Chapter 23: Pure Love World Arc 6

  Xu Zipei slept particularly long and soundly, and when he woke up it was already evening.

  He opened his eyes dazedly and saw a figure sitting in the chair beside the bed. Upon closer inspection, it was none other than his brother's widow, Madame Su: "Sister-in-law, what are you doing here?"

  "Second brother is awake, that's great! It must be the blessing of our ancestors and parents in heaven. You had a fever last night, Yuzhu was hesitant and came to find me. How are you feeling now?"

  Sorry, Xu Gonggong, it wasn't intentional to curse you, but just borrowing your name to make your younger brother take care of his body. While saying that, she leaned in to touch Xu Zipei's forehead, who let ancient times not have thermometers?

  Xu Zipei had never been intimate with a woman before, and Su Luo's actions made him very uncomfortable. He wanted to avoid her, but after being seriously ill, his body was weak, and he was caught off guard by Su Luo's touch. Su Luo then placed the back of her hand on her own forehead for comparison, and only then did she let out a sigh of relief: "It seems to have gone down a bit since this morning, although it's still a bit hot, but it should be okay."

  "Laoshu's daughter is worried, Zipei is unfilial." Although she had previously rejected Suoluo at the door, ancient people emphasized that an elder sister-in-law was like a mother. Now that they were face to face, it wasn't good to drive her away again. The necessary etiquette still had to be observed, so Xu Zipei immediately got up to pay his respects.

  "Stay down, you're still ill. No need for formalities among family members." Seeing Xu Zipei trying to get up shakily, Su Luo hastily stopped him and pressed him back onto the bed.

  Xu Zipei's whole body was soft like a cotton ball, and with just a slight push, he fell back, thinking that this little sister-in-law really had quite some strength.

  After the commotion, the knot in his heart dissipated a little. However, when Sulolo had Yan'er bring in the simmered old duck soup, this bear child suddenly became stubborn again and refused to eat. Sulolo coaxed him for a long time, and finally, as his elder sister, she forced him to eat two pieces of meat and drink a bowl of soup.

  In the following days, Su Luo delivered three meals on time and then moved out a pile of gifts and moral lessons that forced Xu Zipei to eat. In the end, he also gave up his resistance and happily cooperated with Su Luo. After all, they had eaten so much already, and it would be too pretentious to starve himself now. He didn't have the face for that either. However, he had to admit that this little sister-in-law was really good at cooking, and many dishes he hadn't even seen before. Unfortunately, his brother had passed away early and didn't get to enjoy them. Thinking of this again brought a wave of sadness.

  After feeding like this for less than a month, Xu Zipei's originally fragile body surprisingly became even more robust than before, and Su Luo secretly admired her own talent as a breeder.

  During this time, another thing happened, which was that Zhang Lan's marriage date had arrived. In the original work, she finally escaped from the robbers, but also suffered a lot. Moreover, the author wrote too vaguely, and it is not clear whether she was defiled or not. The family that rescued her was very poor, and their purpose in adopting her may have been to add another laborer to the household, so before being found by Xu Zipei, she was also working hard day and night.

  So, to be on the safe side and avoid Zhang Lanbai's suffering, as well as to ease his own conscience, Suoluo secretly sent someone to follow the wedding procession. When the robbers came out to kidnap the bride, he would take advantage of the chaos to rescue Zhang Lan and send her to a friend of her uncle's in a small town on the border. The friend was a county official with no children, who had always wanted to adopt one. Suoluo wrote to him seeking his opinion, asking if he would be willing to take Zhang Lan as his adopted daughter if he found her satisfactory, or if not, please arrange a safe place for her to stay.

  Later, Shibo replied that Zhang Lan's gentle and virtuous nature made them very satisfied with her as a daughter-in-law. Zhang Lan herself was also unwilling to return home and remarry Sun Yuanwai or be sold again by her selfish father and brother, so she settled down beside the elderly couple, showing filial piety, and the three of them lived in harmony.

  Liu Qianqian didn't say she wanted to let Su Luo taste the flavor of unrequited love, did she? Is it possible that this time she won't be cruel? Wrong! This sadistic person will still be cruel, only in a more subtle and silent way, so that Su Luo is unaware.

  According to the previous idea, it was to make Su Luo fall in love with Xu Zi Pei, while Xu Zi Pei loved Zhang Lan. Then she made various sacrifices and efforts, but in the end, the handsome guy still fell into someone else's arms. Later, thinking about it, this way is too cliché and not interesting. Moreover, unexpectedly, Su Luo's mental strength and control are stronger than she imagined, like last time, she wanted to make Su Luo love Qin Hui to death, but in fact, it was not the case, only a faint feeling. So this time, she decided to change her approach, no longer bullying Su Luo, directly bullying Xu Zi Pei, making Xu Zi Pei misunderstand that Su Luo is related to Xu Zi Lin's death and Zhang Lan's disappearance, and then gradually become infatuated with her in their interactions, falling deeply in love with her, and then being tormented by the strong love and hate, finally... Hehe, just thinking about it is exciting, she is really a genius! (Is she perverted or something?)

