Volume 1: Mission in Danger Chapter 58 There is Fish
When they met for the first time, Ye Youyu was being bullied by his brothers. Wu Chengjian happened to pass by and casually sent the brothers away.
That year, she was twelve years old, Wu Chengjian was about nineteen years old, and Ye Youyu's brothers, the oldest was nineteen, and the second oldest was seventeen. Those people were rampant in the house, but as soon as Wu Chengjian appeared, these people became quails. This was obviously the Ye family, and they had a large number of people, but Wu Chengjian just said a few words and they dared not to take action again.
Ye Youyu still clearly remembers that he touched her head and said with a smile, "Don't cry." He then casually took off a toy from his waist and stuffed it into her hand: "Have fun with it."
Ye Youyu touched his chest, where there was a beautiful pouch, where he had been hiding the beeswax gourd for five years...
But judging from what happened today, he probably didn't remember what happened back then. That's right, at that time, he stuffed it into his pocket, turned around and said to his brothers, "Come on, take me to see Uncle Dalin."
His brothers did not dare to disobey him and really took him to the study. They followed him behind as if possessed by a ghost and secretly watched him enter the side hall. He sat down leisurely before father came in. Just one look from him was enough to make his brothers who were accompanying him in the hall feel uneasy.
Then my father came in. He was a moody person and everyone in the house was afraid of him except Ma. But the third young master talked and laughed freely in front of my father, telling jokes one after another and even making Ye Dalin laugh.
From then on, she was full of curiosity about this person.
After that, she paid attention to anything related to Wu Chengjian.
Later, my second sister got engaged.
That night, Ye Youyu buried herself in the quilt for no reason and cried loudly - but she herself didn't know why at the time.
"Fish, fish?"
Xu's call brought Ye Youyu back to his senses.
"What's wrong with you?" Xu asked worriedly. Since three or four years ago, her daughter has been a person with her own ideas. Her eyes have always been steady. She has never seen her so absent-minded for no reason. She might not be sick.
"Nothing." Ye Youyu said, but she was thinking in her heart: "Are they here to ask father for help this time? But how could father agree to it?" She really wanted to know what happened in the study, but she had no reason to go in.
At this time, a person walked into the courtyard gate. Ye Youyu and his mother were silent. The person was Ma's maid. She pointed at Ye Youyu and said, "Madam, there is a gold thread that has run out. Eighth Aunt said you have some in your room."
As he spoke, he took out a piece of cloth with a piece of gold thread wrapped inside.
Xu took a look and said, "Yes, yes, we just need to look for it a little bit."
"Found it and send it over, quickly." The maid said and left. From beginning to end, she never even looked at her mother and daughter.
Xu was used to being submissive, and Ye Youyu had also endured it for more than ten years. But tonight, for some reason, she felt angry and blurted out, "A servant girl can be treated so harshly by us... Mother, we can't endure this kind of life... endlessly!"
While Xu was looking for the gold thread, she whispered, "Fortunately, you can get married soon. I hope your father will find a good match for you."
Ye Youyu said, "It's said that the father will choose, but in the end it's still the wife who will choose. That's just jumping from one fire pit into another fire pit. What's so lucky about that?"
Xu had a deep fear of Ma, and upon hearing this, she couldn't help but tremble all over.
Ye Youyu continued, "A few days ago, when Father had not yet hooked up with Mr. Cai, I heard from my second sister that Madam had advised Father to send me to the Supervisor's Mansion to be a concubine to Master Jishan..."
Xu was shocked and dropped the gold thread she had just found to the ground: "What?!" Then she heard Ye Youyu say: "... Later, because there was no other way, I gave up." Xu calmed down a little and put her hands together: "Amitabha, may the Bodhisattva bless you, may the Bodhisattva bless you..."
Ye Youyu said, "Mom, don't pray to the Bodhisattva. People should help themselves, and then God will help them. If we don't strengthen ourselves, the Bodhisattva can't help us. We still have to find a way ourselves."
"But, relying on ourselves...how can that be possible..." Xu was actually very smart, but her personality was very weak: "This house has low walls, but it is a big cage. And my humble origins and your illegitimate origins are an even bigger cage. Without the blessing of the Bodhisattva, what can we do if we rely on ourselves?"
