Second Marriage

Chapter 4.1

Translator: tarararawr

Chapter 4 Part 1

The room that Xiao Youning was staying in probably did not see the sun for many years. The windows were opened to ventilate it, but there was still a musty smell. The room was not far from the kitchen, so the smell of grease and smoke was blowing in.

The two smells mixed together and became more pungent. In the kitchen, the old men loved speaking vulgar words. The bold and shameless laughter poured into their ears.

Yuan Guo couldn’t stand it at first and closed the window with a bang. She said a few curse words under her breath and went back to Xiao Youning to say, “Young Miss must tolerate this for the time being. Once it is dark, the kitchen will not have anyone working and it will be quiet.”

“You don’t have to be so attentive when we’re outside of the home.” Xiao Youning sat in a chair with a tired face and her voice was as light as a feather.

Yuan Guo reached for the teapot and cup on the table. She wanted to pour herself a cup of water to quench her thirst, but found the teapot empty.

The round-faced maid’s eyes widened. She retrained her anger and lifted the teapot to go out. “Young Miss, rest for a while. I’ll go out and ask them for water.”

Xiao Youning nodded. When Yuan Guo was knocking on the door, she happened to meet the tall young man in back clothes from next door with a teapot in his hand.

They met at the doorway and looked at each other. Yuan Guo stared at his tall figure and was just about to frown when she saw his eyes glance at their room.

The door was snapped shut by Yuan Guo, which startled Xiao Youning inside. The young man in black clothes also had a startled expression for a moment, and then he left under her glare that was like a tiger watching his prey.

“What do they think they are? How can they look into other people’s rooms like that?! They have no manners at all!” Yuan Guo waited until he walked far away before she spat.

The relay station attendant who brought them over and had received silver from them was quite courteous. It turned out that he was bringing hot tea and the tray in his hands had two different small side dishes.

Yuan Guo’s expression became slightly better when she opened the door for him to deliver the things in.

Xiao Youning was startled just a moment ago and looked at her maid up and down several times. She saw that her maid’s face was sullen and blocked the relay station attendant from making a sound. She raised her head and was met with the relay station attendant’s look of hesitation.

Her eyes scanned the square table and did not see any meat or fish in the two small dishes. She raised an eyebrow and the cinnabar mole under her right eye jumped slightly.

“The food at the relay station is actually very light.”

The relay station attendant was alarmed by her deliberate low voice. He did not firmly hold the chopsticks he wanted to put down and it fell onto the table. He hurried to pick it up and place it properly. He squeezed out a smile and said, “This young man, the servants accompanying you said you don’t like meat or fish, so this small one made the kitchen cook some light to deliver to you. Please take your time…”

The relay station attendant’s voice dropped. He took a few steps back before leaving very quickly.

Yuan Guo was on the side stunned. In the next moment, she reacted and her face turned red.

“Young miss, what do they mean?!”

Does this mean they were misappropriating her Young Miss’s food?!

Yuan Guo’s temper was always like wind and fire1. Once she spoke, she began to rush out to find someone to complain to.

Yuan Guo hurried to call her maid to stop. “Close the door and eat.”

“Young Miss!”

Yuan Guo’s face was very red with anger and the corners of her eyes were also red.

“Go and close the door.” Xiao Youning slowly picked up the chopsticks to grab a steamed bun. “The meat outside might not be handled as well as at home. If you happen to eat it, then you might get sick. They go out often because my Second Uncle ordered them to take care of things. There must be a reason for how they are handling it.”

But this was clearly neglect, right? Yuan Guo firmly clenched her fists and finally closed the door angrily and stood upright in front of her.

Xiao Youning took a bite of the steamed bun made from coarse flour. It was not so bad except that it was a little hard. She beckoned the fuming maid to sit down to eat and asked what had happened a while ago.

“What happened when you went out? Why did I see someone passing by the door?”

Yuan Guo seemed to vent by taking a big bite of the steamed bun and replied, “Young Miss, that Daoist Priest next door and his companion must not be good people. That man wearing black clothes is a martial arts practitioner. He even looked into our room!”

“He looked at us?” Xiao Youning was a little surprised.

Xiao Youning was amused by her exaggerated expression and slowly said, “How is that possible? The official’s name card can’t be fake. Officials from the capital can never be deceived by fugitives. They will certainly investigate before helping them. Maybe the one in black clothes is the one assigned to escort him during the long road?”

“Oh, that’s true…” Yuan Guo’s mouth had a steamed bun in it as she unclearly answered.