Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 378 - 377: Power Vision

Chapter 378: Chapter 377: Power Vision

Lan Hua, who was watering plants in the courtyard, overheard their conversation and set down her watering can. She walked into the room and scolded Lan Cao: "You really should hold your tongue -- who are you to challenge Chen Alu?"

After admonishing Lan Cao, Lan Hua then said to Alu, "If nephew would like to give these writing utensils as gifts, then please do so; there’s absolutely no problem with that, as they were originally prepared for your cousin by the first Madam. However, we also should have accepted the gifts prepared for us by the Foreign Affairs Room. If we didn’t, those gossipers would still be the ones getting pleasure from it."

Although Alu was shy and refined, he was quite stubborn, and shook his head. As far as he was concerned, the gifts from the Foreign Affairs Room were simply bags of sweets, worth hardly a dime. If he accepted them, it would be said that he visited his uncle’s house only to take the gifts preparing by his brother-in-law. The value of these items was simply not worth the talk.

Soon after, Sanquan arrived.

Lan Hua scolded him again, "Why are you so late? Young Master has been waiting for you."

Sanquan laughed cheekily and said, "Dear sisters, you both have times you can rest, but I’ve been busy all day. Today Uncle is off, so wouldn’t it make sense for me to have a bit of a lie-in?"

He then respectfully said to Alu, "Uncle, shall we go?"

Lan Hua turned to Alu and warned: "Uncle, don’t feel obligated to ’reward’ those people who are doing nothing useful. You are the first Madam’s actual little brother; there is really no need to throw silver around just to keep them friendly." She then yelled at Sanquan, "Did you hear that? Keep a good hold on Uncle’s wallet."

Both Sanquan and Lan Cao blushed a little at this, Lan Cao rolled her eyes while Sanquan hurriedly nodded in response.

When they arrived at Jiao Gate, they found no good horse carriages waiting.

A gatekeeper remarked, "Oh, Uncle, you’re heading out? The carriage waited for you for quite some time. When Manager Jiang thought you weren’t going, he took it to run his errands outside the city. How about I run back to the stables and organise another carriage for you?"

Without hesitation, Sanquan said, "Isn’t that obvious? Go quickly."

Chen Alu responded, "That’s very considerate of you, but it’s really unnecessary. We’ll just hail a carriage outside."

Sanquan, clearly irked, pursed his lips but didn’t say a word. He knew Uncle’s circumstances; hailing a carriage would mean a cow or mule carriage -- both of which lacked compartments and would be uncomfortably hot and somewhat humiliating to ride in.

As they walked out of Jiao Gate, Sanquan asked, "Uncle, why didn’t you let the gatekeeper organise another horse carriage? Arriving at your uncle’s home in a mule carriage would look rather unsophisticated."

Alu replied, "If we’d arranged for another carriage, we would have had to shell out at least two silver dimes for the services of the gatekeeper and the coachman. In comparison, hailing a mule carriage would only cost a few copper coins."

Sanquan rebutted, "Uncle, you’re too kind. Even if you didn’t tip them with silver dimes, they still can’t refuse the order. If they dared to, you could report to First Madam, and they would find themselves in hot water."

Alu shook his head and said, "Let it go. My sister is pregnant, and there are already so many things for her to worry about at the mansion. I don’t want to bother her with such minor things."

Sanquan continued, "If First Madam assigned a capable person like Mrs. Luo to be with you, Uncle, you wouldn’t have been taken advantage of, and us servants might have shared some of the better treatment by association. Look at Bao. Even though he’s not First Madam’s ’own’ son, nobody dares to belittle him because of Mrs. Luo’s presence. However, even though you are First Madam’s own brother, you still have to..."

Alu was truly upset and shouted, "Shut up! It’s one thing for you to talk about me, but to go on about Dabao like that? My sister and my brother-in-law both treat Dabao like their own son, and I also treat him like my own nephew. If my sister ever got wind of what you’re saying, believe me, she would just have someone smash your mouth in."

Frightened by Alu’s threat, Sanquan quickly bowed his head in fear and said, "Yes, it was my mistake. I spoke out of turn. I promise not to do it again."

Alu added, "Also, don’t worry, I will tell my sister that when I leave, I will go alone. I will not have you attend to me in the country."

He knew that Sanquan and Lan Cao were terrified of the prospect of really becoming his servants, and having to follow him to the countryside. Right now, they were servants in the Senator’s Mansion, and later they might be able to return to the Capital City and serve in the Marquis’ Mansion. If they followed him, they would be servants on a country estate. As the saying goes, everyone aspires to climb higher; he didn’t want to obstruct their ambitions.

With an embarrassed grin, Sanquan chuckled awkwardly but didn’t deny his reluctance to attend Alu in the country. He said, "It’s not that I wouldn’t like to serve you, Uncle. It’s just that my father and mother are at the mansion. I can’t bear to leave them."

When they reached the corner of the alley, there were cow and mule carriages available. The cow carriage was six copper coins, while the mule carriage was five. Alu told the carriage driver that there were only two of them, so he spent five copper coins and hailed a mule carriage.

As Chen Alu was about to board the carriage, Sanquan quickly wiped down the seat with his sleeve before inviting Alu to sit down. Alu was dressed quite properly today in a white satin robe embroidered with floral patterns. If he were to sit on a dusty seat, he would surely receive a scolding when he returned to the mansion.

Halfway through their journey, Alu spotted a sweets shop. He got off the carriage, purchased two packages of sweets and candy, and also bought two silk ribbon hair ties for his sister Aman and Wang Xiaomei.

It was just past midday when they arrived at Chen Shi’s home. Not only were Chen Shi’s family present, but also Wang Cheng’s family had come to visit.

Upon seeing them, Alu felt overjoyed, finding that he could not only laugh freely here, but also breathe comfortably. He was contemplating asking to stay here or at his uncle’s home at night, and attend the lessons at the Senator’s Mansion during the day. However, he feared that such a suggestion might upset his sister, so he didn’t dare to mention it.

He handed out the gifts and everyone received something. Atang and his younger brother were particularly fond of the pens and ink he gave them.

Aman laughed and said, "Thank you, Alu... visiting us and yet thinking to bring hair ties for your sister -- you’re so thoughtful."

After eating lunch, Chen Shi had to leave for the wine-shop, having taken a half-day off work to entertain Alu. Before he left, Alu discreetly asked him to exchange ten taels of silver into five small one-tael ingots, and the remaining five taels into several dozen silver dimes.

Chen Shi gave him a look but stayed silent. He did, however, exchange the silver as Alu had requested, and afterwards subtly asked whether Alu had become accustomed to living at the Senator’s Mansion.

Alu told him that he lived well, sharing lunch and dinner with his sister, and having breakfast on his own but with many servants attending to him. But he missed his father and mother, and Lu Garden.

After Chen Shi left, it wouldn’t have been proper for Wang Cheng to stay at the Chens’ any longer. So, he took the boys with him to wander around the city. As Alu had previously been to the capital city when he was still unable to walk properly, he had never had the chance to go out and enjoy the city. He was excited to be out and about, especially with Atang and his younger brother.

Dinner was treated by Wang Cheng at a snack restaurant, and the children couldn’t help but beam at the delicious food.

After dinner, Wang Cheng hailed a mule carriage, first dropping off Alu and Sanquan at the Senator’s Mansion, then sending Atang back to the Chens’ house. He took the opportunity to pick up Mrs. Wu and Xiaomei and bring them home.

Upon arriving at the gate of the Senator’s Mansion, Wang Cheng saw Alu’s unwilling expression to leave, and chuckled, "Next time you have a day off, you can come and visit us again."