A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 16 Returning home to be punished and falling ill again

On the day of the gunfight, Gui'er and Song Xichen returned home late. When they arrived at the Song Mansion, Gui'er hurried to change out of her school uniform before going to the front hall to serve the eldest young master dinner.

When she arrived at the front hall, everyone was already seated. Gui'er had no choice but to lower her head and quietly come up behind Song Xichen. Nanny Zhou saw this but said nothing, but Third Aunt Chunhong glanced at her and said, "Xichen, servants still need to be taught well. What's the big deal about arriving later than the master?"

Song Xichen looked up at her and said, "Auntie is right. I will definitely teach you well in the future."

Chunhong became excited the next day: "Don't wait until later, there is a chance now. What's your name?" She asked Guier with a smile.

"To answer Third Madam's question, my name is Gui'er." Gui'er answered with a stiff face.

"Oh, here's what you do. Cuicui, go get a soup bowl and fill it with water. Have Gui'er hold it above her head and kneel at the door of the front hall for an hour." Third Madam Chunhong said in a very gentle voice.

Soon, her maid Cuicui brought a large soup bowl filled with water and handed it to Guier.

Gui'er had only seen this kind of punishment on TV before. The soup bowl itself weighed several pounds, and it must have been uncomfortable to lift it above her head while kneeling. But there was no other way, so she had to take the bowl and do as she was told.

Originally thinking that she was just a little tired, Gui'er ignored the fact that her body was only that of a nine-year-old child. She felt tired before she had even knelt for a few seconds. The hand holding the bowl above her head also began to tremble. As it trembled, the water in the bowl overflowed and poured down on Gui'er's head. Gui'er looked extremely embarrassed.

The servants who were working outside the front hall saw her like this and some of them started laughing.

The masters in the front hall were still having dinner as usual. After finishing their meal, they each led their servants back to their own rooms, leaving Gui'er alone kneeling there with a bowl of soup on her head. Gui'er thought that Song Xichen would at least help her out after finishing his meal, after all, she was his personal maid, but Song Xichen walked straight past her.

Gui'er had to use all her strength to prevent the bowl of soup from falling, but her hands still couldn't stop shaking. The water in the bowl poured down again and again, soaking Gui'er like a drowned chicken. She secretly made up her mind that after she had studied for a few more years and had the ability to be independent in this world, she would definitely leave the Song family.

Although she was very grateful to the Song family for saving her from the brothel and bandits and protecting her from being ravaged, it was impossible for her to get respect and equality in a society with deep class concepts.

Gui'er knelt there the whole time, and no one reminded her whether it was time or not, until it was completely dark. She knew that it must be more than an hour, so she slowly put her hands down. Her hands were already a little numb, and her arms were shaking when she put them down. She tried to bring the soup bowl close to her arms, using the force to slowly move it down to avoid breaking it.

Only after she placed the bowl safely on the ground did Guier slowly stand up, supporting herself with her hands. Her knees were red and swollen from kneeling, and she walked with a limp.

Gui'er took the soup bowl to the kitchen and returned it to Aunt Zhang. Aunt Zhang felt sorry for her because she looked like a drowned rat. She took out a towel and wiped her clean. Then she said apologetically, "There were a few steamed buns left in the kitchen, but the Song Mansion has a rule that servants who are punished will not have any food if they exceed the time limit, so I can't give them to you."

Gui'er forced a smile on her pale face and said, "It's okay, I understand. Thank you, Aunt Zhang." Then she turned and was about to leave.

Aunt Zhang suddenly called her over and looked around. Seeing no one was around, she said to her, "Let me serve you a bowl of porridge. If there's just a little less porridge, they won't be able to tell."

Then she asked Gui'er to sit on a wooden stool, and she lifted the lid of the pot and scooped out a large bowl of porridge. It was called porridge, but it was actually rice soup. Aunt Zhang used a spoon to cover the mouth of the bowl, tilted the bowl to pour the rice soup back a little, and scooped out some more rice. This time it looked more like a bowl of porridge.

Aunt Zhang took out a bowl of pickled vegetables, picked a little into the porridge, put it on the table in front of Guier and said, "Come on, I don't know if you will be back soon after the holiday, so hurry up and eat."

Gui'er's hands were still shaking, but she was really hungry. She picked up the spoon and drank it eagerly, spoonful by spoonful.

Seeing Gui'er like this, Aunt Zhang sighed and said, "The rules of the Song Mansion are indeed very strict. When Third Madam Chunhong entered the Song Mansion, she was only a few years older than you, and she also suffered a lot of injustices. Now that she's the mistress, she's turned around and started to torture others."

Gui'er didn't say anything. She knew that even if she told Aunt Zhang, she wouldn't understand what it meant that the dragon-slaying boy finally became a dragon. She quickly finished a bowl of porridge, thanked Aunt Zhang, and ran back to the eldest young master's courtyard. She was worried that she would be scolded if she went back late.

As soon as she entered the yard, a gust of wind blew towards her. She couldn't help shivering and sneezing. She felt a slight pain on her forehead, which might be caused by pouring cold water on the wound just now. She thought to herself that something was wrong.

When she walked into the house, the eldest young master was reading a newspaper. When he saw her come back, he put the newspaper aside, stretched himself, and said, "It's time to rest."

Guier quickly walked over to the young master and helped him take off his coat and change his clothes. Her hair was completely wet and her clothes were half wet. The young master frowned and said, "No need, go change your clothes." Then he shouted to the door, "Someone help me change my clothes."

Ah Xiang, who was guarding outside the door, hurried in and said with a smile, "Okay, young master." Then she reached out to unbutton Song Xichen's clothes.

Song Xichen instinctively dodged her outstretched hand, looked at her, sighed, shook his head and said, "No need, you can go out." Then he turned and walked into his bedroom.

It was not until then that Guier breathed a sigh of relief. She silently returned to her small room, took out a set of clothes to change, untied her braids, found a dry towel, and tried her best to dry her hair. However, there was no hair dryer here, so her hair certainly would not dry so quickly. She felt her head getting heavier and heavier, but there was no way, so she had to lie on the bed with wet hair, wrapped her body tightly with the quilt as much as possible, and prayed that she would not get sick.

The next day, Song Xichen got up and still hadn't seen the little one in front of him. Feeling a little strange, he asked his attendants, "Have you seen Gui'er?"

The other servants all said, "No."

Song Xichen was a little puzzled. He turned and went to the small room next to his bedroom. When he opened the door, he saw Guier lying on the bed, sleeping soundly. Song Xichen walked to Guier's bed, but she didn't notice him at all. He could even hear her hissing breathing.

Song Xichen scratched his head and wanted to wake her up, but suddenly felt something was wrong. He reached out and touched her forehead. It was very hot, and the wound on her forehead was a little swollen. It must be inflamed. Without saying a word, Song Xichen wrapped Gui'er in the quilt and strode out of the yard, shouting, "Agang, go drive the car over here."

Then, in the surprised eyes of many servants, he drove Guier to the hospital.