Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 657 - 655

Chapter 657: Chapter 655

Mrs. Liu politely declined once before instructing someone to accept the gift. Then, she led them into the flower hall.

After Xiao’er and her siblings greeted these aunts, they each left to do their duties.

Mrs. Liu talked with the aunts.

Master Shen and his family arrived late. By the time they reached Xiao’er’s house, all the villagers had already entered.

The front gate of Xiao’er’s home had been closed again.

Master Shen felt uneasy as he approached to knock on the door. The gatekeeper opened a small square hatch on the door (since there was no peephole, Xiao’er designed this small hatch where no hand could reach in as the peephole), looked out, and seeing it was Master Shen and his family, said directly, "Apologies, Master Shen, but our family head is entertaining guests and has no time to see you. Please leave!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Chengguang angrily retorted, "How dare you, a mere servant, be so bold. You don’t even bother to inform your master about our arrival and decide everything on your own?"

The gatekeeper closed the peephole and did not respond. The young miss had previously instructed that no one from the old Shen house was allowed in! There was no need to inform them when these people arrived! Just say she was busy and refused to see them. What he said just now was already polite.

"How haughty is Mrs. Liu! She wouldn’t even allow her own parents in the door. Isn’t she afraid of divine retribution?" Mrs. Zhuang Lin said angrily.

Master Shen glared at Shen Chengguang and Mrs. Zhuang Lin, "Speak nicely, we are here to apologize!"

Do you still want to live a good life?!

Shen Chengguang, thinking about something, didn’t utter any more harsh words; small tolerance can lead to great success!

Mrs. Lan smiled, saying, "Could you please inform my younger brother and sister that, Father has brought a big family to apologize. We admit our previous mistakes, we dare not ask for their forgiveness. We are here to apologize to put our minds at ease. "

Master Shen looked at Mrs. Lan with approval. As one from a scholarly family, she sure knew how to speak. Now that’s how you talk as a person.

The gatekeeper, behind the door, he had no response to this, but he sneered to himself: What lovely words, they certainly know how to sing. But it’s clear that they’ve fallen on hard times, and now want to come looking for favors! They’re all lazy and good-for-nothing hypocrites. But you can forgive a person who is lazy. What you can’t forgive is a heart as black as coal!

After Master Shen waited for a while, he assumed the gatekeeper had left to pass on the message.

The harsh north wind howled at that time. With their clothes torn and tattered, they shivered in the cold wind. After miserably waiting for a long time, everyone felt like they’d turned into ice sculptures. And yet, there was still no response.

"Why has that dog servant been gone for so long? I’m freezing to death!" Shen Chengguang said, rubbing his body with both hands to warm up.

Mrs. Zhuang Lin couldn’t help but sneeze: "Knock on the door again. If they don’t open the door, I’m not waiting any longer!"

If she kept waiting, she’d freeze to death. Then how could she become the family matriarch!

Shen Jingwen stepped forward and knocked on the door. An impatient voice rang out from the gatekeeper’s room: "I told you already, my family’s young miss has no time to see you. No need to keep knocking! Stop disturbing my sleep."

Sleep?!

The people at the door were collectively stunned: Could it really be that they had been standing in the cold wind for half a day, while that person hadn’t even taken a step away from the door? He was even sleeping? Weren’t Liu’s servants living too comfortably!

Were they being laughed at from behind the door? Mrs. Zhuang Lin was completely furious: "Mrs. Liu, you wretch! Come out here!"

Unfortunately, they were too far away to hear.

Shen Jingwen was also furious. Having swallowed a bellyful of frigid north wind for nothing, who wouldn’t be mad?!

But hearing Mrs. Zhuang Lin hurling insults, Shen Jingwen sobered up, alert.

"Grandma, Aunt Liu may truly not have time to see us. Let’s go back first." As he spoke, Shen Jingwen winked at Mrs. Zhuang Lin incessantly.

Mrs. Zhuang Lin harshly spat out: "I’m in a good mood today, so I won’t argue with you. You’re lucky!"

Mrs. Zhuang Lin shut her mouth after saying this! But holding back when she wanted to curse was extremely uncomfortable! Mrs. Zhuang Lin had always been the type to vent her dissatisfaction in a quick, fiery temper. Asking her to hold her tongue felt as terrible as eating shit.

Master Shen said disheartenedly in a low voice, "Let’s go. Since the third young master and his family are busy, we can come again tomorrow."

A strong sense of disappointment welled up in everyone present, along with a sense of resentment that dared not be expressed.

Mrs. Lan glanced coldly at Xiao’er’s front door, then quickly lowered her head and walked away.

Once the people at the door had left, the gatekeeper walked in, found a maid, and told Xiao’er that the old Shen family had come.

After Xiao’er greeted the women of the village, she went to the flower room, the glass greenhouse, and Twin Mountains to take a look.

Of course, the reason she went to look was to secretly water the plants with her space water.

On one of the Twin Mountains, many precious herbs were planted, including a few acres of ginseng that had been growing for seven years. Previously, Xiao’er would occasionally water them with her space water, causing them to grow rapidly. Now, she wasn’t sure what they looked like.

In addition, Xiao’er’s medicine shop had been doing well, and they had purchased medicinal fields in several places, where they planted several acres of ginseng every year.

There’s still snow on the mountain now, so it’s impossible to water. Xiao’er could only take half of the water from the pond on the other mountain and replace it with her space water.

This way, when spring arrives, and the ice and snow melt, the long-term workers at home would use the space water from the pond when they irrigate.

The weather was cold, and the surface of the pond had frozen over with a thick layer of ice. Xiao’er could only cut a hole large enough for her hand to enter, then put her hand in, and replace the water inside with water from her space!

After changing the water, Xiao’er wiped her wet hands dry with a handkerchief: It felt so cold!

The hidden guard protecting Xiao’er from the shadows was confused to see her do this: In this icy weather, why was the countess of Rui’an breaking ice to play with water?

After doing all this, Xiao’er started making her way back, repeating the water replacement process in the pond at the foot of the mountain.

This perplexed the protective hidden guard even more.

At this moment, Yang Mei approached, "Miss, the gatekeeper sent someone to pass on the message that Master Shen and his family had been here."

Upon hearing this, Xiao’er nodded: "Tell the gatekeeper to come to the flower hall when he has time; I have something to ask him."

Yang Liu obeyed the order and left.

Xiao’er arrived at the flower hall, watering the plants inside, while pruning their branches and leaves.

By the time the gatekeeper arrived, she was in the midst of pruning a pot of yellow roses.

The roses had several buds. Xiao’er planned to move them indoors the following day. Once the flowers bloomed, their scent would fill the entire room.

Seeing the gatekeeper had arrived, Xiao’er asked, "What exactly did those people say?"

The gatekeeper bowed: "Miss Shen, when Master Shen knocked on the door..." The gatekeeper recounted every word spoken by the old Shen residence and his own responses to them.

Xiao’er was surprised after listening, "Mrs. Zhuang Lin didn’t start cursing? That doesn’t sound like her usual style!"

The gatekeeper didn’t respond to this. He knew how to hold his tongue when it came to his masters’ family. So despite what he thought of the people from the old Shen residence, he didn’t say a single negative word in front of his lady.

"Did Mrs. Lan truly say that? Did she really say they came to apologize?"

"Yes, she did."

"Alright, I understand. You can go. In the future, if they come again, just reject them at the gate."

The gatekeeper respectfully responded and then exited the room.

Once the gatekeeper left, Xiao’er was lost in thought.