Even though it was a sunny day, the light couldn’t keep the cold twelfth lunar month air away.
But that was the last thing Lin Miao could care about. She was so keen on going home that each step she took was more like an excited hop. It was as if her heart wouldn’t allow her to walk regularly.
It was becoming more apparent to the people in the mansion that she might not be returning back.
Lin Miao carried her backpack like how she did when she left her village.
She threw herself in her mother’s arms, so happy that she couldn’t close her mouth. “Mommy, you’ve come to pick me up!”
She started smiling afterwards.
They didn’t know if it was the adults in the mansion trying to compromise for the person upstairs on the balcony, but Grandma brought in Lin Miao’s mother, who received Lin Miao in the garden.
The Young Master on the second floor patted the dogs beside him. She is smiling so much, even more, when she finally won a game after three hundred and forty-four games against me, the Young Master thought.
She wasn’t this happy when they were buying candy either.
After the Young Master recalled all his memories, he was sure that this was her happiest moment that he saw.
He had a feeling that he was just like one of her buddies she often mentioned.
They played together, but she also didn’t mind if they separated.
The Young Master lowered his head with this realization.
Downstairs, Lin Miao’s father lifted Lin Miao up, “Yep, Shuishui is going home.”
Lin Miao’s mother bowed to the other adults, “Thank you for your care.”
Lin Miao whispered beside her father’s ear, “Daddy, is younger brother feeling better?”
“Yep, he’s waiting for us in the car.” Her father responded softly.
Lin Miao was even happier.
The three began to walk towards their car. Lin Miao realized just then that the Young Master was absent.
Searching for him, her sight landed on the second-floor balcony, where he rested. The sun was shining towards the Young Master so she couldn’t distinguish his expression. She just felt that her brother was glowing.
Lin Miao was a bit sad leaving him. She wanted to pocket him and bring him back, but he would definitely need to celebrate the New Year with his parents just like her. It was too unreasonable, so she just said towards the especially warm Young Master in the wintery sunlight, “Gege, I’m leaving. I’ll bring you a pomelo when I return. Little Mei said she saved two for me, I’ll save one of those for you!”
The Young Master forced a smile, not wanting to ruin her enthusiasm, “Mm, travel safely.”
And then, she left his line of sight.
Walking out of the neighbourhood, she saw her younger brother beside the car. She barely recognized him.
Originally, her brother was like her: tanned and short because of going up the mountains and down the waters. However, he was now way whiter and taller, even taller than her.
Lin Miao felt as if she was struck by lightning.
All her excitement turned into one sentence. She turned around, looked at her parents, and said, “Mommy, what did you feed to my brother…”
Lin Miao’s brother was also excited to see his sister again, but then he heard his sister say that so he carefully responded, “Older Sister...”
Hearing this, Lin Miao turned her head around and pretended that she didn’t say anything. In the past, they agreed that they would call the one who was the tallest the older sibling. So, Lin Miao maturely patted her brother’s head, “Has Didi been behaving well for the past months? Were you obedient? Older Sister bought candy for you.”
The brother nodded, responding in a tone alien to his usual childish manners, “Yes.”
Lin Miao was surprised. She took out some candy for him as they went into the car.
Her parents also stepped inside. They rented this car from a friend from Chang’an, and its back seats were quite spacious.
Inside the car, Lin Miao still couldn’t resist looking at her brother. How did he change so much?
Turning her head back, she saw her mother staring at her, her eyes red.
“Mommy, did you get sand in your eyes?” Lin Miao asked.
Her mother nodded, “From the wind outside.”
“I’ll blow it away for Mommy.” Lin Miao asked her mom to lower her head and blew carefully, “Good, the sand is gone.”
Lin Miao’s mother was quite speechless and had the great urge to hug her.
Lin Miao had a special ability, which was falling asleep immediately when inside a car. Today was no exception. She soon fell asleep leaning on her mother.
When she woke up, she found herself on her mother’s back.
She soon noticed that they weren’t home yet.
“Mommy, where are we going?”
“We moved.” Lin Miao’s father said, “This is our home from now on. We’re very close to the school. You can go there with your brother from now on.”
Lin Miao rubbed her eyes, “Huh, do I not have to work anymore?”
“No.” Lin Miao’s mother remembered what the Young Master said, so she added, “It’s a different school. The teachers and students are all very kind, they won’t bully you.”
Lin Miao thought for a moment. Going to school seemed fine for her because the Young Master would also be entering school after the New Year. She wouldn’t have anything to do if she stayed at home.
The father was confused as to why they were switching schools, but he didn’t voice it out.
Their new home was so nice!
