in spring

Chapter 3 Suspects

Chunying blinked, a little confused.

Although the Cui family's mother and daughter denied Lu's mother's accusation, in the eyes of others, they were still very suspicious.Now that I am alone at home, and the Cui family's daughter comes to the door, isn't she afraid of being suspicious?
Maybe... this daughter of the Cui family thinks that the clean is clear?
There were two more knocks on the door, and Chunying had no choice but to answer: "The door is unlocked, please come in." She crawled out of the quilt again, and tidied up her hands.

There was a silence outside the door, and then gently pushed it open, and stepped into a small red embroidered shoe, and then, the girl from the Cui family who had a serious suspicion entered the door.

She is about thirteen or fourteen years old, with a slender figure, beautiful appearance, fair complexion, thick black hair tied into double buns, wrapped with red ribbons, and a small red silk flower pinned to her temple.She was wearing a half-worn blue padded jacket, and her lower body was a flowered cloth skirt of the same color, which was a little pale after washing, but it was clean and neat. Half a pair of red shoes were exposed under the skirt, with extremely delicate embroidery on the upper. pattern of plum blossoms.

She came in, looked up at Chunying, and then smiled softly: "I heard that my sister has recovered? I came here to see you. Why... Auntie is not at home?"

Chunying shook her head: "She went out. You... What's the matter with you?" She hesitated in her heart, not knowing how to face the suspect. She doesn't know anything, so don't arouse others' suspicion. , maybe... it would be better to be indifferent, didn't she use the excuse of amnesia long ago?

The girl from the Cui family paused for a moment, with an aggrieved expression on her face: "What's wrong with my sister? You have always been close to me, why did you suddenly become famous today? Could it be that you really think that my mother and I were the ones who killed you?" You? The conscience of heaven and earth! You have experienced it yourself, why did you listen to other people's gossip?!"

Chunying squeaked twice: "No...I'm not...cough...Actually, I don't even remember. The doctor said I had a severe fever, so I forgot all about the past."

"What?!" Cui's girl exclaimed, her eyes turned red, "How could this happen..." She hurried over and took Chunying's hand, looked her up and down, and asked, "Then you are all right now?" Right? Why are your hands so cold?" She turned her head and saw the window was open, she hurriedly walked over to close it, then turned around and held Chunying's hand again: "Is it warmer now?"

Chunying felt a little uncomfortable: "Cough...it's getting warmer..." She withdrew her hand forcefully and stepped back a few steps.

A trace of injury flashed across the face of the girl from the Cui family. She lowered her head and twisted up the corner of her clothes: "You said you forgot... Did you listen to other people's words? You also think that I made you sick?"

"No...not..." Chunying also twisted up the corner of her clothes, what should she say?Come and help her!
The girl from the Cui family glanced at her, and lowered her eyes sadly: "If it were someone else, I would ignore it, but you, but I am not reconciled, and I have to explain things clearly to you, so as to live up to our friendship over the past few years." share."

Chunying blinked, could it be that her predecessor, Chunying, was very close to this girl from the Cui family?

I only heard the girl from the Cui family say: "Among the five families living in this courtyard, the Liu family's siblings have always had their eyes on the top, and never put us in their eyes. Sister Lian from the Feng family in the south chamber and the two boys from the Ma family, They are both used to flattery, so they are better friends. Only you and I, who have always been stupid and don’t know how to please others, will get orders. On weekdays, we only do some needlework in one place, so the two of us are better than others. Get close. If you still remember the past, you won’t doubt me—for your sake, if I really want that job, you’ll let me without saying a word. That’s what I said when the news came that day , it was just a joke, but you took it seriously, it shows that I will never harm you for such a trivial matter!"

When she said this, she was a little excited, lowered her head and took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears.Chunying caught a glimpse of the handkerchief also covered with exquisite embroidery, saw her look up, and quickly looked away.

The girl from the Cui family continued: "That day when no one else was in the courtyard, you went to the well to wash your clothes. I was joking with you and helped wash two pieces, when I heard my mother complain that she had a headache—maybe you forgot Now, she has always had this problem—so I went back to the house and waited for her to fall asleep, and then I fell asleep in a daze. I didn't even hear the sound of you slipping, and I didn't know that it was snowing outside. When I woke up, I saw you lying in the courtyard, covered half of your body with snow, and your body was almost stiff. My mother and I spent a lot of effort to drag you into the house. Later, we boiled hot water and covered the quilt Needless to say, our family is not rich. In order to save you, we took out the only two quilts in the house and used the charcoal that was specially saved for the New Year. My family is still suffering from famine , but my mother and I don't care, we are neighbors in the same yard, we can't watch you have an accident, right? We didn't expect others to be grateful to us, but we didn't expect that we would be regarded as murderers by our aunt. Because of these gossips, my mother fell ill again, and in a few days, I will have to go to the mansion, what should I do in the future?" After speaking, her voice was choked up.

Chunying had already guessed the general situation of the day from her words.The Cui family's mother and daughter said they were suspects, but in fact, it can only be considered that the rescue was not timely, right?And it wasn't intentional, which is really unfair.Thinking of how kind and caring the girl from the Cui family was to her just now, Chunying couldn't help but feel a little guilty, and said embarrassingly: "My mother is just in a hurry, but my father believes in you. You...don't take it to heart...your mother is very It will get better soon..."

