"Chen Mo! What are you doing here?"
Shen Mo turned her head slowly. Because her father's surname here was Shen, she was renamed Shen Mo, taking Shen Yue's surname. Over the years, hearing this name, she had almost forgotten her original name.
"Remember, this is Moon Lake, a place only masters can come to. Don't do it again!" Seeing that no one was around, Aunt Xia dragged her away. This girl actually dared to trespass on Moon Lake. Luckily, she was the one who saw her. If it were anyone else, she would probably have received a severe beating. Aunt Xia breathed a sigh of relief. At least she had witnessed the girl's birth, so she was somewhat more affectionate towards her.
Shen Mo paused for a moment, then made a gesture of thanks before walking straight towards the dilapidated house he shared with Mo An, prompting Aunt Xia to sigh again.
Poor Dong Yun! The girl she risked her life to protect is now six years old and still can't speak. It seems she'll never be able to speak in her life... Aunt Xia slapped her own mouth. What a jinx!
However, Shen Mo still went the next day, as if Moon Lake possessed a magical power, and her destiny lay there...
Suddenly, he heard a strange noise he had never heard before. Shen Mo was puzzled and quietly tiptoed to peek through the small tree branch. He saw that someone was practicing sword dancing!
However, that one glance caused her to lose her composure, her focus, and her sense of proportion.
Only after the man finished his sword dance, took the handkerchief handed to him by someone nearby, and prepared to leave, did Chen Mo's heels touch the ground. She then realized she had been standing on tiptoe for too long; her toes were numb, and her calves were twitching slightly. Yet, she resolutely took steps with her numb legs and ran in that direction. During this time, she tried to open her mouth, but remained silent. This was the first time she felt ashamed of being mute.
She was getting closer and closer, but just as the person was about to turn and step into the front yard—a place she was not allowed to go anywhere—she suddenly stopped, her face turning bright red.
"Shen Yue!"
The sound was soft, childish, and hoarse, yet it was exceptionally clear in the quiet evening. Everyone turned around, including the boy at the head of the group.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Shen Mo ran up to him and, under the surprised gazes of others, took the boy's hand in an extremely familiar manner. Her forehead was still covered with glistening beads of sweat, which illuminated her smiling eyes.
"Do not be rude to the young master!"
A stern rebuke came from behind her. Caught off guard, Shen Mo's hand trembled in fright, and the grip on the boy's hand loosened slightly. Just as she was about to tighten her grip again, the boy swung his arm in disgust and pushed her away forcefully.
The six-year-old body fell over with a push, and Shen Mo was stunned and sat on the ground. She had never been like this before. Shen Yue would not allow anyone to scold her, let alone push her away so ruthlessly.
"Chen Yue, don't you want Xiao Mo anymore?" Just before the boy turned the corner, Shen Mo shouted out his second sentence in this life. This time, the shout was obviously louder and clearer than the previous one.
Everyone turned around and looked at her with surprise.
"Isn't this Dong Yun's mute daughter? When did she learn to speak?" the man who had just reprimanded her said.
"Steward, I was wondering the same thing," the servant said, shaking his head.
"Hmm, quite bold for such a young age, daring to offend the young master." The butler followed the boy away.
The servant, who had already left, took a few steps back and pointed at her forehead, saying, "Don't think I don't know what Mo An is thinking. You think you can curry favor with the young master? Humph!"
Shen Mo looked at the stubby fingers waving back and forth in front of him. It turned out that they were not unable to speak, but had not met anyone who could speak!
But when she looked up again, the boy had already vanished, leaving without saying a word to her. A southerly wind blew by, and she felt a chill.
"Amo, what are you doing here?" Mo An went back into the house but didn't see Shen Mo, so he found her here. He reached out and picked her up from the ground.
Upon touching the warm palm, Shen Mo shuddered.
The hand brushing dust off her suddenly stopped, and Mo An stared at her intently: "What's wrong?"
Looking at himself reflected in her eyes, Shen Mo finally opened his mouth awkwardly and uttered the second title he had used in this life: "Aunt An... Aunt An."
Her clear eyes gradually became misty, as beautiful as a lotus in the early morning. Mo An hugged her tightly, and warm tears dripped into her palms and back, staining her with the melancholy of the moment.
"You can talk now! You can finally talk!" Mo An wiped away her tears, her words tumbling out incoherently, as happy as a real mother.
The saying "When God closes a door, He opens a window" is indeed true. From this moment on, God opened two windows for her: in her past life, there was Shen Yue; in this life, there was Mo An. Shen Mo wrapped her arms around Mo An's neck, her small hands holding her tightly. Warmth, an unprecedented warmth.
That night, Mo An kept talking to her, as if it were a dream and everything would return to normal the next day.
"Aunt An, how come our Rong family suddenly has a young master?" Shen Mo took this opportunity to ask the question privately.
"Hmm? Young Master only recently returned to the manor, how did you know?"
