Chapter 7: Rules of the Fu Family.

Ding ding ding, ding ding ding.

The knocking on the door woke up Yu He.

Yu He swore that he was not a person with particularly low quality, although he could not say that he had a lot of quality, there was still some quality in him.

But after staying up late and suffering from insomnia, he had just fallen asleep and was awakened by the noise. Even the most gentlemanly person would not be able to help but curse the other person and their whole family in their heart.

At this moment, a long string of curses ran through Yu He’s mind. He irritably lifted the quilt and covered his head, using his hands to cover his ears.

Out of consideration for his own identity, Yu He didn’t lock the door, making it convenient for Fu Yunzheng to come in and ‘indulge’ him at any time. But listening to the persistent knocking, Yu He subconsciously felt that it was not Fu Yunzheng.

If it were Fu Yunzheng knocking, the rhythm would be slower.

Like this: dang, dang, dang.

Slow and steady is a sign of mastery. The experts always speak in a deliberate and unhurried manner, contemplating the entire game before making their next move. They never act impatiently like this.

Ding ding ding, ding ding ding, ding ding ding.

It’s like someone is rushing to save a life, even more annoying than a bell tolling.

With irritation, Yu He kicked off his comforter and hoarsely asked, “Who’s there?”

A woman’s voice came from outside the door, “Young Master, it’s time for lunch.”

So it turned out that she was calling him to eat.

Suppressing his irritation, Yu He replied, “Just a moment.”

He didn’t like to wear clothes while sleeping and used to lock the door when he was at the Yu residence as he slept. At this moment, he was only wearing loose sleeping shorts so when he heard the voice of a woman outside, Yu He quickly grabbed his shirt and put it on.

Yu He stepped on the ground barefoot and opened the door,  “I’m not eating, and you don’t have to call me for dinner either.”

There was a middle-aged woman in uniform standing outside the door.

She is about forty years old, with her hair tied in a low bun, high cheekbones, and sharp eyes, giving people a sense of harshness.

Upon hearing what Yin He said, she instinctively retorted, “How can you not eat?”

The woman stretched her neck and looked inside the room. Seeing that the bed was messy and the curtains were drawn in the room, she frowned and said, “What time is it and you’re still sleeping?”

Yu He slightly turned his body to block the woman’s sight and said, “I’m not hungry.”

“I’m the head maid of the Fu family, Li Jing. You can call me Sister Li,” said Li Jing as she pushed past him and walked into his room, heading straight for the master bedroom. She lifted her hand and pulled open the curtains, and the dazzling sunlight instantly poured in.

Yu He squinted his eyes at the dazzling sunlight and saw a brilliant and intricate pattern of light spots. He heard a sneer from Li Jing and she continued to introduce herself to him.

“I have been a head housekeeper in the Fu family for more than ten years, and I am responsible for all the internal affairs.” Li Jing glanced at Yu He’s bare feet with a hint of disdain in her tone. “Since you are Mr Fu’s person, I will take the time to remind you of the rules of the Fu family.”

Yu He: “…”

What’s there to be proud of in being a head housekeeper for more than ten years?

‘What kind of rules does the Fu family have?’

What is this woman thinking, treating the Fu family like some royal household?

Wake up, lady, the Qing Dynasty has already fallen!

Li Jing interpreted Yu He’s silence as a sign of weakness and looked down on this young man who had only a good-looking appearance. She examined him from head to toe as if he were an object, with a haughty attitude. 

She said, “It wouldn’t hurt for a young man to learn some rules. Otherwise, you might not know the difference between the important and the trivial, which would damage the reputation of the Fu family. Mr Fu has never had anyone like you around him. It would be really bad if it got out.”

With a sigh, it seemed as if she was lamenting the fact that Fu Yunzheng had taken in and sheltered someone like Yu He who would tarnish his reputation.

Yu He: “…”

It’s all about working for the Fu family and doing things for money. Just because he is Mr Fu’s kept man, it doesn’t mean that she can look down on him and engage in workplace bullying. Besides, it’s not like it was him who actively seduced Mr Fu Yunzheng.

Since she couldn’t express her dissatisfaction with Fu Yunzheng, Li Jing had to come to Yu He to show her existence through this petty and despicable behaviour. Yu He has now witnessed the diversity of the human species through this kind of flattery and bullying behaviour.

