Chapter 239: Chapter 219: Yang Liu’er

Yang Junfan was also calling Beijing. In a large courtyard house, it was clear a move was in progress—they had just arrived. The doors to the main house and the side rooms were all wide open. Belongings were scattered messily throughout the courtyard and under the covered corridors. A phone rang from one of the rooms. A woman in her fifties who looked like a nanny emerged from the kitchen, wiped her hands on her apron, and hurried into the room to answer it. She could be heard exclaiming with delight, "Xiao Fan! Oh, Xiao Fan, are you alright? Yes! Yes! Shun Ma is doing well, just fine! Okay, okay, Shun Ma will go get your aunt. Just you wait!"

"Aunt, is that Junfan calling back?" As she spoke, a girl of eighteen or nineteen darted through the door like a swallow. She had fair skin and a pretty face, and her two braided pigtails bounced on her shoulders from running. A long-sleeved, floral-print blouse could barely contain her well-developed, buxom figure, her chest heaving rapidly.

Shun Ma gave her niece a chiding look. "Liu’er! Still so reckless. This is Beijing, you know! Do you think you’re still in Pan Kou Village?"

Liu’er smiled sheepishly but made no attempt to hide her intentions, pointing to the phone. "Aunt, um... I just heard you say Xiao Fan!"

Shun Ma walked to the doorway and glanced out. She held up three fingers toward the girl, signaling that she could only say a few words, and then stepped outside.

Liu’er quickly stepped forward and snatched up the receiver, her face flushing with excitement. "Brother! Brother Junfan..."

"Liu’er, you made it to Beijing? Are you settling in okay?"

The man’s clear, pleasant voice from the receiver made tears stream down Liu’er’s face, and she was so choked with emotion she couldn’t speak.

"Liu’er, don’t cry. I miss you, too," the man on the other end said perceptively, his voice soft and coaxing.

The sound of laughter drifted in from the courtyard. Liu’er hurriedly put down the receiver, wiped her tears with her sleeve, glanced from side to side, and stepped into the small room to the left, pretending to be arranging the things inside.

The person who entered this time was a young woman of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, dressed in a lake-blue dress. Her features and temperament were somewhat similar to Yang Junfan’s. She was radiant and elegant, with a smile on her face that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

The young woman first sat down on a chair and smoothed out her dress before picking up the receiver and holding it to her ear. Her movements were poised and elegant, her voice gentle and soft. "Xiao Fan, it’s your aunt."

"Yes, that’s right. The Bai Family’s residence... of course, it was all returned to us! The people who were living here have already moved out. Today, Shun Ma and I brought some people over to tidy up and clean. In a few days, your second uncle and the others will be back. Mm-hmm, your second uncle has to report in Beijing first and then see about his work assignment. As for your grandfather, his situation wasn’t very optimistic, but the higher-ups took it very seriously. They brought in the best doctors, for both traditional Chinese and Western medicine. He’s mostly recovered now, but he can’t be discharged from the hospital yet. He still needs to recuperate and be under observation... Xiao Fan, you’ve done very well. Participating in battle, defending the nation, performing with distinction, and earning military honors... Grandfather is very happy and proud! The Bai Family has been through such an ordeal. Revitalizing our family now depends on your generation. You’re the eldest grandson, so the burden on your shoulders is even heavier. You must keep working hard!"

She spoke for a little while longer, and only after the person on the other end hung up did the young woman slowly lower the receiver.

Getting to her feet, the young woman listened for a moment before walking to the small room on the left. Lifting the door curtain, she smiled at Liu’er, who was huddled in a corner pretending to wipe down a table. "Yang Liu’er? You’ve never done chores at home, have you? If you don’t know how, then don’t. Let Shun Ma teach you. The furniture in our house is very valuable. You have to use a soft cloth, damp it with a little water, and wipe gently. Be careful not to damage it."

Yang Liu’er’s face flushed crimson. She tugged at the end of one of her braids. "Aunt..."

"Our Xiao Fan lived at your home for a few years, so I suppose that gives you a kind of brother-sister bond. It’s right for you to call me ’Aunt,’ but we aren’t close relatives, after all. Tomorrow, when Yifen and Yifang get back, they’ll also be running around shouting ’Aunt, Aunt,’ and I’m afraid I won’t be able to tell who’s who. You know my name, don’t you? Bai Qingyue. It’s better if you just call me Aunt Qingyue."

Having said her piece, Bai Qingyue dropped the curtain. She ran into Shun Ma as she was leaving the room and gave her a few more instructions: teach Yang Liu’er how to work properly, be mindful of the maintenance for the mahogany furniture, and make sure she doesn’t actually damage it.

Once Bai Qingyue had left, Shun Ma entered the small room on the left to find Yang Liu’er sitting on a mahogany coffee table, sobbing her heart out.

Shun Ma rushed over and pulled her to her feet. "For heaven’s sake, child, is that something to sit on? What are you crying about? So you were a little thoughtless and an elder said a few words to you, is that so terrible? Hurry up and dry your tears, don’t let anyone see! Things are looking up for the Bai Family from now on. There’s no place for unhappiness. If you keep bursting into tears at the drop of a hat and putting on a long face, you’re just asking for them to find you disagreeable, aren’t you?"

With tears welling in her eyes, Yang Liu’er said resentfully, "Do you think I’m crying for no reason? Aunt, you saw her. What did she mean by all that just now? She looks down on me. How could I not hear it in her voice!"

"Oh, come now, who’s looking down on you? Miss Bai has been doted on by her parents since she was a child. That’s just her temperament; she’s used to being blunt."

"And who isn’t doted on by their parents? Before Brother Junfan came to my home, I was their only child. You have no idea how much they cherished me! When Brother Junfan came, taking the place of my older brother who got lost, my parents gave half of all the good things they had for me to him, and I didn’t say a thing! I treated him like my real brother, and we had a good life... Now the Bai Family is prosperous again and they’ve taken Brother Junfan back, but my parents are gone... If they were still alive, would I even be here? Why would she talk to me like that, as if I’m some servant girl they bought?"

The more Yang Liu’er spoke, the angrier she became, until she finally threw down the cleaning rag in her hand. "If they don’t like me, they can just send me back!"

Shun Ma grew so anxious she moved to cover the girl’s mouth. "Go back? Go back where? There’s no one left at home. Who would you go back to, ghosts? Doesn’t everyone know that you’re the person Xiao Fan wants to protect? He personally called to have you brought here. From now on, this is your home!"

’My home? Can I really treat this place as my home?’

Yang Liu’er murmured in a low voice, her expression dazed. She turned her head to look out the window. Through the clean glass, she could clearly see the vibrant red flowers and green leaves in the courtyard, where several masons repairing the house hurried back and forth. Yesterday, she had just stepped into this very courtyard. As she stood under the eaves looking around, half a red brick had fallen from above and struck her on the head, knocking her unconscious.

It wasn’t surprising to be knocked out by a brick that large. The strange part was that she’d had a long dream. When she woke up this morning, the scene before her was no longer unfamiliar, but instead incredibly familiar. In the dream, she had lived in this very courtyard, borne Bai Junfan a son, and spent many, many years here, until the day she died in Bai Junfan’s arms... She heard him calling to her—this man of great power and status—calling her by her given name in a grief-stricken voice, "Liu’er, Liu’er," not his usual, stiff "Mrs. Liu." Her heart filled with reluctance, indignation, and a bottomless resentment! ’I have to go back,’ she had thought. ’Go back for revenge. Go back and take what should have been mine all along!’

She never expected that upon waking from the dream, she would have actually returned.

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