Mentioned Xiao Yingyu, Ye Qingyi's face softened slightly, but he was not certain how Little Yu felt about him, so he said, "According to my grandson, it should be fine."
But his "fine" meant something different to the elderly woman, who couldn't help but show a pleased expression. "Is it really true? That's wonderful! Wonderful!"
"From your demeanor, this girl must be quite good."
Faced with her grandmother's teasing words, Ye Qingyi merely lifted his teacup and sipped silently, leaving everything unsaid.
Ye Qingyi had been raised by Old Lady Ye since childhood, and she knew very well that he liked her. However, he pretended to be reserved and didn't want to show it too much.
The elderly woman couldn't help but laugh and repeatedly said "Good".
"Very good."
"By the way, what's her name?"
"Liu Ningyu." These three words were spoken slowly and softly by Ye Qingyi, with a hint of gentleness in his tone.
"Surname Liu? Has she mentioned which prominent family she comes from?" The elderly woman frowned as she thought for a long time but could not recall any prominent Liu family with a daughter.
"She hasn't mentioned it. She only said she has lost all her memories and cannot recall past events." Ye Qingyi lowered his gaze slightly, playing with the empty teacup in his hands.
"This... Could she be a poor noblewoman?" The elderly woman made a reasonable guess.
Ye Qingyi shook his head. "No."
Earlier on the carriage, he had noticed that Little Yu's teeth were spotlessly clean and her palms were smooth without any marks, indicating that she had been carefully nurtured since childhood.
This ruled out the possibility that she came from a poor family or a peasant household.
Moreover, her attire...
In his opinion, Little Yu was more likely to be a noblewoman from a foreign land.
It was known that there were few unmarried women outside official records, and every three years, the government would update their portraits to prevent those who profited from women.
These villains would sell these women to other countries, causing them to suffer for their entire lives. How despicable!
Seeing that her grandmother was still deep in thought, Ye Qingyi interrupted, "I have already drawn her portrait. I will send it to my eldest brother tomorrow. He is an official in the capital, making it easy to find Little Yu's records."
His reminder made the elderly woman realize and stop thinking further. "That's right. It can be found. There's no need to rush."
"It's you who needs to hurry! Spend more time in front of her, show yourself off, and make her feel satisfied." The elderly woman pulled Ye Qingyi's hand and patted it meaningfully.
Ye Qingyi suddenly thought of the things he learned about pleasing women, such as "Twenty-Three Ways to Keep Your Lady Irresistible". His composure wasn't as deep as his grandmother's; he became flustered and withdrew his hand before getting up to leave. His ears and neck turned red.
Seeing this, the elderly woman was delighted and watched her grandson run away with floating arms.
The next morning, Xiao Yingyu woke up early.
Opening her eyes, she saw herself in an ancient and elegant environment and sighed deeply.
She called for a young boy loudly and stared at his innocent round face for a while before not wanting to trouble him.
"How old are you? What's your name?"
Hearing her voice, the boy's face turned red and he didn't dare to look up. His hands tightly clutched each other as he played with a string of beads.
"I'm meat bun. I'm ten years old this year," the boy replied timidly.
Ten years old?!?!
Xiao Yingyu's eyes widened. Wasn't this child being abused?
"Are you working at such a young age? Is your family okay with it?" she asked sincerely.
So heartless? Letting a nine-year-old sell herself to serve others?
But the boy misunderstood her concern and quickly knelt down to express his loyalty.
With his baby fat still visible on his round face, he sobbed pitifully. "Being able to serve you is my fortune. Please don't drive me away."
Kneeling firmly, Xiao Yingyu heard the sound of his knees hitting the ground and was startled. She quickly helped him up and comforted him while wiping away his tears:
"Oh dear, what are you doing? I was just asking. No ill intentions. Okay, okay, be quiet."
The boy was stunned by Xiao Yingyu's gentle actions. This was the first time he had felt someone gently care for him. His heart felt both painful and warm.