Yu He couldn’t completely understand where this big sister’s sense of superiority came from.

The autumn noon sun was extremely warm, and standing in the sun, he felt warm all over. Yawning, he said, “You can leave, I’m going to sleep.”

With pursed lips, Li Jing showed a displeased expression and reprimanded him, “Didn’t you hear what I said? It’s already lunchtime.”

Without lifting his eyebrows, Yu He lifted the covers and lay back down in bed, “I said I’m not hungry.”

Li Jing had never encountered a stubborn person like Yu He before, so she brought up Mr Fu Yunzheng to put pressure on him, “Mr Fu has already gone downstairs.”

Yu He turned over and faced away from Li Jing, asking in response, “Did Mr Fu ask you to come and call me?”

Li Jing didn’t answer.

In his heart, Yu He knew that it couldn’t have been Mr Fu who asked him to come downstairs for lunch.

First of all, Yu He had already told Zhang Shan that he wanted to go back to his room and catch up on sleep and that he wouldn’t be eating lunch or dinner. Even if there were rules in the Fu household about not sleeping during the day or not skipping meals with Mr Fu, Zhang Shan had no reason not to tell Yu He.

Secondly, Mr Fu’s car accident and illness had happened six months ago, but when Yu He saw him yesterday, he was still very thin, indicating that he hadn’t fully recovered from the setback of his illness in six whole months. This suggested that Mr Fu himself was not very interested in eating.

This morning, Yu He tasted the cooking of the Fu family’s chef. Without exaggeration, if Yu He were to eat without exercising, he could gain 20 catties (pounds) in a month.

He covered his head with the blanket, feeling that he wasn’t good at dealing with women of this age, hoping that Li Jing would let him go.

Unfortunately, Yu He had never had a girlfriend before, and his understanding of women was still superficial.

He thought that his behaviour represented a truce, but in Li Jing’s eyes, it was a naked provocation.

Li Jing was so angry that her face turned pale. She lifted the blanket on Yu He’s body with her hand and scolded him angrily, “Don’t you know what’s good for you? I…”

Yu He sat up from the bed, his beautiful peach blossom eyes slightly lifted as he gazed at Li Jing’s face.

His eyes were clear black and white, with deep pupils. Normally, they drooped lazily and lacked any kind of aura. But now, they were fixedly staring at people, those eyeballs were like the flickering flames in a cold pool, revealing a sense of sinister evil, which made people feel chilly and afraid to look at them for too long.

Those eyes were filled with bone-chilling coldness, and a cold sweat broke out on Li Jing’s back. ‘Such wickedness at such a young age!’ She clenched her fists and made up her mind to drive Yu He out of the Fu residence.

However, Yu He did not say anything more. He simply averted his gaze and walked out of the room.

Although Li Jing had achieved her goal and put Yu He in his place, she did not feel any sense of victory. Instead, she felt discomfort in her chest, as if a lump of anger was stuck in her heart.

She wanted to stop Yu He and have him change into more appropriate clothing, but he ignored her completely and walked downstairs in slippers.

Yu He had just fallen asleep when he was awakened by the middle-aged lady, who gave him a hard time for no apparent reason. He looked mournful and walked down to the first floor with his head down.

Li Jing followed behind him.

Fu Yunzheng was sitting at the dining table, holding chopsticks. When he saw Yu He, he didn’t ask much and simply gestured for the maid to add another set of utensils.

There were four dishes on the table: steamed pork ribs with mushrooms, braised pomfret with radish, stir-fried chicken with Chinese broccoli, blanched lettuce, and a pot of ginseng soup that had been stewed overnight.

The dishes were well-prepared and had a good appearance, aroma, and taste, but Yu He didn’t have much of an appetite. He sat upright and followed dining etiquette by not immediately picking up his chopsticks, but instead quietly wiping them.

On the other hand, Fu Yunzheng was quite casual. He picked up some Chinese kale (broccoli) and put it on his plate, but didn’t rush to eat. Instead, he turned to Yu He and said, “If you want to add any dishes, just tell the kitchen.”

“Thank you, Mr Fu,” Yu He replied, thinking that Fu Yunzheng was just being polite.

