Being a Clean Person

"Are you here to apply for the job?" Ye Fu asked.

The girl's eyes widened slightly, and she nodded hurriedly. Then she froze and cautiously took a step back.

Seeing her like this, Ye Fu sighed helplessly and said with a quiet chuckle, "I was hoping to find someone who can speak. If you can't, I'm sorry-"

"I can!" The girl's voice, so clear it was almost mournful, cut him off.

Ye Fu laughed aloud, his brows curving helplessly as he said with a hint of reproach, "Then why didn't you speak when I asked you before?"

The girl gritted her teeth and lowered her head.

"If you still won't speak, I'm going to close the door." Ye Fu made a show of lifting his head and stepping back over the threshold.

Ye Fu grasped the door and pushed it shut bit by bit.

The creak of the closing door spurred the girl on, and she finally spoke in a rush. "I saw the paper you posted on the tree, my lord, saying you wanted to hire someone, so I came."

The sentence seemed to take a great deal of effort. Her face and ears were red, and she braced both hands on her knees, gasping for breath.

"Then you should also know that I'm looking for someone around forty. After all, I want someone to do the work." Ye Fu leaned against the door and watched her with a smile.

The girl froze, standing there at a loss, her mouth slightly open. The scar beneath her right eye, which ran across the entire eye socket, creased. A profound sense of regret flowed through her.

That puzzled Ye Fu. Just how much hope had she held to feel such regret and disappointment? For no particular reason, she reminded him of the days when he had just graduated from university, sending résumés to company after company, only to be rejected by every one of them. Somehow, he felt a little of what she was going through.

She bowed deeply. "Sorry to have bothered you, my lord."

The girl then prepared to turn and leave.

"Come in first. It's not as if you don't have a chance."

Ye Fu's words gave the girl immense hope. He watched as she gradually opened her eyes wide, revealing a pair of eyes alight with eager anticipation. Her taut brows relaxed, their slender curves like a stream.

The girl brought home a saying to Ye Fu: "A person full of hope, regardless of their origins, looks, or experience, deserves to be treated kindly."

Ye Fu could not imagine how disappointed she would be if he rejected her again afterward. He somewhat regretted giving her hope. He still felt that something as important as hope was better when it came from one's own heart.

Chapter 11: Being a Clean Person

The girl sat on a stone stool on the side away from the pear tree.

She gazed up, her slightly pale face full of longing for beauty. No girl did not love beauty, especially beauty like the pear tree's.

Faint light flickered among the pear blossoms, and overlapping halos danced in the girl's eyes, dazzling her as though she had stepped into another world. She stared blankly, her mouth slightly open and her somewhat thin lips looking dry.

Clink.

A crisp sound rang out before her as something landed on the stone table.

"Ah!" With a soft cry of realization, she came back to her senses.

A bowl finished in a blue-green glaze sat before her, filled with clear water that was still rippling. The water reflected the girl's slender figure, its image flickering unsteadily.

"So clean." The words slipped out of her for no particular reason. Then she immediately remembered her situation, pressed her lips together, and looked away.

Clean? Ye Fu glanced at the bowl of water. It was only ordinary well water. Could it be that all the water this girl drank before was muddy? Then he remembered that she was a little beggar and wondered no more. For a beggar, a bowl of clean water might be hard to come by.

"Your lips look dry. Have some water," Ye Fu said softly. He sat on a stone stool beside the pear tree, which swayed gently behind him and leaned over to serve as his backrest.

"It's for me to drink?" The girl's eyes were full of doubt. Then, as if realizing something, she widened her eyes and leaned back. "Ah!" she cried softly again. "That pear tree! It moved!"

Ye Fu smiled. "It didn't move. You saw wrong."

"Really?"

"Of course."

The girl nodded, only half understanding. Then she said, "My lord, I can't. That bowl looks like it's worth a lot of copper coins. I'm afraid I'll get it dirty."

Ye Fu shook his head. "No, you're very clean, cleaner than most people I've seen."

The girl looked troubled. She thought he must be saying that to comfort her; anyone could see the grime on her. For no particular reason, she was a little moved, and her nose tingled. She thought that this lord truly was kindhearted: not only did he not look down on her for being a beggar, but he had also given her water to drink.

It was only natural that the girl could not understand what Ye Fu meant. He had spoken the truth: she was cleaner than most people he had seen.

This seemingly ordinary girl shone with pure qualities:

She stood amid filth without soiling herself; life had treated her unfairly, yet she held no resentment; she knew people's malice, yet felt no hatred; she lived in despair, yet was full of hope.

With such a heart, exquisite and crystal clear, Ye Fu knew that if she embarked on the path of immortal cultivation, she would surely shine brilliantly.

Unfortunately, she had been born without a Dantian or Purple Mansion and could not cultivate immortality.

While Ye Fu was lost in thought,

The girl gently picked up the bowl and, with great care, took a sip. She drank no more, setting the bowl down and looking at Ye Fu expectantly.

Ye Fu did not say anything else. He asked directly, "Can you do housework? Things like washing clothes, cooking, and sweeping."

That was what mattered to Ye Fu. He could not interfere with the state of the girl's body; he could only concern himself with matters that involved him.

The girl froze and thought for quite a while before saying quietly, "I... I have been homeless since I was little. I don't know how to do housework."

Ye Fu murmured thoughtfully, his fingers stopping their tapping on the stone table.

The girl grew nervous, her heart leaping into her throat.

"Hmm... You should have seen that the paper I posted said, 'Seeking someone to manage household chores.'"