48 (continued)

  I was sipping tea and chatting with Ginger Ma for a while when I suddenly asked, "Why do all the nannies in the Shen family call themselves Ginger Ma or Su Ma? Aren't they usually called Auntie Ginger or Auntie Su?"

  The old lady Jiang smiled: "Miss, you don't know the rules of a big family like this. This is a rule passed down from the Shen ancestors, and ordinary people wouldn't dare to break it."

  I pursed my lips and said nothing, continuing to drink tea.

  Jiang's mother was like a broken dam, talking non-stop. It was all about Shen Zhuo's affairs, although I couldn't see Zhang He clearly, Jiang's intentions were still very obvious, and I didn't know who had taught her to keep saying good things about Shen Zhuo. My ears were almost growing calluses from listening. Finally, I couldn't bear it anymore and asked: "Does the Shen family spoil Shen Zhuo like this? Aren't they afraid he'll become a spoiled brat like Jia Baoyu in the future?"

  Mrs. Jiang paused for a moment, probably not knowing who Jia Baoyu was, but the term "mixed-up demon king and spoiled son" was still understandable, so she smiled after being stunned for a while: "The Shen family is an aristocratic family, to say that they spoil their children, it's not the right way to do things, but the young master looks very much like his grandmother, so the old master is extremely fond of him. Moreover, although the young master has a violent temper at times, he will never make mistakes at critical moments."

  I didn't react, so Mother Jiang started her own work - persuading me.

  "That year, Second Master was in a remote area, the environment was harsh, and Young Master couldn't take it. Old Master said to bring Young Master back from Second Master's place, but who knew that when the carriage went, Young Master refused to come back. He was only around 7 or 8 years old at that time. With a raised face and a crisp voice, I remember it clearly, Young Master said: 'Where my dad is, I'll be there too! If my dad can't eat well here, then I won't go back to the old mansion to enjoy good food and drinks!' At that time, I was standing with Su Ma listening, almost shedding tears."

  Jiang Ma is really testing my patience.

  "The young master is already a somebody in this old Beijing, and he's only just started university. How many eyes are fixed on him in this city, all wanting to see how the Shen family's next generation will make their move."

  "What's it to me? I lazily glanced at Old Mother Jiang, and seemingly due to her long experience of serving people, she was very good at reading facial expressions. She probably also understood my impatience, so she smiled and said: 'Look at me, when you get old, you love to ramble on, every time I finish speaking, it's laughable.'"

  I smiled slightly: "No way. What Mom Jiang said is always interesting, I'm just tired today."

  "Go upstairs and rest first, young lady," said Mrs. Jiang. "I'll call you when the carriage arrives later."

  I didn't stand on ceremony with her either, and I got up and went upstairs.

  Although lying in bed, I couldn't sleep, tossing and turning. The phone outside seemed to have rung several times, and was answered by Jiang's mother. Although the voice was extremely soft, there were only two of us in this house, so it was heard very clearly.

  "Alright! I've said a lot of good things, but I've never seen such a heartless girl. However, it seems like she's not completely ignoring me, just still holding onto some resentment and unwilling to listen... I'm well aware of the young master's temperament, treating someone like this is rare indeed... Alas, we're all getting on in years and yet we're still entangled in these romantic affairs... Alright, alright. You're somewhat familiar with this girl, come visit her when you have time and help the young master out by saying a few words."

  He then spoke in a low voice for a few more sentences, as if talking about something else. I was so annoyed and distracted that I couldn't hear clearly, so I just gave up.

  Lying in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. After a while, I gradually felt tired and closed my eyes.

  "It sounded like someone was walking outside the door, and Jiang's mother's voice came over: 'Young master, how did you come?'"

  "He deliberately lowered his voice and asked: 'Is she asleep?'"

  "After chatting with me for a while in the afternoon, she shouted that she was sleepy and it has been two hours now, I don't know if she is sleeping soundly."

  Shen Duan didn't say anything else, and quietly pushed open the door. The room was a bit dark, he didn't turn on the light, but instead walked over quietly. I closed my eyes pretending to sleep, he sat down beside me, took my hand: "Don't be angry anymore."

  I ignored him and continued pretending to sleep.

