Sanyue

The girl nodded without speaking.

"But you don't know how to do housework, so you're clearly not someone I can consider."

The girl clenched her fists and widened her eyes. "But I can learn!" she said anxiously.

"From whom?" Ye Fu asked.

"From..." The girl's voice suddenly dwindled. "You, sir..."

"Alas, if I were willing to do those things myself, would I be hiring someone to do them? You're very honest, and you admitted you couldn't do it. But what I need isn't your honesty; I need someone who can do housework," Ye Fu said gently.

Though Ye Fu wasn't willing to keep her, he still did his best to treat her kindly.

"So please, go home," Ye Fu said, turning her down.

The girl grew agitated, as though she had lost something immensely precious. Her eyes reddened, but she bit her lip hard, desperately trying not to shed tears. "Sir, I learn quickly! One day! No! Half a day, half a day at most, and I can do it! I don't eat much either, so I won't be a bother to you, sir. And I don't need wages, not a single penny. You just have to give me a place to stay! Really! Sir, everything I'm saying is true... I cost a little money too. I'm smart and learn quickly. Everyone says I pick things up fast!"

She said a great deal in one breath, her emotions running high. Her fingers pressed hard against the stone table, her knuckles turning white.

Her frail appearance, coupled with her desperate eagerness to win back Ye Fu's favor, inexplicably softened his heart. He really wasn't a person with a heart of stone.

"Tell me, why is a place to stay the only thing you're asking for?" Ye Fu sighed.

The girl suddenly looked despondent. She let out a long breath and unclenched her fists.

"I'm scared..." she murmured the two words dejectedly, her voice thick with tears.

Ye Fu was taken aback. "Scared of what?"

"I... I don't dare go back to where I used to live." She lowered her head, staring blankly at her filthy shoes. "Grandpa Huang, the grown beggar who always looked after me, went out begging one day and never came back. After that day, the other grown beggars started looking at me differently, like I was a meat bun. I'm scared... I'm scared they'll eat me. I don't dare go back." Her voice was very clear. Even when she spoke of these unpleasant things, it remained clear, but so clear that it was almost mournful.

Hearing this, Ye Fu understood what "looking at me differently" really meant. Though the girl was filthy, she wasn't ugly. She was also quite slender, and her frame looked somewhat soft, making it easy for the other beggars to set their sights on her.

Ye Fu himself was actually very averse to such things, and he knew full well what the girl would face if she really went back.

He was about to speak when the girl looked up again and gave a sorrowful smile. "Sir, I understand, really. I know what those grown beggars want to do to me, and I know that if I gave myself to them, I wouldn't have to go out begging for food anymore, but... but I..." At that point, she suddenly began to sob quietly. "I really don't want that. I want to be a clean person."

Ye Fu felt a sharp sensation in his heart, as though it had been pierced. Wanting to be a clean person... Many people had thought that, but very few had managed it.

The girl didn't look very old, only about fifteen or sixteen, but she was unexpectedly sensible and strong. Her last words, "I want to be a clean person," touched Ye Fu. Back then, to earn enough money for university, Ye Fu had carried bricks, delivered packages, and delivered takeout under the scorching summer heat, yet no one had ever felt sorry for him.

Perhaps because he lacked that feeling of being cared for, Ye Fu couldn't help but bestow that same care on the girl.

With Ye Fu's abilities, he could tell whether someone was lying to him. It wasn't much of a skill. The Qi of people and things differed noticeably at different times and when different things were said.

And now he knew that the frail yet strong girl before him wasn't lying to him.

He thought, Perhaps life in this new world can be a little more interesting than I imagined.

Finally, he reached out and patted the girl on the shoulder. Watching her tearful eyes gradually widen, he smiled and said softly, "Don't cry. It doesn't look pretty."

"Sir..."

Ye Fu turned away, curling a pear blossom into his hand, and said with a smile, "You promised to learn the housework in half a day, so don't go taking a whole day to learn it."

The girl behind him stood stunned for a long time before she came to her senses and gave a soft cry. "Ah!"

Chapter 12: Sanyue

"S-sir, did you... really mean that?" The girl's face was full of disbelief.

Ye Fu lay on his back against the pear tree's trunk. He turned his head and asked with a smile, "What do you think?"

When her hopes became reality, they turned entirely into joy that appeared on the girl's face.

Ye Fu saw an expression that could not have been more vivid. The girl's delicate eyebrows seemed to have been infused with life, like winding streams. Only the scar over her right eye was far too conspicuous, cutting across her entire eye socket from top to bottom. Yet that scar, fierce on its own, looked not at all gruesome on her delicate face.

"Then... sir, what should I do?" She seemed eager to throw herself into her first job at once, yet also nervous, terribly afraid she wouldn't do it well.

Ye Fu thought for a moment. "First, tell me your name."

The girl was taken aback. She thought for a moment and said, "I don't have a name, only the surname Qin. People who knew me before all called me Girl Qin. You can call me that too, sir."

Ye Fu waved his hand. "How could I? What kind of name is Girl? It's so awkward to call you that. Never mind, give yourself a name."

"Give myself a name?"

"Have you never thought about it before?"

The girl smiled awkwardly. "Before, I only thought about how to fill my stomach."

"Then give it a try now."

The girl paused, then sighed. "That's too hard for me. Giving myself a name didn't matter when I wasn't thinking about it, but now that I am, it feels so hard."