Shang Jingwu always kept his word. Since he had promised to help He Yi get revenge, he arranged for people to go to the He family home that very morning and lock He Hongtu and his wife in separate dark rooms. They were locked up for three days, during which time they were only given water and not given any food. They were forced to use chamber pots in the room to relieve themselves and were not allowed to wash or change their clothes.
It was hot at the time, and you would soon be covered in sweat without air conditioning. The small, dark room was also stuffy and poorly ventilated, making it difficult to breathe.
I could barely bear not eating, but I couldn’t keep holding back from going to the toilet. So from the second day onwards, the room was filled with the smell of sweat and excrement, and every minute longer was an extreme ordeal.
Although the He family couldn’t compare to wealthy families like the Shang family, they were still much better off than ordinary middle-class families. He Hongtu and Song Ling had never suffered like this before, especially Song Ling, who was always very clean, was tormented to the point of almost having a mental breakdown.
Having not eaten for so long, the first thing they did after being released wasn’t to eat, but to rush into the bathroom to take a shower. They washed themselves several times but still felt they smelled bad, and almost rubbed their skin raw.
He Hongtu and Song Ling were so tormented that they wanted to tear He Yi apart, but with Shang Jingwu around, they didn’t dare to retaliate against He Yi. They even had to hide the abuse from outsiders because if this got out, they would lose face. Moreover, if others knew that Shang Jingwu disliked them, the He family’s future would only be more difficult in this world of praising the powerful and belittling the weak.
Shang Jingwu’s actions seemed absurd, but they could only swallow their anger and resentment, hence their increasingly grim expressions.
When He Yuan saw Song Ling almost faint after coming out of the bathroom, she quickly went to support her and said indignantly, “Why did that little bastard He Yi lock you up? Does he really think he’s become a phoenix just because he married into the Shang family? Wait until he offends Young Master Shang one day, then let’s see how he can act so arrogantly!”
Song Ling patted her daughter’s hand and said weakly, “Alright, alright, that little bastard probably won’t be so smug for long, but since Young Master Shang is willing to spoil him for now, we can’t do anything to him. You have to be careful what you say in the future, and don’t offend him.”
He Yuan snorted indignantly and turned to He Hongtu to complain: “Dad, I think He Yi is just pretending to be stupid. Otherwise, why would he be so eager to take revenge on our family as soon as he won over Young Master Shang? Do you really want that unfilial son to ride roughshod over our He family?”
Thinking of the business collaborations that Shang Jingwu had cut off, He Hongtu said angrily, “What else can we do? Don’t mess with him now. Wait until Young Master Shang gets tired of him, and then I’ll see how I deal with him.”
He Yuan thought resentfully that once she got her hands on Shang Jingwu, she would make He Yi wish he were dead.
.
“Achoo—” He Yi suddenly sneezed.
“Is the young mistress catching a cold?” Ah Hui asked with concern.
He Yi was about to deny it when he sneezed several times in a row, which brought tears to his eyes.
Ah Hui suggested, “Let me call a doctor to take a look at you.”
“No, no, I don’t want to see a doctor. I’m fine, my nose is just a little itchy.” He Yi quickly shook his head and refused.
Previously, when he was at the He family’s house, He Hongtu forced someone to take him to the hospital to have his brain checked. Not only could he not eat breakfast, but the blood draw was also painful. Moreover, the instruments used for the examination looked terrifying, so he developed a psychological aversion to seeing doctors.
Seeing Ahui’s disapproving expression, He Yi jumped around on the spot and said anxiously, “Ahui, look, I’m really not sick.”
Ahui was amused by him and compromised, saying, “Alright then, I won’t call the doctor for now, but you should eat less iced food today and don’t go out to sunbathe in the garden at midday.”
After lunch, when the sun was at its strongest, everyone else hid indoors to enjoy the air conditioning, but He Yi foolishly ran out into the sun. His face turned bright red from the sun, and no amount of persuasion could convince him to go back. When he finally decided to go back on his own, he was so hot that he wanted to eat a lot of ice cream in one go. Ah Hui was worried that he would catch a heatstroke.
