51 - The New Housekeeper

Translated by rabbitrisu

When Su Zimo woke up again, the morning sun had spilled onto the bedroom floor through the gauze curtains.

There was no arguing from the nightmare worlds, nor the traffic of a big city – only summer cicadas and mountain birds. He no longer smelled the damp and decay of the nightmare world, but the faint fragrance of flowers in the room and the fresh morning air of the mountains.

Su Zimo awoke in such a comfortable environment and glanced at the shoes on the floor which were the only things he remembered to remove last night. He got up and let his feet step onto the comfortable wooden floor, then stretched himself out as if he had been run over by something. He then walked over and unlocked the bedroom door before opening it a crack.

“Master.”

The sound of Su Zimo opening the door attracted the attention of a maid on the fifth floor. The young maid was named Ye Ning. She had been in charge of taking care of Su Zimo’s grandfather and was the most capable maid in the house.

She had long, neatly curled hair, a pair of glasses, a serious expression, and a palm-sized notebook hidden in her hand. Su Zimo heard that she wanted to apply to be the new Su family housekeeper, but Su Hewen rejected her because of insufficient qualifications and experience.

“Master, good morning.” Ye Ning lowered her head slightly. Her serious expression was certainly more like a housekeeper than a full time maid. “Morning tea is ready in the kitchen. Master can enjoy it in the bedrooom or garden.”

“Who is in the garden?” Su Zimo glanced with a headache at the clothes he hadn’t had time to change.

“Eldest Master, Fourth Master, Miss Mianmian, and Young Master Hewen.” Ye Ning looked at the notebook in her hand. “Eldest Master hopes to have time to discuss matters with Master in the morning.”

He heard that the full time maid’s abilities were pretty good, but her memory wasn’t, so she liked to keep everything in her notebook to not delay anything.

Eldest Master that Ye Ning mentioned was naturally Su Zimo’s father, Su Gan – the family playboy who had three or four illegitimate daughters outside without telling his eldest son. Su Zimo thought about it and said, “You go first to prepare the garden. I’ll come later.”

“Yes.” Ye Ning said, adding another sentence. “Master, the empty room on the second floor has been cleaned per Young Master Hewen’s instructions. You can move in at any time.”

“Got it.” It was Su Zimo’s decision to move to the second floor where his grandfather lived. There were many books in Grandpa’s study that he hadn’t read yet. The entire floor was also full of memories between Su Zimo and Su Heng, memories of his teachings. As long as he walks the halls of the second floor, he would feel that he could think more calmly than before.

After sending off the maid, Su Zimo closed the door again. He picked out a set of student-like shirts and trousers from the closet, as well as a thin black silk tie. Although he was in a coma for four years, Su Hewen had prepared a lot of clothing according to his size, even though most of them were the same style as Su Zimo wore when he was in school.

After walking into the restroom and taking care of his hygeine, he brushed away the things he had experienced in the nightmare world like it was nothing. Su Zimo dried his hair and put on his prepared clothes to leave the bedroom.

Because Su Gan had requested a ‘discussion,’ Su Zimo didn’t intend to return to An Yu Yi Yu for a while. But thinking of the ghost umbrella and Peng Peng watching the store for the whole night, Su Zimo found a wireless tablet and charger from his fourth uncle Su Ni on the bedside table, then pulled open the door to An Yu Yi Yu behind him.

After taking a step back, Su Zimo took a look inside the store, only to find that the front door was closed and the black umbrella and sheet music were in their original positions, but his ghost butler and ‘child worker’ were missing.

Although he knew that the two wouldn’t be able to watch the store peacefully for the entire night, Su Zimo expected to see those figures in the morning. Maybe they went back to their main bodies or went somewhere not too far away. Su Zimo didn’t think about looking for them. He just put the tablet and the charger in a prominent place on the counter, then returned to his bedroom.

Before it was time for normal shops to open in the morning, Su Zimo had no intention of disturbing their free time.