His tears flowed even harder, but now they were just sniffles of a pitiful little boy.
If it was previously to show that he wanted to stay, now he used charm tactics to seek her pity.
Unfortunately, he hadn't started performing yet when another young boy knocked on the door, interrupting their conversation. "Lady, Second Master is here."
Hearing that Second Master was here, the boy quickly wiped away his tears and stood up straight. He rubbed both hands to dry any traces of tears.
Xiao Yingyu was left speechless by his performance.
Facing her incredulous gaze, Meat Bun smiled sweetly and said, "Lady, I'm fine. I just cry easily because of my nature. Should we meet Second Master? Shall I go inform him?"
Xiao Yingyu quickly closed her jaw and nodded in agreement for him to bring in the visitor.
Staring at the young boy as he left, she thought to herself: Wow, ancient people are truly amazing. I never expected a child to have such good acting skills.
She completely forgot that she was still wearing a white undergarment and hadn't washed her face yet.
Only after seeing Ye Qingyi exit the room red-faced did she realize this.
After washing up again and bringing him back in, she smiled awkwardly. "Ha ha, sorry for keeping you waiting. I forgot I just woke up and made you wait."
Ye Qingyi's expression returned to normal as he shook his head. "No need to apologize. It wasn't your fault anyway. My apologies for not asking if you had washed up first."
His high emotional intelligence eased the awkward atmosphere between them significantly.
"By the way, why are you looking for me now? Is there something urgent?"
"And so early in the morning. Didn't you eat breakfast yet? Why don't we eat while we chat?"
Ye Qingyi had no objection and summoned a young boy to fetch food from the kitchen.
During breakfast, Xiao Yingyu tentatively asked him, "After eating, can I take a walk around the city?"
Seeing her cautious demeanor, Ye Qingyi's face softened. He wanted to ease her discomfort. "Of course. Do you need me to accompany you? I happen to have some free time these days."
His approach indeed worked. With the same gentle attitude as yesterday, it slightly relaxed Xiao Yingyu's tense nerves in this new world. Two small dimples appeared on her cheeks.
However, she politely declined his offer to accompany her. "I don't need your company. I just want to get some fresh air."
Ye Qingyi responded without hesitation. "How can spending time together be a waste of time?"
After saying this, he saw her expression change and quickly added: "Since you call me Brother Qingyi and I am hosting you as a guest here in Fengzhou, shouldn't I introduce you to our local delicacies?"
His words were natural and reasonable.
The doubt in Xiao Yingyu's eyes gradually dissipated, but she ultimately did not agree to Ye Qingyi accompanying her on her walk.
Yesterday when she strolled through Ye Mansion, she noticed that there were only servants but no maidservants.
She assumed this was simply Old Lady Ye's personal preference and didn't think much of it until she arrived on a sedan chair in the bustling street.
There were many men everywhere, but after walking half a street, she finally saw several women who looked like middle-aged women around forty-five or fifty years old. Each woman was surrounded by ten or more men who kept watchful eyes on them as they strolled through the streets protectively.
Despite this, many men cast envious glances at them but none dared to approach them for conversation.
She felt strange about this situation. As the sedan chair passed through a crossroads by accident, she caught sight of a sign for brothels and courtesans' quarters. Her eyes narrowed in surprise.
Wasn't that right?
The men standing at the entrance waving fans seemed like courtesans?
She was sure her vision was correct; those feminine-looking prostitutes indeed had Adam's apples.
This was strange!
The young boy watching from outside the sedan chair felt uneasy about his lady staring at such an unsavory place and quickly suggested diverting her attention. "Lady, are you thirsty? Why don't we go to that street ahead where we can drink tea and listen to music?"
Such filthy places should not interest any lady!
Thinking of how many pure ladies had died from diseases contracted in such places, he felt afraid.
The young boy was extremely nervous but fortunately, Lady only glanced at the unsavory place before nodding in agreement.
Relieved, the young boy signaled the sedan chair attendants to lift the chair and they headed towards the food street.