A Misty Night, With A Crystal-Clear Moon - Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Laundry and Liaisons
Linglong had just finished tidying her tools and couldn’t resist sitting on the stone bench to rest. She looked up at the twinkling stars filling the night sky, feeling a fleeting sense of joy. She thought again of her father, Yu Tianqi. Since she learned to read, Yu Tianqi had held her, counting the stars one by one. As she got a little older, he taught her to recognize the North Star, Andromeda, and Orion. It all felt like yesterday, vivid in her memory. Yet, it also felt so distant, already unattainable.
She sighed quietly. Cui Xin approached at that moment and softly called her name. Linglong turned, smiled at her, and beckoned her to come closer.
“Miss, I’ve found out everything you asked about.”
“Tell me.”
“Miss guessed correctly. That Situ Nuo is indeed related to Liao Qingyun; he is Liao Qingyun’s adopted son. Liao Qingyun has no sons of his own and dotes on Situ Nuo. The Moon-Gazing Tower is owned by Liao Qingyun and is often used to gather Shanghai’s influential figures to discuss business and make plans. Situ Nuo is tasked by Liao Qingyun to manage this place. Not just the Moon-Gazing Tower, but also the Yun Port docks and the Qingyun Exchange—all are handled by Situ Nuo.”
“It seems this Liao Qingyun thinks highly of him.”
“Absolutely. The Qingyun Gang members already view Situ Nuo as the successor. Plus, he has ‘divine fists,’ so everyone is quite afraid of him.”
“What about that Young Master Mu? Did you find anything?”
“Young Master Mu’s full name is Mu Shaohui. He is the eldest son of Mu Yinchun, head of the prominent Shanghai Mu family. Mu Yinchun died young, and Mu Shaohui took over the family business early on. This Mu Yinchun had an unusual relationship with General Feng, so everyone in Shanghai, both in business and politics, is wary of the Mu family. The financial sector particularly follows Young Master Mu’s lead. They say this Young Master Mu is quite accomplished for his age, supposedly only twenty-four or twenty-five.”
“Does he have anyone else in his family?”
“He has a younger sister, Mu Shaoxin, who is abroad. Oh, and right, he also has a wife and a concubine. I heard Mu Yinchun introduced many daughters from prestigious families before he died, but Mu Shaohui rejected them all. Then, for some reason, he suddenly agreed to marry and even took a courtesan as a concubine.”
Yu Linglong pondered the details. This Young Master Mu didn’t sound like he had any connection to the Yu family. She knew Yu Tianqi did business with Shanghai people, but she never knew who. If she hadn’t heard Lang Qiyou mention the name Young Master Mu, she wouldn’t have bothered to investigate this thoroughly.
“Has he ever been to Suzhou?”
“I don’t know. A rich young master like him—where can’t he go? Forget Suzhou; he can go anywhere he wants in the world.”
Cui Xin’s words were reasonable. How could she assume that person was Young Master Mu based on a single brief encounter? Furthermore, based on Cui Xin’s description, this Young Master Mu must be capable and talented.
She sighed softly. Cui Xin, seeing her still looking worried, said, “Oh, Miss, let’s leave tomorrow’s worries for tomorrow. Our gain today is already quite significant.”
Mentioning the gain, Linglong thought of the recent events. “Yes, today’s gain is significant. Starting tomorrow, we won’t have to work on the first floor because we get to go to the third floor.”
Cui Xin was overjoyed and nearly shouted out. “That’s wonderful! Finally, we don’t have to do those heavy chores anymore!”
Linglong saw her so happy, yet she didn’t even ask why. She sincerely envied her. If I could be like Cui Xin and not worry about so much, I wouldn’t be so troubled. But there was no if.
That day, Linglong was in the back courtyard washing clothes. She was unskilled at this kind of work, but she had offended Aunt Liu, who was making her pay for it. Autumn had already set in, and the well water was bitterly cold. After only a few washes, her hands were red and chapped.
She hated doing this kind of work from the bottom of her heart. She decided to just soak the clothes in the basin and spaced out instead.
“What are you thinking about?”