When he left the bedroom and went downstairs, Su Zimo suddenly realized that the Su family of the present was different from the past. When they dismissed Housekeeper Bai, they thought that the other old servants of the Su family would be more responsible, but didn’t expect that nothing would change. After all, they were all the ones who took care of the Su family from Su Heng through Su Zimo. They could be regarded as taking care of three generations of the Su family. Although they did their jobs, their energy while working had been much worse than before.

But today, every servant Su Zimo saw in the hallway was upright and full of energy.

“Is something good happening today?” Su Zimo met Ye Ning who was waiting in the lobby, so he asked curiously.

“Master, Young Master Hewen said that there would be a housekeeper coming to apply for the job today, and that they seem to have training from a foreign housekeeper academy. Their chance of success is very high, so everyone wants to show off in front of the new houskeeper.” Ye Ning didn’t lower her voice at all when she spoke, and she didn’t seem to worry that the servants around them would overhear. After all, the only one she needed to take care of was Su Zimo.

“Morning tea is ready.”

Su Zimo took Ye Ning to the laurel tree in the garden. The laurel and evergreen trees created a perfect, unobstructed shady area underneath them. A long table covered with a tablecloth and several benches were placed there, and the cool morning breeze was gentle. Su Zimo’s father, fourth uncle, Su Mianmian, and Su Hewen were already seated there. Some looked nostalgic. Others were using tablets to view newspapers or other information.

Although Su Hewen couldn’t say it, his burden was heavier than anyone else sitting there. This was the first time Su Zimo had seen him stay home and drink morning tea. On weekends, he usually went to deal with certain affairs like Su Ni’s wife, Rui Qiu, does.

Su Zimo never stopped Su Hewen from working hard. WHen he mentioned it, his bloodless brother didn’t say anything until Su Zimo withdrew his words. The whole atmosphere was like an intra-family cold war, which lasted for a few hours through several days. The continued discomfort made Su Zimo seem like the unreasonable one.

Although the courtyard wasn’t as pleasant as the pavilion in the hilltop garden, there was no need to overlook the entirety of Shoushan City this early in the morning. It was better to sit there and enjoy the cool.

“Momo.” Su Gan, who was wearing fancy clothes, looked younger than his son. He smiled and raised the milk cup when he saw Su Zimo coming over. His mentality was young, but he was also entering old age, so he needed to supplement his calcium.

Su Zimo and the others greeted each other, then took the marshmallows from his cousin Su Mianmian and dunked them into their own milk cups under the children’s guidance. It seemed that there was only a cup of american coffee on the table in front of Su Hewen.

“Did you sleep well last night?” Su Hewen’s eyebrows tightened slightly as he looked at Su Zimo, who still had dark circles under his eyes. “I remember you went back to the room long ago.”

“Maybe… I watched a terrible horror movie.” Su Zimo said with a smile. “Ge, you may not have slept much longer than me.”

“I’m used to it, but you’ve always slept adequately.” Su Hewen pointed out solemnly.

“Don’t be so harsh Xiao Hewen.” Su Gan immediately stopped him. “Momo hasn’t had entertainment in his life for four years. He’s missed a lot of interesting things. Now he’s just watching a horror movie. It’s not a big deal. Next time I plan to take Momo to the latest virtual bar to play…”

“No need.”

“No.”

Su Zimo and Su Hewen blurted that out at almost the same time, then Su Gan shut his mouth.

“Father, Ye Ning said you wanted to discuss something with me?” Su Zimo took a sip of his milk with marshmallows, then asked curiously, “Is it related to the daughters you mentioned before?”

“Ah, they are all very cute children. Some of them are about to enter high school.” Su Gan’s tone was absent of any embarrassment about leaving Su Zimo alone with the old man while he played around with new girlfriends. There were many illegitimate daughters who had no relationship with him.

