Who in the world does not know you?

Chapter 26 What do you want?

The setting sun, as red as blood, cast a long shadow of Yunping on the road.

Standing at his doorstep, he sighed deeply, as if all his strength had been drained, and forced a smile to hide his dejection.

He reached out and pushed open the gate of the house. The courtyard was empty. In the past, Yun Luobai would always prepare a table of food and wine and sit on the stone bench waiting for him to come home.

Just as Yun Ping was filled with doubt, he saw Yun Luobai and Ye Zi walk out from around the corner, each carrying a tray with several dishes on it.

Yunping had never met Ye Zi, so he naturally had no idea where the girl beside his son came from.

However, Ye Zi's limp was so obvious that Yun Ping could hardly miss it.

The two approached and placed their trays on the stone table. Yunping then noticed that the food on the plates was dark and had no aroma; if this were to be eaten for dinner, it would be difficult to swallow…

Looking at the dishes on the table that looked like charcoal, Yun Luobai's face twitched, but she still managed a smile and took the initiative to start a conversation with Yun Ping.

"Father, you're back."

Yunping smiled at Ye Zi, then looked at Yun Luobai and asked about the woman's identity.

"Luo Bai, who is this young lady?"

"Her name is Ye Zi. She used to be with the courtesan named Mu Li, who died in the Rouge Pavilion. After Mu Li died, the madam bullied her and planned to make her serve customers. My elder brother happened to be investigating a case in the Rouge Pavilion, so he persuaded everyone to pool their money and buy her indenture from the madam so that she could help with work in our house. I have already given my elder brother the money to buy her."

Yun Luobai quickly explained the whole story to Yun Ping, but this matter was not important to him at the moment.

The key issue is what to do for dinner.

The dish, which looked as black as charcoal, was truly unpalatable.

Yun Ping followed Yun Luobai's gaze to the food on the table. Since the latter returned to Ningzhou Prefecture three years later, he had tasted the food she cooked many times. It couldn't possibly be this appalling...

"Most women in brothels are not in control of their own lives, so Ning Qi has done you a good deed. However, the madams of those places are notoriously difficult to deal with. Once they discover that a customer wants to redeem one of the women, they'll make them grit their teeth and tear out their flesh. I wonder how much Ye Zi's redemption fee is?"

"Not much. My elder brother used the recent murder at the Rouge Pavilion as an excuse, and added his own status as a member of the government, which brought down her price to twenty taels of silver."

"That's indeed not much."

The father and son seemed to be chatting casually, but their eyes were actually focused on the stone table in front of them.

Ye Zi bit her lip, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Twenty taels of silver wasn't much, but she didn't want people to think that her cooking skills were so bad because her indenture was only worth twenty taels of silver...

"I usually do menial tasks like washing clothes and cleaning at Rouge Pavilion. There are chefs there who are specifically responsible for cooking, so I wouldn't normally be needed for these kinds of tasks..."

Ye Zi lowered her head, her voice sounding weak and listless.

Yunping noticed Yezi's embarrassment and shyness. This young girl was cooking for others in an unfamiliar environment and had to be mindful of their attitudes. In addition, she had a disability. Anyone who saw her would feel sorry for her.

"It's alright, as long as we can eat it. My son and I aren't picky eaters, so please sit down and eat with us."

Yun Ping took the lead and sat down first. Yun Luobai and Ye Zi exchanged a glance and then sat down on the stone bench as well.

Yunping picked up a piece of dark, gooey fish meat, put it in his mouth, chewed it slightly, and nodded gently.

"Actually, the taste is not bad, it's just that the heat wasn't controlled well. Luo Bai will teach you more in the future, his cooking is quite delicious. Don't overthink it, my son and I are just ordinary people, and Luo Bai never intended to hire servants. If you still have a place to stay outside, you can leave here, that indenture can't restrict your freedom."

Yun Ping spoke warmly to Ye Zi, who smiled and nodded, but subtly rolled her eyes at Yun Luo Bai.

Yun Luobai noticed it, but pretended not to see it.

"When I first married your mother, she wasn't very good at cooking either, but she learned a lot later..."

"Wait, Father, wasn't I adopted? Everyone in Ningzhou Prefecture who knows you knows you've never been married..."

"You're making your dad sound pitiful by saying that..."

"Isn't that right...?"

"I didn't feel sorry for myself before, but in the three years since you left, sometimes when I can't sleep at night, I feel quite sorry for myself."

"..."

Ye Zi listened to the conversation between the father and son. She watched Yun Ping quietly put the terrible food she had made into his mouth and thought he was really a good person.

"Since my father has said you can leave, finish this meal and go your own way. From now on, there will be no further connection between us. With this contract of servitude in your hands, you won't have to live in constant fear."

Yun Luobai gently placed the indenture in front of Ye Zi, which, together with the bleak dishes on the stone table, created a rather desolate scene.

Ye Zi picked up the contract of sale and carefully examined the words written on it with her clear eyes. For her, who had been confined to the Rouge Pavilion for so long, this should have been the scene she had been dreaming of.

But when all of this actually happened before her eyes, her red lips parted slightly, but she couldn't utter a complete sentence.

"I……"

"What's wrong? Didn't you want to leave here as soon as possible? Now that you're no longer a caged bird, it's time to go and find your own good life."

As Yun Luobai spoke, he picked up his chopsticks, but after scanning the stone table, he realized he didn't know where to start, so he put the chopsticks down again.

"That's true, but even if redeeming me wasn't Young Master Yun's original intention, he has still been kind to me in terms of both sentiment and reason. If I were to leave now, it would be an act of not repaying his kindness."

"So what do you want?"

"I should stay a few more days, so that I can save face. If Constable Ning comes to visit again, it will be enough to give Young Master Yun an explanation."

"You're showing kindness now, but..."

Yun Luobai looked up at the kind-faced Yun Ping sitting opposite him and suddenly laughed.

"Then you'd better cherish this time you have left, because if my dad and I don't eat, we won't last long..."

Yun Luobai said leisurely, and Yun Ping heard the sarcasm in his words and glared at his precious son, which was rare for him.

Ye Zi gave a soft hum and picked up her rice bowl to eat.

"I would be grateful if Young Master Yun could teach me cooking skills starting tomorrow."

"That's true. If we have nowhere to go in the future, we can find a wealthy family to be servants. If we can't even cook simple meals properly, that would be a bit unreasonable."

"Wealthy families all have their own chefs; they don't need me!"

"Putting everything else aside, look at your attitude towards the young master. Which wealthy family would tolerate you?"

"you!"

Ye Zi was so angry that she gritted her teeth, but there was nothing she could do.

Now that we're under someone else's roof, we have no choice but to bow our heads.