Chapter 25 A Good Start
"Let's start. What are you going to talk about?" Meng Qi leaned back on the pillow and asked casually.
"Today, I will tell Miss Four a story about a monkey." She said this on purpose because she knew that Miss Four liked small animals. Sure enough, Meng Qi stood up after hearing what she said, and looked very interested. "Monkey, what monkey? Is it from Qingming Mountain?"
The Puji Temple is located on Qingming Mountain, the most famous mountain outside the capital.
"The monkey I'm talking about is not from Qingming Mountain, it's from Huaguo Mountain..." Su Qing's voice was very pleasant and the story was formed in her mind, so it was effortless for her to tell the story. When she talked about the conversation between the monkeys, she changed her tone and made Meng Qi laugh. Even Liu Mama and Jiaohong, who were serving in the room, laughed non-stop.
Su Qing knew what it meant to play the long game and catch the big fish. Seeing Meng Qi listening with great interest, he found the right time to stop at the most exciting part, stood up, bowed to Meng Qi and said, "Mother Liu just said that the fourth young lady is recovering from illness, so we can't talk for too long at a time. We can only talk for half an hour."
"Oh, no, no, you haven't told me how Monkey King and Bull Demon King became brothers yet, you have to finish this part."
Su Qing did not reply, looking at Madam Liu in embarrassment. Madam Liu picked up the tea and handed it to the fourth young lady, "My dear young lady, I asked Madam for permission to let you listen to the story, and I promised Madam that you should not listen to it for too long, only once a day, and not more than half an hour. Now it has been more than half an hour, and it can't be longer. Besides, when listening to a story, you have to stop at the right time, so that you can think about the content of the next time, and it will be fun."
Meng Qi seemed to listen to the wet nurse very carefully and stopped yelling, but she was obviously very reluctant.
"Besides, this girl has been talking for half an hour straight. You should at least let her rest for a while and drink some tea. Otherwise, her throat will hurt, and how will she be able to teach the next lesson tomorrow?"
"Okay, Jiaohong, give her the Chuanbei ointment that my sister-in-law gave me last time." Then he turned around and said, "Um, um, Su..."
"Your servant Su Qing."
"Yes, Su Qing, drink this carefully when you go back, and don't damage your throat. You have to come at this time tomorrow, understand?"
Su Qing said yes, bowed and left. Standing at the door of the main room, he slowly exhaled, thinking, what an evil feudal society, people have been telling stories for more than an hour and they don't even have saliva, they are dying of thirst.
Su Qing stood at the door and didn't dare to leave. She didn't know whether the Madam was satisfied or not, and whether she had any other instructions. After a while, Dongmei came out and took her hand with a smile, "I didn't expect you to have this ability. Madam was happy to hear the fourth lady's laughter."
"It is the Fourth Miss who is so generous that gave me this opportunity." Su Qing said modestly.
"No matter what, you are capable and thoughtful. Let's go, Madam wants to see you."
Dongmei walked to the door and was about to lift the door curtain, but she stopped, turned her head and said softly, "Answer whatever you are asked. Don't say too much, and don't take credit for it. Do you understand? Also, Madam doesn't like questions and dares not answer them."
Su Qing nodded gratefully. Dongmei's words at this time were as important as when she went to a company for an interview in her previous life and someone told her what type of people the HR liked.
When Su Qing knelt on the ground again, he was thinking, should he do the “easy kneeling” invented by Xiaoyanzi?
"Look up." came the voice of the elderly woman.
Su Qing looked up at the old woman sitting at the top. She looked to be in her fifties, well-maintained, wearing a wide light green gauze gown with a long skirt underneath. Her hair was neatly combed, with a golden hairpin in her hair and two large jade earrings on her ears. She looked very noble and luxurious, but she just gave people a feeling of being out of place, just like the short videos in the previous life, where people in their fifties or sixties were wearing belly-baring clothes and twisting their bodies in front of the camera.
Song looked Su Qing up and down. Apart from being a little thin, he was clean, with clear eyes, and seemed to be an honest person.