  Of course, all of this is to be kept from Su Luo, otherwise she would definitely not cooperate. This guy has already treated Xu Zi Yan like a treasure, every day he's being overly motherly, feeding and drinking, busy with joy. If she were to find out how they plan to deceive this child, then... Tsk! With her personality of protecting her loved ones, who knows what she would do? Although I have magic, I still can't completely control her, so it's better if she comes willingly. Moreover, Su Luo has repeatedly asked to tell the truth to Xu Zi Yan, although I thought of many excuses to temporarily persuade her, but I can only keep it from her for a little while longer. If it goes on for too long, she will definitely suspect something, so in order to prevent my plan from being ruined, I must quickly push forward with the next step.

  Because Xu Zilin is no longer around, Su Luo Luo's family also can't show their face, so after Xu Ziping recovered from his illness, he didn't return to the academy and stayed at home to take care of business. Now in the Xu household, he is the only male left to hold up the family name.

  That evening, he had dinner with Suoluo in the main hall, returned to his room to look at the account book for a while, felt suffocated, and went for a walk alone in the garden. As he walked, he recalled the details of his interactions with Suoluo over the past few days, how she had been considerate and caring towards him, taking care of his daily needs. He couldn't help but feel a wave of emotion, grateful that his older brother had married such a kind and virtuous wife, who treated him, the younger uncle, with such kindness. This allowed him to feel the warmth of home after losing his loved ones and regain his strength. If it weren't for his sister-in-law, he didn't know what kind of situation he would be in now, perhaps... already reunited with his parents and older brother in the underworld.

  Thinking of this, she began to worry about Su Luo's future again. In these times, a childless widow's life was very difficult. Although the Xu family had been handed over to him, even if his brother were not around, he would still support his sister-in-law in the future and would not mistreat her financially, and would also let the Xu family servants continue to treat her with respect as their mistress, but all these could not replace a husband's love and a child's companionship.

  In the end, it was still the Xu family that wronged her, leaving her a widow at such a young age. She was so virtuous and beautiful, originally deserving of the love of the best man in the world, but instead she was alone, guarding her chamber, passing one long night after another.

  Thinking of this, he felt a bit resentful towards his elder brother. Since he had married someone, he should fulfill the responsibilities of a husband, be harmonious with his wife, and live in peace, rather than abandoning his newlywed wife and leaving her to fend for herself. If it were him, he would definitely...

  Good grief! How could he have such an idea?

  Xu Zipei was startled by the sudden thought that emerged in her mind, and she quickly shook her head. It must be because of eating too much for dinner, which made her mind unclear. Forget it! Quickly forget it! I didn't think about anything at all. Big brother is my respected big brother, and sister-in-law is my good sister-in-law!

  "Second Master! Second Master!"

  "What's wrong, you're in such a hurry." Fortunately, at this time Yu Zhu's shout broke his thoughts and allowed him to calm down.

  "Second Master, Nanny said there's something urgent she needs to tell you, and asked you to go back. She's waiting for you in the courtyard."

  "What's wrong?"

  "I asked, but the nanny didn't say anything, just told you to go back."

  "Then let's go back."

  "Hey!" Yu Zhu followed Xu Zipei closely, his tail wagging. Lately, the master had been in high spirits and didn't have to go back to school, so every day he got to follow him on inspections of the estate, pouring tea, serving water, and whatnot. From time to time, the mistress would even give him treats, making life feel like it couldn't get any better, almost making him think that being a servant was the best job in the world.

  Wet nurse Wang was the Xu brothers' nanny and also their mother's dowry maid, so her status was naturally different from that of ordinary servants in the household. Sometimes she could even be considered half a master. The Xu brothers were very respectful to her and never treated her as an inferior. This is why when he heard that his wet nurse wanted to see him, Xu Zipei went back without hesitation.

  Xu Zipei hadn't even entered the courtyard when he saw his nanny waiting at the gate. The familiar figure reminded him of when he was a child attending private school, and how his nanny would wait for him every day after class, giving him snacks and asking about his well-being in a soft voice. For a moment, his eyes felt warm. Perhaps it was because he had lost too many loved ones, but now he cherished everyone around him even more. His nanny was also getting older, and he didn't know how much longer she would be able to accompany him.

  Xu Zipei walked over to the wet nurse and supported her: "The wind is strong at night, why doesn't the wet nurse go inside to sit?"

  "The old slave just wants to wait for the second young master here. As I've grown older, I don't know when I'll close my eyes and never see again. Being able to wait for the second young master is the greatest blessing for this old slave. The eldest young master has left, and half of this old slave's heart has been hollowed out. Now, I can only hope that the Bodhisattva will bless the second young master with good health and longevity, living to be a hundred years old. Even if I were to be reborn as an ox or a horse, I would still be willing.

  Since Master Xu passed away, everyone in the household has started addressing the two brothers as "young masters", but it's only the wet nurse who insists on calling them "young masters" to this day, which makes Xu Zipei feel even more affectionate."

  Can't help but say, this Wang is really a master of flattering the master, of course, not to say that she has no true heart, it's just that every sentence she says hits the master's soft spot, it's really not something an ordinary person can do, no wonder she has been in Xu's family for decades and has been favored all along.

  "Wet nurse, don't say such things, you will definitely live to be a hundred years old. What brings you to look for me so late at night?"

  The wet nurse looked at Yuzhu with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

  "Yu Zhu, you go down first and close the door on your way out." It wasn't that she didn't trust Yu Zhu, but since the wet nurse wanted to speak privately, it wouldn't be good to go against her wishes.