"I heard someone call me 'Young Master'."
“Silly girl, the young master already had it, so how can it be said to be sudden? His name is just ‘Yue’. It’s just that he went up the mountain at the age of nine to learn martial arts and cultivate under the guidance of an old man with high Taoist skills,” Mo An said casually, counting on his fingers. “It’s been exactly five years this year, so it’s time for him to come back.”
Suddenly feeling her arm being gripped tightly, Mo An looked at Shen Mo with a puzzled expression, asking, "What's wrong?"
Shen Mo then realized that she had lost her composure and immediately regained her composure. However, she was silently reciting the single character "Yue" in her name. Nine years old plus five years of martial arts training minus her five years of childhood age, one was the character that had been with her for nine years, and the other was a number that made her both excited and afraid.
Rong Yue, that's his name.
But he was a young master, arrogant and domineering, and most importantly: he didn't recognize himself anymore!
Chapter Three: A Vast and Uncertain World
"Slap!" "Slap!"
"You've outmaneuvered us again! That's impossible!"
He glanced at the white-robed youth opposite him, who was still struggling with the game and unwilling to admit defeat, and Rong Yue stood up gracefully and waved his hand to the servants behind him, "Prepare brushes and ink for us to practice calligraphy."
The boy in white didn't even look up. "If you want to practice, practice by yourself. I'm going to study this game thoroughly, and I don't believe I can't beat you." He stared at each chess piece with a look of inquiry.
Behind the flowerbed, Shen Mo also gazed with a curious eye.
She carefully concealed herself, her petite face showing the thin, sallow complexion of a servant, but her eyes were exceptionally bright, watching the two young masters' every move without moving, as if trying to etch it into her heart.
This wasn't the first time she'd done something like this. She even knew the identity of the boy next to her perfectly well. His name was Gu Buju, the young master of the wealthy Gu family in Ningcheng, and also Rong Yue's best playmate. But after observing him for so many days, she couldn't see anything similar between Rong Yue and Shen Yue except that they shared a similar face.
Rong Yue was aloof and never associated with the poor and lowly. He even turned a blind eye to the bullying of the weak in the mansion! This was something that the gentle and kind Shen Yue from his previous life could never have done.
"Thud!" Just as she was thinking this, a wad of scrap paper suddenly flew over and landed behind the flower bushes where she was.
My heart skipped a beat! Could it be that I've been discovered spying on him? Looking up, I realized that Rong Yue was just throwing away scraps of paper to vent his frustration while practicing his writing.
Upon unfolding the paper, the two characters "齐天" (Qi Tian) immediately came into view. The strokes were vigorous, and every horizontal and vertical line was perfectly placed. Even though the paper was crumpled, it was still clear that Rong Yue was a master calligrapher.
rustling! Her ears twitched slightly as she heard footsteps ahead! Without thinking, Shen Mo quickly stuffed the scrap paper into her bosom, but due to her nervousness, her small body hadn't regained its balance and she fell to the ground, her palms immediately scratched by the flower branches.
The person who came was Rong Yue, but he didn't say anything, just looked at him calmly.
Shen Mo had originally intended to avoid him, but seeing his eyes, she couldn't help but take a gamble, so she mustered up her courage and looked up at Rong Yue.
Rong Yue was taken aback. Why was this girl looking at him with such a strange gaze, as if he owed her something? His young master mentality kicked in, and he instinctively frowned.
When he saw the worn-out clothes on Shen Mo, his expression turned to contempt, and the hand that had been reaching out to help her up suddenly withdrew.
"Considering your youth, go back to where you came from." With that, she didn't look at Chen Mo a second time, and left with her head held high.
Then, for the entire day, Mo An watched Shen Mo's absent-mindedness and undisguised sorrow. Before going to sleep, she finally couldn't hold back anymore.
"Amo, where did you go today?"
In front of Mo An, Shen Mo had never thought of hiding his emotions, but he realized it when she asked him a question.
"It's nothing." After answering calmly, he noticed that Mo An was not satisfied, so he asked, "Aunt An, do those young masters and ladies all dislike servants who are dressed in shabby clothes?"
This question left Mo An stunned for a long time. Shen Mo panicked and hurriedly tried to explain, only to find that tears had already welled up in the corners of Mo An's eyes.
“Ah Mo, Aunt An is useless. She can only raise you to live a rough life like a servant, with these coarse cloth patched clothes…”
Shen Mo pouted. She had indeed misunderstood. She quickly went over to wipe away her tears. "Aunt An, don't cry. Aunt An, look, although there's a patch on my sleeve, it has lotus flowers embroidered by Aunt An. I love it so much. And the shoes, Aunt An specially added a thick layer of cloth to the soles. I feel so warm."
She had experienced hardship before, but compared to being abandoned on the streets, the food, clothing, and other necessities that Mo An provided for her were already very satisfying.
Her small hands were exceptionally soft. Looking at her sensible face, Mo An thought of the deceased Dong Yun, and a few tears welled up in her eyes again.