"Did you hear these stories from your father?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"How many will it be?"
"Madam, I have heard a lot. If I could sort them out, I could talk about them for a while."
Song nodded when she heard this. She still had to stay here for ten days or so. It would be nice if she could restrain Sister Qi for an hour every day. She could also use this as an excuse to coax her into writing or embroidering.
"It's your good fortune that you can tell stories to the Fourth Miss, do you understand?"
"Yes, it is a blessing for my whole family that the Fourth Miss can listen to my stories. I am grateful for the Fourth Miss's kindness." Su Qing touched her head on the bluestone bricks again and greeted Mrs. Song from head to toe.
"Go tell Mother Yu that this girl will come to tell stories to Sister Qi in the morning from now on, and arrange for her to do other work in the afternoon." Song instructed Mother Wu, who quickly agreed. Dongmei stepped forward and motioned for Su Qing to get up. Su Qing kowtowed again, stood up, and followed Dongmei out.
After returning to the kitchen, Su Qing went straight to the large teacup beside his bed, drank one cup, poured another cup, and drank four cups in a row before stopping.
Cai Er was very surprised to see Su Qing drinking so much. "Wait a minute, where have you been? They said you went to the fourth lady's room for a long time. What happened? Could it be about Shuiqin..."
Su Qing quickly waved his hands, slowly sat down, thought for a while, and told Cai'er the whole story.
"What? You can tell stories? Did you tell stories to the fourth young lady?" Cai'er sat next to Su Qing with a look of disbelief on her face.
It has been more than a month since the two of them were sold to the human traffickers and then moved to the West House. Su Qing has only started to talk more recently. She just couldn't believe that Su Qing could tell stories.
"Well, I always heard my father talk about it before and I remembered it. The other day when I went to Madam Liu's place, I saw Sister Jiaohong was worried about the Fourth Young Miss taking medicine, so I asked her about it. I didn't expect that Madam agreed and asked me to try it today."
"You, your father told you?" Cai'er recalled when the two asked each other about their life stories at Renya. She clearly remembered Su Qing saying that she had no father and had been living with her mother since she could remember. It was only after her mother entered Ruyi Pavilion that she no longer had to travel so far.
The last time Su Qing made the Bai Laoquan dish, she mentioned her father. At that time, Cai'er thought it was just Su Qing's excuse. Maybe she had seen that way of eating when she was in Ruyi Pavilion, but she didn't dare to tell the truth and made up a lie.
But now she says that these are all told to her by her father. So was she lying when she was at the human trafficker's house, or is she lying now?
Su Qing looked at Cai'er's puzzled expression, and the words from the time when the original owner and Cai'er were together in Renyazi's house appeared in his mind. He thought for a while and said, "We just met at that time, and you also know my background. I didn't dare to tell the truth. In fact, I still don't know if the person who told me the story is my real father. Cai'er, please don't laugh at me."
Cai Er understood, patted Su Qing's hand and said, "I know, no, no, how could I laugh at you, it's just that I haven't heard you mention some surprises before. No matter if he is your biological father or not, at least he helped you indirectly."
As the two were talking, Ma Wujia called Su Qing from outside, saying that Dongmei was here.
Su Qing hurriedly went out to greet them. Dongmei held a small box in her hand. She handed it to her with a smile and said, "This is a gift from the Madam. Take a look and see if you like it."
Su Qing opened the box and saw a bracelet with small stones, red, green, yellow and blue stones, which was very beautiful. "It's very beautiful, thank you ma'am." But she thought to herself, it's really impractical, why not give some real money.
"You deserve it. You haven't smiled like this since the Fourth Young Miss was injured." Dongmei turned around and told Ma Wujia not to let Su Qing do the morning chores in the big kitchen in the future, as she wanted to tell stories to the Fourth Young Miss.
Ma Wujia tied her hands together and escorted Dongmei out of the courtyard. She turned around to look at Su Qing who was looking at the bracelet with Cai'er, and was confused. How did she win the favor of the fourth lady?