Old Madam Liu laughed and said, "I’m still used to living in the countryside. It’s enough for me to visit them occasionally."
Old Madam Qiao also recovered her spirits and followed with a laugh, "You shouldn’t worry about the kids living in Yizhou City. In a while, let their cousins meet. Once they get familiar with each other, they can come and go often and play together."
Old Madam Zuo nodded continuously and laughed, "Speaking of which, the brothers haven’t met each other yet. Let them meet later. It happens that the children are of similar age and they are all studying, so they can discuss their lessons together in the future."
Manbao, hearing this, seemed to think of something, stretched out her finger and poked Bai Shan, her eyes gleaming with joy as she smiled at him.
Bai Shan secretly glared at her, but he couldn’t help but smile as well.
If they really got to play together, that would be fun. Their two families were separated by just a wall. If they visited each other often...
Bai Erlang also thought of this and whispered conspiratorially to them, "To go through their main and side gates, we’d have to make a detour around half the street, which wastes time. It’s better for us to just climb over the wall; it’s only a matter of a few steps..."
While they were whispering here, suddenly a Little Girl hurried in from outside and spoke softly to Old Madam Zuo, "Old Madam, Second Madam Ji has arrived."
Old Madam Zuo’s eyes lit up. She was about to get up but then thought it wouldn’t be proper, so she sat back down and said with a smile, "Please invite her in."
Second Madam Ji entered with several servants, and only then did Old Madam Zuo get up with a smile and offer her the seat of honor.
Second Madam Ji naturally refused, smilingly demurring, "With the Old Madams here, how dare I presume? Please, take your seats first."
After a modest refusal back and forth, Second Madam Ji finally sat down opposite Old Madam Liu and explained, "My mother originally intended to personally congratulate Lord Bai on his housewarming, but we had guests at home, leaving her no spare moment."
"For Second Madam to come is to bring grace to our residence..."
Manbao, listening to their cordial greetings, became a bit bored and turned her little head to look around, her gaze meeting that of the nanny standing behind Second Madam Ji.
Upon seeing Manbao looking at her, the nanny showed a big, warm smile.
Manbao hesitated for a moment, then gave her a slight nod of acknowledgment.
Nanny Liu then whispered a few words to Second Madam Ji, who looked at Manbao and beckoned with a smile, "Isn’t this Young Lady Zhou?"
Bai Shan frowned slightly and tugged at Manbao.
Manbao didn’t approach but instead went out and performed a bow, "Second Madam Ji, greetings."
Nanny Liu was about to step forward to help Manbao up, but Nanny Liu preempted her, gently pushing Manbao toward Old Madam Liu. Old Madam Liu took Manbao’s hand and said to Second Madam Ji with a smile, "I didn’t expect Second Madam Ji to still remember this child."
"Who is this?" Second Madam Ji asked, somewhat puzzled.
Old Madam Zuo naturally explained again, and upon hearing, Second Madam Ji also showed respect, laughing, "I was not aware that the Old Madam was here; otherwise, I would have definitely brought my troublesome child to pay a visit."
Compared to Manbao, Second Madam Ji was more appreciative of Bai Shan’s life-saving grace.
Because in her heart, like Manbao’s, Zhou Man and Doctor Ji were physicians; they had provided financial help, and it’s expected for doctors to save lives. But Bai Shan was her son’s schoolmate, and he had taken a risk when he acted to save someone.
However, she was also aware that her mother-in-law was very grateful to Manbao. Naturally, she wouldn’t want to upset her over this matter, but that didn’t prevent her from showing even warmer affection to Bai Shan.
Second Madam Ji started to speak with Old Madam Liu about Bai Shan, full of praise and gratitude.
Old Madam Liu’s spirits relaxed slightly, and she quietly patted Manbao’s hand, signaling her to move back.
The arrival of Second Madam Ji ignited the atmosphere in the room, with everyone meeting and talking mostly about their children.
Seeing how Second Madam Ji so praised Bai Shan and Manbao, whether they knew them or not, everyone in the room also joined in the praise.
Of course, Bai Erlang, who was standing beside them, was not left out.
The three were dragged around to meet everyone in turn, receiving countless red envelopes. In their dizzy state, someone led them out to greet the other young boys and girls attending the banquet.
Bai Yu’s two sons took Manbao and the others outside. Eldest, Bai Ling, glanced at Manbao and looked down, saying, "Miss Zhou, I’ll have my elder sister take you to play in the garden."
Manbao asked, "Where are you guys going to play?"
Bai Ling replied, "I’m taking Shantang Hall brother and the others to meet our father in front."
It was then that Manbao nodded and looked around before asking, "Where is your sister then?"
Bai Ling looked at the girl standing aside, who whispered, "The eldest young lady got tripped up in the garden and will take a while to come over."
Bai Ling then seemed a bit conflicted, unsure of what to do.
Not seeming to care, Manbao said, "Then I’ll just head over directly, why don’t you lead the way?"
She was pointing at the girl.
Bai Ling nodded repeatedly and instructed, "Lead Miss Zhou there, and have my sister take good care of her."
Bai Shan and Bai Erlang weren’t too worried about Manbao; they both felt that few people in the world could bully her, especially when she was with a group of girls. As long as she didn’t bully others, all would be at peace.
So the two of them said goodbye to Manbao quite easily.
Manbao followed the little girl towards the garden. They hadn’t walked far when Manbao stopped and pointed down another path, "Wouldn’t it be faster if we went this way?"
The little girl looked in the direction she was pointing, hesitated, and then said, "This path could get us there too, but it connects to the front courtyard where the men are now, and I fear it might offend you. So let’s go around this way instead."
Manbao then followed her, adhering to the principle of observing more and speaking less.
As they walked, Manbao couldn’t help but look at the little girl. Seeing sweat on her forehead, she asked, "Are you very nervous?"
The little girl swallowed hard before saying, "No, not really..."
Manbao sighed, "Fine, if you are lost, just say you’re lost. I won’t scold you, and I won’t tell your master either. Why be so anxious?"
"Right, where in the garden is your eldest young lady?"
Looking up into Manbao’s bright eyes, the little girl couldn’t help but blurt out, "By the side of the lotus pond."
Manbao looked around and chose a direction, saying, "Well then, let’s go. This way."
The little girl was stunned but quickly caught on and hurried after her, saying, "Miss Zhou, please don’t wander off. We should go that way."
"Oh, I already said you were lost. The lotus pond is this way. Just follow me," Manbao said with a look of understanding. "I get it, you’re directionally challenged. I used to get lost a lot myself, especially in places where the scenery in every direction looks the same, making it hard to recognize anything. So at times like these, you need to look for something distinctive, and that way, you won’t get lost again."
Manbao walked quickly and the little girl had to jog to keep up. She wanted to reach out and grab Manbao, but with servants and guests passing by, she didn’t dare to make it too obvious or call out loudly.
Talking incessantly, Manbao led her around two courtyards and into the garden, where the large lotus pond immediately came into view.
A group of girls was sitting in a pavilion by the pond, laughing and playing, and Manbao could hear their laughter from afar.
However, Manbao shuddered first, thinking: It’s so cold today, and it was silly enough that they climbed the mountain early in the morning to catch the cold wind. But she hadn’t expected to find others even sillier, blowing in the cold breeze in the pavilion in the middle of winter.