A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

It was evening when Gui'er woke up again. She felt no discomfort. She looked down to see that she had changed her clothes. Ah Xiang was sitting beside her bed, peeling an apple. Seeing that she was awake, she said to her, "Guier, you are really amazing. You dare to confront Wu Ma? Wu Ma is the wet nurse of the young masters and young ladies. She is half the master. Come, have an apple. This is what the eldest young master specially asked for."

Guier sat up, took the apple and ate it while saying, "I don't want to do that either, but she wants to sell me to a brothel. How can I not resist? I also want to be filial to Wu Ma. But she never gave me the chance."

Ah Xiang smiled mysteriously and said, "Your time here is still too short. But it's no wonder. The eldest young master is so concerned about you. Aunt Wu must be nervous."

Gui'er asked quickly, "What do you mean?"

Ah Xiang said, "Madam Wu has a daughter who is 19 years old. When she was little, she lived and ate with the eldest young master for a while. Madam Wu insisted that her daughter missed him very much, which meant that she wanted her daughter to be his concubine. The eldest young master didn't want to, as he was a modern man and said he didn't take concubines. Madam Wu had no choice but to agree to marry her to the son of Zhang, the steward. Now, before the wedding has even taken place, Zhang suddenly takes you to his courtyard as a personal maid. Isn't this a slap in Madam Wu's face?"

Guier finally understood why Wu Ma had always felt that she was being targeted. She said, "But this personal maid isn't a concubine. Wu Ma's daughter wouldn't want to be just a maid, right?"

Ah Xiang smiled and said, "You don't know the tradition of our Song Mansion. Even the master's third concubine was once the first wife's personal maid."

Gui'er thought to herself, so that's how it is. It turns out that this is the reason why so many people targeted her as soon as she arrived. She couldn't help but feel a little resentful towards Song Xichen. If she were a little maid in the kitchen, she probably wouldn't have encountered these things.

Song Xichen was absent-minded at work that day. As soon as he got off work, he went to Catherine's Restaurant and ordered a cream cake, thinking of taking it back to make Guier happy. He didn't know why he cared so much about this little girl, but he felt very sad when he thought that she didn't trust him.

He excitedly took the cake and returned to the Song Mansion. As soon as he walked through the gate, he was greeted by a pretty girl dressed as a servant. She bowed to him and said, "Young Master, you're back."

He felt that the girl looked unfamiliar, but he didn't pay much attention to it. He nodded and walked away.

"Brother Chen." Suddenly a voice called from behind.

Song Xichen turned his head to look at the girl, frowned and said, "Are you calling me?" He was very unhappy that the servant actually called his name.

The girl came up to Song Xichen shyly and said, "I'm Xiaolian, Aunt Wu's daughter. You played with me when we were little."

Song Xichen remembered and said, "Oh, it's you. Why are you here?"

Xiaolian lowered her head and said pitifully, "I heard that my mother made a big mistake and caused a lot of trouble for the young master. I came here specially to apologize for my mother."

After hearing her say this, Song Xichen couldn't bear to blame her, so he said, "This is none of your business, you don't need to take it too seriously." Then he walked towards his own yard.

Xiaolian came up and said, "How about this? I'll take care of this little sister Gui'er until she recovers."

Song Xichen smiled and said, "You don't have to worry too much. There are people in my courtyard who serve her."

As they were talking, they had already arrived at the gate of the eldest young master's courtyard. Xiaolian said, "Then at least let me go in and take a look at Sister Gui'er."

Song Xichen hesitated for a moment and finally agreed.

Xiaolian and Song Xichen walked into the house together. The servants around them had never seen Song Xichen bring a girl back on his own initiative, so they all looked in curiously.

Gui'er was in her room, eating an apple and reading a book given by the school. Ah Xiang came running over and said, "Oh no, oh no, Gui'er, the eldest master has brought Xiaolian back."

Gui'er was confused and asked, "Who is Xiaolian?"

Ah Xiang said, "Xiao Lian is Wu Ma's daughter."

When Gui'er heard this, she sighed and thought to herself, "Will this ever end?"

As they were talking, Song Xichen came to Gui'er's room. He took out a cream cake and said, "This is for you."

It must be said that this really pleased Gui'er, because this food was the only thing that Gui'er could feel a connection with the past. Gui'er immediately said with a smile, "Thank you, Master."

Then Gui'er caught a glimpse of Xiaolian, who was standing nearby with a sad face. Gui'er deliberately said, "Who is this sister? I don't think I've seen her before in the courtyard."

Song Xichen explained, "She is Wu Ma's daughter. She came here to apologize for causing you trouble."

Gui'er smiled and said, "That's not true. We are all servants, and we only want to serve our masters well. How can we care about so many things? Sister, don't take it to heart."

Upon hearing this, Xiaolian walked over, shook Guier's hand, and said, "Guier is very understanding, but I'm still worried. I heard that my sister has been injured since she came here. I think it would be better if I moved in with her so that I can take care of her and take care of her injuries myself."

Gui Er thought to herself, "Isn't this just a green tea? She's pretending to take care of me, but her real intention is to get close to Song Xichen."

He smiled and said, "I'm just a servant, how dare I trouble you, sister? Besides, there are other sisters in our courtyard who can look after each other. I heard that you are engaged to the son of Zhang, the steward, so you must be getting married soon. It would be against the rules to move into the young master's courtyard at this time."

Xiaolian didn't expect Guier to know so much and say it directly. Her face turned blue and red, and she felt a little embarrassed.

Song Xichen smiled and said to Xiaolian, "Guier's words make sense. You've seen it, and your heart is in it. That's enough. Go away."

Xiaolian had no choice but to walk away, looking back every few steps.

As soon as Xiaolian left, Guier happily started to eat the cream cake. Seeing Ah Xiang looking at it eagerly, she said to the eldest master, "Thank you for the cake, eldest master. Ah Xiang took care of me during my two illnesses. Can I have some for her?"

Song Xichen pretended to be unhappy and said, "Then I bought you a cake. Why don't you think of me?"

Gui Er quickly said, "Then there must be a portion for the eldest young master. Ah Xiang, go get a knife so I can cut the cake."

Ah Xiang quickly agreed and went to the kitchen. After a while, she came in holding a kitchen knife. Gui'er and Song Xichen were both shocked. Gui'er had to explain to her that she wanted the long and narrow knife for cutting fruits.

Ah Xiang slapped her forehead and said embarrassedly, "Oh, so you want that kind? Have I never eaten cake in my life? I'll go get it again right away."

After Ah Xiang left, Song Xichen sat down beside Gui'er's bed. He reached out and touched the scar on Gui'er's forehead. Seeing that it had healed and there was only a small scar, he felt relieved.

Song Xichen suddenly asked, "You've only eaten cake once before, how do you know what kind of knife you need to cut cake with?"

Gui'er was stunned for a moment, but she quickly reacted and said with a smile, "I was reading the newspaper and saw a photo of someone celebrating their birthday in the advertisement."

Song Xichen lowered his head and smiled, without further investigation.