Little Young Master Yu
Yu Jinnian squatted down, took out a small handkerchief to wipe Sui Sui’s tears, and gently coaxed her, asking what was wrong. She sobbed, unable to speak, while Ah Chun, who had run up behind, gestured and said, “We were playing in the garden, and Sui Sui lost her pendant! We searched for a long time but couldn’t find it…”
Yu Xu followed alongside, nodding in agreement.
It was the pearl necklace pendant from when they were in Xin’an County. He thought it was nothing too serious—just a pearl pendant. Yu Jinnian patiently rubbed her tear-streaked, red eyes, smoothed out her wrinkled little dress, and instructed the cook to bring some snacks to cheer her up. He said, “Alright, Brother Xiao Nian will ask the little flower spirits in the garden to help you find it. By tomorrow morning, when you wake up, the pendant will be back!”
Sui Sui nodded but then shook her head, her little mouth pouting unhappily as she worriedly asked, “What if the flower spirits can’t find it…”
“Hmm…” Yu Jinnian thought for a moment, “Then Brother Xiao Nian will give you an even prettier one, okay?”
Sui Sui furrowed her brows. She only knew that all these pretty things were very expensive, so she was afraid Yu Jinnian might not have enough money. Forcing herself to resist her desire for beautiful jewelry, she said against her will, “If the flower spirits can’t find it, then Sui Sui doesn’t want it anymore. I still have lots of hair ties and ribbons that Sister Qing Huan made for me.”
“Sui Sui is such a sensible little girl. Alright, Sui Sui, no more crying; otherwise, you won’t be the prettiest anymore.” Yu Jinnian coaxed her until she was calm again. Noticing her nails were filled with dirt from searching for the pendant, he signaled to the servants nearby.
“Little Miss, let’s go wash your hands.” The servants immediately brought warm water and led Sui Sui away to clean up.
Yu Jinnian stood up and couldn’t help but glance at Yu Xu, curiously asking, “Why are you with the two of them?”
Yu Xu blinked. “I… I was just wandering around and happened to run into them. I helped them look for the pendant.”
The garden was large, with many paths, so running into someone wasn’t unusual. Yu Jinnian didn’t think much of it and casually asked, “Did you eat well yesterday? Sleep okay? If anything feels off, just tell the servants in the garden.”
Yu Xu, smelling the aroma wafting from the kitchen, kept craning his neck to look inside and mumbled, “Brother Jinnian, I… I want to eat meat. Is that okay?”
Yu Jinnian laughed nonchalantly. “Of course, whatever you want to eat, just tell them. They can cook dishes from all regions—north, south, east, and west. Even some of our hometown dishes, they can make a few.”
He returned to the kitchen, stirred the pot of sour plum syrup, and instructed the servants to watch the heat carefully. Planning to go out to buy some things, he was just about to leave when he remembered something. Turning back to Yu Xu, he said, “By the way, Yu Xu, we don’t keep idle young masters in this garden. You can stay, of course, but you need to work. The Sanyu Building on East Cross Street is mine. You can help with chores in the garden, or you can go to Sanyu Building to help out. Once you decide, let Qing Huan know, and she’ll tell you what to do. Understood?”
Yu Xu stared at him for a long time before muttering, “…Mm.”
He then added softly, “Brother Jinnian, my face really hurts. It hurts even when I eat.”
Yu Jinnian looked at the bruises on his face, which had deepened overnight and seemed even worse. Even touching it made him wince in pain. Frowning slightly, Yu Jinnian sighed and said they would talk again once his injuries had healed.
After arranging for a few people to help Sui Sui look for her pendant, Yu Jinnian picked up a small basket and headed out the door.
Once Yu Jinnian left, Yu Xu touched his chest, let out a light sigh, straightened his clothes, and cleared his throat as he wandered into the kitchen. With his hands behind his back, he looked around, touching this and poking that.
The cooks had already heard that a relative of Yu Jinnian had come to the garden. Seeing him today, they immediately recognized that this must be the one. They paused their work slightly and greeted him one after another, calling him “Little Young Master Yu.”
Yu Xu was startled at first but soon grew smug. His head lifted higher, and he mimicked Yu Jinnian’s earlier tone of giving orders, asking them to pour him a cup of tea. He repeated himself when no one moved after a while.
The cooks exchanged looks, finding it odd, but in the end, one of them went next door, fetched a teapot, and poured him a cup.
Yu Xu gulped it down in one go and praised, “Good tea! No wonder it’s what noble people drink. It makes the mouth feel so… so… refreshed!” He tried to sound refined, but his awkward imitation was so comical it made him look ridiculous without even realizing it.
The tea was far from anything noble. Even the guards and maids serving the nobility, like Duan Ming and Qing Huan, drank far better tea. These were just a few leaves of coarse tea, yet they moved him to such pretentious praise? The young cook holding the teapot couldn’t help but snicker, then refilled his cup generously, and finally shoved the entire teapot into his arms, saying sweetly, “Then drink a few more cups and refresh yourself even more!”
The other cooks laughed along and returned to their work, no longer paying him any attention.
Yu Xu wandered aimlessly for a while longer. He lifted the lid of a small clay pot and found a pork knuckle inside. His eyes lit up, and he grabbed a spoon to fish it out and started gnawing. A cook spotted him and cried out in alarm, but by then, several bite marks had already appeared on the knuckle. The young cook rushed over, lifting her skirt as she ran, and picked up the pot to inspect it. Even some of the broth had been drunk. She exclaimed, “What are you doing! This was ordered by the young lord to be stewed for the little master to help him recover at lunch!”
