Wen Zhiheng woke at the beginning of the mao hour, hearing only faint dragging sounds from outside the courtyard.
Having slept in his clothes, he rose to investigate and found Chen Shiyi handling many bamboo poles in the yard.
"Young Master, could you help me hollow out these bamboo sections?"
Wen Zhiheng was first taken aback, then felt a flicker of delight in his heart.
She was finally willing to speak to him again.
Today, she had casually braided her hair, letting it fall over her chest. She had ultimately not worn the new clothes from the previous day.
He quickly walked forward.
"Of course I can."
He inserted a slender bamboo pole into the section that needed hollowing. It wasn't tiring work, just requiring some arm strength—something simple enough for him.
Seeing Chen Shiyi wrap cloth around her palms, he asked in confusion, "What are you hollowing the bamboo for?"
"To fetch water."
Chen Shiyi didn't look up as she used a knife to chop off the excess branches from the bamboo, her reply crisp and straightforward.
Wen Zhiheng thought to himself, what a little ingrate—once she's done using me, she ignores me again.
For several days in a row, Wen Zhiheng didn't see Chen Shiyi at all.
If not for the clean and tidy courtyard, the ample firewood under the eaves, the neat clothes, and the warm meals, he would have truly thought Chen Shiyi had left.
No one knew what she was doing.
She existed apart from the entire Wen family.
Wen Zhiheng felt Chen Shiyi was being rather temperamental, but he didn't understand: whether in Fengming Mine or in Xiangyang Village, Chen Shiyi was no different—toiling hard to support others, with no one remembering her.
And she had once treated Lü Erniang's family the same way.
Wen Zhiheng was like her birth father from before—someone she had hoped to rely on, thinking she might receive a little warmth, only to end up deeply disappointed.
That red hair ribbon would never find its way into her hair.
It wasn't until mountain spring water was channeled into the courtyard that everyone finally understood what she had been doing.
Chen Shiyi had dug a ditch in the courtyard. The spring water flowed into it, leading directly to the stream outside the compound.
It served both as a water source and cooled the courtyard—truly killing two birds with one stone.
Wen Zhiyuan looked at the channeled water in disbelief.
"Shiyi, you're amazing! You quietly accomplished such a big task over these past few days."
Chen Shiyi unhurriedly tidied up the finishing touches.
"The wooden bucket was lost, and fetching water was too inconvenient, so I thought of a permanent solution."
Wen Zhiyuan circled the bamboo water outlet, endlessly curious, asking question after question.
"How did you handle the bamboo on the mountain?"
"Buried it underground."
"What if the water flow is too strong during the rainy season? The force could be considerable—what if it collapses?"
"I created three buffer zones. In the steepest areas, I used bamboo and wood for support to reduce the water's impact."
Wen Zhiyuan praised generously, "Shiyi, if you were a man, the Ministry of Works would surely have a place for you."
Chen Shiyi remained unperturbed by praise or criticism. "This is just life experience. There's no need for such praise, Second Young Master."
Wen Zhiheng stood to the side, quietly watching Chen Shiyi, the corners of his mouth lifting, his eyes sparkling brightly.
Wen Zhirou walked over to Wen Zhiheng.
"Brother, did you have a disagreement with Shiyi?"
"No."
"She's your chamber maid. You always indulge her temper. Lately, she's been treating everyone with disdain."
"She's been through something recently and is in a bad mood. You and Mother should be more understanding."
“We never blamed her harshly. She’s your person—we didn’t dare speak or scold her. What more do you expect us to tolerate?”
“You seem to have quite an issue with her. Before, you and Rui’er were the ones clinging to her tightly.”
Wen Zhirou turned her head away uncomfortably.
“Of course I haven’t forgotten her life-saving kindness. It’s just that her temperament is odd. She rarely speaks with us, keeps to herself, and when something happens, she doesn’t tell us. She’s truly difficult to get along with.”
“What would she say to us? Conversations between people of different stations are never fair—they easily hurt. Perhaps she finds it easier this way.”
“She doesn’t pay you any mind either.”
“Yes. I made a mistake before and hurt her feelings.”
“What happened?”
Wen Zhiheng pressed his temples.
“It’s better you don’t know.”
After finishing all the work, the vegetable garden was planted, and Chen Shiyi finally had time to go to town.
She had only a few copper coins left in hand.
The gardenias were gradually withering. She picked a few that still looked decent, bundled them into a bouquet, and headed to town.
At the mass burial ground, she placed the pure white gardenias before Nanzhi’s grave.
After so many days of busyness, the fear and sorrow Chen Shiyi had tried to forget were dredged up again in this moment.
“Nanzhi, you won’t be alone. I’ll come to see you often from now on.”
Ping’an Town was as lively as ever.
She suddenly remembered—the Dragon Boat Festival had already passed. She’d forgotten to celebrate.
Well, celebrating was too costly. They couldn’t afford it for now.
“Shiyi.”
Someone suddenly called her name from behind.
Chen Shiyi turned and saw Xue Lianxing standing on the street behind her, his figure seeming even thinner than before.
“Brother Xue.”
Xue Lianxing nodded, gesturing for Chen Shiyi to walk with him.
“Thank you for properly burying Nanzhi.”
Chen Shiyi felt deep regret.
“The day I buried her, I waited for you for a long time.”
Xue Lianxing smiled bitterly.
“She wouldn’t have wanted me to see her, especially at her most wretched.”
“What was your relationship with Nanzhi?”
“She… was my biological younger sister.”
Chen Shiyi looked incredulous.
“She was your sister? You were in the same town, yet you never came to see her?”
“Not seeing her was her request.”
“What kind of reasoning is that?”
“We were children of a fairly wealthy family. When we were fourteen, implicated by our master’s household, our entire family was exiled. Our mother fell ill and died on the journey. Our father couldn’t bear her loss and died of grief. At the time, I was gravely ill. To keep me alive, Nanzhi sold herself into a brothel. I strongly disagreed—even in my severe illness, I locked her in the house to stop her. But in the end, I couldn’t hold her back. At that time, she left behind the silver from selling herself and a severance letter.”
“Later, I looked for her many times. She drove me away fiercely. I knew she didn’t want me to see her like that, and she hoped I could live well.”
“After that, I married and had children. She was even less willing to acknowledge me as her brother, afraid her reputation would taint me.”
“I thought, if living well was her wish, then I should live well and not let her down.”
Chen Shiyi listened with tears welling in her eyes.
“Nanzhi… she was truly good.”