It was rented and had three rooms and a living room. It also came with furniture.
Even though the Young Master’s house was a mansion resembling those castles in picture books, Lin Miao’s definition of her home was still a dirt hut.
So, she was obviously comparing this new home to the old hut in their village. Lin Miao thought it was fabulous. The room was bright, and the furniture looked good.
Lin Miao’s mother led her to a room, “This is your room.”
There was a fluffy pink blanket on her bed with pink balls attached to it. It looked super warm and comfy.
There was also a desk, and her books were placed on the windowsill. All her books back in the village were moved here.
Lin Miao rolled on her bed out of joy.
Her mother then left to make a meal while her father received a call, and said, “There seem to be some problems at the construction site, I’m going to see what it is.”
Lin Miao left her backpack in her room and pulled her brother to the kitchen to help her mother wash the vegetables.
Stepping into the kitchen, Lin Miao’s mother took out a plateful of marinated chicken feet, “Have some for now, we still have to wait a bit for dinner.”
So, Lin Miao led her brother to wash their hands and started eating the chicken feet. She hasn’t had such things in over half a year.
Her younger brother had really changed. They used to fight for food, but now, he stopped after finishing just one foot.
Lin Miao was surprised. After stripping the foot of its flesh, she asked, “Didi, are you done eating?”
(Note: “Didi” is Pinyin for 弟弟 in chinese, which means “younger brother”)
“I don’t like this, you can have the rest, Sis.”
Lin Miao: “...”
Then, they saw her mother take out two smoked ribs to simmer with lotus roots, fry four salted fish, and cut half a piece of fresh lean pork to stir-fry with potato strips…
“Are guests visiting us today?” Lin Miao asked her brother beside her.
Her younger brother shook his head, “I don’t think so.”
“These are all your favourites, we saved all of it for you when you come back.” Her mother responded.
A big smile appeared on Lin Miao’s face. These were all dishes that would have usually been made only when guests were visiting, but now she was having all of them at once.
She had a lot of great meals in the Young Master’s home, but the cuisine here was drastically different. The Young Master’s family didn’t have salted fish or smoked meat.
At this moment, the sausage her mother steamed was finished. Her mother lifted the thick aromatic sausage out to slice it. Seeing that Lin Miao was struggling to control herself, the mother fed her a few slices of sausage.
Lin Miao’s happiness was through the roof. She used to steal cooked meat off the cutting board with her brother back then.
She obviously didn’t do the same in other families’ kitchens. She had only been to one kitchen out of all the homes she had visited.
“Is it too spicy?” Lin Miao’s mother turned her head around to look at her.
“It’s perfect!” Lin Miao was already satisfied before even having dinner.
It’s a shame that Gege isn’t here to try this out, Lin Miao thought.
She suddenly thought about a serious problem, “Mommy, if I’m not going back to work next year and going to school instead, can I ever see Gege again?”
She promised to bring a pomelo for the Young Master!
Nor could she see Dahuang, Feifei, and Jiajia.
Lin Miao’s mother paused. She thought about what the Young Master’s family said and decided that it was best for them to not return. If they did, then it would almost inevitably be assumed that they accepted the offer, or that they were trying to take advantage of them with Shuishui.
The Young Master was very nice to Shuishui though. He told her that Shuishui was bullied at her old school and suggested transferring Shuishui to another school. It seemed like he knew Shuishui wasn’t coming back.
Lin Miao’s mother turned around and saw her clueless daughter. She looked at her with the hope that she could give a definite answer like how she said what she wanted to eat before.
Just before she was about to open her mouth, she decided to hold it back. The mother felt like these adult things were too cruel.
“Don’t worry Sis, I’ll drive you there when I grow up.” Lin Miao’s younger brother said.
“We can go to the city for a two-day vacation after the New Year when your father is less busy. You can see your Gege then.” Lin Miao’s mother decided to say this instead.
Lin Miao nodded, “Yipee!”
She started to wonder if the Young Master was walking the dogs.
And whether Auntie Yu could handle it with the Young Master alone.
Lin Miao had overthought.
Meanwhile, back at the mansion, the Young Master’s mother called him at the door, “Little Yu, let’s go walk the dogs.”
The Young Master opened the door, uninterested. “Mom, Dahuang’s mood isn’t very good today, she doesn’t want to go outside.”
The enthusiastic Dahuang and its two little puppies, ready to go outside: “...”
Dahuang turned around and ran off with a slipper!
The two puppies followed, however, the one who would have chased after the dog to lecture her quietly closed his door, “I’m going to read first. Mom, can you find someone else, I don’t want to move.”
He then went to the study and took out a book to read.