kvmb Chapter 7 I'm not usually like this
Chapter 7 I'm not usually like this
Lu Yangyang heard that laugh.
She didn't care at all; at this moment, all she could think about were the plates of food in front of her that smelled so delicious they made her head spin.
The "she" in her dream had seen a few sumptuous meals at the few banquets held at the Duke of Sheng's mansion that she was able to attend, but the meals she saw in her dream had no flavor whatsoever.
Nothing feels as real as it does now.
Lu Yangyang felt like she was dreaming, and it was a beautiful dream.
She was terrified that if she hesitated even for a second, her beautiful dream would shatter.
She just wanted to eat all the delicious food that she had never even imagined before.
"Hey, where did you come from, you little beggar? How dare you openly run into the Duke's mansion to steal food?" The laughter seemed to be a shout because Lu Yangyang ignored him.
Lu Yangyang was enjoying her meal when she was interrupted. A little annoyed, she turned her head and glanced at the wall.
As dusk approached, the sky was almost completely dark. The western courtyard wall was dazzlingly illuminated by the afterglow of the sunset, and protruding from the wall was the face of a very handsome young man with crescent-shaped eyes that, like the afterglow, seemed to glow.
Lu Yangyang glanced at him, then turned her head and saw Yuanxing still staring blankly at her. She pushed the untouched plate towards her and said, "What are you standing there for? Eat!"
“Miss, you…” Yuanxing swallowed hard, slowly picked up the chopsticks, and handed them to Lu Yangyang: “Miss, do you… do you want to use chopsticks?”
Lu Yangyang blinked, took the chopsticks from Yuanxing's hand, sat down, and explained softly, "I'm not usually like this."
Yuanxing's eyes were red, and she quickly filled a bowl with delicious food for Lu Yangyang: "Girl, you, you've suffered."
Lu Yangyang felt a little embarrassed, so she quickly grabbed her bowl and buried her head in her food.
The rice was fragrant, the meat was stewed until tender, and even the vegetables tasted fresh and sweet.
Lu Yangyang doesn't get to eat white rice even once a year. She frantically shovels rice into her mouth. She wants to eat slowly, but her mouth moves faster than her brain, afraid that if she slows down, she won't get to eat it all.
The boy, far from being annoyed by being ignored, became curious about her and called out again, "Hey, little beggar, I'm calling you! She calls you 'girl,' what are you to this family? A poor relative here to freeload?"
"You, you're talking nonsense! Our girl isn't some poor relative!" Yuanxing glared at the boy who was perched on the wall.
"I was asking her, not you!" the boy shouted again, annoyed. "Hey, little beggar, do you even know..."
Lu Yangyang spat out a bone, picked it up with her chopsticks, and tossed it casually behind her.
"what--"
The boy rolled right off the wall.
Lu Yangyang turned her head and saw that the boy had fallen into the mound of earth at the base of the wall in a very disheveled manner. The yard had just been weeded, and the soil on the ground was still loose. He fell headfirst, and his hair and face were covered with dirt and grass leaves. His leg, which was in a splint, was twisted in a very strange position.
It turned out his leg was broken.
"Even with a broken leg, he's still restless. Serves him right." Lu Yangyang cursed, then thought for a moment, got up and walked over, looking down at the handsome young man.
"Hey, little beggar, what do you want to do?" The boy couldn't get up, but for some reason he felt that Lu Yangyang's eyes were very dangerous.
Lu Yangyang bent down, grabbed his hair, and shoved his head into the dirt mound.
"Cough cough, ptooey!" The boy was caught off guard and swallowed a mouthful of dirt. His handsome face turned red as he coughed violently.
"If I hear you call me a little beggar again, I'll break your other leg too." Lu Yangyang glanced at the boy's crooked leg, thought for a moment, bent down and grabbed the boy's ankle, and suddenly exerted force, with a "crack" sound.
What followed was a scream even more agonizing than a pig being slaughtered: "Ah—"
"Young Master, Young Master, are you alright, Young Master! Where are you, Young Master!" Several urgent shouts came from the other side of the courtyard wall.
