allonlinenovel Chapter 252 Leaving Ma Ming
Chapter 252 Leaving Ma Ming
Since Mu Liang came back, Li Yunye finally had two good sleeps. He used to wake up at the beginning of the morning hour, but these two days he had to be woken up by An Yun outside the door at dawn.
Listening to the chirping of birds outside, Li Yunye rubbed his eyes, slowly got up, walked to the window and stretched. The rare comfort made him feel in the mood to lie on the railing and admire the delicate pink peach blossoms in full bloom downstairs.
"Where is Brother Mu Liang?" After getting dressed and washing up, Li Yunye was heading to the Plum Garden to pay his respects to his mother. He found that he had not seen Brother Mu Liang all morning, so he asked Xiang Anyun out of curiosity.
In the past, whenever Brother Mu Liang was at home, he would come early to urge himself to go to the Plum Garden to have dinner with his mother. He often got annoyed by his nagging, but today he didn't hear him nagging and he felt uncomfortable.
"Master Mu Liang and the steward have gone to the farm." An Yun, who was following behind Li Yunye, said this and quickly lowered his head as if he had accidentally let the cat out of the bag.
"What are they going to do at the farm?" Li Yunye asked curiously.
An Yun scratched his head helplessly, not knowing whether he should say it or not.
Without hearing An Yun's response, Li Yunye turned his head and happened to see the other party looking embarrassed. His heart suddenly tightened again. He hurriedly stopped and asked nervously, "Is it the farm's turn to get into trouble again?"
"Not really." An Yun also quickly shook his head.
"Then why don't you tell me quickly?" Li Yunye breathed a sigh of relief, then glanced at An Yun and asked.
"Master Muliang arranged for Ma Ming to go to the farm..." An Yun knew that since he had let the cat out of the bag, he could not hide it anymore, so he answered honestly. However, he was interrupted by Li Yunye halfway through his words:
"Ma Ming? The one who betrayed the Li family's dyeing workshop? Wasn't he already sent to the authorities?"
After Li Yunye asked, he saw An Yun hesitating for a long time and couldn't explain clearly. He guessed that he knew very little, so he didn't ask any more questions. He suppressed his anger and turned to go to the plum garden.
At the Li Family Farm, far outside the city of Qile, two horse-drawn carriages slowly drove into the farm.
The farmland is full of greenery during the spring ploughing season. Smoke rises from the village, chickens crow and dogs bark, cows moo in the fields, wild flowers are gorgeous, and the newly planted rice seedlings are tender and fragile, swaying gently in the spring breeze. The rising sun shines on the fields, reflecting the golden light on the water. The farmer carries farm tools on his shoulders and pulls an old yellow cow on the green ridge of the field. Two children carrying bamboo baskets follow the old yellow cow and sing a nursery rhyme crisply:
I want a puppy, a good one. My dog is big but stupid.
Don't bite thieves, only bite chickens.
The angry toad has no tolerance. When I touch it, my stomach becomes bloated...
Even early in the morning, the farmers in the farm were busy planting rice in the fields. Manager Li, who was in charge of the farm, also spent most of his time helping with farm work in the fields. When Sui Muliang arrived, he happened to be planting rice in the fields, and he hurried back only after being informed by the children in the village.
"Manager Mu, Butler An, why are you here?" When Manager Li saw Mu Liang and An Ge in front of his own courtyard, he immediately stepped forward to greet them.
"Master, aren't you embarrassing Ange by calling me like that?" Ange said helplessly when he saw Manager Li also had a respectful attitude.
"I took care of you for the past six months at the request of the master. Now that you are the steward of the Li family, it is fair and just that I should call you Steward An Ge." Steward Li said disapprovingly as he put down the hoe in his hand, opened the gate and led Mu Liang and others into the yard.
"We came here early in the morning, but we didn't expect to delay Manager Li's farm work." Mu Liang also smiled at Manager Li.
Manager Li had a dark and thin face, with bare legs and a short brown coat covered with mud spots, looking like a real farmer on the farm. Mu Liang almost forgot that he was Lao Zhou's fellow apprentice. But it was obvious that Manager Li was very happy and comfortable on the farm.
