Chapter 310: It’s Impossible Not to Be Jealous
Hearing that their lady was going to give them bonuses, the group of rough men could barely contain their grins!
“Thank you, Miss! We’ll be sure to accept it gladly!”
The mansion now had dedicated cooks and servants, all recruited from Storm Gang. There were two cooks and three house servants.
The two cooks had prior experience working in kitchens, though their cooking hadn’t quite suited the tastes of Yu Luo’s family of three. However, after a few months of training under Yu Haojie, they had become skilled in preparing decent home-style dishes.
Since Luo Yi and his men were personal guards, they naturally lived in the City Lord’s mansion. Yu Luo went to the kitchen, giving special instructions for the cooks to warm two jugs of rice wine and prepare an extra lavish meal before she finally left.
Just as she stepped out of the mansion, she saw a group of people approaching—members of the Yu family’s second and third branches, along with people from the Bai, Liu, and Zhang families. They were pulling carts loaded with coal, their faces brimming with excitement as they glanced around curiously in the direction of the City Lord’s mansion.
“Isn’t that the Miss over there? Alright, I’m leaving now. You all can go find her yourselves. If you’re heading back to Stone Mountain later, just go straight to the coal yard.”
The coal transport team’s leader happened to see Yu Luo walking out of the mansion. After giving these instructions, he promptly left.
Hearing this, the group followed his gaze and saw Yu Luo descending the steps. She wore a light green long dress with a pale moon-white brocade vest, a lake-green jade hairpin, pearl ornaments, and delicate silk flowers in her hair.
For a moment, they almost didn’t recognize her.
If it weren’t for her familiar delicate features and that warm, friendly smile directed at them, even if Yu Luo had walked right up to them, they would have hesitated to believe it was really her.
“Uncle Yongcai, what brings you all here?”
Among the group were Zhang Yuan from the Zhang family, Liu Mingxia from the Liu family, Bai You from the Bai family, and Yu Shanhai and Yu Shanhe from the Yu family’s second branch, along with Yu Yongcai and Yu Yongjun from the third branch.
By seniority, Yu Luo should have addressed most of them as elders. However, their appearances were disheveled, their clothes covered in coal dust. Seeing Yu Luo approaching with a joyful smile, they instinctively took a few steps back.
Just half a year ago, they had all been exiled together. Back then, Yu Luo was no different from them—dressed in rags, unable to bathe for weeks, sometimes even a whole month, covered in filth and stench.
But now, Yu Luo looked like a true noble lady. Meanwhile, they were still the same as before, though they had gained a bit more stability and freedom. Compared to what they had imagined exile to be like, their current situation was much better, but standing next to Yu Luo now felt like a stark contrast between heaven and earth.
Their gazes flickered between Yu Luo’s face and the grand City Lord’s mansion behind her, all wearing expressions of utter disbelief.
Following their line of sight, Yu Luo turned slightly to glance back at the mansion and finally understood what had shocked them.
“Why don’t you all come inside for a visit? My mother is at the clinic, but I can send someone to fetch my father.”
As soon as she spoke, they all nodded enthusiastically, eager to step inside and see everything for themselves.
“Go and find my father.”
Yu Luo reached out and stopped a passing patrol guard, smiling warmly as she gave the order. The guard immediately cupped his hands in respect and responded, “Understood! I will go at once.”
Once the patrolman left, Yu Luo smiled at the group again and gestured for them to enter.
At that moment, she also noticed the coal stains on their clothes and quickly guessed their reason for coming.
As they entered the City Lord’s mansion, Zhang Yuan—who had seen a fair share of wealth—still couldn’t hide a look of astonishment at their surroundings.
Meanwhile, Bai You, a former county magistrate, along with the Yu family’s second and third branch members, displayed open, exaggerated expressions of shock.
They were led to the reception hall in the front courtyard, where servants quickly brought out fine tea, delicate pastries, candied fruits, and other sweets. Seeing this spread, even the grown men in the group had difficulty maintaining composure.
After nearly a year—between exile, traveling, and settling down—they had never once had the luxury of enjoying such things.
Bai You took a sip of the jasmine tea, its delicate fragrance filling his senses. He took a deep breath before quickly lifting the cup again, as if savoring it. The scholarly elegance he once possessed seemed to vanish entirely as he gulped down the tea.
Yu Shanhe carefully picked up a pastry, taking a cautious nibble before his mouth was enveloped in its soft, buttery flavor. The taste was so divine that he instinctively closed his eyes, quickly stuffing the rest of the pastry into his mouth.
“It’s already quite late, and I’m sure you’ve all been working hard. You must be hungry. I’ll have more pastries brought out, and the kitchen will prepare a proper feast for dinner so we can host you all properly.”
“Thank you, Miss!”
As the servants left to prepare more food, smiles grew even wider on their faces.
To say that they weren’t jealous of Yu Luo’s family’s current life would be a lie. Deep down, everyone felt it, but they hadn’t expected Yu Luo to treat them just as she always had.
“Xiao Luo, was this mansion built by your uncles?”
Yu Yongjun had been observing the reception hall, his envy evident. Even Zhang Yuan and Bai You, who had seen wealth before, couldn’t help but be secretly impressed by the power of Ye Jiamei’s family.
The mansion was clearly newly built—everything looked pristine, and even the saplings in the courtyard weren’t very large yet. Beyond admiration for the mansion itself, they were in awe of Ye Jiamei’s maternal family.
“Yes, Xiao Luo. We’ve been busy working in the fields and only heard rumors that your uncles built an entire city for you. But we never imagined the city would be this big! Were all the houses in the city built after the ten thousand brothers arrived? Everything still looks brand new. We never expected it to be such a grand city!”
Yu Yongjun spoke, and Yu Shanhe quickly followed with an exclamation of awe.
Had they not come today, their impression of Luo City would have remained based on mere speculation.
They had assumed Luo City would be a settlement of mud-brick and stone houses. After all, in this wilderness, finding large trees suitable for construction required traveling long distances.
But once they arrived, they realized how wrong they had been.
The whitewashed walls, the stone-paved streets, and the uniform black-tiled rooftops—while not quite as grand as the intricately carved structures of the capital, the city was far cleaner and more orderly than many streets in the capital itself.
