Chapter 002: Soft and Hard Combined to Deceive the Young Girl

  On the east side of Shuyuan County, besides the weeping willows swaying in the wind by the lake, there is a large manor. This is the home of the Huo family, and Huo Qing, Huo Hai's "father", has become the most prominent landlord in this area after struggling for half his life.

  In front of the large gate with golden studs, a father and daughter stood. Lin Lao Han brought Lin Shuang Er to report for duty. Lin Lao Han looked very excited: "Shuang Er, from now on you will be a servant in a wealthy household, no longer a poor person, do you understand? You must repay Mr. Huo Xiu Cai well! Not only is he incredibly talented, but also a good person, truly a rare talent in our Shu Yuan County!"

  "Got it, Dad!" Lin Shuang'er replied with a red face, her heart involuntarily feeling depressed. She was clearly taken advantage of by Huo Xiao, but her own father actually told her to repay him properly. Who did he think he was, anyway?

  When Lin's father and daughter entered the door, someone had already informed Huo Jiao. He pretended to be in a hurry to come to the main gate to greet them. In fact, he hadn't told his "father" about this matter yet. Whether or not he said it was irrelevant anyway. After all, he didn't take that old man seriously at all.

  Several servants led the way in front, followed by several maidservants, and they arrived at the Water Paradise on the east side of the Ho family's garden. It was called the Water Paradise because when the Ho family built their estate, they specifically constructed the eastern garden on top of a corner of the Wangyue Lake.

  In the garden, stone bridges and pavilions intersect with each other, and artificial hills stand tall. The surroundings are surrounded by green trees, and hundreds of flowers compete for beauty. The water surface can be said to be the most beautiful garden in the Ho family garden.

  Huo's family would entertain friends or receive scholars here, with the lake's beauty and mountain colors, green trees shading, and flowers fragrant everywhere, which indeed gives people a pleasant feeling.

  Huǒ Jià chose to meet Lin's father and daughter here, on the one hand, to show Hu family's sincerity in accepting Lin Shuang'er, and also to show off Young Master's elegance.

  "Mr. Lin, Miss Lin, I was originally planning to bring a sedan chair to welcome you, but didn't expect you both to arrive so soon! Not being able to welcome you from afar is truly impolite!" With Huo Xiao's experience in receiving guests, it was easy for him to deceive this honest and simple-minded father-daughter pair.

  "Ho Xiucai, no, it should be Young Master Ho, you're being too polite. We poor people can't afford such courtesy! Lin'er being able to serve in the manor is already a blessing from our ancestors' graves! What more could we ask for without losing all sense of shame?" Old Man Lin smiled, revealing two rows of uneven yellow teeth.

  On the other side, Lin Shuang'er didn't say a word, lowering her head and occasionally glancing at the handsome scholar standing in front of her, her face began to flush red, the anger hadn't dissipated yet, but a confused feeling arose in her heart.

  What kind of person is this young man in front of me? Why did he wrong himself and yet he doesn't have any resentment towards him?

  Everyone sat down in the pavilion in the center of the garden, a cool breeze blew by, and ripples appeared on the surface of the lake. Lin Laohan was talking non-stop there, while Huo Xiao was staring at Lin Shuang'er with a sly gaze.

  I remember that night, she walked out of the bathtub after washing up, with fine water droplets wandering on her fair skin as white as jade. Her twin peaks were slightly pink, and everything was perfect.

  Thinking of this, he started swallowing saliva, if it were in the era of opening *** , that night she would have absolutely escaped his palm.

  Little girl, you even put on lipstick today, and it seems like there's a trace of rouge on your face. Your clothes are neat and clean, although they're not very new.

  It seems that little girl is specially dressed up today, Huo Hai muttered to himself, his own *** her things are probably over now, she should also be moved by this, that's good, life will be beautiful in the future!

  The family servant next to him pushed Huo back, and only then did he realize that Old Man Lin had stopped talking and was staring at him with his eyes wide open, staring at his own 'daughter'.

  Lin Lao Han didn't get angry, instead he smiled slyly, as if to say "keep looking, take a few more glances, it's no big deal". Huo Xiao felt that Lin Lao Han was just like the boss of a brothel, eager for customers to take a few more looks at his daughter.

  The servants around were also surprised, it seemed that their young master had never been so 'colorful' before, it looked like the young master had grown up!

  "Hmm, Huo Qi deliberately coughed, currently being the young master of the Huo family, how could he not have any rules? Would Huo Qing still give all the family property to him in the future?"

  He nodded slightly to his family servant beside him. The servant understood and stuffed a silver ingot into Old Lin's hand!

  Old Lin's eyes gleamed with green light as he saw the silver, and he muttered to himself: "Young Master Huo is too polite, how can we accept his money? It's a blessing for Er Niang to work here, how can we take your silver?"

  The whisper was very small, afraid that the voice would be too loud and the silver would be taken back. Lin old man hugged the silver, and the wrinkles on his face seemed to show a smile.

  On the other side, Lin Shuang'er let out a soft "ah" of surprise. It seemed that she was astonished that Mr. Huo had given her father so much silver. With the sensitive thinking of a girl, she judged that Mr. Huo, the great scholar, actually cared about her. How could she not be excited?

