HBWMA -Chapter 17 A Girl’s Dignity

“Mom!” Jiang Wanyi froze. She hadn’t expected things to take such a turn. Her face was full of disbelief. “I…”

“What about you?” Fang Mei glanced at Jiang Wanyi casually.

Jiang Wanyi’s heart tightened. She didn’t dare meet her eyes. “N-no… nothing.”

Fang Mei then turned to Jiang Huashan. “Are you satisfied now?”

Jiang Huashan nodded. “More or less.”

Fang Mei gave her a subtle, unreadable look, then stood up and pretended to feel ashamed. “Butler Shen, please forgive the disturbance. As a mother, no matter which child I side with, it’s never right when they’re arguing.”

Shen Zhi smiled faintly and looked down at Jiang Huashan. “Miss Jiang, let’s go. The sugar water will lose its taste if it sits too long.”

Jiang Huashan suddenly felt much better. One moment she had said she wouldn’t go; the next she looked curious. “Butler Shen, what flavor did Grandpa make?”

“Osmanthus flavor,” Shen Zhi replied.

The two hadn’t even left the garden when Fang Mei’s smile froze again. Her gaze uncontrollably drifted toward the broken bowl on the ground. The sweet soup had splashed everywhere, and the faint fragrance of jasmine lingered in the air.

“Mom…” Jiang Wanyi’s eyes reddened as she tugged carefully at Fang Mei’s dress. “I don’t want to move.”

Fang Mei closed her eyes briefly and patted her head. “When you can speak for yourself in the Shen family, then come back and tell me you ‘don’t want to.’”

Jiang Wanyi’s face turned pale. After a moment, a trace of resentment surfaced in her eyes. “Mom, it was sister’s fault. She did it on purpose—she threatened you in front of Butler Shen. She’s already learned to disobey you.”

Fang Mei lowered her gaze, expression calm.

Of course she knew Jiang Huashan had done it on purpose. And precisely because she knew, she found it strange.

For years, Jiang Huashan had lived under her watch. In order to control her better, she had deliberately raised her to be foolish and without opinions. Yet Jiang Huashan’s behavior just now was completely different. If she weren’t her own daughter, she would have suspected she was a different person.

“Yiyi, has Huashan made any new friends recently?”

Jiang Wanyi wanted nothing more than to take the chance to criticize Jiang Huashan, but she didn’t dare lie to Fang Mei. She lowered her head and thought for a moment before shaking it. “No. The classmates at school don’t want to get close to her. She’s been following your instructions and trying to curry favor with Fu Xiaoxiao, but… Fu Xiaoxiao doesn’t care about her at all. She makes her do all the dirty work.”

“Good that she’s not valued,” Fang Mei thought silently. Only then would she desperately try to hold on to anyone who showed her kindness.

Fang Mei did not expose her thoughts. Her expression relaxed slightly. If no one was influencing her, then it must just be that she had been pushed too far by Fu Sui’er. After all, she was only a twelve-year-old child—occasional rebellion was normal.

“Mom?”

Fang Mei patted Jiang Wanyi’s head lightly. “Enough. This time you were too impulsive as well. Take it as a lesson. Don’t worry—I have a way to deal with her.”

Jiang Wanyi still felt unwilling, glancing longingly at the distant aerial pavilion.

“Grandpa.”

As soon as Jiang Huashan stepped into Qinyuan, she smelled the fresh fragrance of osmanthus.

In her hometown in Huai City, there had also been an osmanthus tree. Whenever she felt unhappy or missed her mother, her grandmother would make her sweet soup—cold nourishing herbal jelly with a small pinch of dried osmanthus. No matter how heavy her worries were, that sweetness would send them all far away.

With mixed feelings of nostalgia and hesitation, she slowly walked up to Shen Zhuang, keeping just the right distance, looking at him cautiously.

“What’s wrong? Feeling distant from Grandpa now?” Shen Zhuang smiled and beckoned her over. “Come, try it. Does it taste right?”

On the red sandalwood table were two exquisite porcelain cups. He had prepared a portion for himself as well.

Jiang Huashan obediently held the cup, her eyes secretly studying his face.

The old man was well-hidden, but there was still a faint trace of fatigue between his brows. She lowered her eyes slightly. At his age, he usually avoided sweet, high-sugar foods. Someone must have upset him today.

Shen Zhuang chuckled and lifted his own cup, his smile deepening as if remembering something pleasant. He took a sip.

“So? Does it taste right?”

Jiang Huashan took a small sip and smiled. “Mm. Exactly the same.”

They exchanged a smile, as if sharing a secret that didn’t need to be spoken aloud.

Sip by sip, they finished the bowls. Shen Zhi watched from the side, increasingly alarmed, until the old man’s bowl was nearly empty and quickly stepped forward.

“Old master—”

“Mm?” Shen Zhuang raised a hand to stop him and finished the last gulp in one breath before handing the empty bowl over.

Jiang Huashan set her bowl down reluctantly, then hesitated before speaking. “Grandpa, Sui’er has forgiven me.”

Shen Zhuang’s gaze flickered with hesitation. “I heard… Sui’er made you kneel to apologize?”

When they left Winter Garden, Jiang Huashan had already seen Shen Zhi. Shen Zhi was the old master’s eyes and ears—she had long guessed this question would come.

She answered calmly, sticking to the facts. “Grandpa, Sui’er was just saying things in anger. With Aunt Shen there, she didn’t actually make things difficult for me.”

That was true. She pushed the blame onto Fang Mei because she understood Fu Sui’er too well. As a child, she was even easier to handle than as an adult—if she thought someone was foolish, she wouldn’t bother bullying them seriously.

Shen Zhuang said nothing.

Jiang Huashan asked carefully, “Grandpa… did I do something wrong?”

Shen Zhuang shook his head. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s Grandpa who failed to teach you properly. I only told you to do everything possible to make up for mistakes, but I forgot the most important thing.”

“What is it?”

Shen Zhuang bent down and gently tapped both of her knees.

“Whatever happens, never lower your knees. A girl’s dignity is important too.”