Beg Me to Remarry
Chapter 312 Discourse of the Sanctioner

Chapter 312: Chapter 312 Discourse of the Sanctioner

The cook looked to Fu Han for help, sensing the severity in Grandfather’s tone was too harsh. Fu Han’s heart could hardly bear it and was just about to speak when the old master’s face turned cold, and he gazed emotionlessly at the cook.

"Master, Lady, please enjoy your meal. I will leave first." The cook did not dare to look at Fu Han again and, as if she had greased her feet, fled as if she had wings.

Fu Han did not quite understand why the old master was so harsh to the cook today. The He Family had strict rules, and servants could not make the slightest mistake, but the He Family was also known far and wide for being good people. They wouldn’t punish servants easily. Servants had a manageable workload and received salaries higher than what many households’ overworked servants earn.

Therefore, once servants joined the He Family, they generally would not leave under normal circumstances. Most of the servants here had been working for a long time.

Like the cook just now, Fu Han remembered that she came to the He Family after her own mother passed away.

When she arrived, Fu Han was still young and remembered nothing. It was only as she grew older that she learned this cook managed to stay all because of her.

Fu Han was five when she lost her parents. Her small self cried every day, and no one could approach her within three meters except for Grandfather and He Xing; this was one thing, but eating became a big problem. She would refuse food that didn’t suit her taste and, with her stubborn temperament, could go hungry for a day and a night rather than eat.

Grandfather was so anxious that he advertised everywhere for a cook, and the sole criterion was whether the food they made was to Fu Han’s liking.

According to Old Zhou, many people applied to be the He Family’s cook back then, but Fu Han did not even glance at the meals most of them made. Finally, this cook made a bowl of porridge that Fu Han finished completely.

As a result, from the time Fu Han was five until now, at twenty-five, the cook had been working for the He Family for twenty years.

Yet, because of her mother, the kitchen held significant meaning for Fu Han, and that so-called significance also became another kind of taboo. So for twenty years, she only knew that the cook’s food suited her palate; regarding the cook’s personal circumstances, what her name was, her family situation, she had no idea.

As she mused absently, Grandfather suddenly spoke, "Xiaohan, did you think my actions just now were too impersonal?"

Fu Han was always straightforward in front of Grandfather He, nodding truthfully upon hearing his question, "Auntie Cook didn’t want to leave. She probably wanted to walk in the Garden. Why did you drive her away?"

The wind rustled the grapevines, and countless tiny breezes filtered down through the gaps. It seemed like a strong wind outside, but when it hit Fu Han and the others, it was just a bit stronger than a breeze.

The sunlight filtered through the gaps in the grapevines, casting mottled beams onto the stone pathway like shards of diamonds, beautiful and patchy.

Fu Han’s gaze lingered long on a triangular shard of light, "Grandfather, I do think you were a bit stern, but I’m sure you had your reasons."

The old master looked approvingly at Fu Han. One reason he liked her was her sense of proportion, her capacity for tolerance and magnanimity. When she disagreed with something, she tried to understand it instead of outright rejecting it.

His voice, tinged with traces of a hard life, mixed with the wind, "Xiaohan, actually, managing servants is the same as managing a company. Your relationship with the servants is one of employment, a monetary transaction. So, no matter what happens, you must not weigh the right and wrong of events with your emotions, you understand?"

Fu Han pondered Grandfather He’s words earnestly, confusion evident on her attractive face, "But Grandfather, it’s precisely because I understand someone that I would be biased toward them."

"That is the very taboo of employing people." The old master’s face bore a kindly smile, but the words he spoke carried a chill, "Intimacy should not overshadow justice, and that applies only within a limited range. In fact, the best way to manage people is to treat everyone equally. Regardless of who makes a mistake, treat everyone the same without showing favoritism, and only then can you always stand on the side of the enforcer."

"Enforcer?" This term was unfamiliar to Fu Han, or rather, she had never contemplated becoming acquainted with it.

The old master pushed a fruit plate towards Fu Han, "You will be the Family Head of the He Family one day. You can have your own career, and others will take care of the He Family’s affairs, but you cannot lack the authority of a Lady. Take just now, for instance; I could have let the cook stay, but what would the other servants think if they knew? Would they think they could wander in the garden whenever their masters are there?"

"I understand what you mean." A bolt of lightning struck in Fu Han’s mind, and she looked at Grandfather excitedly, "Grandfather, you mean to say, once you set a precedent, countless people will follow, and then the rules we set become mere decorations, and the He Family would become a laughing stock in people’s mouths."

The old master looked approvingly at Fu Han. She was indeed very clever; she could infer other points from one, understanding many principles from a single explanation.

But what Fu Han thought was even more than what the old master assumed. She looked at him anxiously, her heart couldn’t stop worrying that these words from him were his way of making final arrangements.

With these thoughts, her mood became restless. Even the summer breeze couldn’t soothe the agitation in her heart. She watched the old master in silence, a belly full of questions, yet unable to voice a single one.

The fruit plate was nearly finished, but her worries grew heavier, and her mood worsened.

Finally, after Old Zhou brought a cup of water and reminded the old master to take his medicine, Fu Han couldn’t help but ask, "Grandfather, what is the actual situation with your illness? Can you tell me the truth? I... I am really scared."

The old master’s expression changed, but he quickly regained his composure. He touched Fu Han’s head, as indulgently as he did when she was a child, "Don’t be scared, Xiaohan. Grandfather will try to stay with you for a few more years."

This answer brought tears to Fu Han’s eyes; she could no longer hold back, sobbing on the old master’s knees, "Grandfather, please don’t die. I don’t want to let you die. Tell me what I can do to keep you with me always?"

Unseen to her, the old master’s face went pale, shaken for an instant as he almost revealed the truth. But the image of He Xing’s pleading had not yet faded, leaving the old master caught between a rock and a hard place.

To speak the truth or to heed He Xing’s advice and come clean only after everything settles down?