novelraw Chapter 81: Young Master Tu Doesn't Speak Like a Normal Person
Chapter 81: Young Master Tu Doesn't Speak Like a Normal Person
Although Tu Feiyun had been wearing a face guard during their last encounter and Li Qiuchen hadn't seen his actual face, this person had a way about him that was difficult to put into words. His presence was entirely distinctive, like a stern homeroom teacher whose single glance was enough to make you uncomfortable all over.
Tu Feiyun was extraordinarily sensitive to the gaze of others.
Li Qiuchen had spotted him, and so he had spotted Li Qiuchen. He beckoned him over on the spot.
Was there any way to just not go?
Li Qiuchen was thoroughly fed up with this person. It was fair to say the man haunted him like a ghost that refused to move on.
Yun County was such a large city. How on earth had he managed to run into this wretch again?
But not going wasn't an option either.
The man was a general who killed without blinking. Li Qiuchen was just a nanny looking after a child.
Li Qiuchen walked over with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, clasped his hands and bowed, "This humble one pays his respects to the General."
"What a coincidence.""It really is. I hadn't expected to run into the General here."
Tu Feiyun wiped his mouth with a flatbread, turned his head, and asked, "What is your name?"
"This humble one is Li Qiuchen."
"And that one?"
"This is Boss Tang's daughter, Tang Xiaoxue."
"Mixed blood?"
"Well... she does have Rakshasa ghost heritage."
"Sit. Eat with us."
Tu Feiyun pointed to the bench beside him and raised a hand to call the server over, "Bring another jin of flatbread and two jin of smoked mutton!"
"This humble one wouldn't dare."
"I told you to sit, so sit. What are you so nervous about?"
Nervous your grandmother!
Li Qiuchen was raging inwardly.
What kind of person was this? Did he have any concept of personal boundaries between people?
That said, the smoked mutton at this place did smell quite good, to be fair.
The smoked and braised meats of the north weren't simply a matter of blackening something over firewood. A more refined approach required fruit wood and cypress leaves, combined with yellow millet, tea leaves, and rock sugar, all working together to produce an extraordinarily distinctive smoked flavor.
By rights, being invited to eat by someone, especially with flatbread and smoked mutton as the main dish, ought to mean the relationship was genuinely solid but Li Qiuchen couldn't think of any relationship he had with Tu Feiyun that could be called solid.
The mutton was cooked through, but were the two of them?
Tu Feiyun glanced sideways at Li Qiuchen and said, "You bring a little kid to the labor market for a wander, and you're not worried about a trafficker snatching the both of you?"
Li Qiuchen had a moment of sudden realization.
He was always careful and cautious, yet there were times when he overlooked certain extremely basic common-sense details of everyday life.
Such as forgetting his own apparent age.
To an outside observer, two children wandering the streets without an adult accompanying them was genuinely dangerous.
Of course, he could explain that away by saying he had come from the countryside and wasn't used to city ways.
With that thought in mind, Li Qiuchen quickly explained, "The General's guidance is well taken. It's just that our boss has only just arrived and has far too many things to handle. He couldn't spare attention for his own daughter at the moment. I brought her along mainly because I wanted to hire a woman who could look after her daily needs. If the opportunity arose, I also hoped to find a teacher to instruct her in the local customs and learning."
"Did you find anyone?"
"We've only just arrived, haven't we. I can't even tell east from west in this city yet."
Tu Feiyun glanced at Wulala, who showed not the slightest sign of being intimidated, or rather simply didn't care about his presence at all, and was busy stuffing her face with great bites of flatbread wrapped around meat. He frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "The situation in the county seat is complicated. It isn't as safe as you might think. Don't go wandering around outside. If you're looking for an etiquette governess and a teacher, how about I introduce you to someone?"
Li Qiuchen quickly waved his hand and said, "Such a small matter, I wouldn't dare trouble the General."
"Afraid I'm planting ears in your household?"
