All Hail Cousin Brother

126 Cousin, It’s Too Difficult for Me

After suddenly receiving the big cherry, her cousin’s fair face also turned a little red. Yu Youyao couldn’t help but chuckle. “Cousin, you really can’t take sour food.”

This time, the cherries were a little more sour than before. The sweetness and sourness collided, and it made his mouth water. He suddenly felt that they were a little sour, but the more he ate, the more delicious he felt they were. It was probably because the variety was different.

Zhou Linghuai slowly took the teacup and lowered his head to take a few sips. Only then did he ease the sourness in his mouth. He looked up and another osmanthus candy was brought to his lips. He was about to refuse and say that he did not like sweet food, but when he saw the little girl looking at him with a smile, she said, “Cousin, have some candy!”

Zhou Linghuai’s mouth almost fell open.

When the osmanthus candy entered his mouth, it tasted sweet and rich. The sweetness that he usually hated actually felt very good now.

Seeing that her cousin had eaten the osmanthus candy, Yu Youyao was very happy. “Cousin, after eating the sour cherry, your mouth won’t feel sour anymore.”

Zhou Linghuai nodded, but it was difficult to speak with the candy in his mouth.

Yu Youyao’s eyes lit up. “Cousin, you should eat more candy. Eating candy can improve your mood. Ever since I was young, when I missed my mother, my grandmother ordered someone to make osmanthus candy for me. She said that my mother also liked osmanthus candy, so eating osmanthus candy would slowly improve my mood.”

Her cousin was always full of worries and seemed to have a lot of unhappy things on his mind. She hoped he would be happier.

Zhou Linghuai was stunned. The osmanthus candy in his mouth melted bit by bit, and the sweetness seeped into his heart.

He suddenly felt that his cousin was probably telling the truth.

Zhou Linghuai lowered his gaze and asked, “How do you know that I’m in a bad mood?”

“You like to frown when you’re unhappy.” Yu Youyao suddenly reached out and stroked her cousin’s glabella, as if to smooth out the faint crease between his brows. “Cousin, don’t always frown like a little old man.” She wrinkled her nose in disdain. “It’s so ugly.”

When the young lady got closer, her eyes were filled with a beautiful light, and it was so piercing that even his eyes felt sore. Zhou Linghuai sat stiffly in the wheelchair. His back straightened bit by bit, and his hands holding the armrests of the wheelchair tightened.

The gentle touch between his eyebrows was like a feather, gently brushing against his heart. He almost forgot how to breathe.

Seeing that her cousin was no longer frowning, Yu Youyao retracted her hand. “If you frown, you’ll age very quickly. Cousin, don’t frown so much in the future.”

Zhou Linghuai’s tense heart suddenly relaxed, and his gaze landed on the little girl’s slender fingertips.

The little girl’s sharp fingers quickly untied the golden pouch embroidered with pomegranate flowers at her waist. She placed the pine nuts, osmanthus candy, and crispy candies in the box in front of her into the pouch one by one. Then, she closed the bulging pouch, tied it to his left belt, and made a beautiful bow.

Zhou Linghuai’s fingertips trembled as he suddenly held her hand.

Yu Youyao was stunned. “Cousin?”

Zhou Linghuai slowly let go of the little girl’s hand. “The pomegranate pouch is more suitable for Cousin.”

Yu Youyao pouted. “Cousin, you’re not allowed to take it off. You have to wear it often in the future. When you want to frown, eat a piece of candy. Pomegranate flowers are suitable for men and women, and it looks good on you too.” Even her voice became softer at the last sentence, revealing a hint of guilt. Then, she added, “Yes, it’s festive!”

It just didn’t match her cousin’s clothes.

Zhou Linghuai couldn’t help but laugh out loud. He gently rubbed the exquisite embroidery on the pomegranate flower embroidered gold pouch. “Whatever Cousin says, I will listen.”

Yu Youyao smiled. “Cousin, you look really good when you smile like that.”

Zhou Linghuai frowned. “Have you practiced your calligraphy today?”

Yu Youyao immediately couldn’t smile anymore. Her face fell. “Cousin, it’s too difficult for me!”

The little girl looked pitiful and dejected. Zhou Linghuai gently rubbed the top of her head. “According to Meng Zi’s Teng Wen Gong, it’s said that it’s either the mind or labor. Those who labor with their minds govern others; those who labor with their strength are governed by others. Those who are governed by others feed others, and those who govern live by others.”

Yu Youyao was confused. She clearly did not understand!

Zhou Linghuai explained, “It’s the hierarchy of work. The people who are smart use their brains but the people who are in charge use other people. You have to learn to use other people.”

Her cousin was guiding her in managing the household. Yu Youyao immediately perked up. She held her face in her hands and looked at her cousin with admiration and anticipation. “Cousin, quickly teach me how to manage the household. Although the population of the Yu Residence is small, there are many people outside the residence. Tomorrow, Grandmother still wants me to meet the people of the manor. It’s very troublesome!”

The little girl looked at him with a burning gaze, her eyes filled with trust. Zhou Linghuai couldn’t help but clench his fists and press them against his lips. He coughed and cleared his throat. “There are many servants in a big family, Master can’t manage them all, so he set a rule and let the servants manage themselves. As long as there aren’t any major mistakes, Master won’t ask too much.”

Yu Youyao nodded. There were nannies in charge of all the courtyards.

Zhou Linghuai said, “There’s one thing that’s bad about this. The higher-ups are in charge of their servants. They rule over them as they are their direct authorities. As time passes, the managers accumulate a lot of power, and their rules become greater than those of the master. It’s inevitable that there will be cases of slaves deceiving their masters, and no one dares to report it. Everyone will follow their orders.”

Yu Youyao was deep in thought. “Mother Yang and Steward Zhou were in cahoots. Although they were doing it carefully, there’s no wall in the world that doesn’t leak information. There must be someone in the main kitchen who knows about it. It’s precisely because Mother Yang is in charge that no one dares to say anything bad about her. Even if she’s discovered, Mother Yang would just send her away for three to five copper coins. With money, who would be willing to offend Mother Yang? Who would do such a stupid thing?”

This was the same as a slave deceiving their master. No one dared to report it, so they followed the instructions.

Zhou Linghuai nodded slightly.

Yu Youyao wrinkled her nose in distress. “Cousin, what should I do?”

Zhou Linghuai picked up a cherry, removed the stem, and brought it to the little girl’s mouth. The little girl looked at him and did not notice the cherry on her lips. She opened her mouth to eat the cherry, and a smile appeared on his pale lips. “You want to centralize power.”

The sour taste of the cherry filled her mouth. Yu Youyao’s fair face was also covered in a layer of light pink. She swallowed the cherry meat and was about to spit out the seeds when a blue handkerchief was brought to her lips.

Yu Youyao naturally spat out the seeds on the blue handkerchief and wiped the corner of her mouth with it. “What do you mean by centralized power?”

Zhou Linghuai took back his blue handkerchief and poured the cherry seeds onto a small plate at the side. “Make a better and comprehensive reward and punishment rule. This way, the life and death of the servants will be in your hands. If they make a mistake, the rules of the residence state that they will deal with you, and the stewards have no right to deal with them.”