He Yi hesitated for a moment between seeing a doctor and eating less ice, and finally nodded with difficulty and said, “Okay.”
Then he explained, “I wasn’t there to sunbathe; I was looking after the grass. It gets droopy around noon, so I had to talk to it and cheer it up, otherwise it would die.”
Ahui paused for a moment, then smiled and explained to He Yi, “Don’t worry, someone waters them every day, so they won’t die from the sun. It’s too hot at noon, so the water evaporates quickly, which is why their leaves droop. They’ll be fine in the evening when the sun isn’t so strong, and they’ll recover on their own after drinking enough water.”
He Yi said with some disbelief, “Really? Then I’ll go check again this evening.”
It wasn’t as hot in the evening as it was at noon, so Ahui didn’t stop him.
Shang Jingwu only took two days of wedding leave. He went back to work on the morning of the second day after the wedding. Worried that He Yi might cause trouble at home alone, he asked Ahui to keep an eye on He Yi.
Having learned from his previous experience, Ah Hui has been following He Yi closely these past few days, afraid that if he’s not careful, the young mistress might suddenly cause him some trouble again. But despite his best efforts, he still couldn’t prevent it.
When He Yi went to the garden to observe the grass in the evening, he bumped into Shang Jingyun. As soon as Shang Jingyun saw him, he came over to greet him warmly and asked, “What are you doing, sister-in-law?”
He Yi stared at the patch of grass in front of him, and replied without looking up, “Look at the grass.”
Shang Jingyun squatted down next to him and asked with a smile, “What’s so interesting about the grass? Want to play a game?”
He Yi’s eyes lit up, and he looked at Shang Jingyun, asking, “Play games? What kind of games?”
“How about playing hide-and-seek?” Shang Jingyun suggested.
“Great! I love playing hide-and-seek!” He Yi said excitedly.
“Then let’s have a contest. The loser has to grant the other one a favor, how about it?” Shang Jingyun coaxed patiently.
“Let’s compete! I’m sure I’ll win,” He Yi said confidently.
Seeing that things were not going well, Ah Hui quickly advised, “Young Madam, we should go back now. Didn’t you want to have afternoon tea?”
He Yi’s mouth started watering at the mere mention of food, but he also really wanted to play hide-and-seek, making it a difficult choice.
Seeing his hesitation, Shang Jingyun continued to coax him, “It’s not too late to play for a while before we eat.”
He Yi was persuaded and immediately decided to play hide-and-seek with him.
Unable to persuade He Yi, Ahui kept a close eye on him the whole time, but He Yi disagreed because with Ahui around, he couldn’t completely hide himself.
“Ahui, you come play with us. I’m going to hide now, and neither of you are allowed to peek. You have to count to one hundred with your eyes closed before you can catch me,” He Yi said without room for argument.
Ah Hui glanced at Shang Jingyun and thought that keeping an eye on the second young master would be fine, at least it would prevent the second young master from playing tricks to bully the young mistress, so he agreed.
“It’s about to begin, you two close your eyes quickly,” He Yi said excitedly.
Shang Jingyun smiled and closed his eyes. “Then I’ll start counting.”
He Yi waved to the two people to check if they were peeking, then dashed away along the garden path.
Ah Hui had just finished counting to one hundred in his mind when he heard Shang Jingyun say, “Let’s split up and look for her. The garden is so big, we need to find my sister-in-law quickly, otherwise, if something happens to him, it will be hard to explain to my older cousin.”
Ah Hui’s heart tightened, worried that something might have happened to He Yi. He couldn’t keep an eye on Shang Jingyun anymore and hurriedly set off to find He Yi.
If the second young master came prepared, he might have already set up a trap or arranged for people in advance. There’s no use in him keeping an eye on the second young master now. The only way to ensure the young mistress’s safety is to find the people as soon as possible.
Shang Jingyun watched Ah Hui’s hurried departure, smiled, and then slowly began to catch mice, calling out in a drawn-out voice as he walked, “Little sister-in-law, where are you hiding? Can you give me a hint?”
He Yi hid himself away very well, refusing to come out no matter who called him, which made Ah Hui extremely anxious.