After a moment, Fu Yunzheng put down his chopsticks, and the light clink between the metal chopsticks and ceramic chopstick rests made a crisp sound.

There was no emotion on his face, but Yu He felt the atmosphere in the whole dining room freeze.

It seemed like everyone was nervous. 

Yu He looked around while holding with his chopsticks, and even Li Jing, who usually bossed people around, lowered her head. 

After a creepy silence, Fu Yunzheng asked, “Yu He, why are you unhappy?”

Yu He was surprised and raised his head. He didn’t expect Fu Yunzheng to be so sensitive to his emotions.

Well, Fu Yunzheng said he couldn’t hide his emotions, and Yu He definitely couldn’t. When asked why he was unhappy, Yu He subconsciously glanced at Li Jing.

Li Jing was taken aback. Seeing that Yu He dared to embarrass her in front of everyone, she knew she couldn’t wait for Yu He to speak. Instead, she needed to take the initiative to explain herself. After all, she had held the position of lead server in the Fu family for many years and wasn’t someone to be trifled with.

She bowed slightly and faced Fu Yunzheng, explaining, “Mr Fu, Master Yu didn’t eat much this morning. It’s not good for his stomach to sleep on an empty stomach, so I took the liberty of waking him up for lunch. Maybe that’s why Master Yu is upset.”

Yu He: “…”

That was a slick answer without a hint of falsehood. It was true that he didn’t eat much in the morning and that sleeping on an empty stomach is bad for digestion. Also, Li Jing honestly admitted that it was her idea to wake up Yu He and implied to Fu Yunzheng that Yu He had no manners by sleeping in till noon.

Anyone who listened to her explanation would think that Li Jing was right and that Yu He didn’t know any better. It seemed like Li Jing kindly woke him up to eat, but he responded with the temper of a young master.

Yu He remained silent and just put down his chopsticks, waiting for Fu Yunzheng to react.

Fu Yunzheng seemed to have not heard what Li Jing said later and only focused on the fact that Yu He had no appetite.

He called the aunt in charge of menu planning and said, “Aunt Zhou, bring the menu and let Yu He choose the dishes.”

Li Jing’s face suddenly became ugly.

She was eloquent and could turn black into white, but Fu Yunzheng didn’t seem to care at all, as if he only heard the sentence ‘Yu He didn’t eat much in the morning.’

Despite suffering from an illness, Fu Yunzheng has his daily menus designed by a team of nutritionists. He is extremely self-disciplined and knows what is good for him. Even if there are vegetables that he doesn’t like, he won’t remove them from the menu.

The villa of the Fu family has a special banquet hall on the first floor that can accommodate dozens of people.

A month ago, the relatives of the Fu family came for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and Fu Yunzheng prepared a table of gourmet food in the banquet hall, but he didn’t touch it. He only sat at the main table for a while and then returned to the dining room to eat the nutritious meal prepared by the household chef.

Several uncles wanted to talk to Fu Yunzheng, but they had to chase after him to the dining room and accompany him to eat the bland nutritious meal.

Even so, Fu Yunzheng didn’t ask for any additional dishes. 

Yu He flipped through the menu and asked Fu Yunzheng, “Do you like spicy food?”

Fu Yunzheng remained expressionless and replied, “I do.”

All the attendants present were speechless.

Li Jing gritted her teeth and became even more displeased with Yu He. Her eyes were sharp, glancing at him as if he were a wicked woman who brought disaster to the country. Li Jing couldn’t understand how an ordinary boy like him had managed to captivate Mr Fu like this.

Has Mr Fu ever eaten spicy food before?

She has been serving in the Fu household for over a decade and has never seen Fu Yunzheng eat spicy food.

Fu Yunzheng is from Yunsu, where the cuisine is light in flavour and emphasizes the original taste of the ingredients. Spices are rarely used, especially not chilli peppers in Yunsu cuisine.

Previously, when Fu Yunzheng went on a business trip to Xiangnan, a deputy mayor from Beijing recommended the local speciality, Sichuan pepper hotpot. Fu Yunzheng politely declined, citing his aversion to spicy food, and did not let the guest’s suggestion take over the conversation.

So why is he not declining the spicy food now?