What the hell, do you know how to talk to people? Did no one in your family ever teach you what the word subtlety means?
Li Qiuchen was at a loss for words. He desperately wanted to stuff the mutton leg bone in front of him straight into this man's mouth.
"Of course not. It's just that the General seems to have something of a... preconception about our boss?"
Li Qiuchen was fully aware that Tu Feiyun had ample reason to be suspicious of Boss Tang. He was suspicious of Boss Tang himself, for that matter but could they at least keep up appearances on the surface and not say everything quite so bluntly? Did this man have any idea how to carry on a normal conversation? He struck straight at the heart of the matter within three sentences. Who could possibly stand that?
"I have nothing against your boss."
Tu Feiyun picked up another flatbread and said with no expression on his face, "It is my duty. A figure of unclear origins like Boss Tang is naturally someone I will keep a close eye on. But official matters are official, and personal matters are personal. You don't need to worry about me doing anything to his daughter."
Uh...
Why specifically mention his daughter? Was Li Qiuchen not a person?
Li Qiuchen understood the unspoken meaning in Tu Feiyun's words, and couldn't hold back a string of silent curses.
On what grounds are you suspicious of me?
Even if I... alright, but haven't I done absolutely nothing?
How could a person this unhinged actually exist? Could his colleagues really tolerate a working style like this?
"Then... many thanks for the General's consideration."
"It's no consideration."
Tu Feiyun said calmly, "I hear your boss has deep pockets?"
Who told you that?
Li Qiuchen couldn't very well argue the point. Boss Tang hadn't paid him a proper salary, but he had handed over two hundred taels directly.
"That's fair to say."
"The person I'm finding you is exceptional value for money, so the pay should be a bit more generous."
That was it, Li Qiuchen was completely lost. The things coming out of this man's mouth were becoming more and more incomprehensible.
What did exceptional value for money mean in this context? He just wanted to find someone to look after Wulala's daily needs. How was a housekeeper supposed to be exceptional value for money?
Was she the grand champion of Yun County's Sewing Trousers and Scrubbing Chamber Pots competition?
"Alright, since the General has given the word, I'll go back and speak with the boss."
Li Qiuchen ate that entire meal of flatbread wrapped in mutton with a heavy weight on his chest.
The mutton could be as fragrant as it liked, it made no difference. Try sitting down to eat with your homeroom teacher and see how enjoyable you find it but he still had to act as though he was eating with great relish, to avoid giving Tu Feiyun any further reason to notice something was off.
After the meal was done, Tu Feiyun went outside and fetched his horse, then personally escorted Li Qiuchen and Wulala back to the house.
Watching him stand at the gate looking the place over in all directions, Li Qiuchen knew the paranoid streak in this scoundrel had flared up again.
"General, is there something wrong with this residence?"
"There is."
Li Qiuchen stared blankly.
With no one else at home at this moment, Tu Feiyun clasped his hands behind his back and made a thorough tour of the inside and outside. He frowned and asked Li Qiuchen, "Your boss arrived in the county seat and immediately secured a residence of this quality?"
Li Qiuchen could only answer honestly, "I genuinely don't know much about that. I only handle matters relating to Miss Tang."
"Someone died in this residence."
"What?"
Tu Feiyun said in a serious tone, "The previous owner of this place was surnamed Qi, and counted as one of the local prominent families. He had a son who was thoroughly unaccomplished, who secretly associated with evil and demonic practitioners, performing all manner of deceptive tricks in the city, swindling people out of their money and harming women."
"Later, I killed him."
Li Qiuchen stood quietly to one side listening, unsure of what kind of reaction to produce.
"I only killed one of his sons. So why did the entire family rush to pack up and move away? Don't you think there's something worth examining in that?"
Tu Feiyun turned around and put the question to Li Qiuchen.
All Li Qiuchen wanted to say was that the General really ought to go see a psychiatrist.
This was an illness, and it needed treatment.
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