Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Kindness Was Treated Like Trash

Su Xuan Ming couldn’t refuse Jing Niang in the end. He brought her to the main courtyard to request an audience.

Gu Nan Xi was just about to have fruit soup when they arrived.

“You came at the perfect time,” she said, waving them in. “Remember the best days of the year—when oranges turn yellow and tangerines stay green. If you want soup, just name it.”

This body of hers had probably been ruined by years of harsh dieting. No matter how much she slept or ate now, she couldn’t put on weight.

Lu Mei carried over two stools for Su Xuan Ming and Jing Niang. “Late autumn is the best season for a warm bowl. We have orange soup, dried papaya soup, and smoked plum soup. Young Master, which would you like?”

Su Xuan Ming glanced at Jing Niang and noticed a red pimple blooming on her cheek. He decided for her. “Two bowls of smoked plum soup. It’ll cool the heat.”

“Coming right up.”

Lu Mei led the maidservants away, leaving the three of them in a quieter space.

Outside the window, golden dead leaves spun as they fell.

The sight tugged Gu Nan Xi backward in time. She remembered the middle school where she’d once worked—plane trees lining the track, leaves carpeting the ground the moment autumn wind stirred.

It used to make the students on duty furious. They’d swing their brooms like they were battling an army.

She looked back at Su Xuan Ming and Jing Niang. They were only fifteen or sixteen. In her old life, they would have been sitting in a classroom right now, heads bent over books.

Something in Gu Nan Xi softened, just for a moment.

“Jing Niang,” she said, “how about this… I take you as my adoptive daughter?”

Su Xuan Ming’s eyes flew wide. “Then what about me?”

Gu Nan Xi rarely bothered with kindness, but when she did, she explained it plainly. “Jing Niang is taking on the manor’s chores. Outsiders will talk. If she has the name of an adoptive daughter, their tongues will be easier to swallow.”

Jing Niang’s tears spilled at once. “Madam… are you saying you won’t agree to me and Su Lang? I don’t want the wealth and glory of Marquis Yong Chang Manor. I only want to be with Su Lang.”

Su Xuan Ming’s chest heaved with emotion. “Even if she becomes my adopted sister, I’ll still marry her!”

Gu Nan Xi fell silent.

In truth, she’d only thought this: Marquis Yong Chang Manor was a broken ship. The fewer people who climbed aboard, the better.

She and her children had no way out. Their status chained them to this place. Even if she begged to be cast aside, even if she drove the children out, in the end they’d still be dragged down together.

Jing Niang didn’t need to jump into the fire with them.

If they didn’t want her help, fine. She wouldn’t insist.

She could barely be bothered to save her own life. Speaking up once had already been indulgent.

“Alright,” Gu Nan Xi said at last, sinking back into her bamboo chair. “Then, Jing Niang—what do you want?”

The chair was beautifully made, its curve perfectly fitted to the body. Lu Mei had even layered a thick blanket over it. Lying there was almost sinful.

Jing Niang glanced around, her resolve hardening like stone. “I only want one clear promise from Madam. When Su Lang finishes mourning… will you agree to let him marry me?”

The Kind Mother System shrieked inside Gu Nan Xi’s head. “You can’t agree! The female lead belongs to the male lead! If she marries Su Xuan Ming, how is she supposed to end up with the male lead? Host, stop her—scold her!”

Gu Nan Xi pressed her toe and set the bamboo chair rocking, slow and lazy. “I agree. As long as you two still feel the same when the time comes, I won’t tear you apart.”

If the female lead wanted to board this broken ship, then let her.

People’s fates were their own business. Gu Nan Xi had no interest in saving anyone who didn’t want saving.

Jing Niang and Su Xuan Ming lit up with joy. They held hands and took their leave, thanking her again and again.

The room fell quiet—only Gu Nan Xi and the furious voice in her head remained.