The boy's face was a mess, beads of sweat glistening on his skin, his face flushed as he glared angrily at Lu Yangyang: "You, you..."
"What do you mean, 'you'? I was just trying to help you set your bones. You fell off the wall, and your leg wasn't healed yet. If you hadn't set it in time, your leg would have been ruined! Let me tell you, I don't have any money to compensate you, so don't try to extort me! In my opinion, it's you bunch of so-called high-class people who are rude. Did I eat your food? Are you calling me a little beggar?" Lu Yangyang stood up, patted the dirt off her clothes, and looked disgusted.
It's really annoying that I'm interrupting her meal.
Lu Yangyang went to the basin to wash her hands again before sitting back down at the table and continuing to eat her rice.
"Oh, I, my name is Yan Yue, I'm sorry." Yan Yue looked at the thin figure and felt inexplicably ashamed. The other person looked no more than ten years old. He must have lost his mind to joke with a little girl.
Lu Yangyang heard his apology, but she didn't want to pay any attention to him.
Yan Yue felt increasingly guilty. He struggled to his feet, but with a broken leg, he couldn't stand up, so he simply sat down on the ground and continued chatting with Lu Yangyang: "What happened to your face? Did you get a scar? I know a lot of famous doctors, do you want me to introduce you? If you're related to the Sheng family, how come you don't even have a decent set of clothes? Otherwise, I'll have someone send you some. I really didn't mean to just now, I was just amused by watching you eat..."
In all his life, Yan Yue had never seen anyone eat so ravenously. The only person he could remember eating like that was a group of beggar children fighting over food on the street; he had seen it once.
Lu Yangyang looked like this, covered in patches, her skin dark and grimy. Although her clothes looked tattered, they weren't actually that dirty, just a bit torn. He had never seen any girl in the capital dressed like that before.
This is the Sheng family home; there's no way any beggar could have entered here. He was just curious. When did such a person come to the Sheng family?
Lu Yangyang let out a satisfied burp, then turned around and asked, "Are you finished?"
Yan Yue was speaking enthusiastically when he saw Lu Yangyang looking over, and he blushed with embarrassment.
Lu Yangyang walked over, stared at him for a moment, then suddenly bent down, grabbed Yan Yue by the waist, and hoisted him up.
Although Yan Yue was only fifteen years old, he was quite tall. Being carried by Lu Yangyang, such a short girl, left him completely dumbfounded: "You you you you..."
Lu Yangyang glanced around and saw a big tree growing next to the wall. She ran over, picked up Yan Yue with one hand, and climbed up the tree in a few quick movements. Then she put Yan Yue on the top of the wall.
"If you climb over the wall again next time, I'll throw you back!" Lu Yangyang said bluntly.
"Wow, girl, you're amazing! Are you tired? I'll go get you some hot water to wash up." Yuanxing witnessed all this and admired Lu Yangyang even more.
"Mm." Lu Yangyang nodded. She was quite tired after a whole day of running around.
She slowly walked into the house, leaving Yan Yue, whose face was flushed and who wished he could go back and bury himself in the ground, behind the wall.
And tonight, the entire Shengguo Duke's mansion is destined to be sleepless.
Once the incident in the kitchen became public knowledge, it spread throughout all the rooms.
Second Madam Wang was in charge of the kitchen. After hearing Yao Mama's report, her eyes lit up immediately. She raised her hand to Fang Mama beside her and said, "Go, pack some things for the young lady. Let's go see my good sister-in-law."
In less than a quarter of an hour, Wang led several people in a grand procession to the Jade Orchid Pavilion where Lan lived.
Lady Lan had just finished her dinner and was being served her medicine by her maid. Upon hearing that Lady Wang had arrived, she listlessly got up from the soft couch and had someone invite Lady Wang in.
