163 What the Hell is Going On? (1/2)

The customer looked to be in his 30s, with a few servants accompanying him. The moment he saw me, he rushed forward for a hug, looking extremely surprised. I was not fond of these kind of perverts, so I mercilessly kicked him out of the teahouse and told him to scram.

”Meimei[1], you... do you not recognize gege[2] anymore?” A servant who was standing next to the man was scared half to death and hurriedly stepped forth to help him up, but the man paid no heed to his pain and quickly got up himself, clutching to me as he asked worriedly, ”Gege only left home for 4 or 5 years, yet you've already grown this much. Why are you here selling tea?”

[1] ”妹妹” means ”little sister,” whereas [2] ”哥哥” means ”older brother.” I'm sure most of you are familiar with these terms by now, but seeing that these terms can be used outside of family relations too, I felt the need to use the direct pinyin instead of ”little sister” or ”big brother” in English.

Seeing that he clung to me and refused to let go, I delivered another kick. This time, his servants were angered and, from their waists, they drew gleaming knives. They yelled at me, ”Impudent woman, how dare you show such disrespect towards the newly appointed magistrate!”

I didn't bother acknowledging them and instead laid my head back down on the table to resume sleeping.

The man censured, ”drop it, drop it,” and approached me. ”Miss would you happen to be surnamed Ye?”

I scrutinized him for a moment and decided that he held no ill intentions, so I refrained from kicking him out again and only answered in a confused tone, ”My surname is Hua.”

”That makes sense... after all, how could such a vulgar girl possibly be the Eldest Miss[3]? Eldest Miss should still be with Old Master.” The servants all breathed a sigh of relief and gave a suggestion. ”Master, since we are in a rush, let's have a cup of tea and leave quickly.”

[3] ”大小姐” is not to be taken for the commonly used ”miss” we use everyday. ”Miss” in this context indicates the daughter of a family that is well-off.

”How peculiar... why do they look so similar?” The man gave me a few more doubtful looks and finally stopped pursuing the matter. Then, he said to me, ”I'll take ten baozis and a pot of tea.”

I was drowsy and didn't want to deal with anyone, so I didn't even raise my head. ”Don't have them.”

”You.. you're running a teahouse, aren't you?” That servant got even more angry.

I couldn't tolerate the disruption anymore and suddenly grew furious. After hurling a pair of chopsticks through that fellow's hair bun, frightening him to the point where he no longer dared to make a sound, I said impatiently, ”The tea is in the barrel. If you want some, pour it yourself. Once you're done, drop the money in the money box. If you try to cheat and pay less than the full amount, there'll be dem-I mean, people coming for you.”

”Indeed, she isn't the Eldest Miss...” The man let out a sigh and left without making any more trouble.

~ ~ ~

However, he came back a few days later, this time accompanied by an elderly man and woman, two well-dressed men, and a horde of servants carrying what looked like gifts. Their entry possessed a hefty amount of presence and vigour and packed the teahouse to its full capability.

With so many customers, I didn't know what to do except for standing up and greeting the old man. Supported by her crane, the old lady approached me and gave me a careful look-over before she heaved a sigh. Tears fell to the floor as she began to weep.

I was completely at a loss, so I curiously asked them, ”What exactly are you guys here for?”

”Let's forget it. Yue Niang[4], don't take it so hard and just pretend you never gave birth to that unfilial daughter.” The old man shook his head. He held the old lady as he commanded the servants to lift up the gifts again and proceed on their venture into the village.

[4] The old lady's name.

After they left, I poked my head out and noticed that they seemed to be heading in the direction of Xiang Qing's household. Seeing that there were so many people, I was afraid they were going to go pick bones with mother-in-law and sister-in-law and hurt them. I hurriedly called on the two dog demons to guard the teahouse before running after the group, stopping midway to dart into the forest so I could alert Xiang Qing and recruit his help.

When we arrived, we saw that the entry gate of the Xiang family household was wide open, and mother-in-law was holding onto the old lady's hand affectionately. Mother-in-law consoled her: ”At this point, there is nothing we can do. My family's Qiang Xiang is a good-for-nothing son, so nonetheless, breaking off the engagement was already unavoidable.”