NOVEL WEB Chapter 33: Uncle Huai and aunt’s Yan little secret
The city lord took us to his home shortly after. In AnNan city, it was the biggest residence but not the most luxurious one. The first section had multiple training grounds of different sizes dedicated to officers. After passing through, we saw the big open kitchen area used to cook for up to a thousand people daily. Uncle Huo told me that it usually fed the city workers including the security and patrol officers and, recently, provided part of the food’s shelter.
After passing by more than two third of the residence, we finally arrived at the living quarters where we found his wife in the main courtyard working on the account books. In front of her were a few stacks of papers that two maids were helping sort. She had the same scowl as my mother when she dealt with the coffee shop’s accounts.
“Hello darling” Uncle Huai greeted his wife. The mighty city lord had that 'Oh sh*it, I came at the wrong time' face.
“Ah you are here. Good. Why did you order 100 level 1 ice pills? Ice pills! Winter is coming, not summer… And no order for lighter and fire tools. How do you want the servants to light the candles?!” She complained without lifting her head “I know I was busy for 3 months but you promised me to deal with the household matters while I dealt with the shelter. If I had known I would have asked my …” She finally lifted her head and saw me.
Uncle Huai faked a cough and introduced me “Darling, this is Bai Yu Shin, the son of my friend Yu Qing. Do you remember him? Xiao Shin, this is my smart and beautiful wife. You can call her aunt Yan” He said while pushing me lightly in front of him. It seems he decided to use me as a shield... The impression of the powerful and scary city lord persona shattered. As I was intruding and was planning to live here for a few months, I played along and bowed.
“Nice to meet you again, aunt Yan” I recognized her as the lady at the shelter’s information desk.
“Xiao Shin, nice of you to visit us. Come sit down. Someone! bring tea and snacks” She ordered while she gently took my hand before walking toward the left side of the office where there was a gorgeously carved table and four chairs. The carvings were phoenixes in red, orange and yellow colors. Each chair had a phoenix in different positions and I chose the sleeping one to sit on.1That phoenix was sleeping so well that Xiao Shin knew that it was the coziest chair
While uncle Huai was explaining my circumstances to aunt Yan, I enjoyed the green tea with lotus mooncakes. “...so how could I reject this simple request? I will go tomorrow to make sure his name is removed from the Yu ancestral book and warn them against any retaliation. Oh and Xiao Shin, I received the full investigation report just before you came. I have proof now that your grandmother was the one who bribed the teacher” The last part was earth shattering and my mind turned blank.
“What! Are you sure?” I was shocked that I blurted out loud after a few seconds “I expected my second uncle and first aunt to have done it for their kids. My grandmother does not deal with these things”
“Not only she did it but she was also the one who asked your cousins to isolate you at school” This was unbelievable. My brain started working overdrive to go through my past to find some clues but uncle Huai did not let me process for long before continuing.
“Even if this information was outside the scope of the investigation, I was curious about the students' behavior toward you the first day I met you at school” He replied.
In my first life, I also met the city lord. Why did he do nothing at that time? Alas, I could not ask out loud.
“...and it was not only 2 students who cheated. We found 19 in total, during interrogation, some of them told us about the school wide rumors about you. Yu LaoYin confessed that it was old lady Yu who asked him to create them”
“My oldest cousin said that?” I asked
“I sent someone to interrogate him at his sect. The sect leader agreed to it; your cousin was not well liked there. He was expelled yesterday, the Yu family will get the news soon”
“Stop with ‘your cousin’ this and ‘your grandmother’ that! They are not Xiao Shin’s family anymore” Scolded aunt Yan. I could almost see her breathing fire. What a scary lady... Now I understood the mighty city lord previous behavior
“What are you waiting for! No need to wait until tomorrow. Huai WenXie, you are not allowed to return home until Xiao Shin break ties with them officially” Threatened aunt Yan
“Wait darling let me finish first…" Pleaded uncle Huai. "All the cheaters and the bribers will be expelled from the city. Both teachers should be executed as per the rules but because they helped us gather evidence and catch all the accomplices, they will only get expelled after some beat... cough. I don’t expect them to survive for long outside the city though. They gained a lot of enemies”
“This had nothing to do with Xiao Shin. GO DEAL WITH THEM NOW!” She said while pointing to the door. I confirmed again that Aunt Yan was scarier than the city lord. She was my new hero!
After uncle Huai left, aunt Yan started laughing. “Xiao Shin, sorry for that. Your uncle is sometimes lazy and I need to give him a little push to do his job” That was a LITTLE push!?
“He has a good heart, that husband of mine, but he is way too curious…Did you know that I met him a few days ago in your courtyard?” Eih? My courtyard? My eyes got big with this information.
“Well... I went there in secret to check on your new servants and he was curious about the school’s behavior. When he roamed around, he found that you had no food in the kitchen so he put some snacks there. Silly man, I had to switch with basic ingredients or he would have been caught on the spot”
“Why me specifically?” I asked. Why did you help me in this life and not the first? And why did they spy on me?
“I always check personally on the first day after refugees find a job. This is to make sure they are in a safe environment” Oh! so she does all that for everyone. She really took at heart helping the refugees. What did she hear at that time? I still had a ton of questions so I asked the most important one:
“Then the beast meat... Was it you? You came a 2nd time?”
“That was all your uncle Huai's doing. He saw you at the market but found out that you bought nothing with spiritual energy. You need to eat better than that little Shin. He felt bad when you suspected the meat was poisoned”
“I forgot to buy some that day. But I plan to eat better from now on. Promise” I said
“Of course you will! I will make sure of that” vowed Aunt Yan. For some reason a shiver went along my spine for a second
“So…you are strong too” I stated. She can go in and out of any residence without being seen. And she told me, a stranger, about it!
“Not as strong as your uncle. When I suspect I might get caught, I would ask your uncle to come with me, "she said with a smile. Then she put a finger on her mouth and asked “Keep what I said a secret for now. I don’t want people stop hiring refugees by fear of being watched”
“I promise to keep the secret”
I felt the moisture in the air and saw from the window that a light rain started “My servants are outside this hall and it started raining can I…”
“They were sent already to your new courtyard. My maids are very efficient” She answered before letting me finish my sentence
“Thank you aunt Yan”
“Let’s have lunch here today. Don’t worry about your servants, they will be well taken care of”
