Volume 8: The Days of the Ghost Marriage
Madam Shao
Has a monster ever crawled into your room?
Shen Maomao was utterly shocked. “Who?!”
Thinking she hadn’t heard clearly, Yun Shengjin repeated himself. “That Potato Chip pushed her teammate, Milk Tea, into the well with her own hands.”
Lou Jingmo said, “I can only believe half of what you say.”
“Suit yourself,” Yun Shengjin said. “I’m not sure if she was being controlled or if it was for some other reason. In any case, be careful. I’m still counting on you to find Duo Ma1…”
Lou Jingmo pressed her lips together and said nothing.
Yun Shengjin retreated back into the room, his hands on the door. “You two be extra careful.” Without waiting for their reaction, he shut the door.
Shen Maomao and Lou Jingmo proceeded with their original plan to pick up the broken kite. After getting it, they left the courtyard. Once they had walked some distance, Lou Jingmo suddenly said, “What he said should be true.”
Shen Maomao paused for a moment, then asked, “Which part?”
Lou Jingmo: “Every part.”
Shen Maomao raised an eyebrow. “Then what’s the deal with Potato Chip?”
Lou Jingmo said, “I have a feeling, but I can’t be certain.”
Shen Maomao racked her brain, then had a flash of inspiration and asked, “That feeling of yours, is it about a scavenger?!”2
Lou Jingmo: “Yes.”
Shen Maomao said in disbelief, “Is there no barrier to entry for being a scavenger??”
Lou Jingmo: “Sometimes, the weaker a person is, the more they can catch you by surprise.”
Shen Maomao: “…I feel like that’s a long shot.”
“In any case…” Lou Jingmo said, “it’s best to pay more attention to her.”
Shen Maomao nodded in agreement.
The two took the kite, which was riddled with holes, and headed straight for the east. As soon as they reached the entrance of the east wing, they heard the sound of a child’s laughter coming from inside.
The owner of the voice was none other than that little fatty, the Third Young Master.
Shen Maomao knocked on the door, and a woman’s voice came from within. “Come in.”
Shen Maomao pushed the door open and saw the Third Young Master frolicking with a servant in the courtyard, as well as a woman sitting in a rocking chair, sipping tea.
Of the Shao family’s three young masters, besides the Eldest Young Master, the other two were born to Madam Shao.
The only person who could be sitting here watching the Third Young Master play was the Madam herself.
Upon seeing them, Madam Shao half-closed her eyes and asked lazily, “What are you here for?”
Hearing this, the Third Young Master also looked up and immediately rushed over happily. “Mother! I was the one who asked them to come!”
It really was Madam Shao, no doubt about it.
Shen Maomao performed a curtsy3 and replied, “Replying to the Madam, Steward Shao just ordered us to place red paper on all the wells in the courtyards. The Young Master told us to come play with him after we were finished, so we came over as soon as we were done.”
The moment the wells were mentioned, Madam Shao’s expression changed instantly. Her eyes held a trace of imperceptible disgust, but even more so, fear.
She shot up from the rocking chair, glanced at the backyard, and then, realizing her reaction had been too improper, sat back down with the help of a maidservant beside her. She said unhurriedly, “Shao Cheng4 asked you to come? Which wells did you put them on?”
Shen Maomao said, “Six wells.”
The little fatty ran to Madam Shao’s side, tugging at her sleeve and whining, “Mother! Please don’t ask! Can I go play outside with them?!”
Madam Shao, now much calmer, put on a stern face to scare the child. “Have you finished writing your big characters5 for today, and you’re already thinking of going out to play?”
The little fatty looked troubled. “Well… um… I’ll just go play for a little while. I’ll definitely finish writing the rest when I get back!”
“You said you’d only play for a little while just now, too,” Madam Shao disagreed.
“The most important thing in being a person is to have integrity,” the little fatty said, clasping his hands behind his back and stroking a non-existent beard in a pretentious manner. “Teacher said that a person must have credibility. If I don’t follow through on what I promised them, wouldn’t I be breaking my word?”
Madam Shao, torn between laughter and tears, pinched his little nose. “You certainly know a lot of grand principles.”
The Third Young Master proudly lifted his head. “I’ve memorized everything Teacher says!”
Madam Shao waved her hand. “Go on, you can only play for a little while.” Then she looked at Shen Maomao and instructed, “Remember, don’t let the Young Master get near any wells, or I’ll hold you responsible6.”
The two replied in unison, “Understood, Madam.”
The Third Young Master dashed over to Shen Maomao like a colt let loose, grabbing her hand and pulling her outside. As they walked, he said, “Hurry! Let’s go fly the kite!”
He was small, but his strength was not. He pulled Shen Maomao along, making her stumble as she followed.
After they had gone some distance, she finally called out, “Wait! Young Master, wait a minute!”
The little fatty was displeased. “What is it?”
Shen Maomao showed him the kite. “I was in too much of a hurry to find you just now and accidentally broke the kite?”
“Huh?!” The little fatty’s expression instantly fell. “How can you be so useless!”
Shen Maomao narrowed her eyes.
The little fatty inexplicably felt a chill on his bottom and quickly tried to remedy the situation. “Forget it. Since we can’t fly the kite, let’s play ride-the-big-horse!”