"Manager Mu, you are too polite. I am just helping them with farm work in my free time. No need to delay me." Manager Li moved a stool from the inner room and said with a silly smile. Then he turned around to make tea but was stopped by Mu Liang.
"Manager Li, don't worry. I came here today with two people and want you to take care of them." As Mu Liang said this, Ange brought Ma Ming and his grandmother, who had been waiting silently at the gate of the courtyard.
After Ange's explanation, Manager Li realized that it was Manager Mu who wanted the grandparents and grandchildren to manage the dyeing workshop on the farm.
The dyeing workshop of Li's farm was built temporarily last year when the famous Li in Jiangnan was in crisis. Although the site was simple, it was equipped with all the dyeing tools. Now that they are not used, they have been idle and accumulated a lot of dust. Manager Li was very happy to see the Li family send someone to take care of it. After all, he didn't know how to dye cloth, so he had to be careful every time he went to clean it, for fear of damaging the dyeing tools inside.
"Thank you, Manager Mu!" Seeing that Manager Li of the farm also had a kind face, Ma Ming's grandmother finally put her mind at ease, and hurriedly pulled Ma Ming to bow to Mu Liang to express her gratitude.
"If you want to thank someone, you should thank the Li family and the young master. You don't have to thank me." Mu Liang supported the old woman and smiled faintly.
"Yes, yes, thank you Li family, the young master is our benefactor!" The old woman said gratefully with tears in her eyes.
"Ma Ming, I hope you can remember the kindness the Li family has shown you and repay them in the future." Mu Liang then looked at Ma Ming, who had kept his head down and remained silent, and instructed.
"Please rest assured, Manager Mu." Ma Ming then raised his head and responded.
Seeing the determination in his eyes, Mu Liang was naturally satisfied, and then asked Ange to take the grandparents and grandchildren to the dyeing workshop for arrangements.
"Manager Li, Ma Ming knows a little about tie-dyeing, and his father was a master who was proficient in tie-dyeing craft. I'll trouble you to take care of them in the dyeing workshop in the future. If you need anything, just tell Ange and he will arrange it." After Ange took his people away, Mu Liang reminded Manager Li again.
"Don't worry, Manager Mu. I will take good care of them." Upon hearing this, Manager Li naturally understood that this young man was not here simply to manage the dyeing workshop. No wonder he only arranged for two servants to come to the farm and asked Manager Mu to make the trip in person. However, he did not ask any more questions and just nodded in agreement.
Mu Liang then asked Manager Li about the condition of the farm. He was relieved to hear that everything was as usual. Finally, he went to the Li family cemetery alone.
"Godfather, Liang'er is here to see you."
Mu Liang knelt in front of Li Xingyuan's tomb, lit up the candles and incense sticks he brought, and burned paper money beside him. Because the farm was managed by someone, the Li family cemetery naturally had someone to take care of it from time to time.
"Now the famous Li family in Jiangnan is under Yunye's care. Everything is fine. Don't worry." Mu Liang looked at the tombstone in front of him, and a layer of mist covered his bright eyes. He smiled and then said, "Today, Liang'er took the initiative to bring a child who sold out the dyeing workshop back to the farm. You should remember that child. His name is Qi Ming, but his original name is Ma Ming. He was used by others to lurk in the Li family's dyeing workshop to steal the skills. But he is kind and filial by nature. He sold out the Li family only to treat his grandmother. I saw that he was steady and practical in his work and knew tie-dyeing, so I wanted to keep him and try. If I can find another loyal tie-dyeing master for the Li family, there will be more security in the future."
At this point, he couldn't help but let out a bitter smile: "It's just that I did this without telling Yun Ye, he didn't agree to keep Ma Ming..." Mu Liang suddenly paused, lowered his head, two tears fell inadvertently, and continued to sob: "I'm sorry, foster father, you also told me to discuss everything with my family and not to make decisions on my own... But I... have failed your teachings..."