"I know that Uncle Lu is a good person." The girl from the Cui family wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, "Anyway, our family has received a lot of benefits from your parents these years. I just starved to death. I don't blame you, this is our life..." At this point, her eyes turned red again.

Chunying hurriedly found a handkerchief and handed it over: "What stupid things are you talking about? It's a misunderstanding, and it will be fine after a long time. I will also persuade Mom...cough...my mother, just relax .”

"Really?" The girl from the Cui family raised her head in surprise, "Do you really believe that I didn't harm you?"

Chunying was a little hesitant. Seeing the little girl from the Cui family's eyes were red again, she nodded quickly: "I believe, I believe. I fell by myself. It's just bad luck. It was snowing and there was no one else in the courtyard. It was an accident, if you and your mother hadn't rescued me into the house, maybe I would have frozen to death."

The girl from the Cui family moved Chunying's hands: "Good sister, with your words, I don't care what other people say."

Chunying smiled, feeling relaxed, and suddenly remembered that the Cui family girl had been in the door for so long, and she didn't pour tea herself, so she hurriedly got up to get the teapot, then remembered that the water was already cold, and hesitated whether to go to the kitchen to boil it.The girl from the Cui family hurriedly said: "It's not a foreigner, what kind of tea are you pouring? You haven't been so polite in the past, come back and sit down, be careful if the wind blows again, and you will be ill if you fall ill again."

Chunying had no choice but to sit back on the kang and chat with Miss Cui's family.The other party asked her very carefully about her illness, what medicine she was taking, the progress of her recovery, and whether she had any sequelae... etc. After learning that she was fine, she only needed to recuperate for a month before she could fully recover, so she relaxed. He took a deep breath and said "Amitabha".

She asked Chunying about her amnesia, what she forgot, what she remembered, and whether she could deny it... Knowing that Chunying had "forgot" all her embroidery skills, she couldn't help but widen her eyes: "How can this be good?" ?My sister has always been outstanding in needlework. At the time when the mansion selected people, my sister was selected because you are good at needlework. Now that you have lost all this, how can you ask for an errand in the future?"

Chunying laughed dryly, but she thought that she was still looking forward to it. Ever since she knew that she was a son of a family, she never thought of entering the mansion to serve some master. Even if she lived a poor life at home, she was still free, so why bother to go Endure life as a slave?As for the future, she is still young (the current physical age is not yet eleven years old), so she can just plan slowly.

So she casually said a few words to the Cui family girl: "Let's talk about the future, even if you forget about your sewing, you won't starve to death."

The girl from the Cui family lowered her head, wondering what she was thinking. After a long time, she raised her head and said with a smile: "That's true, but my younger sister can take it easy. This time the errand is gone, so I can ask for it later. Even if I can't be a maid, The rough work of sweeping the floor and watering the flowers also requires someone to do it. My good sister, this time I took care of your good job. If I succeed in the future, I will never forget you. You..." She bit her lip, "You can rest assured!"

Chunying wanted to say goodbye, but she said: "Don't worry about it, just do your own work with peace of mind, there are times in your life, and there are times in your life, don't force it, I don't care about that."

The girl from the Cui family was startled, and murmured: "You are now... really different from before..."

Chunying was startled, and was trying to make amends when she heard voices outside the door. It turned out that it was Mother Lu who had returned.

Didn't she say she was going back to her mother's house to pick up her youngest son?Why did you come back so soon?
A trace of panic flashed across the face of the girl from the Cui family, she stood up with a pretty face, and when she saw Mother Lu coming in, she lowered her head and blessed her: "Auntie."

Mother Lu was holding her youngest son, and was just happy, when she suddenly saw the suspect who killed her daughter standing there, she immediately turned cold and said, "What are you doing here?!" Seeing her daughter sitting on the side, she couldn't help being shocked: "Should I You don’t want to do something bad to my Chun’er again?!”

Chunying hurriedly said: "No, Mom... Mother, Sister Cui didn't harm me, she came to visit the sick."

"Visiting a doctor? I'm afraid you're here to kill me?" Lu's mother sneered, "You came here to play tricks because I saw that there are no adults in my family?" Do you want to play tricks under my nose? Be your mother's spring and autumn dream!"

Chunying was in a hurry: "Mom! What are you talking about?!" Cui's girl's eyes were red, tears welled up, she bit her lip, lowered her head and ran out, Chunying chased after her and called her, but she didn't look back.

Chunying had no choice but to go back to the house and looked at her mother helplessly: "Why are you scolding her like that? She explained just now that it was all an accident and she didn't mean it. Besides, her mother and daughter just didn't rescue me in time, and they didn't mean to hurt me."

Lu's mother flushed with anxiety when she heard the words: "I knew it! You were coaxed by her before, and you believed her. You even gave her the private money you saved so hard, which shows that her scheming How amazing! She said that if she didn’t harm you, she would be harmless? How much do you know?! Is mother the kind of person who talks nonsense without evidence?!”

Chunying blinked suspiciously, could it be... Miss Cui's family lied just now?

(End of this chapter)