding flowers to silk is easy, but sending charcoal in the snow is hard; when everyone else didn't get along with her, if someone treated her slightly better, wouldn't she also be grateful? Besides, doing so wouldn't bring any loss to herself either.

  It's just that Jinzi is a careless person and won't particularly care about these things, besides, with his mother in charge, he doesn't need to worry at all. However, if she knew that Jinzi wouldn't even notice someone's kindness and existence, she would probably be so angry that she'd spit blood.

  Smiling and holding a vegetable basket, she walks in the rain with an umbrella.

  She was extremely anxious in her heart, and her feet were hurrying to go back and tell her daughter about this matter. Those gossipy women actually framed her daughter like that. Yesterday, the people who played with Wu Lang together weren't just her daughter, why did this dirty hat have to be put on her own daughter's head?

  Was it because his wife had once been a lonely autistic child that they secretly despised? Was it because his wife was an unlucky person in their eyes?

  Yuck!

  At this point, Mama Zhuang heard Xiaoxiao's words and a face that had experienced wind and frost was filled with worry.

  Jinzi looked at Zhuang Mama's expression and felt heartbroken.

  This person is truly devoted to Jin Gongru, from the birth of San Niang until now, she has been dedicated and never abandoned... Her age is actually much younger than her appearance, only around 42 or 43 years old, but already with many wrinkles...

  "Mother... don't worry! They want to harm me, but I won't let them succeed!" Jinzi said firmly.

  "Madam, how can this strange and absurd thing be explained clearly? Not to mention the servants who were gossiping about it, even I, when I went out to sweep the floor this morning, heard the maids talking about it. I was just afraid that you would be heartbroken if you heard it, so I didn't dare tell you." Lai Sheng's eyes welled up with tears.

  "This child's night crying and fright must have a reason, what kind of evil spirit? I'm afraid someone has interfered! " Jinzi smiled slightly, not taking it seriously, and instructed Xiao Xiao: "Let's set the table first, I'm hungry now, let's eat our fill before we have the energy to solve the problem!"

  Xiao Xiao saw Jinzi's relaxed expression and couldn't help but feel a bit more at ease herself, smiling as she replied: "Alright!"

  After finishing breakfast, Jinzi instructed Xiao to help her comb her hair and change her clothes. She wanted to go to Qiufeng Hospital to see what was going on with Rongge. Children are prone to illness in the spring, if they get sick, they should be examined by a doctor, otherwise, some people might take advantage of it and delay treatment.

  Wenwen is on the new book potential list, please vote for it if you have votes! Also, if there's still space on your bookshelf, please make room for Qianyu! I'm extremely grateful! Wishing everyone a happy Little New Year!