The Kind Mother System sounded half-mad. “What kind of ‘kind mother’ are you? If Su Xuan Ming marries the female lead, the male lead will retaliate and ruin him!”

Gu Nan Xi yawned. “Am I not kind enough? My son is fooling around early and I’m already letting it go. Besides, how much worse can it get?”

She genuinely couldn’t imagine a fate worse than dying horribly.

The Kind Mother System snapped, “Without me you would’ve died already! This life is a free bonus—you have to listen to me!”

Gu Nan Xi’s eyelids drooped. “No. I don’t do emotional blackmail.”

She settled deeper against the blanket. “And yes. This time, I’m going to live well.”

For her, living well meant one thing: doing as little as possible.

The Kind Mother System hissed, desperate. “If the main plot collapses, you and I will both die.”

“Mm.” Gu Nan Xi’s voice blurred with sleep. “We’ll talk about it when it happens.”

Why rush?

The sky hadn’t fallen yet.

Gu Nan Xi went on as if nothing were wrong—sleeping, ordering food, listening to Su Yun Yan spill gossip. When the mood struck, she had people buy storybooks from the market.

Su Yun Yan handed a book to Lu Mei and told her to keep reading aloud: The Pale-Faced Scholar’s Midnight Meeting with a Fox Spirit.

“Mother,” Su Yun Yan said, eyes shining, “Jing Niang has been making sweeping reforms.”

“Mm?” Gu Nan Xi shifted the book off her face.

Su Yun Yan flipped her Thirty-Six Stratagems with a loud rustle. “She says the servants embezzle too much. Eggs cost two coins each in the market, but when they’re sold to the manor, they somehow become four.”

Gu Nan Xi raised a brow. “What else?”

“She’s also saying the servants are too lazy, so she wants performance reviews. Once a month, everyone gets graded—first, second, or third. Even the maids.”

“All of them?” Gu Nan Xi asked.

“Yes. Even Grandmother’s side and Concubine Duan’s side. Grandmother is used to keeping Matron Xing close, so she refused.”

Gu Nan Xi glanced at the servants in the courtyard—standing stiff as posts—and understood at once. “Old Madam got shut down.”

Su Yun Yan frowned, searching her book for a solution and finding none. “Concubine Duan said Jing Niang is using the manor’s money to buy loyalty. Jing Niang answered that the servants’ monthly pay will come out of her own pocket.”

Gu Nan Xi paused, then saw the shape of it. Jing Niang was trying to seize authority by purchasing hearts.

But she didn’t understand one thing: in Marquis Yong Chang Manor, stewarding power was the most poisonous prize of all. Everyone avoided it for a reason.

“Mother,” Su Yun Yan asked helplessly, “if she runs a noble manor like a shop… will it work?”

Gu Nan Xi stood and began to stretch. “Don’t ask me. Use your eyes to watch, your ears to listen, and your brain to think. Whatever you figure out is yours. What I tell you is just wind.”

Even if she wanted to laze around, she needed a body sturdy enough to do it. Otherwise it wasn’t resting—it was rotting.

After days of recuperation, this body had finally regained a little strength. It no longer looked like it might collapse at any breath.

Gu Nan Xi stretched slowly. She barely completed a few movements before sweat dampened her skin.

She didn’t force it. She went back inside to wipe down.

“Mother,” Su Yun Yan asked eagerly, “what were those movements just now?”

At this point, Su Yun Yan looked at Gu Nan Xi as if she wore a halo. Every motion seemed profound.

“Eight-Section Brocade,” Gu Nan Xi said. “Women are nourished by blood. This helps move the blood and strengthen vitality. Practice it too.”

She guided Su Yun Yan through the movements in the room.

This child understood some things the instant they were explained—sharp as a needle.

And in other things… she was hopeless.

A harsh cough tore through the air.

Before the person even appeared, Gu Nan Xi heard the miserable voice. “Mother—please, you have to deal with Jing Niang. She’s going to drive this son to death!”