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"Second Sister. Qiao'er has woken up." Not long after Bu Jingyun left, a maid came to deliver the message to Xia Yuhan.
This maid is Xia Yuhan's temporarily chosen personal maid. Not for any other reason, but because when everyone else was mocking her and looking down on her, this maid treated her with great courtesy.
However, although this maid is clever in appearance, she comes from a lowly background. Ever since she was sold into Xia Manor, she has been discarded to the woodshed to do hard labor...
"Oh, is that so? Let's go take a look later. First, close the door. I have something to discuss with you."
"Yes, Second Sister."
Seeing that she handled the simple tasks assigned to her quite well, even though it was just some inconspicuous cleaning in her room, Xia Yuhan felt satisfied. However, there were still some things that were quite unsatisfactory...
"What is your name?" Xia Yuhan looked up and down at the maid before her, who was dressed in patched coarse cloth. Although she wore embroidered shoes, they were also extremely worn out.
"In response to Second Sister, my name is Zhi Tao."
"Zhi Tao. What a good name. How many years have you been in the manor? Have we had any previous interactions?" Xia Yuhan thought that a person wouldn't treat her well for no reason; there must be some underlying reason.
"In response to Second Sister, I was sold into Xia Manor by my parents when I was very young because my family was very poor. So I have been in Xia Manor for over ten years. When I first arrived at Xia Manor, I struggled to eat and stay warm during winter. It was Second Sister who secretly gave me food back then, allowing me to survive."
"I see." After understanding the situation, Xia Yuhan had a clearer perspective. "Zhi Tao, these past few days I will have you help manage this Xia Manor for Yu Han. Are you able to handle it?"
Zhi Tao quickly responded, nodding her head vigorously: "I can handle it. I can handle it."
"If you can't manage it, there's no need to force yourself. Not everything goes smoothly from the start."
"Second Sister..." Zhi Tao didn't know how to respond. Ever since she was young, at Xia Manor, whenever she did something that displeased others, she would face severe punishment.
Although she was used to it, when Second Sister sent someone to escort the guests away, she accidentally knocked over Second Sister's guest while rushing to report something...
When she accompanied Second Sister to take over the restaurant, she made a fool of herself due to her lack of experience with high society, embarrassing Second Sister...
During the handover with the heads of all the tenants at Xia Manor, she initially couldn't suppress the discontent from some tenants towards Second Sister. Moreover, she failed to clearly explain that Xia Manor had already been taken over by Second Sister, leading those tenants to express various grievances against her...
Xia Yuhan naturally didn't understand why Zhi Tao was so frightened and stepped forward to hold her hand, asking, "Zhi Tao, are you okay? Why are you trembling all over?"
When Xia Yuhan grasped Zhi Tao's hands, she realized something was wrong. Instinctively, she lifted Zhi Tao's clothing and saw dark purple bruises and shocking finger marks.
Before Xia Yuhan could figure out what was going on, Zhi Tao, terrified, quickly withdrew her hands and knelt on the ground, repeatedly begging for mercy: "Second Sister, please spare me. I will definitely be more careful in the future and won't cause any trouble for you..."
"Enough. Enough. Get up." Xia Yuhan was very angry. Her anger wasn't directed at Zhi Tao for not doing well but at those bullies in Xia Manor. It seemed that if Xia Manor didn't address these issues, things would only get worse.
Scared by Xia Yuhan's reprimand, Zhi Tao didn't even dare to breathe and hurriedly got up from the ground, bowing her head low.
Seeing Zhi Tao like this made Xia Yuhan realize that her words had frightened her. She quickly spoke to comfort her: "Zhi Tao, don't be afraid. I was just angry at those bastards in Xia Manor. You're still a person. If you make a mistake, how can they treat you like this?"
At this point, Zhi Tao was already extremely frightened and stammered: "In response to... Second Sister, the servants of Xia Manor deserve such punishment for their mistakes. This rule was set by Madam."
"This is truly outrageous. No wonder I can't get anything done after giving orders; everything piles up while those above do nothing and push the blame onto their subordinates and servants. If they don't do well, they get punished. It seems there are quite a few pests in this Xia Manor." After muttering to herself, when Xia Yuhan turned back to look at Zhi Tao, her tone softened again.
"Zhi Tao, later I have a few sets of clothes for you. You can change into them for now. After a few days, I'll have someone make you new clothes. From now on, stay by my side, okay?"
Zhi Tao was truly surprised and didn't know how to respond. How fortunate she was in her past life to encounter such a good master. Overwhelmed with excitement and disbelief, Zhi Tao began to sob with gratitude. It wasn't until she lifted her head that Xia Yuhan finally saw her face clearly.
