Wen Zhaofu fell asleep quickly. He set down the French original book in his hands, turned off the light, emptied his mind, and drifted toward drowsiness.
At the very threshold just as he was about to step into the realm of sleep an abrupt ringtone cut through the empty bedroom.
Having lived at Langyuntai for nearly twenty years, Wen Zhaofu heard this sound for the first time. He propped himself up, switched on the bedside lamp, and followed the sound to find it coming from the intercom on the wall.
This bell, by tradition, connected employer and butler. Wen Zhaofu had almost never used it only as a child, when he was too weak from illness, had he used this intercom to call for the old butler.
Though it was two-way, no butler would ever call the employer.
For the first time, the butler on the other end of the bell let his employer hear what that ring actually sounded like.
Wen Zhaofu paused for a moment, then reached for the unfamiliar receiver and spoke: “Xiaoyun?”
“Oh my!” Yun Fan’s voice came through from the other end not as clear as when they spoke face to face, but the sound put Wen Zhaofu at ease.
“I’m sorry, sir. I just wanted to try it, I didn’t think it would actually work.” Yun Fan quickly apologized. “I thought it was just a nice-looking decoration.”
Wen Zhaofu reassured him: “Perhaps it’s been so long since it was used that Uncle Cheng forgot to tell you what it’s for.”
“Mm-hmm, I understand. I won’t disturb you again,” Yun Fan replied.
“It’s fine. You can use it. If anything comes up, isn’t it faster to reach me this way?” Wen Zhaofu’s voice was gentle, easing Yun Fan’s tension.
“Alright, sir.” Yun Fan smiled. “Well then, good night?”
Wen Zhaofu didn’t answer immediately, pausing a few seconds before replying: “Good night, Xiaoyun.”
The next morning, Yun Fan took the initiative to tell the old butler about using the bell. The old butler cried out in shock: “Good heavens! You must have made Young Master Zhaofu angry!”
“Oh dear, keep your voice down.” Yun Fan tugged at the old butler’s sleeve he was still in his tailcoat. “I already apologized to the master. He said I could reach him that way in the future.”
“I just wanted to ask, what’s the proper way to use that thing?”
The old butler looked at Yun Fan with an expression of utter disappointment: “The proper way is don’t use it!”
“If we need to reach the employer, we stand by his door and knock lightly. He has a video device in his room and can see who’s knocking. Depending on the time of day, he also knows roughly what it’s about.”
“For instance, in the morning, after knocking, we can leave, and the young master will come downstairs on his own.”
“If it’s evening, it’s probably about household matters that need handling, and we may enter only with the young master’s permission.”
“So we would never use that bell to contact the employer on our own initiative. You you’ve broken the rules.” The old butler said sharply.
Yun Fan poured fuel on the fire, looking dazed: “Huh? But every morning, I go into the master’s room to wake him up.”
“What?! You go in while the young master isn’t even dressed?! And he didn’t scold you?” The old butler cried out in panic. “Good heavens! How many misdeeds have you done behind my back?”
Yun Fan blinked his big innocent eyes, thinking to himself, Well, you never explained it clearly. Besides, Wen Zhaofu clearly hadn’t blamed him, nor had he tattled behind his back there was no need to be this worked up.
Yun Fan glanced at the time and wanted to go upstairs to wake Wen Zhaofu. The old butler grabbed him, refusing to let him go. Yun Fan grew anxious and struggled to break free. He was wearing a hoodie, and the old butler seized the drawstring at his collar.
As they were locked in this tug-of-war, Wen Zhaofu’s voice descended from above: “Uncle Cheng, let Xiao Yun go he’s choking.”
Yun Fan rubbed his neck and looked up at Wen Zhaofu with gratitude. The old butler asked Wen Zhaofu with concern, “Young Master, did you sleep well?”
“Not bad, though this morning, Xiao Yun didn’t come to wake me.” Wen Zhaofu chuckled, almost as if he were being coy.
The winds had shifted. The skies had changed. The old butler’s world was about to collapse!
Cheng Yu sent Wen Zhaofu a message saying his lawsuit never made it to the courtroom the other party had conceded during pretrial mediation.
Cheng Yu said it was all thanks to the lawyer Wen Zhaofu had recommended, who had struck right at the opponent’s weak spot, and that he’d treat Wen Zhaofu to a meal another day.
“Family no need for such formalities,” Wen Zhaofu said with a smile. “May you find a good match soon.”
