When Aunt Hong heard that people from Shanghai had arrived, she was overjoyed. “Please wait a moment—the Second Miss is still at school. Once she’s back, we can leave.”
Hearing this, Deputy General Zhang was quite surprised. “You didn’t tell the Second Miss that I was coming to fetch her today?”
If she had known, she should have withdrawn from school by now.
Still, he didn’t say anything more—after all, she was the Second Miss.
He was just a little curious. What exactly was this young lady, who had never been seen at the Ye household, like?
Just as the thought crossed his mind, Aunt Hong smiled. “The Second Miss is back!”
He instinctively turned to look.
In truth, Deputy General Zhang had long seen the two famous young ladies of the Ye family in Shanghai.
The eldest, Ye Junjin, was refined and well-mannered—the very picture of a modern socialite. When she first came of age, countless suitors had flocked to Shanghai to ask for her hand.
And the fourth young lady, Ye Junwan, was even more remarkable than Ye Junjin.
Unlike the others, she was spirited and quirky—dubbed a literary eccentric—and always gave off an air that set her apart from Shanghai’s other socialites.
Every time she appeared, she wore a Western-style dress and a lovely hat, turning heads wherever she went.
Because of her, Shanghai’s young ladies had begun to imitate her, and wearing Western dresses had become all the rage.
But along the way, Jinling was more conservative; there were far fewer foreigners than in Shanghai, and women in Western dresses were few and far between. Those who did wear them would draw strange looks on the streets.
Deputy General Zhang finally understood what Fourth Miss meant by “feudal.”
Just as he was thinking this, the Second Miss Aunt Hong had mentioned appeared.
She walked with her eyes slightly lowered, her straight black hair falling on both sides, partly hiding her face.
She wore a simple blue student’s uniform.
Compared to Fourth Miss’s Western dress, it was certainly much plainer and duller. In Shanghai, this kind of outfit was terribly outdated.
Even if they didn’t wear Western dresses, Shanghai’s socialites would wear vibrantly colored qipaos. As for those plain student uniforms, only girls from less well-off families would wear them.
Could it be that the money Madam sent back each year had been embezzled, so no one ever bought the Second Miss any dresses?
“Second Miss! You’re back—that’s wonderful. Please get in the car quickly. Deputy General Zhang is here to take us back to Shanghai. Don’t worry—I’ve packed up all your books and belongings. They’re in the carriage behind.” Aunt Hong immediately took the books from Ye Shaohua’s hands.
Ye Shaohua got into the car casually, with a nonchalant “Oh.”
It was at this moment that Deputy General Zhang finally got a clear look at Ye Shaohua’s face.
He’d only glanced over casually at first.
Given everything before, he hadn’t been particularly interested in Ye Shaohua. Perhaps influenced by Ye Junwan, his aesthetic had shifted—he now thought women in Western dresses were the truly beautiful ones.
But when he caught sight of that rather cool face, it was as if something struck his heart.
In contrast to Ye Junwan’s vivacity, the first word that came to mind when seeing Ye Shaohua was—cold.
Her jet-black hair set off her very fair face. Unlike Ye Junwan, she wore no makeup, yet her features were strikingly beautiful, with an ethereal, otherworldly quality.
Deputy General Zhang immediately revised his opinion. Ye Junwan had always been hailed as Shanghai’s number one socialite and number one beauty.
But—
Comparing the two, he truly felt that this Second Miss was certainly the more outstanding one.
**
By taking the official road and traveling by car, Jinling and Shanghai were only about a day’s journey apart.
“Mother, is Second Sister about to arrive?” At the Ye household, they had just received word from Deputy General Zhang and were having dinner together.
When Ye Junwan heard that her never-before-met second sister was coming back, she finished her meal and stayed with Mother Ye in the main hall to wait.
“Yes,” Mother Ye said, stroking Ye Junwan’s head affectionately. “Your father said the Tang family has already agreed to let your second sister marry into their family.”
Though she was reluctant to let Ye Junwan marry over there, she had no such qualms about her second daughter.
For one thing, Ye Shaohua had been unwanted since birth. After sixteen years, those feelings had faded somewhat, but with Ye Junwan and Ye Junqing around, and Ye Shaohua not having grown up by her side, it was hard for her to feel any real affection.
For another, the girl had been in Jinling all along—a place far less prosperous than Shanghai, with backward education, raised by just a servant. It was unlikely she’d learned anything worthwhile.
Normally, if word got out that a legitimate daughter had been raised by a servant, lacking in both talent and virtue, who would want to marry her?
Mother Ye hadn’t thought about it before, but now she realized that marrying the Tang family’s second son was the best possible match.
That Second Young Master Tang was a rough country fellow himself—not good enough for Ye Junwan. Her second daughter was about the same, so they suited each other perfectly. One could even call it a match made in heaven.
When Ye Shaohua arrived, Ye Junwan was chatting and laughing with Mother Ye.
The moment she laid eyes on Ye Shaohua, she froze.
“You’re… my second sister?” She stared wide-eyed, hardly believing someone like this could be her sister.
Dressed in a dusty-gray student uniform—even a servant in the Ye household wore nicer clothes.
As a young lady of the Ye family, she was supposed to be the family’s face. Such an old-fashioned outfit would be a laughingstock if word got out.
But…
This second sister was actually very beautiful.
Ye Junwan looked at Ye Shaohua’s face with complicated feelings. That frumpy uniform, when worn by her, somehow seemed to carry a touch of grace.
Still… she did seem rather stiff and dull.
Mother Ye asked her several questions, but her replies were all cool and brief. She didn’t even say “Mother” when she came back.
This gave Ye Junwan a small sense of relief.
“All right, we’ve prepared a room for you. You must be tired from the journey—go rest.” Finding no warmth in this daughter, Mother Ye waved her away impatiently.
Aunt Hong kept signalling frantically to Ye Shaohua, but she remained unmoved.
After leaving the main hall, a maidservant led the way. Aunt Hong finally couldn’t hold back and asked Ye Shaohua why she was so cold—it wouldn’t do her any good.
Ye Shaohua finally smiled, but she didn’t answer—she just shook her head.
Later that evening, Father Ye returned after handling government affairs. He had also heard Deputy General Zhang’s report and asked Mother Ye an extra question: “So Shaohua is back today. You’ve met her—what do you think? Is she a good match for the Second Young Master?”