"Alright, alright. Stop crying. I haven't hit you or done anything to you. What am I supposed to do with your sudden tears?" The ways of being a master in ancient times were something Xia Yuhan simply couldn't adapt to. She preferred to treat everyone around her equally. Even in the relationship between superiors and subordinates, she didn't want to use power to oppress them.
"Second Sister, this great kindness will surely be repaid by this servant. It's just that Second Sister, I don't know anything..."
"If you don't know, then just follow along and learn. Understand? Now you can go."
Just as Zhi Tao was about to leave, she suddenly remembered the purpose of her visit: "Second Sister, about Qiao'er..."
"Qiao'er is in your care. I'm very assured. Hurry along now."
"Yes, Second Sister."
Actually, Xia Yuhan had originally planned to go with Zhi Tao to see Qiao'er, to observe how she would respond when she woke up.
But now she had more important matters to attend to and couldn't spare the energy to worry about Qiao'er.
As soon as Zhi Tao left, Second Madam entered, dragging her weary body: "Yu Han, are you still looking at the accounts? Shouldn't you take a break? Be careful not to strain your eyes."
"Mother, please sit down and rest. Yu Han is fine. I'm almost done with these accounts, so there's no need for you to worry."
While knocking on her shoulders, Second Madam sighed and said, "I really don't know how that Madam usually handles these matters. It's not easy at all."
"Mother, look at yourself. Of course it's tiring at first. Besides, that Madam has been managing things for so many years at Xia Manor. There must be quite a few people who follow her lead. We can't expect to grasp everything all at once. If we force it, it would be like a snake trying to swallow an elephant—self-destructive."
"Yu Han, ah. You are doing well. This is exactly what I am worried about. Do you have any solutions?"
"Yu Han is thinking. Mother, you don't need to worry too much. Let's go back and rest for a while. The matters of Xia Manor cannot be resolved in a short time. If you exhaust yourself, it won't be good."
Madam sighed repeatedly after hearing this: "No, Yu Han. Just one matter requires someone to relay messages. It needs a dedicated person to handle it. But it's been quite some time now. The suppliers of meat and vegetables for the restaurant are still waiting. If it weren't for Zhi Tao relaying messages, they would still be waiting. This business deal might not even happen."
"Mother, this is indeed a problem. How about this? Let's temporarily suspend operations at half of the restaurants in the capital for a few days. We should first tidy up our internal affairs. Otherwise, it will be impossible to continue like this. The people we need are not our own, so it's very difficult to get things done."
"But we usually rely on others and are under others' control. Where can we find any manpower?"
"Don't worry, Mother. Yu Han has already sent someone to Xia Yang Village to ask for help. They should arrive tonight."
Despite this, Second Madam still wore a worried expression, her heart filled with unexpressed concerns: "Yu Han, I don't know why but I always feel uneasy. Now that we have money, why don't we quietly leave? Then find a secluded place to live anonymously. Although life would be plain, we could live safely."
Xia Yuhan closed the last account book and rubbed her sore eyes, comforting Second Madam: "Mother, there will come a day when that happens, just not now. Yu Han doesn't know why she has attracted a bunch of inexplicable assassins out of nowhere. Now I'm afraid that wherever we go, there will be danger. Instead of living a life on the run outside, it's better to stay temporarily at Xia Manor."
Seeing that her advice was in vain, Second Madam could only leave regretfully: "Well then, what is meant to come will eventually come. No matter how much you want to hide, you can never escape."
"Yu Han, do you know why your name is Yu Han?"
Because you were born on a cold night when it was pouring rain. That night...
As for what happened next, Madam could hardly dare to imagine.
Xia Yuhan finished looking at the account book. When she saw the empty room, her eyes were filled with desolation.
No matter how busy she was, as soon as she had a moment to herself, Cang Yile's captivating smile would appear before her eyes. No matter how she tried to hide or forget, she couldn't escape it. She couldn't forget.
The only silver lining was that after they had that kind of relationship, she showed no signs of being pregnant. That could be considered a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.
Thinking of this, Xia Yuhan silently vowed that the next time she saw Cang Yile, she would treat him harshly.
She wanted him to feel guilty for her feelings and her heartfelt intentions. She wanted him to be heartless, only able to say sweet words to make girls happy.
As Xia Yuhan thought about this, she unconsciously bent the brush in her hand. She broke it piece by piece until it was too difficult to bend anymore, then angrily tossed the brush away.
But when she looked up, the person she had been thinking about day and night appeared right before her eyes...
She must be dreaming. How could that bastard Cang Yile come to see her? Xia Yuhan thought unrealistically, feeling irritated as she grabbed an account book and threw it at Cang Yile's illusion: "Cang Yile, do you think you can just come out and scare people because you've turned into a ghost?"
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