“The previous head gardener fell ill suddenly and passed away in a hurry. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to get a job as a gardener in our Li family.”
“I see.”
“There is a proverb in Huang City: ‘Wealth begins with Wang, but power belongs to Li.’”
“This Li refers to our Li family.”
“The Li family has many rules. The most important one is that you must never look directly at the masters!”
“Whether it is the Madam, the young masters, or the young ladies, you must lower your head when you meet them.”
“When you encounter them, you are to stand with your hands at your sides, step to the edge of the path to yield, and only proceed after they have passed. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“Good. The rest of the rules don't concern you much. As a gardener, you'll spend most of your time in the back garden and the greenhouse.”
“However, you still need to remember what is required. I'll have someone send you a copy of the house rules later. Memorize them within three days.”
“I will.”
Yin Yang followed Wang Bo all the way to the back garden.
Wang Bo pointed to the garden in front of them.
“This is the garden. You are only allowed out here from five to six in the morning and from eleven to twelve at noon.”
“Do you understand why?”
“Because the Madam or the young ladies might come to enjoy the flowers, and I need to avoid them.”
“Hmph, you're not completely stupid.”
Wang Bo nodded with satisfaction and then led Yin Yang toward the greenhouse.
It was a sunroom, significantly warmer than the outside. It was kept very tidy; it wasn't hard to see that the previous owner had put a lot of heart into it.
“This will be your living quarters. If anything is needed, someone will notify you via the walkie-talkie.”
“The keys, the walkie-talkie, and a map of the Li Mansion are on the wall.”
“Green represents areas you can go, yellow means you can only go if summoned, and red is strictly off-limits. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“The map shows the cafeteria and the meal times are listed below. You can figure out the rest yourself.”
Wang Bo left the greenhouse as he spoke. Yin Yang turned his head toward the corner, where the soul of a middle-aged man stood.
His flesh was torn, bone fragments were exposed, and his eyelids had been cut off. His eyes were filled with pure malice.
You must be the old gardener, right?
Yin Yang activated his Communion technique. The middle-aged man's soul turned to look at him, struggling to open his mouth, revealing only half a tongue.
His tongue had also been cut out; he couldn't speak.
Seeing this, Yin Yang smiled.
“It seems being a gardener in this Li Mansion is quite interesting.”
...
“Are you the new gardener?”
“That's right.”
Yin Yang was adding some chemicals to a small spray bottle.
“What are you putting in there?”
“Insect repellent.”
“Why? I don't see any bugs.”
“Because this is to prevent them from appearing. By the time you can see the bugs, I'd be spraying insecticide instead.”
“Honk honk honk honk honk honk~”
Yin Yang turned his head in total confusion, wondering if a goose had somehow wandered inside.
Instead, he saw a little girl, about five or six years old, covering her mouth and giggling, her shoulders shaking with laughter.
Is her sense of humor really that basic?
Yin Yang tightened the nozzle and put on a mask, preparing to spray.
“Go play somewhere else for a bit. This repellent is still a chemical; it's not good for people to breathe in.”
The little girl ran outside, still letting out those goose-like honks of laughter.
After Yin Yang had sprayed all the flowers, he went to wash the spray bottle. He saw the little girl squatting by the door, poking a green caterpillar with a wooden stick.
When she saw Yin Yang come out, her eyes lit up, and she ran over with a pitter-patter of footsteps.
“Are you done spraying?”
“I'm done.”
“Then can you play with me for a while?”
“Sure. What do you want to play?”
“How about hide-and-seek?”
“No, I can't leave the greenhouse.”
“Oh. Then how about Drop the Handkerchief?”
“How can two people play Drop the Handkerchief?”
“That's true.”
The little girl frowned and thought seriously for a moment before saying, “Then what should we play?”
“Do you know how to play Bie Si Niu?”
“What's Bie Si Niu?”
“It's ‘walking the well.’”
“What's ‘walking the well’?”
“Come here, I'll teach you.”
Yin Yang used a small stick to draw a Bie Si Niu board on the ground, then found two leaves to use as his pieces.
“The rules are simple. You just can't enter that ‘well.’ Whoever corners their opponent so they have nowhere to move wins.”
“Oh, I see.”
The little girl nodded, indicating she understood the rules.
After one round.
She was full of fighting spirit.
After three rounds.
She was deep in thought.
After six rounds.
She was on the verge of tears.
After nine rounds.
She turned and bolted.
Yin Yang tossed the leaves aside and stretched.
With a casual snap of his fingers, a black hand appeared and handed him a book.
Yin Yang read as he spoke.
“Canned Food, I've already got the promotion potion recipes for the Killer pathway from Sequence 8 to Sequence 6. I'm just missing a bit for the Sequence 8 potion. Don't be impatient.”
“Meow~”
Under the flower rack, Canned Food let out a meow, then shifted positions and went back to sleep.
Yin Yang had told it before they arrived to be extremely careful in the Li Mansion and not let anyone see it.
One of the Li family rules was that no pets were allowed.
So, Canned Food had been very cautious these past two days, always hiding in the shadows.
A transcendent cat hiding in the shadows was truly difficult to find unless one was looking for it with intent.
As Yin Yang was reading, the greenhouse door was kicked open with a bang. A young man rushed in angrily, his eyes scanning the room before landing on Yin Yang.
“Are you the one bullying my sister?”
Yin Yang looked at him, then at the little girl hiding behind him, and nodded with a smile.
“That's right, I'm the one who bullied her.”
Both the little girl and the youth were stunned by his answer.
This was a bit different from what they had imagined before coming here, but the youth still stood his ground.
“Apologize!”
“I'm sorry.”
“...”
The youth was stunned again because Yin Yang's reaction was completely different from what he expected.
According to the normal script, shouldn't you have denied it vehemently first? Then I would demand an apology, you would refuse, and finally, we would come to blows?
Yin Yang placed a bookmark in his book and smiled. “Is there anything else?”
“No.”
“Yes, there is!”
The boy had just said no when the little girl immediately countered. She pointed a chubby finger at the ‘board’ on the ground.
“Brother, go win it back for me!”
“Fine!”
The youth stood tall and walked up to Yin Yang. “What kind of skill is it to bully a girl? Do you dare to compete against me?”
“Sure.”
Yin Yang found two more leaves for pieces and smilingly explained the rules of the game to the youth.
After hearing them, the youth patted his chest and said, “Sister, watch closely. See how your brother wins!”
After one round.
He was full of fighting spirit.
After three rounds.
He was deep in thought.
After six rounds.
He was on the verge of tears.
After nine rounds.
He turned and bolted.
Yin Yang watched the two little ones run further and further away, a faint smile appearing on his face.
These two were also long-term workers of the Li family, but unlike Yin Yang, they were household-born servants, both children of the chef.
Yin Yang went back to his book.
“Don't be in a hurry. We need to wait for an opportunity—an opportunity to wipe out the Li family bloodline in one fell swoop.”
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