Chapter Thirteen: Boredom

  The young man finished speaking and looked at Zhou Liulang, Zhou Liulang looked back at him.

  The man suddenly stood up and almost knocked over the chessboard.

  "Is Father in?" Shōsuke asked loudly.

  The little servant standing outside the courtyard hurriedly replied, and Zhou Liu Lang had already quickly walked out while speaking, and in the blink of an eye he was gone without a trace.

  The courtyard regained its tranquility, and the young man slightly moved his hand.

  "It's also boring here for now, I'll just head back home." he said, stretching out his hand.

  The kneeling maid quickly got up, one took out a pair of wooden crutches from behind her back, and the other helped the young man to his feet.

  The young servants in the courtyard hurried out to greet them. Before long, four young servants came in, carrying a portable bed between them.

  The young man had propped himself up with his crutch, his long gown hanging down, tall and slender, elegant as a jade tree in the wind. Unfortunately, under the fluttering clothes, one leg was twisted and couldn't touch the ground.

  The girl supported the young man as he hobbled and limped over to sit down on the couch.

  "See off Mr. Qin Lang." The two maidservants bade farewell with a curtsy.

  The servants carried the bed out and soon disappeared into the distance.

  Jiang Niang's return was like a gust of wind, gradually stirring up ripples on the calm lake surface. This wasn't what she wanted, nor could she help but think about it. Everything happened naturally yet inevitably, and that's just how life is.

  He picked up a stone and threw it into the water, causing a ripple in the lotus pond.

  "Daughter!" she exclaimed, turning around, "I saw a fish! It's running under the lotus leaf!"

  Jiang Yao nodded slightly and smiled faintly as she sat on the couch.

  Half a month has passed and her body is slightly better than before.

  Cheng Jiuniang, who had recovered from her illness, naturally wouldn't stay indoors all the time.

  The sun was shining directly on her and she couldn't bear it, fortunately there were many trees in the courtyard, with shade all over.

  Ban Jin turned around and helped her up.

  "Daughter, come and take a look," she said, "isn't it more beautiful than the fish in our temple?"

  Jiang Niang couldn't even remember what happened last month, let alone what the fish in the Taoist temple looked like.

  She stood up and slowly walked towards the lotus pond.

  The master and servant stood still by the pool, watching the carp swimming back and forth under the lotus leaves.

  "Can we eat the fish here?" asked Ban Qin.

  Since that day when she was slapped, although no one bothered her again, the kitchen supplies became less and less satisfactory. The maid was careless and often forgot this or that, and when asked to fetch something, she would say in a rough tone that it was gone.

  "She must have taken them all back to her own home." Half Cabbage guessed.

  Jiang Yu agreed with her views.

  "I've taken note of this," said Ban Jin.

  Jiang Nang smiled but did not speak.

  Ban Jin followed the old nun's will to copy scriptures for her daughter's blessing, so she learned some characters from the people in the temple. Because of her poor memory, she let Ban Jin write down the things that happened to her in clumsy handwriting. The initial purpose was to record the number of times she got sick, in order to grasp whether her physical condition was improving or not.

  In addition, he also recorded the things that people had experienced along the way.

  "Note down who has been kind and who has not, so that when we meet again, I will know how to behave. Otherwise, it would be awkward." she said.

  The cicadas' chirping sounds, under the scorching sun, even the tree shades have withered a bit.

  "Let's go back, daughter," said Ban Jin, yawning.

  Although I had a strange grievance, overall, the days are still spent very comfortably, eating and sleeping, and the half-vegetable head has obviously grown several points higher.

  "I want to go fishing," said Jingniang.

  One of the signs that her body is recovering is that she no longer feels tired all the time, and when she does feel energetic, it lasts for a longer period. When thinking about things, her headaches have also decreased significantly, but her mind still wanders uncontrollably.

  Sitting here fishing doesn't know if it can make her gather her thoughts, so as to condense this chaotic, fragmented and elusive memory more quickly.

  "Great, great! Now we can eat fish." Ban Jin was very happy. "You know how to fish? That's wonderful! You sit here first, I'll go find the fishing rod."

  She finished speaking and hurriedly ran towards the courtyard, asking the servant woman to bring the fishing rod.

  Jiang Nang looked at Ban Jin running away.

  "I don't fish," she said.

  There is a fake mountain by the side of the Lotus Pond, with a platform in the middle of the mountain that is neither high nor short. The trees above are drooping, and below it is just right next to the water. The location is not far from her own courtyard, which is a fishing spot that satisfies Jiang Yaohua very much.

