Chapter 009: Someone has caused trouble

Zhao Ruyi also became a senior maid in the mansion, and the happiest person was the housekeeper of the Zhou family, Mrs. Helian.

The two of them secretly arranged a table of food for Zhao Ruyi to celebrate.

However, Zhao Ruyi felt that this was simply fate playing tricks on her.

In her previous life, she had been eager to climb up and didn't know how many people she had stepped on or been stepped on by before becoming the senior maid in the second young master's room.

But in this life, she hadn't done anything, yet inexplicably became the senior maid by the side of the eldest son, which was too sudden for her to feel happy about.

Moreover, when she was a junior maid, she only earned three hundred wen a month, but after becoming a senior maid, she had a monthly allowance of two taels of silver, plus the rewards during festivals, which added up to almost thirty taels a year.

Thirty taels! Their family had struggled and worked hard, and it would have taken two or three years to earn that much!

They could use it to have a prosthetic leg made for her father by the carpenter in the city, right?

Thinking about this, Zhao Ruyi couldn't help but feel a little excited.

Zhao Ruyi and Bao Qin divided their duties.

Bao Qin was responsible for the night shift, while Zhao Ruyi only had to serve tea and water during the day, and the medicine that the eldest son had to take every day was prepared by Tianfu, without their involvement.

Zhao Ruyi had no objections to this, as the night shift was not easy, and she didn't want to join in the hustle and bustle.

Everything seemed to be peaceful.

But after a few days, Bao Qin became dissatisfied again.

In her opinion, the eldest son would still chat and laugh with Zhao Ruyi during the day, but when it came to her, the eldest son would always go to bed after washing up. If you really thought about it, the time spent with the eldest son during the day was more.

So, Bao Qin and Ruyi redistributed their duties. In addition to the night shift, Bao Qin also took turns with Ruyi during the day, claiming to be worried that Ruyi was a novice and might make mistakes.

As a result, Zhao Ruyi's workload became much lighter, and she naturally had no objections.

So she didn't compete with Bao Qin, and everyone did their own job.

After the Dragon Boat Festival, the days became hotter and hotter, and the small room in the wing where Ruyi lived became even more stuffy due to poor ventilation.

Therefore, instead of rushing to rest during the day, Ruyi took her little sister to play with sandbags in the courtyard.

One day, as they were having fun, they suddenly heard the sound of broken porcelain coming from the direction of the study.

They looked at each other and stopped their activities, then looked towards the study.

During this time, Tianfu had been sent out by the eldest son, so the cleaning of the study fell on the two of them. Bao Qin, because of her disdain for Ruyi, took on the task of cleaning the study alone.

"Ruyi, did Bao Qin break something in the study?" Ruyi's little sister leaned against her and asked with a hint of schadenfreude.

Ruyi pinched her little sister's nose and said, "You little troublemaker, just want to watch the excitement from the sidelines, don't you?"

"I just want to watch Bao Qin's excitement." The little girl stood there, clinging to Ruyi and acting spoiled.

Ruyi took her sister's hand and walked towards the study, only to find Bao Qin sitting helplessly on the ground. In front of her was a shattered vase, and a book was soaking in water.

Seeing this scene, Ruyi's face turned pale.

In this study, the eldest son's most cherished possessions were his books, and now his book was soaking in water. She couldn't imagine how furious he would be when he found out.

Bao Qin also realized this and, seeing Ruyi about to pick up the book, she immediately jumped up and snatched it from the ground, trying to wipe the water with her sleeve without thinking.

Most of the books in the study were rare editions collected by Song Wuji, and the paper was fragile. They had to be handled with care even when reading, let alone after being soaked in water.

Bao Qin obviously didn't realize this, and as she wiped the book with her sleeve, she tore several pages.

This time, Bao Qin was truly frightened.

"Ah! It's not me, it's not me!" Bao Qin exclaimed, throwing the book to Ruyi and then started to panic, bumping around like a headless fly.

Song Wuji, who had rushed over, saw Bao Qin panicking, Ruyi holding a half-torn book, and the mess on the floor.

Seeing the book in Ruyi's hand, which was already half torn, Song Wuji's face turned dark. It was a medical book he had recently acquired, containing various difficult and rare cases.

As the saying goes, a long illness makes a doctor. Song Wuji had hoped to find cases similar to his own in the book, but he didn't expect it to be ruined like this.

In his heartache, he vented his anger on Ruyi and Bao Qin.

Bao Qin shrank back and, without thinking, pointed at Ruyi and said, "It's her, it's her, she's the one who ruined the book."

Completely unexpected, Ruyi felt that this was in line with Bao Qin's usual behavior and wasn't surprised.

It was the little girl who had been with Ruyi all along who couldn't help it. She pointed at Bao Qin and said, "You're lying. It's clearly you who broke the vase and ruined the eldest son's book, but you're blaming Ruyi!"

Song Wuji's discerning eyes moved back and forth between Bao Qin and Ruyi, as if judging who was lying.

Compared to Ruyi's composure, Bao Qin became even more nervous, avoiding eye contact and not daring to look directly at Song Wuji.

It was clear who was lying at a glance!

Zhao Ruyi understood very well how important this book was to Song Wuji, so she felt that the urgent matter at hand was not to argue about right or wrong, but to find a way to see if there was still a chance to salvage the book.

Although several pages of the book were rubbed and torn, it had not reached the point of being completely irreparable.

So she carefully said, "Young Master, perhaps there is still a chance to repair this book. Should we give it a try?"

Sure enough, Song Wuji's attention was immediately drawn to her.

"Repair? How?" Song Wuji looked at Zhao Ruyi coldly, but he felt a glimmer of hope in his heart.

"First, we dry the book, then use paste to stick thin xuan paper on it, and finally trace over the covered words," Zhao Ruyi explained her thoughts step by step, "The repaired book may not be as smooth as before, but at least it won't affect reading it."

Song Wuji thought this method was excellent and worth a try!

So he cleared the desk and made space, while Zhao Ruyi went back to her room to fetch a dry cloth and needle and thread.

The book was not completely soaked, but a few pages were completely immersed in water and had become soft and mushy.

If the soaked paper was not flattened, it would leave creases when it dried.

Zhao Ruyi then removed the binding of the book and took out the wet pages, using a brush to flatten them on the table, her technique resembling that of a master in a calligraphy and painting mounting shop.

For a moment, Song Wuji was completely stunned by her skill.