Chapter 2
Chapter 2
After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Yunsui stood up and headed toward the voice.
When she reached the human’s side, Jiang Yunsui reached out and tugged at her clothes.
Cook Chen looked down and saw the child she had been looking for all this time.
“You… you scared me to death! Where did you run off to?”
Jiang Yunsui pursed her small lips, her expression radiating resistance.
“Dark, smells bad. Won’t eat.”
Cook Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The girl had run away just to avoid taking her medicine, and she had run in such a peculiar, stumbling fashion too.
The little thing had hidden herself quite well; Cook Chen had searched for ages without finding a trace of her.
“That’s medicine. It might be bitter, but you have to drink it for your body to get better.”
Even with Cook Chen’s explanation, Jiang Yunsui remained defiant, her little face scrunched up in refusal.
She simply wasn’t going to drink it.
“Alright, but if you feel sick and miserable later, you must take your medicine, okay?”
Jiang Yunsui tilted her head. She didn’t know what it meant to be ‘sick,’ but she didn’t ask.
She rubbed her neck. She remembered it hurting terribly before, and she had felt awful.
Was that being sick?
But it seemed to be better now.
Cook Chen led her back. “You were rescued by our Young Master. I reckon you have nowhere else to go. Unless the Young Master says otherwise, you’ll stay here from now on. I’ll look after you.”
She gazed at Jiang Yunsui’s face, her eyes growing distant. “In any case… this old auntie has no children left of her own.”
Jiang Yunsui sensed an unpleasant aura radiating from her, something that felt a little bitter.
“Alright, time for bed.”
It was already dark outside.
Sleep?
Jiang Yunsui nodded seriously, then walked out of the room.
“Eh? Where are you going?”
Following the child out, Cook Chen found the little thing in the courtyard, sticking her bottom up as she worked hard to dig into the dirt with her hands.
“What… what are you doing?”
Jiang Yunsui looked up with a serious expression. “Sleeping.”
She glanced at her hands. Human hands were so fragile! She couldn’t even dig a small pit properly, and it hurt.
Frowning slightly, she continued to dig.
“Why are you digging a hole to sleep?”
Cook Chen’s head was full of questions. She watched speechlessly as the child finished a shallow pit, squatted inside, hugged her knees, and tilted her head back slightly to close her eyes.
In her high-pitched, childish voice, she repeated, “Sleeping.”
Cook Chen: “…”
Wait, who on earth sleeps like that?
“Oh dear, you must have been frightened out of your wits.”
It looked for all the world like she was trying to dig a hole to bury herself.
Cook Chen felt even more pity for Jiang Yunsui. Such a lovely child, and quite pretty too. It was a shame she had such rotten luck to encounter such a tragedy.
She picked the girl up, patiently wiped her hands clean, and tucked her into bed.
“This is how we sleep. You can’t dig a hole outside to bury yourself; that’s terrible luck.”
“Be good now, close your eyes.”
Jiang Yunsui stared at her with wide eyes for a few seconds before obediently lying down and closing them.
Cook Chen lay down beside her. “By the way, I still don’t know your name. What do they call you, little one?”
A gentle voice surfaced in the Little Mushroom’s mind.
‘Our baby is named Jiang Yunsui. The “Sui” from “May you have peace year after year.”‘
In her tender, milky voice, she softly said, “My name is… Jiang Yunsui. The Sui from peace year after year.”
She never had a name before; she was just a Little Spirit Mushroom who had gained sentience. Now, she had a human name.
“Good. Be a good girl, Suisui. Go to sleep.”
Jiang Yunsui thought: *So this is how humans sleep.*
The night passed quietly. The next morning, before the sun was fully up, most of the people in the manor were already awake.
Cook Chen was no exception. She got up and dressed, finding that Jiang Yunsui was also awake.
“Suisui, you don’t need to wake up so early. But since you are up, I’ll explain a few things to you.”
“We are currently in the Young Master’s Mansion. I am a cook here. If you’re going to stay, you’ll likely become a maid in the mansion later on. We are all servants here, so we must act with caution.”
“Suisui, remember this: don’t go anywhere except this little courtyard if you can help it. You don’t want to accidentally run into someone and offend them. If you offend those powerful people, we could be killed at any moment.”
Jiang Yunsui sat on the bed, hugging her knees. She looked like she was listening very intently, the picture of a well-behaved girl, but in reality… she didn’t understand a single word.
Cook Chen’s words took a turn in her head and left nothing behind.
Her eyes remained clear and innocent, yet… vacant.
Cook Chen didn’t have time to say much more; she had to go on duty.
“I’ll tell you the rest when I get back. Just remember, whatever you do, don’t get in anyone’s way.”
Jiang Yunsui didn’t understand, but that didn’t stop her from nodding.
“What a good girl. Wait in the room, and I’ll bring you something to eat when I’m off duty.”
After Cook Chen left, Jiang Yunsui stayed in the room quite obediently. She didn’t even get off the bed, simply hugging her knees and staring into space.
But she soon grew thirsty.
So, wearing only her thin inner robes, with her hair loose and her feet bare, she climbed off the bed to find water.
In human logic, finding water meant looking for something like a teapot.
However, her mindset was more that of a Little Mushroom.
Therefore, she ran outside to find dew to drink.
With practiced movements, she crouched in a patch of shrubs, brushing the leaves to drink the dew clinging to them.
As she smacked her lips, a squad of men in armor, radiating a grim aura, walked past on the nearby path.
None of them noticed Jiang Yunsui’s presence.
They whispered to each other while on patrol, their expressions clouded with worry.
“The Young Master’s illness is getting worse. Those people are despicable!”
“Are the doctors they found useless?”
“Yeah. The poison in the Young Master isn’t something an ordinary doctor can cure.”
“Don’t they just want to see the Young Master dead so they can openly seize the Ji Family Army? I won’t stand for it!”
“We still need to find a doctor who can neutralize the poison as soon as possible. Right now, the Young Master’s body is failing, but his mind is sharp. As long as he’s here, those bastards won’t dare move against the Ji Family Army!”
Sharp mind.
Jiang Yunsui’s ears twitched slightly.
Then, could a person with a sharp mind help her settle her karmic debt?
That Young Master seemed to be the one Cook Chen mentioned-the person who had saved her.
Jiang Yunsui scratched her head and decided to ask Aunt Chen if this ‘Young Master’ was the most powerful human.
She couldn’t think of a way to settle the debt herself, so she would let the most powerful person help her.
Cook Chen returned after her shift with a bowl of rice. As she neared the small courtyard where she lived, Jiang Yunsui called out to her from behind.
Cook Chen was so startled she nearly dropped the bowl in her hands.
“You… when did you get behind me?”
“Oh my, why aren’t you wearing your overgarments or shoes!”
“Your hair isn’t even brushed. Didn’t I tell you to stay in the room? Why did you come out?”
Jiang Yunsui said, “I’m thirsty.”
There was a hint of grievance in her voice.
“Isn’t there a water pitcher in the room?”
“Water pitcher?”
Seeing her bewildered expression, Cook Chen slapped her own forehead.
“I forgot, your brain was frightened into a daze.”
Sighing, she took Jiang Yunsui’s hand and led her back into the room.
“Then where did you go to drink water?”
Jiang Yunsui pointed outside. “On the leaves.”
Cook Chen: “…”
This child was both foolish and pitiful.
After cleaning up the dirty Little Mushroom, Cook Chen taught her how to pour water.
“See this? This is a water pitcher. The water inside is for drinking. In the future, when you’re thirsty, just pour the water from the pitcher into the cup.”
Jiang Yunsui nodded, curiously poking the stream of water as it was being poured.