Chapter 13
Seeking Happiness
What could the feather of a crane be used for?
Decoration?
Wrong!
In the hands of Gu Xihe, it became a tool to messwith people. He could use the feather to scratch peopleâs neck and made it itchy. And even insert it into oneâs hair because it was funny. In short, he did everything what a child could came up with especially when it was childish and a bad thing.
Shu Huan had been pestered beyond endurance by him. It happened that she couldnât move to avoid it. She couldnât smile at him anymore. She pulled that crane feather that was inserted in her hair, tore it and threw it on the ground. She said, "Donât bother me. Go play elsewhere!"
Gu Xihe lost face. He opened his mouth and seemed that he was about to cry.
Shu Huan panicked a bit. The old madam inside spoiled him so much like this. If she made him cry, wouldnât another crime be added onto her? She quickly pulled out a smile and wanted to coax him. Who wouldâve thought that he would break into laughter immediately? He retreated three steps and said proudly, "You fell for a trap!"
Although her current body was only about four to five years older than Gu Xihe, but Shu Huanâs real age was already twenty. He made her angry and she couldnât take his tricks anymore. From her gritted teeth she said, "Childish!"
"What did you say?!"
Children didnât like it the most when people say they were childish. The moment Gu Xihe got angry, he immediately swayed his fists at her. But he took Shu Huanâs identity into consideration. No matter what, she is his sister-in-law. His fists didnât land on her. In the end, he humped once, turned and ran away.
Shu Huan let out a sigh of relief. She saw that he ran inside and was afraid that he would go complain. Although, she wanted to stop him, she had no way of stopping him. Besides, there was no difference in being pestered by him and being punished. So, she let it in the hands of fate. However, she didnât expect that someone as childish as Gu Xihe, occasionally would come up with creative pranks. When the kid came back with a blue and white porcelain vase and told her to look inside, she almost vomited.
It was full of wiggling worms. They looked like maggots. Their color was yellow-brown. She got goosebumps all over.
"How is it?" Gu Xihe pinched his nose and said, "Itâs to feed the birds."
Shu Huan gnashed her teeth, "What do you want to do?"
He was honest and said, "Pour the worms from your collar to inside your clothes."
Evil!
Shu Huan really wanted to faint. It happened that her senses were still tough, and she didnât faint.
Knowing that Gu Xihe wasnât threatening her and that it was really possible that he would do such an evil thing, but she couldnât beat a child. Besides, even if she had the heart to beat him, she may not be the opponent of this diabolical little brat. She could only get up from the ground, turned and ran to the outside of the yard.
Punishment of kneeling, rules; you can all go to hell!
She was fed up!
Inside this demonic place, the old one is strict and harsh. The small one is evil and lacking in class. It was definitely not a place for people!
It was just, she knelt for too long. Her lower limbs were numb. She didnât run for two steps when her legs went soft and she sat on the ground again.
She saw that the little bastard Gu Xihe chased after her and held the blue and white porcelain vase to pour on her body. At this time, a head with his hair rolled up in two buns peaked inside the yard. He shouted at Gu Xihe, "Fourth young master! Fourth young master!"
Gu Xihe tuned and saw that it was his study companion Ranmo. He was immediately irritated and asked, "What?"
Ranmo anxiously beckoned at him, "Fourth young master, come out for a moment. Itâs an urgency!"
Gu Xihe was still hesitating.
Shu Huan had already taken this opportunity to stand up. She raised her hand pulled the blue-and-white porcelain vase from beneath...
Caught off guard, Gu Xihe didnât use force to hold it. The blue-and-white porcelain vase went out of his hand, half in the air and tilted slightly over.
He was flustered and wanted to catch it, but he finally remembered what was inside of it and promptly retracted his hand.
The blue-and-white porcelain fell on the ground and smashed into pieces. The worms were like rain. Some fell on his blue satin shoes and were still wiggling.
Although Gu Xihe wasnât afraid of these things, but seeing this situation now, his scalp also became faintly numb. He quickly shook his feet to shake off the worms. When he was about to go find Shu Huan to settle the account with her, she had already gone far away. Ranmo came into the yard, pulled him and said, "Fourth young master, donât play anymore. Quickly come with this small one."
The worms were already scattered on the ground. No need to be afraid anymore!
Shu Huan let out a sigh of relief after she saw that Gu Xihe was being dragged away. She turned and saw that no one from inside the room came out to take look. She walked back to pine tree, but she didnât want to kneel anymore. So, she sat on the floor and rubbed her sore and stiff knees while she sighed.
Just now, she really had the thought of leaving here without any regard for anything else.
Presumably, this was the so-called impulse!
Now, she had calmed down a bit. The most sensible thing was to pretend that nothing had happened and continue to kneel. However, she grew up in the modern society where people were relatively free and equal. She had a stubbornness inside her. No matter how she succumbed and endured, there was a limit. If this limit wasnât surpassed, she could smile and let the matter pass. If this limit was surpassed, she was the type that wouldnât cry even if she saw a coffin. She knew very well about the pros and cons, but it happened that she didnât want to kneel anymore!
Shu Huan was tired, moody and pissed. Gu Xihe was also furious. He was just dragged to the outside of the yard by Ranmo, when he threw off Ranmoâs hand irritatedly and asked, "What the hell is it?"
Ranmo knew that his temper was bad and smiled, "Fourth young master, donât ask. In short, itâs a good thing. Just follow me."
Gu Xihe put his hands on his waist. "If you donât tell me, I wonât go!"
Ranmo could only lean to his ear and whispered a few words.
Gu Xiheâs eyes immediately shone. "Really?"
Ranmo said dissatisfied, "Could it be that master think I am coaxing you?"
"Then what are you waiting for? Letâs go quickly!"
While Gu Xihe was talking, he lifted his robe and ran. Without a moment of word, he left Ranmo far behind.
â
The sun was getting higher.
Under the pine tree, it was a lot cooler without the sun.
Shu Huan leaned against the trunk and sat while holding her knees. She was thinking silently.
It was too quiet that it was a bit abnormal. After a while, Gu Xiheâs nanny Xiao shi came out of the room to inquire.
Seeing that Shu Huan was sitting, she was startled at first. Then, she saw that Gu Xihe had disappeared and there were porcelain pieces and worms on the ground. She immediately understood what had happened. She turned and went inside the room to report.
After a while, Shu Huan saw that old madam came out supported by Fang shi. Lin shi also followed. She (SH) thought: This little brat really has face. He was only dragged away to play and was able to muster such large forces and made old madam come out to inquire.
However, the first thing old madam said was to reprimand her, "I let you kneel, you dare to slack off secretly and violate the order?"
It was obviously out in the open, alright?!
Shu Huan stubbornly bit her lips and didnât say anything.
Old madam got angry and asked, "Where is Xihe? Where did he go?"
She was punished to kneel here and not ordered to look after that little brat. How come she would ask her when he disappeared? However, when she saw that old madam was truly angry and was afraid that she would really mess up with the anger, so, Shu Huan sighed privately. When she was about to answer, she saw Gu Xihe breathlessly rush over to here. He hurriedly shouted, "Old madam...grandson...is here..."
To old madam this voice was like a fairyâs. Her frown immediately stopped frowning. Her face was full of smiles and she looked very kind.