She blinked, turned her head, and saw Situ Nuo watching her with a cheerful smile. She turned away irritably and fiddled with the clothes. Situ Nuo watched her take the clothes out, rinse them twice, put them back in, and then take them out again, which made him chuckle inwardly.
“Are you… washing clothes?”
Linglong glared at him. “What, haven’t you seen it before?”
“Hahahaha, I’ve seen it, but I’ve never seen such a… new method of washing.” He deliberately emphasized the words “new method.” Yu Linglong glared at him fiercely and suddenly pulled a piece of clothing out of the water, splashing Situ Nuo unexpectedly.
Situ Nuo flinched and shook his head. Yu Linglong couldn’t help but laugh when she saw his disheveled appearance.
Situ Nuo was initially annoyed, but suddenly hearing Yu Linglong’s clear laughter, he froze. “So… you can laugh.”
Yu Linglong stopped laughing, picked up the basin, and tried to walk away, but she was too weak and couldn’t lift it properly even after two tries. Situ Nuo tried to help her, but she pushed him away. Situ Nuo watched, utterly perplexed, as Linglong pushed the basin step by step to the clothesline, pulled out the clothes without wringing them, and draped them haphazardly over the line.
He walked over without a word, took the clothes out of the basin, efficiently wrung them a few times, shook them out, and neatly hung them on the line.
Yu Linglong watched him without speaking, allowing Situ Nuo to wring out all the clothes in the basin and hang them properly. He then wiped his hands and looked at her, smiling.
Was he trying to provoke her? Making fun of her incompetence? She suddenly became very angry. “What if I can’t do things? If you can’t stand it, just fire me! You don’t need to be so hypocritically pathetic!”
Situ Nuo was completely taken aback by her outburst. He honestly didn’t understand what he had done to provoke her, making her hostile toward him from the start. “No, that’s not what I meant. You must have misunderstood. I just wanted to help you.”
“Hmph! No need! Who knows what tricks you’re up to?”
“I… I think there must be a misunderstanding between us that makes you dislike me so much. Tell me, so I can know what the problem is.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t want to talk to you.”
Linglong was blunt. In truth, she didn’t know why either, but she just wanted to vent. She knew her Young Miss temper was flaring up again, but she couldn’t take it out on Shopkeeper Li or Cui Xin. She could only take it out on this unfortunate guy.
She quickly walked forward with her head down and bumped right into A-Yuan, who was looking for Situ Nuo. A-Yuan was fine, but she stumbled back a few steps. If Situ Nuo hadn’t caught her in time, she would have fallen to the ground.
“What’s going on here?” A-Yuan asked, confused.
Linglong saw Situ Nuo holding her and quickly pulled her arm away, putting distance between them.
“What are you two doing?”
Situ Nuo said irritably, “What does it look like? Did you need something?”
“Master Liao said he wants to discuss business at the Moon-Gazing Tower tonight, and he needs you to prepare.”
“Oh? Who is coming? How many people? Is the Jade Emperor Hall suitable?”
“About six or seven people. Besides Master Liao, there’s the advisor, A-Tian, and you from our side. The rest are people from Young Master Mu’s side.”
Young Master Mu? Yu Linglong couldn’t help but stop and listen closely.
“He’s coming too?”
“I hear it’s a huge deal,” A-Yuan said with a smile.
Situ Nuo said, “Good, I’ll go prepare right away.”
Before leaving, he glanced at Yu Linglong, said nothing, and walked away. A-Yuan looked at him, then at Yu Linglong. He wanted to approach and ask Linglong a few things, but seeing her cold, icy face, he swallowed his words, his heart chilled.
“Do you have something to ask me?”
A-Yuan was still debating whether to ask, but she spoke first. He then said, “Nothing, just wondering why I haven’t seen your beautiful sister [Cui Xin]?”
As the words left his mouth, A-Yuan wished he could crawl into a hole. He knew very well that Yu Linglong disliked smooth-talkers. Sure enough, Yu Linglong glared at him fiercely. “You like my sister?”
He stammered, unsure what to say, and then heard, “Hmph. You better give up that idea right now, because you are not worthy.”