“But it’s still a bit early to talk about those children.” Su Gan smiled. “Didn’t your grandfather’s will say that you have to meet once a week, and that lawyers have to come verify it? Tomorrow is Saturday, so your second and third uncles will come over for dinner. You’ll have to prepare in advance so there’s nothing for them to do.”

“I understand, but nothing will happen at the first party.” Su Zimo nodded, feeling that there seemed to be something special on Sunday, aside from the party on Saturday that he just learned about. But since Su Zimo didn’t remember, it may not be important.

“Be careful.” Su Hewen reminded him while lowering his head to mark something on the tablet.

“Momo, is anything arranged for today?” Fourth uncle Su Ni was regarded as the most leisurely one. His principle for dealing with things was that he would continue to turn without the earth. His only task was to turn around his family. ¹ “I want to take Mianmian to listen to the music at the base of the mountain today.”

“If I said there was nothing to do, I would be too sorry for my brother.” Su Zimo smiled and glanced at Su Hewen, who had undertaken most of his work. Although he had long heard that he had a very strong team, Su Zimo didn’t allow himself to relax. “My brother has already transferred the content I need to familiarize myself with. I’m here, so I have to complete the required homework within a week.”

The ‘homework’ that Su Hewen assigned to Su Zimo was sent to a tablet that wasn’t connected to the internet. Except for some data that Su Zimo found boring, his favorite content was actually some project plans that Su Hewen and his team revised or suggested. They were classified according to the company’s level. Su Zimo needed to use his own ideas to comment without knowing he results, then compare the projects with the present, then find opportunities to discuss some points with Su Hewen.

It’s precisely because of this that Su Zimo called it ‘homework.’

What Su Zimo didn’t know was that his comment and completion speed was actually faster than Su Hewen imagined. But Su Hewen wasn’t good at praise, so in order to express his recognition and appreciation of Su Zimo’s abilities, his workload had been increased exponentially. Su Hewen also added some projects that hadn’t really started. Those plans were mixed in, and practical projects were added without Su Zimo’s knowledge.

“One year is very short.” Su Hewen once again sent out some friendly encouragement, which successfully increased the pressure Su Zimo felt.

“Where’s the ghost butler?” Su Hewen took a sip of coffee, put down the tablet in his hand, and looked at Su Zimo as if talking about business. “Ye Ning said that he disappeared last night.”

“He.. He resigned.” Su Zimo looked down at the milk cup. It was impossible to say that the ghost umbrella would be a full-time housekeeper. “Maybe he felt that he wasn’t qualified for the job.”

“Unexpectedly.” Su Hewen’s eyes were sharp. “Weird name, weird clothes, ugly tattoos, frivolous language, and knew nothing about housekeepers’ affairs. As a housekeeper, there were no merits. Actually, I still don’t know why you hired him in the first place. Which of his shining qualities attracted your attention?”

“It may have been… an online recruitment website? As for the shining quality…” Su Zimo thought that was full of wit and could get lost in his own head, and said hesitantly, “Maybe he’s handy and easy to transport? He can be taken wherever you go, right?”

It was actually hard for Su Zimo to describe that feeling. The ghost umbrella was not very reliable.

But it seemed that no matter where he was, he could hold that umbrella in his hand and walk through any world.

That was something no one else around Su Zimo could do.

“I invited a housekeeper with a very good resume to apply for the job. He lives a bit far away and may only arrive in the afternoon.” Su Hewen looked at the message on his phone and continued, “Because he’s a university student, I can guarantee the authenticity of the resume. I’ve sent the resume to your cell phone. Whether we hire him or not depends on your decision. Don’t worry about the relationship between me and his classmates. After all, we aren’t familiar.”

Although Su Hewen said many words, he was very concise.

“With Xiao Hewen, your classmates should have jobs already even if they studied abroad. I heard that such housekeepers rarely leave their posts.” Su Gan mentioned curiously.

