Chapter 342 Concealment

Chapter 342: Keeping Secrets

"When you have some free time, have somebody put up a sign at the gate of the Charity School, saying that all the kids there have been re-registered with the authorities. No matter what they were called before, from now on they all bear the surname Meng. If anyone dares to cause trouble again, just report them to the cops as human traffickers—don't go trying to scare them off on your own." Meng Wan stood before the carriage, instructing Huang Zheng.

There were always those lowlife types who didn't want to raise their own xiaoge or daughters, dumping their kids at the Charity School's door. If they really couldn't afford to raise the kid, that's one thing—but if they were purely trying to take advantage like Black Girl's parents, then they'd regret it.

Huang Zheng hastily replied, "Got it, Sister-in-law. I'll get right on it."

Xiao E popped his head out from behind him, giving a sweet smile. "Sister-in-law, I bought some snacks for the two kids—why don't you bring them along?" After eating that big pot meal with Meng Wan yesterday, he suddenly felt a lot closer to this powerful relative of his. Meng Wan wasn't anything like the other officials' husbands in Changping Prefecture.

He called out to Huang Zheng, all soft and sweet, and Huang Zheng smiled at him, took the basket, and carried it over to A Yan's carriage.

"Wow, is this one of those Jiangren dolls?" A Yan exclaimed happily, spotting two cloth dolls in the pile of snacks.

Tong'er picked one up to check it out. "No, it's softer than a Jiangren doll."

Xiao E's face turned red. He said to Meng Wan, a little embarrassed, "I don't know what a Jiangren doll is. I saw how much A Yan loved his doll, so I tried sewing two cloth ones for him and Tong'er."

Meng Wan didn't expect him to have such a talent. He knocked on A Yan's carriage window. "Say thank you to your little uncle's husband."

The two kids said together, "Thanks, little uncle's husband."

Huang Zheng was supposed to see Meng Wan and the others out of the city, but the carriage had barely left the alley when someone stopped them—the Changping Prefect's wife.

Meng Wan and Chang Jinhua both had the title of First-rank Dame. The Prefect's wife first paid her respects to Chang Jinhua, then said she hadn't expected Meng Wan to leave so soon—she'd wanted to throw him a banquet and all that polite stuff.

It wasn't just empty talk. In the two or three days since Meng Wan got back, he'd barely had a moment to rest, running all over the place. By the time the city officials found out who he was, he was already getting ready to leave.

She'd come to make sure Meng Wan wouldn't hold their bad manners against them. The Prefect's wife also sent two cartloads of gifts—who knows what was in them, but they were surely stuffed with gold and silver.

Meng Wan declined, politely making it clear he wouldn't get mad over such a small thing.

Seeing he was eager to get home, the Prefect's wife tactfully backed off.

At the end of June, right before the worst of the summer heat, Chang Jinhua finally made it back to the hometown she'd missed for so long. On the road into town, rocks had fallen from the mountain during the recent rains—people could get through, but carriages couldn't. They had to take a detour around the town, and brought Yu Geer, who'd come back with them, to Sanquan Village.

The village hadn't changed much—same fields, same crops. But looking closer, changes were everywhere: several families had put up new blue-brick houses, and at the edge of the village, a patch of flat ground had been leveled, and a small courtyard had been built on it—like a siheyuan, with rooms on all four sides, including the gatehouse. The clear sound of kids reading drifted out from inside.

As they passed, Meng Wan looked closely and saw a plaque above the gate with four characters: "Song Clan Academy"—written with real flair.

Meng Wan helped Chang Jinhua down from the carriage. She was drenched in sweat and exhausted, but her spirits were high. "When I left, I never thought I'd be gone this long. The bedding we left at home must be ruined by now."

"Throw out the old stuff—we've got new bedding from Changping that'll work just fine." Meng Wan helped her to the doorstep to rest. The house keys were still with Zhang Xiaoyu's family, so he'd have to take Chi Yu to go get them.

The northern countryside was totally different from the south. Chi Yu found everything new and exciting. "Husband, you and the master used to live in this village? Did you two know each other as kids?"

Meng Wan didn't feel much attachment to Sanquan Village. He only cared about the family he had with Chang Jinhua and Song Tingzhou.

"We met later. Your master even had a former fiancé." Meng Wan said with a sly smile.

Chi Yu's cheerful face immediately fell. He'd gotten smarter now, sneaking a peek at Meng Wan's expression like a squirrel about to steal a walnut, which made Meng Wan laugh.

"Second uncle's husband, you home?"

The village was small—just a few steps from their place to Zhang Xiaoyu's. The gate was open wide, the entire courtyard renovated, with a newly built brick house. Four or five kids were playing in the yard, and when they heard Meng Wan calling, they all turned to look at him.

"Song Tao'er, your relatives are here!" A xiaoge poked the seven or eight-year-old girl beside him.

Song Tao'er was covered in dirt, sweating and wiping her face with her hands, smearing it like a little tabby cat. The other kids looked the same, abandoning their play to stare at Meng Wan without blinking.