  He smiled: "I'm not Jiang's mother, you don't have to use this trick on me."

  "Sure enough, Ginger Mom was your idea!" I opened my eyes and resentfully pushed him "What a ridiculous idea!"

  Shen Dang touched his nose, looking quite embarrassed: "Forget it, how dare I come up with such a method to tease you? It was all Zhang He's own doing, when he mentioned it to me earlier, I knew you'd get angry, and now look what's happened."

  I've been angry about this all afternoon, but I didn't dare to lose my temper with Jiang's mother. Now that Shen Zhong is here, I can finally vent my anger on him. I punched him hard: "Bastard! The whole world is helping you! You're a powerful and influential big bastard!"

  He hugged me and cooed like a child: "Alright, alright, it's my fault."

  I didn't say a word, but in fact I also knew that my behavior was unreasonable, the apology got stuck in my throat and couldn't be spoken out.

  He lay beside me, holding me from behind: "Sister... you're really hard to serve."

  I muttered: "Actually I'm not either..."

  "I know." He kissed my neck. "I understand what you mean, it's right for you to protect Liu Xian, I was just overthinking. Don't be bothered by this matter anymore, everything is up to you."

  "So you're uncomfortable."

  He tightened his arm: "What's wrong? You can lie in my arms like this, it's what I've always dreamed of, now that the dream has come true, what else can I be unhappy about?"

  I let out a sigh and said somewhat irritably: "You're the one I'm angry with, you're also the one I don't get angry with. You've already said all the good things and bad things, what else can I say!"

  Shen Duan smiled: "You know what I want to hear."

  This smile made me blush, fortunately the light in the house is dim now, otherwise it would be embarrassing if he saw it.

  He held me in his arms and didn't say a word, his hand tightly grasping mine. Seeing that I wasn't going to say those words, he sighed after a while: "You're really tormenting me!"

  I was just about to retort when I heard someone knocking at the door.

  "Master, it's almost time," Zhang He said in a low voice.

  He responded with a sound, and then came over to pull me: "Get up, let's go eat with your precious little sister."

  I heard him say that and felt a bit uncomfortable in my heart, I don't know if I should speak some soft words.

  Shen Duan chuckled and reached out to ruffle my hair: "Look at you, like a wronged little wife. I know what's on your mind, don't bother thinking of an apology. I'm not used to hearing it anyway."

  He said I was a bit annoyed and stared at him: "Who said that I wanted to think of good words for you?"

  I opened the door and unexpectedly saw Su's mother. She saw me and smiled: "You've finally arrived, young master has been thinking of you every day."

  I smiled awkwardly, Shen Duan went downstairs to change clothes, I sat with Su Ma and Jiang Ma downstairs, feeling like a child who did something wrong being scolded by both parents.

  However, this time the two of them didn't say anything, just letting me drink tea and eat some snacks, as if that's all there was to it.

  Su's mother took a look at Shen Duan, who had already changed his clothes, and handed me another pastry. I took it, and then heard her say: "Being able to make him so angry, it must be you."

  I hung my head in shame, unsure of what to say.

  "I won't say anything else, or the young master will get annoyed again." Su Ma looked at me and said, "Let me just tell you one thing. On the morning we returned to Beijing, I asked the young master if he wanted to check his luggage again, in case he had forgotten something."

  "The young master didn't come back to me, I thought there was nothing left to take away. So I didn't disturb him again until the time came to leave and he locked the gate, then he spoke his first words that day - what else can be locked up? The things you most want to bring along are also impossible to take."

  I stood there stupidly, forgetting to put down the pastry in my hand, staring at Su Ma. Until Shen Zhong walked over and patted me: "What's wrong?"

  I put down the pastry in my hand: "Nothing, this dim sum is really delicious, ask Su Ma how to make it."

  Shen Duan smiled: "What's so difficult about it? If you want to eat, just ask Su Ma to make it for you. Anyway, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

  This sounds a bit awkward, I'm not used to flirting in front of everyone, almost blushing again. Su Mu probably saw my discomfort and said to Shen Dang: "Go quickly, don't be late, it's not a good thing."

  Shen Dang smiled and took me away.