Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 537 - 0500 Actually I Did It for the Sake of My Family (1)_2
"Chengye, have you eaten yet? If not, join us." Li Yu En smiled warmly, waving at Lou Chengye.
"Where did all this food come from?" Lou Chengye asked in surprise, eyeing the table. He hadn’t eaten his fill while having breakfast with his father earlier. His wife was so thoughtful, inviting him to join them.
Lou Chengye washed his hands in the basin and promptly sat down at the table.
"Aunt Liu brought it from the kitchen." Li Yu En smiled brightly.
Second Lady Liu chuckled, "Picked a few ready-made dishes and brought them over."
It sounded simple, but it actually took some effort.
Second Lady Liu took Nanny Jing to the kitchen. The kitchen staff were reluctant at first, but once Second Lady Liu said it was for serving morning tea, they agreed.
She was strong and brought back two food boxes.
Two food boxes, containing eight different dishes.
And most of these were Li Yu En’s favorites.
She and Er Niu and San Niu had some buns, leaving the rest for Li Yu En.
Lou Chengye and Li Yu En had breakfast in the bedroom, then they opened the bedroom door.
The two nannies approached, forcing a smile, "Let’s go, Fifth Young Master, Fifth Young Madam, Lady Lou must be getting anxious by now."
These two didn’t go to serve tea first; instead, they had their fill! The two nannies thought that Lady Lou would surely be furious.
"Yes, let’s go, let’s go. Making Mother wait is not good." Li Yu En urged everyone with a smile, "Come on, you two nannies, hurry up."
She wrapped her cloak around her, and with Second Lady Liu, she walked out of He Feng Courtyard first.
Lou Chengye supported her from the side.
When they first opened their shop at the market, without a carriage, Li Yu En, Li Xingsheng, and Li Yuwen all went to the market on foot.
A single trip was fifteen or sixteen miles, and the return trip was just as far.
As long as it wasn’t torrential rain, even in the drizzle and muddy roads, the siblings would still go to the market to do business.
After a few months, Li Yu En’s walking speed wasn’t as fast as a whirlwind, but it wasn’t any worse than that of an average village girl.
Moreover, Second Lady Liu grew up in a village, accustomed to climbing mountains and carrying loads on foot, while Lou Chengye has been a wild youth fond of wielding weapons since childhood, also walking fast.
The three walked briskly on the snow-covered and icy road, but it was a hassle for the two nannies who had been living a life of luxury at the mansion for many years.
The two nannies had to run just to keep up.
When they reached the pond, one of the nannies slipped and fell into the pond.
The other nanny hurriedly went to rescue her.
As a result, one dragged the other, and both fell into the water.
"Fifth Young Master, Fifth Young Madam, help... help!" The two splashed in the water, shouting for help.
Li Yu En, Lou Chengye, and Second Lady Liu turned around together.
Second Lady Liu stifled a laugh and walked back, "Old sisters, how did you end up in the pond? The path isn’t narrow."
In fact, the path wasn’t wide, just half a zhang in width, but if you walked carefully, you wouldn’t fall in the water. However, the two nannies were in such a rush that they slipped into the icy water.
The slope of the pond was inclined, and they couldn’t climb up on their own.
The water was extremely cold, making the two nannies so anxious they wanted to cry.
Li Yu En stomped her foot, "Oh dear, the water is so cold. Aunt Liu, quickly go back and get a rope to pull them up."
"Yes, Second Miss." Second Lady Liu turned and ran back.
The two nannies watched Second Lady Liu run off quickly, grumbling to themselves, wondering why she didn’t fall in the water too.
Why was it them who fell in?
Second Lady Liu brought back a rope, along with her came Nanny Jing and Auntie Tian, who guarded He Feng Courtyard, and the three of them worked together to pull the two nannies out of the water.
Second Lady Liu handed the rope back to Nanny Jing and smiled at the two drenched nannies, "Old sisters, we don’t have any charcoal at He Feng Courtyard to light the brazier, you’d better return to warm yourselves up by the fire."