The villagers were all rough country folk in coarse clothing. These kids had grown up in the village, at most going to the town market during New Year—where would they ever have seen someone as refined and elegant as Meng Wan?

Song Tao'er's mouth fell open. "My relatives? You... you're looking for my dad? Who are you people?"

Meng Wan smiled. "I'm your cousin's wife. Is your dad home?"

"Cousin's wife?" Song Tao'er thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up. "Ah, I know who you are! You're from the capital—you're the husband of my big cousin, the High Official!"

"Tao'er, what are you yelling about? I can hear you from the mountain! Not a shred of girlish decorum—who's going to want you when you grow up?" Zhang Xiaoyu and Song Youcai came back from weeding the fields, exhausted, barely able to straighten their backs. After scolding his daughter, he looked up abruptly to see Meng Wan standing there and thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

"Wan Geer? How are you back? And who's this?"

"Come inside and sit—your second uncle and I are covered in dirt... go in and have some water first."

Zhang Xiaoyu was half excited, half flustered, stumbling over his words.

Meng Wan was worried about Chang Jinhua waiting while exhausted, so he quickly explained his purpose. "Second uncle, second uncle's husband, I just arrived and haven't even gotten through the door yet. I'll come visit you properly tomorrow once the house is sorted. My mother's waiting at the doorstep—I need to get the keys and hurry back to open the house for her."

The more Meng Wan experienced over the years, the more steady he became. Sometimes one could even see traces of Song Tingzhou's composed maturity in him—no longer the lively, clever xiaoge of Zhang Xiaoyu's memory, nor the one who used to talk back to him.

"Alright, I'll get them right away. Your aunt will come over later to help you all settle in." Seeing his urgency, Song Youcai hurried inside to fetch the keys.

Meng Wan took the keys and left, saying only that he and Chang Jinhua would come visit tomorrow.

Song Second Uncle and Zhang Xiaoyu stood at the courtyard gate to see him off, only rushing back inside to wash up and change clothes once Meng Wan was out of sight. Song Tao'er had lost all interest in playing with her friends and pestered her parents with questions about Meng Wan.

"Dad, is that cousin's wife the one married to the big official in the capital?"

"Why is he so good-looking!"

"Dad, are you going to Aunt's house later? I want to go too!"

...

When Meng Wan returned, seven or eight villagers had already gathered in front of his house—neighbors who lived nearby. They were warm and curious, speaking to Chang Jinhua with exaggerated politeness, even lowering their voices.

"Uncles and aunties, the house is too messy today and needs a good cleaning. Please come visit another day!" Meng Wan walked over with a smile, unlocked the door, and smoothly separated the curious villagers from the exhausted Chang Jinhua.

"Mother, go inside and rest." His polite but distant demeanor successfully sent the curious neighbors on their way.

One carriage after another drove into the courtyard. After unloading goods and compartments, the horses were led into the stable—which was small, barely fitting three horses. Song Qiao tied the remaining two in the pigpen and chicken coop, then grabbed a sickle and went outside to cut grass for feed.

Though the newly built house had sat unoccupied for years, the courtyard had no weeds. A few roof tiles may have been damaged, with replacements slightly darker than the originals.

The window paper was also fresh, with no old grime—someone must have replaced it every year.

Wei Ying and Yunque followed Meng Wan's instructions to first prepare Chang Jinhua's room, laying out brand-new bedding brought from Changping so she could rest. The bedding used on the road was dirty and needed to be washed. Zhifan and Zhimao helped tidy the rooms as well—the side rooms and rear rooms were sufficient, but bedding needed to be laid out everywhere since everyone would be sleeping tonight.

The rice in the carriage was running low, but there was still a small bag of flour. Jin Gu went to the kitchen to tidy up and knead dough for noodles for everyone's dinner.

Meng Wan organized the luggage with Huang Ye, with Yu Geer helping as well. Because they'd left the capital in such a hurry, they hadn't brought much—most of the supplies had been purchased in Changping.

Everyone had their tasks, busy but orderly. That left Chi Yu with the job of watching the kids.

"Chi Yu-gege, can I spar with you?" Tong'er asked seriously, looking up at him.

Chi Yu ruffled his fluffy head. "Sure."

A Yan: "..."

In the time it took him to turn around, the two of them were already fighting.

The yard was cluttered with all sorts of things, and now they were playing outside the door on the dirt road. Tong'er executed a sweeping leg kick, and A'yan kicked up a cloud of dust.

A'yan spat "pfft, pfft" a couple of times, holding a silk figurine in his left arm and a cotton doll in his right, moving a bit farther away from them.

"What... what are you... holding?" a stammering voice came from behind.

A'yan turned around—he had backed up to the neighbor's doorway. A young lad, five or six years older than him, was hiding behind the door pillar, sneaking peeks at him, or more precisely, at the doll in his arms.

"This is my Chang'e fairy." A'yan had worn out all the fine trinkets at home, but his favorite was still the silk figurine. He had more than one, having wheedled and begged Song Tingzhou to secretly buy them for him. The one in his arms now was one of his most treasured pieces—a Chang'e fairy draped in white gauze.

