Chapter 338: Then Go Together
Su Shilan’s husband was surnamed Fan, named Fan Cheng, turning exactly thirty this year.
The Fan family was hardly a prominent household in the prefectural city, yet possessed a few storefronts and dozens of mu of fertile fields at home. However, these assets belonged entirely to Fan Cheng’s elder brother, Fan Lei. As a son born to a concubine, being allocated a single courtyard and a single storefront was already considered quite good.
Seeing them conversing at this moment, Fan Cheng took the initiative to take on the task of serving tea and boiling water.
“Shilan, entertain Miss Wen and Nanny properly; I will go brew tea for you all.” With that, he offered a polite nod to Wen Yao and Nanny Shi, then ran off to boil water and brew tea.
Setting down the items in her hands, Su Shilan adjusted her appearance, leading Wen Yao and Nanny Shi into the main hall to sit down.
“Please sit, Miss.”
Wen Yao took a seat on a chair, while Nanny Shi and Mingyue stood right behind her.
Sizing up this small yet well-kept home, Wen Yao asked with a smile, “There’s no need to stand on ceremony, Tutor Su. Nanny has told me all about your situation.”
Su Shilan cast a glance at Nanny Shi, then turned her gaze back to Wen Yao, offering a faint smile as a wave of helpless, bitter acceptance over worldly reality surfaced deep in her eyes: “I cannot thank Nanny enough for keeping me in her thoughts. With a situation like mine, living days like these today is already quite good. My husband is a decent man, the two children have been taught very well by him, and they show me great respect on ordinary days. Compared to… I am already considered fortunate.”
After all, quite a few people had been dragged down when the Qian family fell back then; she truly counted as fortunate among them.
Although she couldn’t return to the capital, there was nothing over there worth lingering for anyway.
Wen Yao got straight to the point: “Tutor Su, you possess genuine talent and shouldn’t be buried amidst these mundane streets. I believe Nanny has already told you that I rank second at home. Above me is an elder sister, and below is a younger sister—the daughters of my second and third uncles. This time, my grandmother entrusted Nanny Shi to search for a suitable female tutor to return and instruct us sisters, and Nanny recommended Tutor to Grandmother without a second thought.”
Su Shilan had known about this yesterday when Nanny Shi found her and explained it to her. She hadn’t expected that after so much time had passed, someone would still invite her to act as a tutor to instruct the young ladies of their household.
Having originally felt that her current status made her unsuited for the role, she hadn’t expected Wen Yao to visit her in person. At this moment, a ripple of movement actually stirred within Su Shilan’s long-sealed heart.
One had to know that back in the capital, she had been born into a scholarly family, studying the zither, chess, calligraphy, painting, and etiquette since childhood. Although her zither skills couldn’t compare to those of famed masters, she had attained a modest reputation, and people frequently invited her to their homes to instruct young ladies who found it inconvenient to step out in public.
After losing her husband, because she had no children of her own to rely on, her in-laws tried every possible way to bully her. Her maiden family, meanwhile, maintained extremely strict rules; unable to return to her maiden family and tolerated by her in-laws, she had nowhere to go. Out of desperation, when the Qian family happened to find her and invite her over to instruct the two young ladies of their household in zither skills and etiquette, Su Shilan remained in the Qian household, right up until the Qian family left the capital to move here, and down to the moment disaster struck in the end.
Because she was not a bondservant of the Qian family, she escaped the catastrophe, yet the Qian family had fallen in the end. So much so that no one in the prefectural city dared to hire her. What was truly infuriating was that when the Qian family’s property was confiscated, even the money and belongings of people like her were seized together. She had only a few scattered pieces of broken silver left on her person, barely managing to settle down here.
Unable to serve as a tutor, she could only make a few embroidery pieces to sell, barely scraping by to make ends meet.
Later, introduced by a matchmaker, she married Fan Cheng. Although Fan Cheng had two children, they had been taught very well by him; after she entered the household, far from making things difficult for her, they got along with her wonderfully, and Fan Cheng treated her with utmost care and thoughtfulness as well.