Shen Maomao: “You’re a grown man7, how can you have the nerve to make a girl like me be a horse for you to ride?”
The little fatty fell into deep thought. “I can’t?”
Shen Maomao: “You’re bullying the weak!”
Lou Jingmo: “…” Who exactly is bullying the weak here?
The little fatty frowned. “But other maidservants have been my horse before.”
Some information flashed through Shen Maomao’s mind, and she suddenly remembered what Su Han had said before.
“When I went out, I ran into the Shao Manor’s Young Master and was dragged away to play with him for a while…”
So she was made to be a horse for this little fatty to ride?
Shen Maomao glanced at his chubby little hands and gave Su Han a thumbs-up in her heart.
You’re amazing, jiejie. To think you could carry such a plump kid.
Lou Jingmo had clearly thought of this as well and spoke up, “Did you previously tell a maidservant wearing the same clothes as us to return to her room as early as possible after dark, and to shut the doors and windows tightly?”
Shen Maomao felt inexplicably ashamed.
From the same sentence, she had only paid attention to the first half, while Lou Jingmo had noticed the second half, which contained more information… Why do I only focus on such useless things?!
The little fatty was surprised. “Are you friends?”
Shen Maomao immediately chimed in, “Yes, we’re friends. Why did you tell her that?”
The little fatty, who usually answered every question, suddenly became awkward. “You won’t believe me if I tell you.”
Shen Maomao squatted down in front of him, coaxing him gently. “If you don’t even say it, how do you know we won’t believe you?”
“I told my mother before, and she didn’t believe me.”
Shen Maomao: “The Madam is in the courtyard all day. How could she have seen as many things as us servants? Just because she doesn’t believe it doesn’t mean we won’t!”
The little fatty hesitated and hesitated, and finally, after some thought, said, “Then I’ll tell you, but you’re not allowed to scold me?”
“You’re the Young Master, how would I dare scold you! Hurry up and tell me, my dear Young Master, don’t keep us in suspense here.”
“At night…” he looked up at a nearby red lantern, “these lanterns will have lots and lots of eyes on them.”
Shen Maomao’s heart skipped a beat, and she followed his gaze to the lantern. “What kind of eyes?”
The little fatty said, “Black ones. I don’t know who drew them with a brush, and they’re not even as good-looking as my drawings, but the ones he draws can move.”
Shen Maomao pressed, “How do they move?”
The little fatty blinked his eyes. “Just like this.”
Lou Jingmo asked, “What about during the day?”
“There are no eyes during the day,” the little fatty replied. “At night, not only are there eyes, but there are also monsters that crawl in through the crack under the door.”
A chill ran down Shen Maomao’s back. “Monsters?”
The little fatty said, as if it were obvious, “What else?”
He gestured with his hands. “A door crack this narrow—if something can crawl through it, what else could it be but a monster?”
Lou Jingmo said, “Has a monster ever crawled into your room?”
“Of course not!” the little fatty said. “Because monsters are afraid of light! As soon as my mother lights the lamp, the monster gets scared away!”
Shen Maomao said, “Could there be something like that in our room too?”
After all, their lamp had been turning on and off last night.
“Not necessarily,” Lou Jingmo was thinking. “I didn’t notice any fog seeping in when I was on watch.”
Shen Maomao: “Maybe it’s because children’s eyes are pure, so they can see things we can’t?”
“Could be.” Lou Jingmo changed the subject. “But speaking of black fog… don’t you think it’s very similar to…”
She didn’t finish, but Shen Maomao already knew what she was going to say. “You mean you-know-who, right?”
Lou Jingmo nodded.
The little fatty’s Xiao Yu-jiejie had used that kind of black fog to form a giant hand.
Seeing them speaking in riddles and not including him, the Third Young Master said with dissatisfaction, “What are you talking about? Do you want to play with me or not? I’m going to tell my mother you’re just going through the motions with me!”
Shen Maomao quickly scooped him up in her arms. “Young Master, we were just discussing how to fix the kite!”
The little fatty asked, “Can it fly once it’s fixed?”
Shen Maomao wasn’t too sure either. “It probably can? We’ll have to give it a try and see.”
The little fatty thought that made sense, so he said, “Auntie Haitang has a needle and thread! Come with me! We’ll go find Auntie Haitang to fix the kite!”
Shen Maomao: “Will that work?”
The little fatty said proudly, “Auntie Haitang’s needlework is excellent! It’ll definitely be no problem!”
The so-called Auntie Haitang8 was the female maidservant who was always with Madam Shao.
She was part of Madam Shao’s dowry, had never married, and had practically watched the Young Master grow up. It could be said that she granted his every request.
After getting Madam Shao’s permission, she cut two pieces of silk cloth to patch the holes poked in the kite by tree branches, and she also stitched up the torn parts bit by bit with a needle and thread.
Although the mended kite still looked tattered, at least it was no longer drafty.
Shen Maomao tried flying it outside, and the ugly thing actually twisted and wobbled its way into the sky.
The little fatty was so excited he jumped up and down at her feet. “Give it to me! Let me fly it! Quick!”
Shen Maomao bent down and handed him the kite. “You hold on tight now, don’t let the kite drag you away.”
The little fatty patted his chest. “No fear! I’m fat!”
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