Tears fell into her palm, and Shen Mo flinched as if burned. She then recalled Rong Yue's cold gaze when he left, and realized just how great the difference was.
In the small bamboo grove.
"Powerful!" "Overbearing," "Arrogant," "Blurred between right and wrong," "Ruthless and merciless"
With each word he uttered, Shen Mo would strike the tree with his palm; the martial arts he had learned in his previous life became a tool for venting his anger at this moment.
Imagine someone doting on you every day, and then one day a similar face suddenly appears and asks: "Who are you?" You have no idea how resentful that feels.
Shen Mo slumped to the ground, unaware that she had completely separated the two people: Shen Yue, who was like a father, and Rong Yue, who was like an ancestor. How subtle!
"Hahaha... What a whimsical little girl." Gu Buju laughed so hard he almost fell over. He had been here for a while and had witnessed Shen Mo's silly act of chopping down the tree.
Twelve- or thirteen-year-old boys are always like this: they like to laugh at girls who are younger than them and who make fools of themselves, and then walk away arrogantly like princes, leaving the little girl squatting there crying.
However, this situation only applies to ordinary people; for Shen Mo and Gu Buju, it is a different story.
"What are you laughing at?" Shen Mo raised her chin defiantly. Having lived in an orphanage, she knew how to earn respect from other children, and even after many years, she had never forgotten it.
“You… how dare a servant’s daughter speak to me like that?” The other person was clearly unaccustomed to the child in shabby clothes standing so forcefully in front of him. “I laughed because I saw something funny, is that any of your business?”
“First of all, servants have the right to speak. Secondly, I am not the ridiculous thing you make me out to be. At least I was able to break this brick once, while you,” Shen Mo looked him up and down and turned his head away, “I’m afraid you’ll never be able to break it in this lifetime!” At that time, Shen Mo did not know that his words spoken in anger would come true many years later. Let’s not talk about Gu Buju’s madness in the future.
"You...you!" Gu Buju was furious. In that brief moment, not only had he been humbled by a mere maid, but he had also been rejected by her. After a moment, his gaze shifted, as if he had caught Shen Mo's weakness. "I believe that as a servant, even if you're poor, you should be poor with dignity. You're full of empty talk, maid..."
Before he could finish speaking, Shen Mo extended her uninjured hand and held it out in front of him. "Want to try?"
Even without anyone saying anything, Gu Buju himself felt a bit strange being threatened by a little girl who wasn't even as tall as his shoulder, holding up a hand with its knuckles still indistinct. Finally, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Come on, do as you please. Just don't cry about your hand hurting later." He suddenly took a step forward, which pushed Shen Mo back several steps.
"Awooo! Awooo!"
Shen Mo swallowed hard as she watched Gu Buju screaming in agony, clutching his left arm. She shouldn't have been angry with a pampered young master of twelve or thirteen, but the grievances Mo An suffered were caused by these people, and the hardships Mo An endured were also caused by them. Coupled with being mocked by him, it was like seeing an annoying person on a bus arrogantly looking down on the elderly, weak, sick, and pregnant. So, she took advantage of her seven-year-old body to indulge in the fantasy of bullying the rich and powerful.
But she dared not stay. As she hurriedly ran home with her short legs, she didn't even dare to look back at Gu Buju, who was howling. People say that the face of an enemy is the easiest to remember. Yes, she was afraid that if she turned around, she would be remembered and then implicate her beloved Mo An.
But she didn't expect that she would return to the small bamboo forest that she had been desperately trying to escape from a few days later. Mo An was depressed because of the trivial matters in the manor, and the only thing the young and incompetent Shen Mo could do was to amuse her and make her life less boring.
She must have a flute!
Yes, as a young lady from a wealthy family in her previous life, how could she not know how to play musical instruments? So she chose to learn the simplest and most unrestrained flute, and mastered it perfectly. At least that's what everyone who heard her say.
The only tool in her hand was scissors, which she had secretly taken from the sewing basket without telling Mo An. After struggling and dawdling for a long time, she finally managed to cut a bamboo stalk with a slightly better section. Shen Mo tried it, frowned, and realized it was completely unusable.
But then the Conch Girl appeared.
But when she saw an exquisite jade flute on the ground, and compared it with the crude bamboo slip in her hand, and with no one around, the adult Shen Mo would never believe that this was a gift from God, but the seven-year-old was willing to believe it!
She picked up the flute to test it, and the music lingered and melodious. She seemed to recall Mo An's happy and contented eyes. How could she resist it!
Shen Mo brought back a flute.
It also brought back a turning point.
Chapter Four Jiang Suying
Shen Mo played her best songs, "Yellow Race" and "Water Town in Dreams," for Aunt An. On the first day, she brought tears to Aunt An's eyes, but Aunt An laughed and said that Shen Mo was really annoying, always playing strange tunes to make her happy.