Cheng Yu didn’t respond to that, and after a moment changed the subject: “I heard Yun Fan rang the bell in your bedroom? My mother told me it’s become quite the talk.”
“Oh? Is it really that big a deal?” Wen Zhaofu’s tone was entirely dismissive. “He was just saying goodnight.”
“Everyone’s too tense. Isn’t it nice to be as relaxed as Xiao Yun?” Wen Zhaofu’s favoritism was on full display.
For a brief moment, Cheng Yu felt Wen Zhaofu had said that deliberately in front of him. But then he thought Wen Zhaofu wasn’t the type for that, when had he started to change?
To Wen Zhaofu’s surprise, the bell incident had spread throughout Wen Yan Lan Di. The old butler brought it up to scold Yun Fan almost daily, until Yun Fan grew thoroughly rebellious.
So every night, Yun Fan would call Wen Zhaofu, chat briefly, and say goodnight. After a week of this, Wen Zhaofu had grown accustomed to hearing Yun Fan’s voice before bed.
On the rare night he didn’t hear that soft, syrupy “goodnight,” he felt a restless itch.
Besides, as Yun Fan pointed out, using the bell to talk cost nothing, why not take advantage of it? As his employer, Wen Zhaofu naturally supported such cost-saving measures.
This infuriated the old butler, but seeing that Wen Zhaofu showed no displeasure, he could only swallow his anger.
The butler’s manual stated that bidding the employer goodnight was a butler’s duty, but it didn’t specify how it should be done. Yun Fan using the bell couldn’t exactly be called wrong.
But for some reason, this matter touched a nerve in Wen Haochen, and he actually came to scold Yun Fan. Yun Fan looked at him in surprise, thinking to himself: if we’re talking about breaking rules, isn’t it you, Second Young Master, who’s worse?
“Big brother shouldn’t scold little brother,” Yun Fan replied flatly. “We’re both equally likely to get told off might as well both give up.”
“What? How can you say that!” Wen Haochen grew flustered. “I’m nothing like you!”
Yun Fan watched his indignant retreating figure and scratched the back of his head. In his view, Wen Haochen was unconventional in some ways, but ultimately he was a young master raised in luxury. When it came to upholding the family’s reputation, he was especially particular about status.
In handling the caviar incident, Yun Fan had been able to help him but he’d paid for it, and that still made it an employer-and-butler relationship.
But Yun Fan now being so close to Wen Zhaofu in the education Wen Zhaofu had received, that was overstepping bounds.
Forget it, forget it, Yun Fan thought. He was going to leave anyway one more scolding wouldn’t make a difference.
But one thing the old butler reminded him of was right the morning wake-up call had also been changed to a bell. After all, Wen Zhaofu was quite inconvenienced, and Yun Fan always went to call him early. Out of politeness, Wen Zhaofu didn’t chase him away, but that didn’t mean he was willing to expose himself completely to Yun Fan.
According to the head chef, Uncle Man, over all these years, despite his leg troubles, Wen Zhaofu had never let anyone help him dress. Whenever he appeared, he was always neatly attired.
Yun Fan thought, Wen Zhaofu was still too strong-willed.
After days of continuous rain, the sun finally came out. Yun Fan was in the garden helping the young gardener fertilize the seedlings. With his hands in the soil, he felt much more grounded.
The land never lets you down as long as you tend it carefully, it will always bear the fruit you want.
“Steward Yun, there you are.”
Yun Fan looked up and met the eyes of the old butler’s son, the male lead, Zhu Zhiqian. He was startled and looked puzzled.
Zhu Zhiqian got straight to the point: “I heard from my father that you’ve been having a rough time at work lately, so I came to check on you.”
“No, I haven’t had my pay docked, everything’s fine.” Yun Fan smiled.
Zhu Zhiqian squinted at him. Just as his father had said, this young steward only had money on his mind. For money, he would stoop to any means to curry favor with his employer.
Yun Fan had no idea how Zhu Zhiqian was sizing him up; he just used a small spoon to sprinkle fertilizer bit by bit around the roots of the potted plants.
“The mountain is too high to climb; you might as well look at the flat path instead,” Zhu Zhiqian said with hidden meaning.
“You’re a strange one, aren’t you? Why come around spouting riddles for no reason?” Yun Fan glanced at him. “I’m in great health no problem climbing mountains!”