  "I, Huo Lie, am a man of my word. Here, Lin Lao Han, take this silver and in the future, Lin Gu Niang can work in my study. This way, I can also take care of her more conveniently!" After finishing speaking, Huo Lie stood up to leave, "I still have books to read and paintings to do, so I won't keep you company, Lin Lao Han, forgive me!"

  I couldn't help but mutter to myself, I will definitely take good care of your 'daughter', the little girl looks so lovely!

  "Huo Xiuzai must study hard, old man is a rough person doesn't need to accompany him too much. Lin Er, quickly go and attend to Xiuzai's studies, in the future be more diligent with your hands and feet, do you understand?" Lin Lao Han shouted loudly while looking at the departing Huo Xiao, and smiled as he instructed Lin Shuang Er.

  Lin Shuang'er responded with a soft "oh" and slowly followed Huo Ji to the south of the Huo Manor, where there were two gardens. One was Zhilin, the Huo family's academy, which was probably as big as a current middle school. The other was Xiuxi Garden, literally meaning "resting garden", where members of the Huo family rested and slept.

  The south side of the manor is warm in winter and cool in summer, which is naturally where the Huo family reads books and rests. In order to encourage Huo Xiao to read the classics, the Huo family decided that his daily life would be spent in Zhilin.

  Huò Jiā arrived at Zhì Lín, and a little girl inside had already run out quickly. She was called Mèng Dié, his personal maid. When he first crossed over to this era, the first person he saw was her. He even thought that *** had brought in a new girl, and couldn't help but touch her a few times.

  It's better if he didn't touch her. Once he touched this little girl, she became stuck to him like glue and followed him around every day!

  The little girl's appearance may not be as stunning as Lin Shuang'er, but she has a quirky and charming personality that has completely captivated Huo. He feels that this little girl is like an old hen in terms of experience, although she can't bring visual surprises, she can still provide tactile ones.

  "Master, you're back! It's been a long time since I've heard you recite poetry. Meng Die seems to be feeling uneasy all over, hurry up and recite some poetry!" Meng Die rushed up with light steps, one hand helping Huo Xiao massage his back, the other holding a paper umbrella, as waves of fragrant wind wafted towards him.

  "Young master is not in the mood to recite poetry today!" Although he was used to being served by women before, Dream Butterfly was still a maiden after all, and it gave him a different feeling.

  Even so, he didn't show it, ***'s experience made the cunning him understand that in order for a man to win over all the beautiful women around him, he must achieve two things.

  It's all about finding ways to attract them, Meng Die was attracted by Huo Ruo's poetic and artistic charm, while Lin Shuang'er was attracted by his *

  Another point is that after attracting all the beauties to your side, you should intentionally keep them at a distance, so they will constantly show their charm to win you over, and then a comfortable life will follow.

  If you pander to every woman, then you can't even handle one!

  Huò Jiǎo's philosophy had indeed taken effect, for his haughty attitude towards Meng Die not only failed to provoke her anger but instead made her even more affectionate. She quickly rushed into the study, wiping down the desk and brewing tea, as if she was feeling guilty about her unreasonable demands earlier and trying to make amends.

  Most importantly, it gave Lin Shuang'er a warning, if even the lovely Meng Die didn't gain his appreciation, then that means she would have to put in even more effort in the future to gain his favor.

  "Meng Die, let me introduce her to you. Her name is Lin Shuang'er, and she will be serving me in the study just like you. You should prepare a place for her to live immediately and tell her the necessary rules. In the future, you two must get along well, do you understand?" Huo Lie said while eating the fruit on the table.

  "Got it!" Meng Die responded softly, her eyes fixed on the girl in front of her who was a few points more beautiful than herself, as if blaming him for not composing poetry for her because of this little girl.

  "Hello, just call me Shuang'er from now on!" As a newcomer, Lin Shuang'er naturally had to be more proactive, so that she could live better here in the future.

  "Hello, just call me Meng Die!" Meng Die responded listlessly, which made Lin Shuang Er feel a bit helpless and resentful.

  One side's Huo Lie had already seen and understood it in his heart that the two little girls were at odds with each other, and there would be a good show to watch later.

  In the past, when he was at *** , such things often happened. He found that sometimes the infighting between women and women can be quite interesting, especially when they fight for men, it's like a spring breeze blowing war drums and thunder. I'm a shrewd woman, who am I afraid of!

  "Alright, from now on, one of you will be in charge of the study and the other will be in charge of the bedroom. However, to be fair, I've decided to implement a rotation system. Today, you'll be in charge of the bedroom and she'll be in charge of the study, but tomorrow it'll be the opposite. Do you both understand?" Huo Hai's move was brilliant! This would intensify the competition between the two "girls", and the more fiercely they competed, the more comfortable his life would become!

  "I understand!" The two little girls chimed in unison, as if neither of them was willing to back down!

  Smelling the sandalwood scent in the study, Huo Wei couldn't help but think of the smell of cigarettes. In the past, he would smoke several packs of Red Pagoda Mountain a day. Now that he had arrived in the Tang Dynasty, he hadn't even seen any tobacco, let alone smoked any, and as a result, he hadn't slept soundly for several nights!

  "Master, the old master has arrived!" A servant relayed the message!