As soon as Wang entered, she greeted her, “Oh dear, sister-in-law, please don’t get up yet. You’re still not fully recovered and should rest properly. I really shouldn’t have bothered you so late. I’m just heartbroken. No matter what people say, we all know that Yangyang is your own flesh and blood. It’s no exaggeration to cherish her. When I heard she had been wronged, I couldn’t sit still for even a moment, so I came to apologize to you.”
"Yangyang? What happened?" When Madam Lan heard that it was about Lu Yangyang, she immediately became anxious.
Wang told Granny Fang to bring over a pile of food and supplies, and then explained to Lan: "Sister-in-law, you know me. I'm in charge of the kitchen, and I'm usually very fair. But there's a lot going on in the kitchen, so it's inevitable that some things will go wrong. Today, when Yangyang went to the kitchen to get dinner, she ran into that old woman Yang. I don't know what went wrong with her, but she just gave her a few cornbreads that even the servants wouldn't eat, along with some leftovers, and sent her away. Yangyang was so angry that she went straight to the kitchen."
"What?! You audacious servant! Who gave you the audacity to treat our Duke's daughter so disrespectfully!" Madam Lan's pale face instantly turned red with anger, and she was momentarily unable to breathe.
Her personal maid, Hui, came in and saw her. She hurried over to comfort her, saying, "Madam, please take it easy. The imperial physician instructed that you must not get angry."
“Sister-in-law, you may not know, but that old woman Yang used to work in the manor through the connections of that wet nurse He. She always doted on the Third Miss. I truly didn't expect her to take her anger out on Yangyang. It's really unfair to that child. I apologize to you and Yangyang. I've also brought that old woman Yang with me. Whatever you do with her is up to you…”
Wang gave Fang Mama a wink.
Granny Fang hurriedly presented the gifts she had brought: "Madam, these are our mistress's apologies to Miss Yangyang."
Madam Lan clenched her handkerchief and forced herself to say, "Thank you for informing me of this, sister-in-law. From now on, I will allocate two taels of silver every day to give Yangyang extra food."
"Oh, sister-in-law, don't worry. Yangyang is just a little too thin. I'll tell the kitchen right away, and I guarantee they'll fatten her up until she's fair and tender." Wang left happily.
This trip not only dealt with Granny Yang, who was a traitor who relied on Sheng Yunzhu to do favors in the kitchen, but also obtained benefits from Madam Lan.
Two taels of silver may not seem like much, but how much could a little girl like Lu Yangyang possibly eat? In an ordinary family, that would be enough to feed an entire family for a month.
Moreover, Lu Yangyang already holds a significant position in the main kitchen, and of the sixty taels of silver she earns each month, at least fifty taels will end up in her hands.
Not only that, that old woman Yang is Sheng Yunzhu's person. This commotion has even sown discord between Sheng Yunzhu and Lan Shi. The eldest branch of the family is about to get quite a spectacle.
Lu Yangyang, that girl, really didn't come to the Duke's mansion for nothing.
No sooner had Madam Wang left than Granny Hui said to Madam Lan, "Madam, the Second Madam is deliberately trying to get benefits from you! Miss... Miss Biao is still young, how could she possibly consume so much money?"
After catching her breath, Madam Lan forced herself to say, "How could I not know what she was thinking? If I don't spend some money, how can I take care of Yangyang if the kitchen continues to neglect her? Yangyang has only been back for one day, and she has already suffered such a great injustice. I was so frightened when I gave birth to her that I didn't even have a chance to properly look at her before she suffered like that."
"I originally thought I could make it up to her properly, but I never imagined that in the end, it would be like this..."
Madam Lan covered her face and wept. Granny Hui quickly comforted her, "Madam, don't blame yourself too much. Nobody wanted this to happen..."
"That old woman Yang, go, drag her out and beat her to death! That ignorant fool, how dare she treat my daughter like this!" Madam Lan clenched her handkerchief, her hands trembling with anger.
At this moment, a maid entered and announced, "Madam, the Third Miss has arrived."
Sheng Yunzhu entered the room with red eyes.
"Mother, I'm so sorry for my sister. Please send me away."