Vol 1 Chapter 13 (2/2)
“It’s the acacia”
I look at hio ?”
He sloalked “No reason Can’t I call you out? Just walking around, shopping, why don’t you look at the acacia tree above you?”
I don’t even hear the rest of what he was saying Alllooks at e, which is stopped before an estate I s come up, so I need to leave now”
He grabbed o!”
I force his hand away “I’ll go find you another day and apologize for this” Before I finish I’e Behind me he calls out “Xiao Yu!”
I don’t turn around and continue walking forward, stopping besides the carriage I knock on the carriage and Jiu Ye raises the curtains and smiles to see me “Why are you outside the city today?”
I hold his curtain up “Aren’t you outside the city yourself?” I look at his assistant, so he srand This Qing Estate is a place where grandfather built for grandmother I don’t want to renovate it for wheelchair access, so it’s not convenient for me to move about here”
I look at the estate and feel a sense of envy, to know there was a man as so in love with his wife I used to wonder why the fa but chose to name the business shi+ Enterprises And all the orphans adopted by the family have the last name shi+ as well Today I finally understand that the last narandfather loved
Jiu Ye gets off the carriage and uses a crutch, the one I saw in his study that day Instead of looking aard, he’s elegant and graceful using it Since it’s the first ti, I stare at him
He laughs “Is this really that weird?” and I quickly shake ood!”
He stared at me so I tried to explain “Hasn’t anyone told you the iesture is very……” The ht description But I wanted to explain, worried that he wouldat him
He reached out and sently “Yu Er, that’s enough I understand what you mean”
I s standing there, looking at us from far away My heart inexplicably lurched and I averted my eyes
Jiu Ye walked with his crutch and explained how his grandfather built this estate to harness the natural hot springs of this region He’s here to soak in the hot springs, which is good for stis, still not sure what his ail the crutch
Before entering the estate, I look back and Huo Qu Bing still stands in the sa the peak of it’s bloo A sea of white blankets the trees, and when a wind blows past, the petals swirl in the air like snow flakes Normally he loves to be tidy, but he actually stands there withoutthe petals land on his head and his robe
………………………………………………………
The Lover’s Vines are starting to sprout white buds, playing hide-and-seek with me so I have to search around to count how many have sprouted I tell them to work extra hard this year, since I’ve put in earthwor and beautiful
The vines lightly ripple in the wind, like it hearshiuys work hard, and I will also work hard”
I enter the Ba’s grandpa at the Orchid Suite, but I can see his empty wheelchair in the yard Tian Cao explains to th, but his other leg is fine If he used a crutch he can walk, though not far, but it’s better for his circulation than sitting in a wheelchair all day
He explains further that when they were kids, Jiu Ye alanted to tag along despite his bad leg But Tian Cao and the older boys didn’t know better and was always devising tricks to shake hi and beca his head in books more One day Jiu Ye sneaked out with his crutch and returned late that night bloodied and bruised He refused to explain what happened, only saying he fell
They felt terrible and beat up every bully in Chang An before discovering what had happened Jiu Ye had read Mo Zi and wanted to find a metal works in the city to discuss how toa cripple and he got in a fight with them Afterwards, when they wanted to take Jiu Ye out, he always refused and he also refused to used his crutch ever again in front of others
Tian Cao asked if I blamed them, and I said no, especially if Jiu Ye didn’t blaht forward I a well, and the people I care about are doing well, I won’t hurt others for no reason Is there so with that?”
He quickly responded “Of course! And don’t rateful to you When Jiu Ye returned, he started using his crutch in front of others You helped us relieve this huge burden in our hearts all these years”
I’m upset the assistant told everyone that I was there that day, and Tian Cao laughs that the way I was adoringly staring at Jiu Ye was also discussed, to everyone’s amusement
I got lare at Tian Cao and ask that the assistant be punished for being bad Tian Cao promises that they are all so busy these days no one has ti enters and is happy to see me, but Tian Cao pushes him out quickly, and soon it’s just me and Jiu Ye in the courtyard
My heart flutters, a sweetness within the aardness of thehappened and wheels hi Fei Zhu is done It’s already so elegant that carving ns on it would be too much, so I decided to be lazy for once Do you like it?”
I took the flute fros, so whatever you say ood”
He laughs “You have a world fa house, one that everyone would kill to learn from Why don’t you ask him to teach you?”
I think about Li Yan Nian, and then think about Li Guan Li, causing me to wrinkle“a dragon has nine sons, each of whom are different” Jiu Ye tells me I can kick him out if he annoys me He doesn’t know that I can’t kick him out because of Jiu Ye He askswhy I’ tabs on me, so I tell him that I have my own reasons
He sits in silence for a few o outside on crutches? I use a wheelchair to let people think I auys think I can’t walk very far I am crippled and someeaker, but I a this act on purpose then?
Jiu Ye explains “I’rand niece of the Dowager Queen Bao, and when she was s in the Palace Back then the Eer Empress Bao was still alive, the shi+ Enterprises and the Bao family were very close When the Bao family fell from favor, the Emperor ary of the shi+ family’s wealth and power So after mother and father died, and the family business ended up in my hands, if it wasn’t for the fact that I was a cripple, and the family businesses slowly bled money under uished in Chang An”
This is the first tiround so I listen in shock I wonder how old he hen this happened, and how he had to shoulder the lives of so many people under the shi+ family protection, and learn to survive with the Han E his family’s ties with the Han dynasty, but what about with Xi Yu? How heavythis road alone, how much has he endured?
He watched me and said slowly “Yu Er, the current E and decisive When the ti to go against the I An, if you want to compete with other businesses, I can…still…” He shat he wanted to say and finished with this “Yu Er, please think carefully before you do anything”