Chapter 374 Leaving
Della and her group stayed at Tang Xie's home for half a month longer than expected, but she and Bellinda had no objection to it. One can never get tired of staying in a happy and hospitable family.
Moreover, Zhou Yushi was very attentive. For example, if the old couple had prepared a meal before, he would cook right after. Bellinda and Della were nominally his assistants, but in reality the most they did was to learn a few words of Chinese. The meals they exchanged and the gifts they gave from time to time made them feel almost free of being dependent on others, and on the day they left, they only felt reluctant to leave.
"We are going to celebrate the New Year now, right?" Bellinda waved to Wu Yunzhou and his wife from the back seat of a car Zhou Yushi had brought. "Can we come back after the New Year?"
"I want to come too." Della was sitting inside. She moved away from Belinda and waved.
"What's that saying? Don't always pay for the first pair of shoes you see?" Zhou Yushi smiled and waved, and finally drove away the car that had been running for a while. "Believe me, this trip will lose a lot of fun if we stay stuck in the yard all the time."
"Who told you to put out such nice things all at once?" The car drove away, and Belinda still leaned out a little, and waited until the figure was small and invisible before closing the window that kept blowing cold air in. "You're in trouble, dear. I'm going to be very picky now."
Zhou Yushi didn't complain about this, but smiled even more happily, "You always know how to enhance my sense of victory, Bei'er, I really like it."
"..." Amidst Belinda's sweet laughter, Dai·Lightbulb·La glanced at Zhou Yushi and hesitated whether to cough twice to show her presence.
Zhou Yushi, who had started the incident, did not let the awkward moment last too long. He immediately started chatting, bringing the atmosphere back to a conversation among friends in the car, "How is it, are you having fun here, Della?"
"I'm very happy, Zhou," Della said sincerely, with the happiness of being cared for by the two elders still on her face. "Thank you for bringing me here, and thank you for your care and hospitality during this time."
"No need to say so much nonsense. Just having fun is the best way to thank the host," Zhou Yushi laughed. If he didn't go into this detail, he would fall into another awkward conversation. "But for the Tang family we are going to visit next, I have to tell you a few things to pay attention to."
"What should we pay attention to? The so-called rules?" Belinda asked first, standing on the same side as Della in advance, "Are we going to a family composed of rules as cold as gold?"
Della didn't speak immediately, but looked at Zhou Yushi questioningly.
"Of course there are some rules. Apart from the Qing Dynasty and modern times that we have seen the most these days, how much do you know about the history of this place?" Zhou Yushi planned to slowly develop this topic. "I won't go into more details. Do you have a general idea of the Tang Dynasty?"
Belinda vaguely had this impression, and Della nodded. She explained to Belinda, who was frowning, "It started in the seventh century."
Belinda made a look of sudden enlightenment, and Zhou Yushi continued, "And the Tang family existed long before that. From generation to generation, it is inevitable that there are some rules."
Belinda was shocked by the time span that was said so lightly. She was in awe and started brainstorming. "If it really takes that long, it's okay to be a little particular, but it can't be too much. You won't ask us to kneel down as soon as we enter the door, right?"
"Of course that's impossible," Zhou Yushi laughed. "Many rules disappear as time goes by. Going back to the old house is actually not much different from going back to an ordinary family. You just have to be careful. Don't walk around randomly and try not to knock on the door as much as possible. Sometimes disturbing someone can cause harm."
To be fair, what Zhou Yushi said was almost the same as not saying anything, but he deliberately created such a situation to say such a simple sentence, which made people more suspicious. Combined with the long history he laid out, for a moment, Della and Belinda both had a first impression of the mansion that was stern and a little scary.
"The park-like scenery in the photo," Belinda rubbed the goose bumps on her wrists that had appeared at some point, "could it contain some terrifying secret?"
"Hmm..." Zhou Yushi hissed, "Just like the magic families with a long history in Continent O, the more unfathomable they are, each of the Tang family's mansions was originally built to defend against enemies. Ordinary people are more likely to get lost if they go in, and this has nothing to do with personal sense of direction."
"And some people who are particularly unlucky and unwilling to stay where they are will go around in circles, um... we call it entering a dead end," Zhou Yushi paused, thinking about how to reduce the fear that was aroused in Bellinda and Della. "This is actually very rare. There is no default one-hit-kill mechanism in the house. When you realize you are lost, just stop before you reach the ninth unexpected courtyard. It's okay to stop at the ninth courtyard."
"You're frightening me a little," Belinda grabbed Della's hand and pressed it against hers. "Tell me, dear, you're not busy with socializing every day in that castle and leaving us alone, are you?"
"Of course not," Zhou Yushi said, thinking about the arrangements for the New Year. "We don't need to worry about trivial matters. All kinds of fruits and snacks are ready. Relatives are gathered together, so it's not troublesome to move around. It's just that we'll be a little busy on New Year's Eve, the day of ancestor worship. Don't worry, I will definitely arrange everything for you."
Zhou Yushi's thoughtfulness and consideration these days were obvious to all. Not only Bellinda, but even Della breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously, feeling less nervous about going to a strange place. She looked at the scenery outside the window that was rapidly receding and asked, "About when will we arrive, Zhou?"
"The actual distance is very far," Zhou Yushi said, holding the steering wheel, not blinking at the sight of countless lines, "but this car is specially made, we can get there in an hour and a half."
Della nodded. As she got farther and farther away from the cozy courtyard, she was surprised to find that she was still very calm, without even a hint of numbness.
Was it because Bellinda was around? Was it because she began to trust Zhou Yushi? Was it because she knew the familiar Tang Xie family was already there?
By seeking psychological support from outside, has she become weak?
Normally, this is the conclusion that should be drawn, but Della felt that the situation was completely the opposite. For a moment, she even thought that she could confront Maggie right now.
This thought continued all the way. When she saw the ancient house that Zhou Yushi mentioned that seemed to be able to take lives, she still had some fighting spirit. But before turning the many thresholds and being taken by Zhou Yushi to meet his grandfather, the head of the family, Della heard Tang Xie's voice first.
"Country Y...Prison...Escape."
With her current level of Chinese, she could only vaguely hear these three words, but it was enough to show the incident and reveal Maggie's conspiracy behind it.
The courage she had in her heart to make paper-made things suddenly collapsed.