As for those things from her past, they had long been buried beneath the firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea of daily life.
“Tutor Su? Tutor Su?” Seeing no reaction from her, Wen Yao realized she had actually spaced out and called out twice.
Snapping back to reality, Su Shilan hurriedly uttered apologies. Growing somewhat nervous, she rubbed her hands together and said, “Thank you for thinking so highly of me, Miss. It’s just that after leaving the Qian family, I put all those things down long ago, so I fear…”
Just at this moment, Fan Cheng finished brewing the tea and carried it inside. Hearing her speak of herself in such a self-deprecating manner, he stepped forward hastily and spoke up: “Shilan, don’t say that! On several occasions I’ve seen you touching the zither in secret while shedding tears. Shilan, I know you shouldn’t be following me to live this hard life—it is my own uselessness that made you suffer alongside me.”
The rims of Su Shilan’s eyes flushed red: “Brother Cheng.”
Watching the couple gaze at each other with such deep affection, Wen Yao was forcibly stuffed with a mouthful of affection, whispering under her breath to Nanny: “Nanny, I’m so full.”
Nanny Shi froze: “Did Miss eat too much this morning? Are you feeling unwell? Should this old servant fetch a doctor to take a look?”
Wen Yao: “…” Sigh, human joys and sorrows truly do not align.
Waving her hand, she said, “Nothing, nothing, I’m just… never mind.” Looking back at Su Shilan and Fan Cheng, Wen Yao said, “Look, Tutor Su, Boss Fan feels you are capable as well, so why not give it a try? Although our family isn’t a prominent household, if Tutor comes to our home to teach, I will definitely not mistreat Tutor.”
Nanny Shi joined in the persuasion as well: “Indeed, Shilan, why must you bury your own talent?”
“I…” Su Shilan bit her lip in hesitation, looking toward Fan Cheng again. Thinking of their current situation, she ultimately offered a refusal in the end: “Nanny, let’s forget it. Yunwu Town is far too distant; leaving my husband and the two children at home alone is something I cannot put my heart at ease over.”
Fan Cheng had a son and a daughter. His eldest son was turning twelve this year, studying at a nearby private school. His daughter was over six years old with a rather weak constitution; back then, Fan Cheng’s late wife had died of an obstructed labor precisely to give birth to her.
Since Fan Cheng treated her with genuine sincerity, Su Shilan naturally did not wish to abandon the three of them—father and children—and leave them unattended.
Fan Cheng hadn’t expected that Su Shilan was actually doing this for them—giving up her own future prospects for the sake of their family of four.
Just as Fan Cheng wanted to say something, Wen Yao, who was propping up her head while enduring the displays of affection, uttered a single sentence: “Then go together.”
Both turned their gazes toward Wen Yao in unison, their mouths opening slightly.
Wen Yao continued, “I see the business in this storefront of yours isn’t doing so great either. Rather than keeping it open in this half-dead state, it would be better to close it down and move elsewhere to seek development. Although we hail from a farming background, our family runs a few businesses as well. If Boss Fan is willing, he can go to my place to serve as a manager and help me manage business. As for the two children, there is even less need to worry—the conditions over there are no worse than those in the prefectural city.”
They had Qiu Zhi—whom scholars under Heaven flocked to—alongside Old Master Jin of exceptional medical skill and her brother. Tsk tsk, weren’t they just two children? Could they fail to teach them well or cure them properly?
Wouldn’t that ruin their own reputation?
As Wen Yao’s words fell, hesitation and struggle could be seen in the eyes of the couple. Wen Yao was in no rush to force them either—after all, she wouldn’t be leaving the prefectural city for three to five days anyway—so she spoke up: “You don’t need to rush to give me an answer either. We will probably remain in the prefectural city for about five days. Within these five days, whenever you’ve thought it through, just come seek me out.
“Oh, right, of course—if you’ve thought it through after five days, you can also head to the Wen family in Gutong Village of Yunwu Town on your own to find us.”