“He’s experienced some strange things.” Su Hewen also shook his head. “I heard from a previous friend that he left his previous post, so I got in touch with him, but when I was talking with him, it seemed like…”

“Like?”

“Like talking to the dead.” Su Hewen frowned slightly. “His voice and tone were completely different from before. He can only be described as lifeless. He can’t gather energy for anything, and he hangs up the phone with only a few words.”

“He sounds unreliable.” Even Su Ni was a little worried.

“I’ve heard about his ability, so I found it very strange and I never mentioned it to you. But yesterday morning he suddenly called me and said that he needed a job and could start working immediately.” Su Hewen continued. “The voice on the other end of the phone seemed to come alive suddenly. It was no different from when he was in university, so I wanted to give him an interview.”

“Very strange.” Su Zimo admitted that this strange housekeeper aroused his curiosity.

“What’s even stranger is that he hopes to have a trial period of two months without salary.” Su Hewen made another point.

“Asking for unpaid work?” Su Gan was also taken aback.

Su Hewen nodded and continued, “He said something very strange. If he’s still alive in two months, he hopes to be paid more generously than planned.”

Then, Su Hewen wrote a six digit number on the dining table.

“His appetite isn’t small. Still alive… as if our Su family is a sea of flames and swords.” ² Su Gan took a closer look at the series of figures and requests made. “Speaking of which, within the two months’ probation period, we can file for dismissal at any time, right?”

“Correct.”

When Su Hewen spoke, Su Zimo had already opened the communication software and found the resume in the materials sent by Su Hewen.

Let’s not talk about the glamorous and beautiful resume. What Su Zimo noticed was the photo in the upper right corner of the resume. It was a young man with good facial features – not handsome, but he gave off a shrewd feeling.

What drew his attention wasn’t what he looked like, but because even though the person in the photo didn’t have a long beard, his hair was neatly tied back, and his eyes were very energetic, the guy in the photo… It was obviously the madman he met in the nightmare world before!

The last nightmare world was the eighteenth one the madman had experienced. Veterans like him experienced nightmare worlds once a month, so two months later would be the time for him to participate in the twentieth nightmare world. The conditions he and Su Hewen put forward had a reasonable explanation.

But… at this critical moment, the madman wanted to find a job, and even asked for a higher salary for himself two months later?

“Mu Feng?” Su Zimo glanced at the name on the resume, then looked up and said to Su Hewen, “Ge, he should be a very interesting new housekeeper.”

“I hope he’s better than the previous housekeeper.” Su Hewen raised his eyes pointedly.

*

After enjoying the family’s morning tea, Su Zimo found a reason to return to the old man’s study on the second floor. He asked Ye Ning to help prepare some normal household things, and then in a way that ordinary people couldn’t imagine, he instantly arrived at An Yu Yi Yu in Jiangdu.

After walking through the back door, Su Zimo found that Peng Peng was still missing, while the ghost umbrella was looking at the tablet he was using, while… making tea for himself? His level of concentration was such that he didn’t even see Su Zimo return to the shop.

Su Zimo had always felt that certain powerful ghosts should be as intuitive as the ones in novels and movies, where any disturbance could draw their attention. But the one he kept in his store, not only could he lose himself in his own thoughts, he also couldn’t notice any unexpected situations.

Seeing the ghost umbrella so happily making tea, Su Zimo decided not to bother him. He just opened the back door and moved the prepared things little by little into An Yu Yi Yu. For example, the computer Su Zimo used for his homework, some books Grandpa Su recommended, and even some green plants and other things Ye Ning found.

Su Zimo actually liked the two flowerbeds on either side of the store. They seemed to be more green underneath the early morning sun, so he brought some green dill and ivy and placed them above the upright piano where the shelves were empty and on the counter next to it. He let the long vines and leaves rest naturally, bringing a sense of spring to the scalding summer.

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The maid also found a large empty mirror frame and glue, so Su Zimo could hide the ‘Real Fragments’ in the frame and make it better to sell than a bare fragment.