Ye Youyu said: "Mom, don't you want to jump out of this fire pit?"
Xu said: "Although we have a hard life in the Ye family, we still have a place to stay. But if we leave the Ye family, there may not be a place for us in this big world."
Ye Youyu said: "If that's the case, then why did you give me this name?"
Speaking of his own name, Ye Youyu recalled the time when he was thirteen years old. At a picnic gathering of the second generation of the Thirteen Hongs, after his second brother said his name, all the young men and women in the pavilion burst into laughter.
The name Ye Youyu was also the result of a fight in the Ye family. When it came time to name Ye Youyu, Ma had picked several names that were veiled in malice. It was Xu who took the initiative and said that the third girl liked to eat fish, so why not call her "Youyu" in the hope that she would have fish to eat for the rest of her life. Ma thought this name was more rustic and funnier than the others she had thought of, so she agreed on the spot. Since then, whenever there was a chance, the brothers and sisters in the house would make fun of this name.
But in the pavilion that year, Young Master Yihe praised: "There is a fish in the North Sea, named Kun. One day, it will transform into a roc and spread its wings. You are a girl, but this name is more impressive than that of a boy."
He was the first person to reveal the true meaning of the name his mother gave him!
Thinking of this, Ye Youyu took the box of gold thread from his mother and said, "Mom, I'll go deliver it."
"No, no!" Mrs. Xu said, "We can't mention the word Wu at home these days. Not to mention that the Wu family is coming tonight. I'm afraid the Madam won't be in a good mood. I'll be angry if I go over."
"I know." But Ye Youyu still said, "I'll go."
Mrs. Xu couldn't persuade her daughter, so she had to let her go.
Ye Youyu took the golden thread and walked out of the courtyard. Suddenly, she turned back and whispered , "Mother, oh mother, I won't be like you and put my hope in the gods and Buddhas. One day, I will definitely be able to take you out of this hell!"
Walking through the corridor to the backyard, we found that the place where Ma lived was much more spacious. The lights were on in the front hall. The eighth aunt, who was good at embroidery, was busy making something under the lights, and her daughter was massaging Ma's legs.
Ma, with a plump face, was lying on the chaise longue with her eyes half closed, while Miss Ye was sitting loosely beside her mother. On either side of her and her daughter stood two nannies and four maids.
Ye Youyu came over and presented the gold thread. Ma's personal maid asked, "Why did you take so long?"
Ye Youyu did not argue or leave. Instead, he walked to the other side of the chaise longue and started hitting Ma's other leg.
Ma's eyelids lifted slightly, and then she closed her eyes again.
Miss Ye Er sneered: "You are trying to please people now? Are you afraid that my mother will marry you to the Wu family when she sees someone from the Wu family coming?"
Ye Youyu said: "If it is Madam's arrangement, I have no complaints."
Second Miss Ye laughed and said, "Haha, that sounds nice, but you have to think it through. The Wu family is a guarantor. If the guarantor fails in business and angers the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the men in the family will be exiled to the frontier, and the women will be sent as slaves."
Ye Youyu said: "If we are to be married, we should share the good and bad times together. It is not reasonable to only enjoy the prosperity of others, but not be willing to share the hardships of others in their downfall."
Miss Ye Er raised her eyebrows and said, "Slut, what do you mean by that? Are you mocking me? Do you think I can't hear it?"
Ye Youyu lowered his head and stopped talking.
Miss Ye Er was about to poke Ye Youyu's forehead with her finger when a servant came running in. Ma opened her eyes again and glared at her. Miss Ye Er dared not act rashly. The servant said a lot of words in a hurry. It turned out that he was narrating what had happened just now. Ma sent three clever servants to take turns eavesdropping at the window outside the study, and then run back and forth and report back what had happened just now one by one.
In the study, Ye Dalin was asking about Wu Guoying and Wu Chengjun's conditions, but Wu Guoying stopped him and said, "Old Ye, I didn't come here to talk to you about this. You know why I came here this time."
Ye Dalin was still pretending not to understand: "Brother..."
