Helan Rong raised his hand weakly. "I can also go..."
"You cannot!" Helan Zong glared at him.
Helan Rong shrank his neck.
"Well, since it's still early, let's go now." Helan Zhen stood up. "A stroll and then back, just in time for lunch and a nap."
Watching Helan Zhen take Lu Shuo out, Zhang Yizhu leaned down and softly asked her daughter, "Do you want to go play with them?"
Helan Pei shook her head.
It was the expected answer. Zhang Yizhu said nothing more and patted her daughter's head.
Lu Shuo followed Helan Zhen onto the carriage. Helan Zhen said, "These surroundings are just residences, nothing to see. When we reach the market street, we'll get off and walk slowly."
Lu Shuo responded.
In his heart, he was actually a bit afraid of Helan Zhen, because Helan Zhen was not as lively and straightforward as Helan Chang and Helan Rong, nor like Helan Zong, who, though usually dignified, was still kind to him.
Helan Zhen perfectly matched Lu Shuo's imagination of an aristocratic young master: graceful, handsome, well-mannered, and seemingly perfect in every way.
It was precisely because of this perfection that he felt distant.
The gap between people was too great. Lu Shuo felt he could never become someone like Helan Zhen in his lifetime.
Although he sat side by side with Helan Zhen in the carriage, he lifted the curtain and silently looked at the outside scenery, avoiding talking to Helan Zhen, afraid that he might suddenly ask about what he and the Fourth Miss usually did in class.
But he was overthinking again. Helan Zhen didn't ask about class; he simply pointed out each residence they passed and briefly told Lu Shuo whose it was. The nearby houses all belonged to prominent families, and even if not close, they were acquaintances. If Lu Shuo went out in the future, he would have to remember these people.
Lu Shuo tried hard to remember.
When they reached the market street, there were many more passersby, and it was much noisier.
Helan Zhen led Lu Shuo out of the carriage and walked with him. "These roadside stalls sell odds and ends. Further ahead are fixed shops, like taverns, teahouses, cloth shops, and so on..."
Lu Shuo walked along, looking around curiously.
The capital was indeed bustling. Even the things sold by roadside vendors looked quite interesting. If they were in the countryside, the children would probably fight over them for a long time.
Of course, there were also some common fruits and vegetables. Lu Shuo hadn't seen such fresh and intact ones in a while, so he couldn't help but take a few extra glances. The vendor thought he wanted to buy and enthusiastically called out, "Five coins a bunch, young master, care to buy some?"
Lu Shuo was startled and quickly quickened his pace to catch up with Helan Zhen, muttering, "So expensive! Where I come from, it's at most two coins!"
Helan Zhen smiled and said, "Prices in the capital are a bit higher."
After walking a few more steps, they saw a person sitting by the roadside with a basket in front of them. Inside the basket were several puppies playing, nudging each other.
Lu Shuo couldn't help slowing down again and looked back several times.
"What's wrong?" Helan Zhen said. "They look like ordinary puppies. Some people buy them to guard the door. Do you want to buy one too?"
Lu Shuo quickly waved his hands. "I don't want to buy. It's just that their fur color is very similar to the dog I used to have at home, so I looked a bit longer."
Helan Zhen said, "Oh? You had a dog before?"
"Yes, a big yellow dog. It was older than me. My father raised it. I used to play with it a lot when I was little." Lu Shuo said, "It died of old age a few years ago, and we didn't get another one."
Helan Zhen didn't respond.
Lu Shuo thought he wasn't interested in the topic, so he didn't say more. But after walking a bit further, Helan Zhen suddenly spoke. "Actually, our mansion also used to have a little dog."
"Really?" Lu Shuo asked curiously. "When was that? Why don't I see it now?"
"It was about four or five years ago." Helan Zhen sighed softly. "At that time, Pei'er had just had her incident and was quite depressed. Our parents were afraid she would be lonely, so they bought a little dog to keep her company."
Lu Shuo cautiously asked, "And then?"
Since there was no dog in the mansion now, there must have been some change?
"And then Pei'er did become a bit happier. She often played with her little dog." Helan Zhen said. "But she was young and couldn't take care of the dog by herself, so the servants around her helped take care of it. We brothers also liked to play with it. The little dog had a good temper and became familiar with everyone. It wagged its tail at anyone it saw."
Lu Shuo said, "That sounds good, doesn't it?"
"It was good, but the biggest problem was—" Helan Zhen took a long breath and shook his head. "A dog always has to obey commands. And the only person in the mansion who couldn't speak was Pei'er."
Although the little dog was kept in Helan Pei's courtyard, it would naturally run out to play when no one was watching. Helan Pei wanted to find it, but she could only blindly search everywhere. Others, however, could just call its name, and it would come out from some unknown corner, happily rushing toward the person who called.
Sometimes, when the dog was playing at Helan Pei's feet and heard some noise outside, it would run out curiously. Helan Pei couldn't call it back, but if Zisu gave a stern shout, the dog would reluctantly return.
The dog couldn't understand Helan Pei's gestures, but it could understand others' commands. Over time, Helan Pei didn't want to play with the dog anymore.
"Our parents bought it to make Pei'er happy. Since it backfired and made her even more gloomy, there was no reason to keep the dog. Later, they gave it to another family." Helan Zhen said. "So the mansion hasn't kept any other pets since then."
Lu Shuo was stunned and didn't know how to respond.
So such a thing had happened... No wonder the master and madam insisted that he and the Fourth Miss attend class together, and no wonder the Fourth Miss had pulled him to play Chupu earlier. It turned out his guess was correct: the Fourth Miss was truly a lonely caged bird.
But unlike other birds, even if the cage door was opened, this bird didn't want to fly out.
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