The two were too cold to speak and shivered as they ran off.
Li Yu En called after them, "Be careful, nannies, don’t fall into the pond again."
Her reminder scared the two into walking slowly.
The two nannies carefully, enduring the cold wind and wet clothes, painstakingly completed the little more than a mile walk.
Meanwhile, Li Yu En, Second Lady Liu, and Lou Chengye were already far ahead.
After crossing the pond, the two nannies finally dared to run the rest of the way back to Lady Lou.
They didn’t have time to report to Lady Lou and hurried back to their rooms to warm up and change clothes.
At this time, Lou Chengye brought Li Yu En into Lady Lou’s main house.
Seeing the two of them arrive so late, Lady Lou was furious.
"I thought you weren’t coming. How can there be such a lazy person like Li in our scholarly Lou Mansion?" Lady Lou sneered, "Li, are you this lazy at home too?" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Li Yu En shook her head, "Not at all, I get up at the fourth watch every day to go to the market. I’m very diligent."
"Then why are you up so late today?" Lady Lou pressed.
The few Lou Family Ladies nearby snickered, and someone whispered, "A young couple, it’s normal to get up late the morning after the wedding night."
Li Yu En glanced at her and told Lady Lou, "Mother, you have no idea how tough the little path in front of He Feng Courtyard is to walk on. It’s slippery with ice. I was afraid of falling into the pond, so I waited for the sun to melt the ice a bit before daring to come out."
Lady Lou snorted, "Your eldest sister-in-law went to find you early, how come she walked just fine?"
"I can’t compare with my sister-in-law; my feet are small and unstable on icy roads." Li Yu En blushed, "If you don’t believe me, see for yourself, my feet are really small."
She lifted her skirt to show her feet to everyone.
Though Li Yu En was plump, her hands and feet were small and adorable.
Especially her feet, they were two sizes smaller than average for her age group.
Lady Lou was perfect in every way except for having large feet, which wasn’t a secret in the mansion.
The other ladies gave Lady Lou peculiar looks, making Lady Lou’s face turn dark as she discreetly tucked her feet under her skirt.
Lady Lou was at a loss for words, feeling unable to retort.
Lou Chengye also added, "Mother, just earlier, the two nannies at your side both fell into the water; we had to be cautious."
Only then did Lady Lou notice that the two nannies hadn’t come along.
Only Li Yu En and the others had arrived.
At this point, the two nannies, now in dry clothes, came in.
Because they had been chilled in the water, they were still trembling, their faces pale, and their hair was not yet dry.
"What happened? How did you fall into the water?" Lady Lou asked sternly.
The two nannies recounted the incident, "We were in a hurry and accidentally fell in."
"You haven’t finished. Fortunately, it was Second Lady Liu from my side who pulled you out. Otherwise, you might have frozen to death. With New Year’s approaching, someone freezing to death in the mansion wouldn’t be good." Li Yu En furrowed her brow and shook her head.
This made the nannies’ faces look even worse.
Lady Lou glared at them angrily, "Leave, or else you’ll catch a cold and need a doctor."
"Yes, Lady." The two nannies retreated together.
Lou Chengye said, "Mother, you understand now, don’t you? It’s not that we didn’t want to come earlier, but the path was too difficult."
Was it going to end up being her fault after all?
Lady Lou kept a stern face, "I won’t mention the lateness, but what about the plum tree? Li, how dare you do such a thing without my permission?"
Li Yu En blinked, "Ah, I didn’t mean to either. But I was afraid of freezing to death, as there was no coal for a fire in the room, and I was terribly cold. I worried that I might freeze to death, so I had Chengye chop some wood to heat water and warm up. Mother, I was thinking of the family’s interests. Imagine, if I froze to death, people would say, how did the newly married daughter-in-law die of cold just after entering the mansion? How unlucky. With the New Year near, having news of someone freezing to death in the family wouldn’t be good."
Lady Lou was so infuriated that she couldn’t find words, "..."
