Miss and farmhand

The lady's expression changed. Huang Muyun sneered inwardly; she'd seen something strange today.

Huang Chu, however, had no intention of getting entangled with him over these trivial matters.

She cleared her throat and got back to the main topic.

"Little Stone, go back and rest for a while," she smiled at Stone again, unable to contain herself. "I know you're in good spirits, but eating and sleeping more is always good for you. I've called a doctor to check you out and see if there's anything you need to replenish. You've suffered for so many years, you need to rest and recuperate for a few days. Your brother and my family will take care of the rest."

The only doctor Shi Tou had ever encountered in his life was the ship's doctor, who was quite incompetent. Because he also served as the cook, his cooking often gave the boys diarrhea. He was curious about what doctors on land would be like, and because of his goodwill and respect for Huang Chu, he did whatever she said. He went down when she told him to, and before leaving, he hugged Huang Muyun tightly for a while, then suddenly let go and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

After he left, the pavilion was always deserted; there was only a cup of tea, but no one spoke.

Huang Chu scraped the rim of the teacup with the lid, the clattering sound like a hand gripping a string above his head, the taut friction unbearable.

Huang Muyun remained silent, enduring the silent and futile protest.

Huang Chu slammed the lid back on the bowl.

"Actually, if you had just said a word, my father wouldn't have ignored it." She smiled, a clearly fake smile, only twitching the corners of her mouth without moving her chin or cheeks. "Why bother planning so hard and then losing yourself in the process?"

Huang Muyun remained silent, but she continued talking to herself.

"You don't need to worry about Shi Tou's household registration. The indenture has been cancelled, so he'll just be a regular household. Now that you're an independent household, it won't be difficult to take in a brother. With a legitimate identity and some capital saved up, it will be easier to do whatever you want in the future."

Huang Muyun chuckled, revealing the implication behind her words: "What you mean, young lady, is that you can leave the Huang family from now on."

Huang Chu did not deny it.

Just as she openly admitted before that she liked him, she now admits that after all this time, she still wants him to leave.

"You're not that greedy, are you?" she said, looking at him.

Such a gaze easily distracted Huang Muyun, making it difficult for her to hear what she was saying. Her eyes were fixed on the opening and closing of her mouth, gradually overlapping with her indifferent eyes, as if the eyes were speaking.

Huang Chu had a pale, oval face, with thin eyebrows and eyelashes, sparsely spaced between her eyebrows and eyes. She was not only white, but almost translucent. Even her eyes were a light brownish-red. Her lips seemed bloodless, only highlighting a hint of petal-like vibrancy on her face.

She and Huang Muyun represent two extremes: light and intense, gentle and strong.

Huang Muyun knew what kind of person she was the moment he saw her: a precious bird in a cage, a flower that could only live for one season despite careful cultivation in a flower garden, and a goldfish in a rough earthenware jar.

Huang Muyun had heard a story among the servants: when Huang Chu was ten years old, her elder sister had indeed raised a myna bird. It was very stupid and couldn't say a word, but every day the young lady would personally feed the myna bird three egg yolks. It would only eat the yolks and not the egg whites. After three months, the myna bird flew away when no one was looking. Everyone said that the stupid bird was raised so preciously by the young lady, and it certainly wouldn't live long if it went out.

She won't live long. Huang Muyun thought so too. If Huang Chu were released into the outside world, she definitely wouldn't live long. She should be kept in the golden palace, which seemed like a fairyland, for the rest of her life, without any worries, and the real world would have nothing to do with her.

He rationally loathed Huang Chu for being so fragile, and thus found it laughable when he discovered her undisguised, prolonged gaze upon him. He also used this to forgive himself; his initial approach to Huang Chu wasn't purely malicious. It was what she wanted; she liked him, and he was fulfilling her desires.

Huang Muyun disdained developing any feelings for Huang Chu. He always remembered what Zhao Dong had said to him, and the slippery look in his eyes when he spoke. He wouldn't let himself fall into Zhao Dong's situation; he was better than him. Only a lewd man like Zhao Dong was preoccupied with women. He might even be worse; he despised a woman while yearning for her father. That was the most scheming and vicious act. He knew this, but at least he wasn't lewd, so he considered himself to be in a higher and safer position than Zhao Dong and Huang Chu, with the right to look down on them.

He opened his mouth, and heard himself ask, "So when you told your father you would wait two years, it wasn't just for Zhu Xiaoxu's sake...?"

"It's all going to fail in the end anyway. Instead of rushing to publicize it and ending up with an ugly mess, it's fine to drag it out. Anyway, it's only been less than a month, and you've already gotten what you wanted."

"……yes."

Huang Chu considered and said, "If you feel it's difficult to say, I should talk to my father; he'll be more accepting of it that way."

Huang Muyun chuckled: "So thoughtful."

Huang Chu also laughed: "In the end, you were dragged into this. You just want to save your brother, change your registered residence, and make your life a little better. There's nothing wrong with that. I wouldn't want to be forced into a marriage like this either. My father will accept this reasoning, so you don't need to worry."

"And what about you?"

"I?"

"After leaving me behind, is there still any need for this marriage proposal?"

Huang Chu waved his hand, "It wasn't entirely for your sake anyway; it was mainly to keep an eye on Senior Brother Zhu."

She tilted her head and thought for a moment, "Actually, it's thanks to him that Dad realized the insecurity in this situation, which led him to come up with the idea of ​​marrying into the family. No matter who we end up marrying, it won't harm me in the end."

"...It doesn't matter who you hire, right?"

Huang Chu blinked, and as if thinking of something, her smile suddenly turned sad, and her eyes lost focus.

"...It's the same, isn't it?" she said self-deprecatingly.

At that moment, Huang Muyun was certain that Huang Chu had someone in her heart.

—Is it that person who's also called Gou'er?

The moment the idea popped into his head, Huang Muyun vehemently suppressed it, forbidding him from revealing even a hint of it.

His pride wouldn't allow him to think that way.

The whole thing should have gone exactly as he planned: he cruelly and ruthlessly exploited the affections of a naive young lady from a wealthy family, fulfilling his own desires and those of Stone, resulting in a happy ending for everyone. He was the only villain, but he couldn't have actually ruined the young lady's life in the end; that would have been a completely different kind of sin. As long as that final line wasn't crossed, even a villain like him could forgive himself.

With this thought in mind, Huang Muyun didn't even know what else she said to Huang Chu afterward, and left the pavilion in a daze.

He returned to his room, only to find that he had not entered the newly furnished side room after his change of residence, but the dilapidated corner room where he had lived before.

That room where he once overheard their late-night private conversations, where he revealed her feelings for him and she didn't deny it.

Coincidentally, this house is now inhabited by Stone.

According to Shi Tou, the person who went to pick him up at the Maritime Trade Office yesterday was not a servant of the Huang family, but someone arranged by Mrs. Luo next door through Huang Chu. It seemed that they had been following him for a long time and knew the details very well. Huang Muyun then knew that Huang Chu had arranged for someone to be by his side long ago, just waiting to find out his plans. Instead of hindering him, she would help him so as to confront him.

Stone asked curiously, "Why didn't the young lady just come and ask you directly? When did she arrange this? You've been looking for me for a while now, haven't you? So early?"

Huang Muyun was speechless and suddenly stared at the stone.

"What's wrong?" Stone asked.

Huang Muyun shook his head. He couldn't understand why Huang Chu could laugh so heartily when he saw the stone. Now, when he saw the stone and heard him speak, he just wanted to shut him up.