  Ban Jin sat behind Cheng Jiaoniang, surrounded by a carpet of flowers and grasses, weaving small baskets in various shapes.

  "Did we catch any fish this time?" she asked softly, turning her head back occasionally.

  Jiang Yao shook her head.

  "The girl really can't fish," said Banjin.

  Jiang Nang smiled and said it was true, she just wanted to have the feeling of fishing.

  As she had thought, sitting like this seemed to make her spirit no longer as scattered as it used to be.

  Seeing his daughter's spirit better than usual, Ban Jin was also delighted.

  Apart from eating and sleeping, this has become a new must-do for the mistress and servant. Every day after lunch, they would come here, Cheng Jiaoniang would sit quietly fishing to calm her mind, while Banqian played with flowers and wove grasses.

  Cheng Liu Niang has been having a tough time lately, seems to have lost her appetite, as the youngest daughter in the family, her brothers are all very concerned.

  Cheng Silang brought a box of pastries to visit his sister.

  Cheng Liu Niang sat alone in the house, lazily watching Xiao Ya Tou play Go.

  "Sixth Sister, try some of this. A new pastry shop just opened on the street, and it's said that a good pastry chef from Beijing made them. Try some," said Cheng Si Lang.

  Cheng Liu Niang was still lazy and stretched out her hand to pinch one.

  "It's too greasy, Fourth Brother, haven't you tasted it?" she said unhappily.

  Cheng Silang smiled wryly.

  "I don't like eating this," he said, "They all say it's good."

  Cheng Liu Niang pouted, hadn't spoken yet, outside the wooden clogs sounded, Cheng Qi Niang came in, followed by Si Niang and Wu Niang, their faces weren't very good, casually threw the wooden clogs, and sat down inside.

  "We can't go out anymore!" said Cheng Qiuniang loudly, her eyes red with anger and sadness.

  "What's wrong?" Cheng Si-lang hastily asked.

  The fourth and fifth daughters greeted him with a bow and called him "older brother", then sat down.

  "Fourth Brother, didn't you get laughed at when you went out?" asked Cheng Qiuniang as she looked at him.

  "Why laugh at me?" Cheng Si Lang was puzzled.

  He is the eldest son of the Cheng family, although his studies are average, but this is not a shameful thing, is it?

  "So it's us girls who are unlucky." Cheng Qiuniang complained seriously, looking at Cheng Liu'niang, "Now the whole city knows we have a silly sister, and they're making fun of us!"

  Cheng Liu's daughter sat up.

  "What?" she exclaimed, "How did you all know? That fool hasn't even left yet!"

  "Good news never goes beyond the gate, but bad news travels a thousand miles." said Cheng Wuniang softly.

  Cheng Liu's daughter patted her forehead with a gloomy face.

  "Heavens, I'm going to Dongniangzi's house to play in two days," she said.

  "Can't go!" Cheng Qiuniang shouted, "Do you know how humiliating it was for us to go out today? Yan's family that little cheap servant, in front of so many people, said that a family with the same blood is smart, and the sisters of a stupid family are all stupid!"

  "That's terrible, that little servant girl from the Yan family will definitely go to Dongniangzi's house too." Cheng Liu Niang said, rubbing her hands and looking at Cheng Qi Niang, "That fool is your own sister..."

  Qiqi was so startled by these words that she almost jumped up.

  "That's your own sister!" she shouted.

  "Compared with you, it's still a bit worse." Cheng Liu said seriously.

  Cheng Silang on the side was both amused and annoyed, women's conversations were really laughable, seemingly never getting to the point.

  "It's not about that now." Cheng Si Niang, as the elder sister, stepped in to steer the conversation back on track, saying softly, "In any case, since we are all members of the Cheng family, we will all be ridiculed. Liu Niang, especially you who have always been known for your good character and behavior, those people must be secretly jealous and will definitely seize this opportunity to mock us."

  Yes, I thought that Cheng Liu's daughter was a paragon of virtue and talent, but unexpectedly, such a foolish relative appeared, just like a beautiful painting with an ink stain, instantly ruining it.

  "What bad luck!" Cheng Liu's mother angrily slammed the fan in her hand to the ground, "We can't go out and see people from now on! It's all because of this fool!"

  Cheng Qiuniang suddenly thought of something and looked at Si Niang.

  "Fourth daughter, is it because that lowly servant girl from the Yan family was so rude to me today that she's jealous of my superior looks and demeanor?" she asked.