After the restoration was completed, every time Su Zimo passed the mirror on the shelf, he always felt that the movement of his shadow within the mirror seemed to be half a beat slower.

After trimming the vines and wiping down the containers with a rag, and all the work was done, Su Zimo found that the ghost umbrella was still there concentrating on making tea. For Su Zimo, who could drink instant coffee, his tea making process was even more exaggerated than Su Hewen’s freshly ground coffee.

“Mr. Ghost Umbrella.” Su Zimo looked at the ghost umbrella that was blocked by the flat plate on the counter, and squinted and said with a smile, “There are two people in the shop. One is decorating, and the other is sitting making tea. One person is trimming the plants and the other is sitting making tea. One is wiping the containers and the other is sitting making tea. What would you think the relationship between the two is?”

Su Zimo still hoped that the spirit can remember that he’s now a housekeeper, not the treasure of the town shop.

Ghost Umbrella finally put down the glass teapot that seemed extremely precious, and the lines in the corner of his eyes appeared seductive. After seeing Su Zimo holding a rag and clasping his hands, Ghost Umbrella asked seriously, “Beautiful love?”

“……” Su Zimo was silent for a moment then sighed helplessly. “The shop owner does the butler’s job, but the butler makes tea.”

“Huh? Is the other ‘person’ mentioned by the boss just now me?” Ghost Umbrella showed an innocent smile. “I’m not a person.”

“……”

With that said, Ghost Umbrella carefully picked up the glass teapot he had studied for a long time. Su Zimo could see that there were plenty of tender green tea leaves and some bright flowers inside. It looked more like a microscopic bonsai in a glass bottle than it did tea.

“Try my newly developed fragrant tea, called… ‘Happy’.” Ghost Umbrella hesitated for a while. It seemed that sloppy name might have been a spur of the moment decision.

Su Zimo, who always thought that Ghost Umbrella was lazily making himself tea just now, could only watched him take out a glass teacup, brew a cup of lightly-colored warm tea, and carefully bring it to his hand.

“There’s a flower tea shop next door, so I followed a video with a pot myself. It looks better than the video, but I don’t know how it tastes.” The ghost umbrella paused, then nodded confidently. “It must be the best in the world.”

Su Zimo carefully took a sip. He thought that so many tea leaves would make the tea extremely bitter, but he felt the freshness of mint the moment the tea entered his mouth. The feeling from this cup of tea… It can be said that it was fresh and bitter when first tastes, but after lingering in the mouth, there was sweetness on the tip of the tongue.

Indeed, it really gave people a ‘happy’ feeling.

“Peng Peng’s ability isn’t too strong. The shop is a very special place for malicious spirits. The power here can warm and nurture them. Because the power here is too strong, it’s easy for spirits to fall asleep, so he doesn’t come out often during the day.” The ghost umbrella saw Su Zimo’s satisfied expression while drinking the tea, and the lines around his eyes seemed to lighten. “However children can’t eat and sleep that often, so I went to the bookstore next door to buy a few practice books for early education, so he can do those when he wakes up.”

“…” Su Zimo didn’t think Peng Peng would like this gift. Peng Peng’s appearance as a child at that time was only caused by amnesia. The real Peng Peng should be the white-eyed youth he saw lying weakly, but with stronger powers, on the bed in the nightmare world.

Moreover…

“You have money to buy tea and books?” Su Zimo held the teacup and asked directly to the spirit.

“Money?” Ghost Umbrella tilted his head blankly.

“……”

“Sorry, is the shop already open?”

Just when Su Zimo was choking a little, a stranger’s voice suddenly came from the direction of the front door. It seemed that An Yu Yi Yu had welcomed its first guest since opening.

Footnotes

<ol>He doesn’t have responsibility for anything but his family. The rest of the world doesn’t matter. Sea of Flames and Swords: very deadly/dangerous place</ol>