Wu Guoying knew that he was going to change the subject again, so she interrupted him and said, "Dalin! Today, my Wu family is here to ask the Ye family for help!"
Ye Dalin didn't expect Wu Guoying to be so straightforward, but then he thought , isn't this Wu Guoying's character?
He did not speak for the time being. Wu Guoying said, "Tomorrow the business insurance meeting will be held..."
Ye Dalin interrupted, "Old Wu, don't worry, no matter what happens, I will never vote for your Wu family!"
These words were said with a decisiveness, conveying the spirit of a person willing to risk his life for his friend.
Wu Chengjian sneered in his heart. Cai Xie had the support of the Guangdong Customs Supervisor. As long as they could deal with Pan Yiliang and Ma, they would have more than half of the votes in tomorrow's business protection meeting. Even if Ye Dalin pretended not to vote for the Wu family, it would still not affect the overall situation. Wu Guoying came here today not to win Ye Dalin's insignificant vote, but to get Ye Dalin's public support. Only when Wu and Ye joined forces and pulled down the Pan family, the three families would have a chance to influence the movements of Pan Yiliang and Ma among the five families.
Now Ye Dalin only said that he would definitely not join the Wu family. Not to mention that this promise may not be fulfilled, even if it is fulfilled it will not help. This is evading the important issue and he has no intention of helping at all. He just wants to use this to shut others up.
Wu Guoying sighed: "Thank you, brother. But..."
"Brother!" Ye Dalin interrupted, "What's the point of saying thank you to me? Anyway, don't worry, my vote tomorrow will definitely not go to the Wu family."
His voice was so loud that Wu Guoying, who had just recovered from an illness, was silenced by him and could not speak.
Wu Chengjian suddenly sneered and shouted, "Father-in-law..."
Ye Dalin suddenly turned his head and said, "Hao Guan! You and Haocai are still not too late to get married, so you should just call me Uncle Dalin."
"Okay, okay." Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "Uncle Dalin, it doesn't matter to us whether you vote for us or not."
"How can Hao Guan say that!" Ye Dalin said sternly, "No matter how bad the situation is, we must persevere. Even if my vote cannot determine the success or failure of tomorrow, as the saying goes, it is better to lose the battle than the people. Even if we are at a disadvantage, we must not be discouraged. As long as we persist, there will always be opportunities."
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "So Uncle Dalin also knows that the situation is bad. I thought Uncle Dalin didn't know. Dad, don't you think so?"
After going around in circles, he finally gave Wu Guoying a chance to speak, and scolded: "You little bastard, how dare you talk to your future father-in-law like that?" Turning to Ye Dalin, he said: "This kid never speaks with care. But I came here today, indeed..."
Ye Dalin interrupted again, "Old Wu, I'm not asking you to teach your son, but Hao Guan's high-spirited and jumpy behavior is really inappropriate. It doesn't matter if he spoke carelessly in front of me today, we are old friends, so I can't let him off the hook again? But if he is still so disrespectful in front of the supervisor tomorrow, he will be punished with a beating!"
Wu Guoying was blocked before he could finish his words, and he almost choked. Ye Dalin interrupted him and changed the subject again and again, which really made even Buddha angry.
Wu Chengjian replied, "Yes, yes, Uncle Dalin is right. I have always been afraid of pain, so I will prepare a packet of arsenic tomorrow. If I offend the supervisor and no one helps me, I will commit suicide by taking poison before the punishment falls, so as to save myself the trouble."
Ye Dalin was unable to respond for a moment after hearing his nonsense.
But with a bang, the teacup in Wu Guoying's hand fell to the ground and broke into seven or eight pieces.
The room fell silent for a moment. Wu Guoying pointed at Wu Chengjian and said, "Shut up! Why are you interrupting us adults? What did your mother teach you? You interrupt others without permission. Do you have any manners at all?"
Ye Dalin's old face didn't turn red, but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. It was just that Wu Guoying was smashing the teacup at her son, and scolding him, so he didn't find a chance to get angry.
Wu Chengjian took the opportunity to lower his head. Wu Guoying then turned around and said to Ye Dalin without beating around the bush: "Dalin, I'm going to Henan to find Youjie to help our Wu family. Do you want to come with me?"