The dangling hairpins and beaded ornaments on the figurine's head were exquisite, her clothes sewn from the finest fabric, and the rabbit in her arms looked almost real, its eyes set with rubies that sparkled in the sunlight. The young lad was full of envy, his eyes going wide.

"C-can I... touch it?" The longing in his eyes was almost tangible.

A'yan was bored and wanted someone to play with. "Of course..." Seeing the lad's eyes suddenly light up, he grinned slyly and added, "Not allowed."

The lad, teased like that, nearly burst into tears, tears welling up in his eyes and threatening to spill over.

A'yan wasn't very sympathetic. "You're crying on your own, so you can't go telling the adults later, got it?" Honestly, such a big lad and still so prone to tears—what a bore.

He didn't want to play with him, but boredom drove him to at least chat.

The lad nodded blankly, forcing back the tears in his eyes.

A'yan conned him into playing for ages, yet wouldn't let the lad so much as touch his silk figurine, not even the cotton doll.

"Xing'er, who are you playing with? Time to eat!" A young woman's voice came from the neighboring courtyard.

The lad looked reluctantly at the figurine in A'yan's arms. "I need to go home. I'll come find you to play tomorrow."

A'yan waved him off, neither agreeing nor objecting. He wanted to see if there were other playmates around—he felt this one was a bit dim.

Chi Yu and Tong'er came back covered in dust from their fight and each went off to wash up. A'yan washed his hands and sat at the dinner table waiting for everyone.

Everyone was tired today, and with no meat dishes on hand, they simply had noodles.

Chang Jinhua had dozed off briefly but, with something weighing on her mind, hadn't slept deeply. She ate two small bowls of noodles and said to Meng Wan, who was eating unhurriedly, "Wan'er, tomorrow morning let's go to town and see your grandmother. It's been so many years since I've seen her, and I can't stop thinking about her."

Meng Wan's hand, holding his chopsticks, paused. "Rest tomorrow. I'll go to town in the morning to pick up Grandmother, and I'll take Yu'er home on the way."

Yu'er wanted to say something at the table but was silenced by a look from Meng Wan. He needed to first check on the situation at the Chang family before gradually revealing things to Chang Jinhua.

After the meal, Zhang Xiaoyu showed up right on the dot. He was afraid Meng Wan might think he'd come to freeload a meal, and seeing that the house was all tidied up, he didn't have the nerve to stay long—just left a basket of homegrown greens and went.

Early the next morning, Chi Yu hitched up the cart, and Meng Wan boarded with Yu'er and Huang Ye, bringing along a few bolts of cloth to keep up appearances.

"Cousin-in-law, Grandmother... she passed away five years ago. My parents, to keep the silver you sent each year, hid it from you all along." Yu'er's face and neck turned bright red, his head bowed, not daring to meet Meng Wan's gaze.

Meng Wan had expected this, responding with a cool, indifferent "Mm."

Arriving at the Chang house in town, no one was there. Yu'er searched everywhere but couldn't find his mother; asking around, he learned she hadn't come back at all. His sister-in-law had returned from the county seat once, but also in a hurry.

Yu'er was beside himself, while Meng Wan boldly inspected the place. The roof had new tiles, the furniture and cabinets were freshly made. In the room where Grandmother had lived, besides new furniture, there was a spotless chamber pot and neatly arranged bedding—it seemed the Chang family dared not use that room and had kept it as it was.

The walls were clean, with no bloodstains or marks. Meng Wan opened the cabinet to find two full compartments of neat clothing, all from Grandmother's younger days. Inside was also a red cloth bundle, which opened to reveal a pair of silver bracelets Chang Jinhua had bought for her.

Seeing his actions, Yu'er quickly said, "My parents didn't dare touch Grandmother's things—they kept them all properly. No one has lived in that room."

"How did Grandmother die? Did she suffer?" Meng Wan picked up the silver bracelets and tucked them away himself.

Yu'er noticed but said nothing—the items were bought by his aunt in the first place, and the money his cousin and cousin-in-law had sent over the years far exceeded the value of those bracelets. "About a year after you left, Grandmother fell while using the chamber pot. She was old, and the doctor didn't dare set the bone, so she was bedridden. Sister-in-law took care of her. After half a year with no improvement, she... she passed."

The Changs' son and daughter-in-law had bought a house in the county seat but never dared move in. Yu'er's sister-in-law had a conscience, unwilling to abandon her mother-in-law, and cared for her until Chang's grandmother died before moving to the county.

The Chang family was terrified—afraid Chang Jinhua would blame them for not caring for her properly and cut off the money. The aunt and uncle stayed behind, counting on the silver Meng Wan sent each year. If any outsider came to visit, the aunt would pull in the old woman next door, hide her under the blankets pretending to be the grandmother, pay her a few coppers, and since visitors wouldn't dare peer too closely, they'd been pulling the wool over people's eyes for years.