“What are you yelling about?” Yu Xu, mouth oily, retorted unhappily. “I’m his brother. What’s wrong with me eating a pork knuckle? Didn’t you hear him earlier? He said I could eat whatever I want.”
The young cook pointed at him, sputtering, “You—”
An older cook came over, pulling the younger one aside and quietly advising, “Forget it, forget it. He’s part of the little master’s family, after all. It’s just one pork knuckle; we’ll stew another.”
The young cook stomped her foot in frustration but had no choice. She quickly brought out another knuckle and began preparing it again, muttering under her breath, “This one’s been stewing all night. How can a fresh one taste the same? I don’t know which countryside hick he came from, daring to pose as part of the little master’s family… Ah! What hit me!”
She turned back to see a bone lying at her feet. Yu Xu, still holding the half-eaten pork knuckle, strutted out of the kitchen without looking back.
After finishing the pork knuckle, he came across a group of servants still searching for the pendant. He lowered his head and walked around them, tossing the finished bone aside. Seeing some unknown flowers blooming along the path, he wiped his hands clean on his clothes, plucked one, and tucked it into his hair before swaggering back to his courtyard. He shouted for some yogurt and then sprawled on the couch, curling up his legs, humming a tune, and stuffing leftover pastries into his mouth.
In the courtyard, two young servants were sweeping and chatting. One held a broom while the other carried a bucket. The one with the bucket entered to water the flowers and asked, “What are the guards outside looking for?”
The one sweeping sighed. “They’re helping the little miss look for her necklace pendant. No one knows where it fell. She cried the whole morning, and the young master barely managed to coax her. I mean, she only visits a few places every day, so where could the pendant have gone? But strangely, even after flipping everything upside down, there’s no sign of it. You know we’ve had a lot of new servants lately—I’m guessing some heartless fool picked it up.”
The one with the bucket replied, “Well, at least it wasn’t us who found it. Once we’re done here, let’s help look too.”
The sweeper nodded in agreement.
Yu Xu listened to their conversation until they walked further away. He finally swallowed his pastry, rolled off the couch, kicked the door heavily, and spat on the ground, shouting, “Chattering, chattering, always wagging your tongues! What are you staring at with those big fish eyes? Are you all dead? I’m dying of thirst here! I want water!”
The sweeper frowned, but the bucket carrier pulled him aside and said, “Ignore him. He’s a countryside beggar who made it to the capital. Lowering yourself to his level isn’t worth it.”
The sweeping servant was just about to fetch water for him when a strong gust of wind rushed past. That troublemaker dashed out excitedly in a flash. Before he could react, he saw the young lord walking out as well, holding a letter in his hand.
The servant thought to himself, *Look, despite coming from the countryside, he sure knows who holds power and who’s worth clinging to. He’s got it all figured out.*
Ji Hong slipped the sealed letter into his robe and was deep in thought when he heard someone call out, “Young Lord!”
The person approaching was wearing Yu Jinnian’s old robe, which momentarily confused Ji Hong, making him think it was Yu Jinnian himself. He turned to look carefully several times before finally recalling who it was. Yet, in just one night, this boy’s appearance had undergone a drastic transformation, with no trace of his beggarly look remaining.
Ji Hong frowned. “You…”
Yu Xu grinned widely. “You can call me Xiao Xu or Xu’er, whatever you like. Xu, as in the rising sun. My father said this name brings good fortune and ensures a prosperous life.”
“Hmm,” Ji Hong replied indifferently, uninterested in his chatter. He simply said, “Jinnian has gone out. If you’re looking for him, go to the Sanyu Building.”
With that, he turned to leave.
“Hey, Young Lord!” Yu Xu hurriedly tugged at his sleeve. His eyes, as clear as grapes, blinked softly. Kicking at a protruding stone on the ground with his toe, he muttered timidly, “I’ve only just arrived and didn’t know the capital was this big. I’m always hungry and cold, feeling like I might starve to death any day. It’s all thanks to you, Young Lord, for taking me in. Only then could I reunite with Brother Jinnian. To think, it’s been more than two years since I last saw him. He’s changed so much I almost didn’t recognize him…”
While he spoke, his eyelashes fluttered unconsciously, his eyelids half-lowered, creating an innocent, delicate demeanor. He looked as though he might cry with a few more words, evoking pity from anyone who saw him.
Ji Hong squinted his eyes at him as he finished speaking and lifted his hand. Yu Xu immediately leaned closer, his eyes glistening with emotion as he softly vowed, “Xu’er will work like an ox or a horse to repay the kindness of the Young Lord and Brother Jinnian.”
With a sharp “swish,” Ji Hong yanked his sleeve out of Yu Xu’s grip and coldly said, “I have shown you no kindness. It is Jinnian who took you in. If you want to repay someone, repay him.”
Yu Xu: “…”
Ji Hong strode off without looking back, leaving Yu Xu standing there in a daze. After a moment, Yu Xu clenched his fists, stomped his foot angrily, and turned sharply toward the two servants watching from the courtyard. He shouted, “What are you staring at? Want me to gouge your eyeballs out? Where’s my water!”
The sweeping servant spat in Yu Xu’s direction behind his back, mocking, “Our young master is so kind and generous. How does he have such a shameless relative?”
Ji Hong reached the front courtyard and encountered Duan Ming, who had just returned from an errand. He handed the sealed letter to him and, after a brief moment of thought, instructed, “Send someone on horseback immediately to Xin’an County. Look into how that Yu Xu made his way to the capital.”
Duan Ming accepted the letter, gave a crisp acknowledgment, and then turned to mount his horse and leave.