She Could Have Had a Wonderful Life
After all, if she had struggled at the bottom her whole life, it would be one thing.
But she could have had a wonderful life.
She could have enjoyed the days of being cherished by her parents and doted on by her elder brother.
She could have been a carefree, innocent young girl.
Why would she need to fear being sold off for being disobedient, worry about where her next meal would come from, dread that strange men might sneak in while she slept too soundly at night, or be afraid of being married off to a violent, foolish man?
Who would choose such a life when they could live well?
She had had enough of such an uncertain existence, and she was terrified of it!
Su Jintang was speechless.
She wanted to refute, but could only open her mouth, awkwardly saying:
“Did you exaggerate all this just to make me pity you more…”
What a perfect example of “Let them eat cake.”
Yu Shuwan nearly laughed out loud, even wanting to applaud her.
Even now, Su Jintang still believed she was just pretending to be pitiful to gain sympathy.
Only now did she suddenly realize that the noble, gentle mother she had looked up to in her previous life was actually just a wealthy young lady who could never empathize with any suffering.
So all her hardships seemed trivial in Su Jintang’s eyes.
And since they were trivial, they naturally didn’t matter.
No wonder…
Yu Shuwan’s gaze toward Su Jintang instead held a bit more pity,
“I was wrong before. Now I understand that it’s not your fault for not liking me, but rather that you never believed my life was hard.
You can’t imagine my suffering. The only hardship you can probably imagine is the taste of newly picked tea leaves, right?”
How laughable.
In her previous life, she had clung for so long to the hope that Su Jintang would show more affection after seeing her suffering, but the other person hadn’t even noticed it.
Su Jintang wanted to refute Yu Shuwan’s words, but found she had no way to do so, only her breathing growing somewhat rapid,
“Stop talking!”
“What if I don’t speak? What if I do?”
Yu Shuwan’s laughter was sharp, “Madam Su, you were the one who chased after me to listen. Now you’re refusing?”
Su Jintang stood up abruptly, her knuckles turning white inch by inch.
Without a word, she walked out.
Yu Shuwan thought she had left, just giving her a cold glance before lazily saying:
“Kexin, come in.”
This time, it was Kexin who entered.
She hurriedly poured tea and fed it to Yu Shuwan,
“Do you feel better now, Miss?”
“Somewhat.”
She had wanted water when she woke up, but Su Jintang was too absorbed in her own emotions, and she had to say so much to “enlighten” her, so she had long been parched.
The pain in her body wouldn’t heal so quickly. Yu Shuwan had Kexin change her damp pillow before finding a comfortable position to lie down again, even slightly narrowing her eyes as she sighed contentedly,
“Comfortable.”
“When your wounds heal, Miss, I’ll give you a massage.”
Kexin said, “I’m very good at massages.”
“Alright, then I’ll appoint you as my super massage maid!”
Kexin blushed at her words, then carefully applied medicine to Yu Shuwan’s wounds, only to see some spots bleeding again.
“The wounds have reopened…”
“Just handle it as you see fit.”
Yu Shuwan tilted her head slightly, her long hair spread across the bed. Her appearance was completely different from the defiant look she had shown before, gentle and well-behaved like a girl next door.
She whispered:
“Where is my Buku?”
She had been looking everywhere for that chubby little thing but couldn’t find it anywhere.
The main room was troublesome—if someone discovered its presence, who knew what they might do to it.
“Don’t worry, Miss,”
Kexin replied softly,
“This servant was afraid someone might come during the day, so after you fell asleep, I took Buku to my room.
I live alone, so Buku won’t be mistreated.”
What a thoughtful little maid.
Yu Shuwan praised,
“I’ll promote you to super considerate head maid!”
Kexin pursed her lips, unable to hold back a secret smile.
Everyone said the second young miss was difficult, but to her, the second young miss was just like a child.
Innocent, lively, and utterly adorable.
Yu Shuwan had no idea what she was thinking. If she knew, she’d laugh herself silly.
In both her lifetimes, she had never been associated with innocence and naivety. Now that she was letting herself go, she had somehow gained it.
Once the wound was almost taken care of, Kexin glanced outside and whispered again:
“Madam is still outside. Do you want to speak with her, Miss?”
“She hasn’t left yet?”
Yu Shuwan was surprised.
But surprise aside, whenever she spoke with Su Jintang, the conversation would inevitably circle back to Yu Guiwan.
Imitating her style and venting was satisfying, but it was also exhausting.
Most importantly, Su Jintang lacked tact. She had no desire to speak with her again.
“No, ignore her,”
Yu Shuwan said.
“If you go out today, buy some silk thread. I want to embroider a pouch for Grandmother.”
In her previous life, she thought Yu Fangyi and the others disliked her because she couldn’t do needlework, play instruments, or excel in poetry and painting, so she desperately tried to learn.
If she hadn’t severed a tendon in her foot and become lame, she would have mastered etiquette even better.
In this life, she was learning these things again, but only to reassure her grandmother.
After all, these skills would become her own. Who could take them away from her?
Kexin agreed, her eyes filled with admiration.
Willing to learn, and learning so quickly and well—the young miss was truly amazing!
“I hereby proclaim you the most capable young miss!”
She blurted out without thinking. Yu Shuwan was momentarily stunned, then her eyes curved into a smile, as if ice and snow had melted away.
“Good! Proclaim me the most capable young miss!”
Su Jintang, hearing the laughter and chatter from inside the room, couldn’t help but glance over, wanting to see.
But as soon as she recalled what Yu Shuwan had said to her earlier, she couldn’t help but feel disheartened.
When Kexin came out and saw Su Jintang still standing there, she was startled.
“Madam?”
“How is she?”
Su Jintang pursed her lips. Kexin replied:
“The young miss’s wound has reopened a bit. This servant must go and fetch the doctor again.”
Hearing this, a flicker of worry appeared on Su Jintang’s face, but she quickly concealed it.
It wasn’t that she felt sorry for Yu Shuwan.
It was just that she felt what Yu Shuwan had said earlier made sense.
Those words were the first time she had heard them. After Yu Fangyi brought Yu Shuwan back, he had never really explained in detail what her life in the countryside had been like.
But during their first meeting, Yu Shuwan’s attire and demeanor were both graceful and poised, showing no signs of anything amiss.
In her heart…
She couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt.
After several moments of internal struggle, Su Jintang averted her gaze and reluctantly pressed a token into Kexin’s hand. Glancing toward the room, she raised her voice slightly and said:
“This is my personal token. It can summon the finest physician in Jingcheng.
Your young lady is, after all, a girl. It would be best to avoid leaving scars on her body as much as possible.”