Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I had messed everything up again.

After Cheng Wenting left, I sat alone in the room for a long time.

I sat there until Xi’er finally forced her way through the door, weeping as she draped a cloak over my shoulders.

She knelt by the bedside and reached out, pulling me into her arms.

This time, she didn’t call me “Madam.”

She called me “Miss.”

I leaned against her, my strength completely spent.

“Xi’er, I’m so tired.”

“It’s alright, it’s alright, Miss. You still have me. I’ll always stay by your side.”

“Living is so pointless. I’m weary of it all.”

“It doesn’t matter, Miss. From now on, to hell with everything else! We’ll live however makes us happy!”

“Chen Xi’er, you should get married. I’ll find a good family for you.”

“Where are there any ‘good families’ in this world? Stop joking, Miss!”

“Steward Zhao’s son is tall and sturdy.”

“Forget him. He has a stutter and his mouth is always hanging wide open-he looks like a toad.”

“What about the accountant at our family farm on the outskirts of town? He’s quite handsome.”

“No, definitely not. He looks like a fox spirit when he smiles. It gives me the creeps.”

“Shopkeeper Wu from the pawnshop on the front street is fairly well-off and hasn’t married yet…”

“Oh, my dear Miss, that man is a swindler. He doesn’t look like a good person at all.”

“…”