When they arrived at Changzhou Prefecture's Ye City, Lu Ye found an inn with a better environment, intending to let everyone take a good bath and freshen up.
After several days of travel, they had mostly stayed outdoors, and everyone lacked the means to bathe. Except for Lu Ye, Bai Sheng, and the four cubs, who looked quite clean, the others were almost unrecognizable.
Wen Zhimuo lifted his arm and sniffed his armpit, nearly rolling his eyes and fainting on the spot.
Seeing this, Wei Han and Yang Ming Tong Tie quickly clasped their armpits and moved away from all the female companions. Otherwise, if their scent were to escape, their image would be utterly ruined from then on.
In truth, the female companions were not much better. Only the four wet nurses, due to having to nurse the four cubs daily, were required by Bai Sheng to clean their bodies every day and wash before each feeding, which was why they appeared relatively clean.
Huo Yin Qiu Dong could only wipe their faces with wet cloths, and the smell of their hair and bodies was quite potent.
The five little monkeys, although they had become little mud figures, were not embarrassed at all. Instead, they actively and enthusiastically displayed their foul odors to everyone. The more exaggerated the reactions of others, the more excited they became, laughing and howling like ghosts.
They even competed to see whose smell was the foulest. The method of competition was whoever could make the little black snake faint first was the king of stench.
The poor little black snake, having been confined by Lightning for several days, was now being grabbed by the five smelly boys, who took turns sniffing their odors. It was so pungent that its eyes glazed over, and it was on the verge of fainting. If it weren't for its good upbringing and its kind and beautiful nature, it really wanted to bite each of them with its venomous juice.
The only consolation was that the food and water given to it daily by the mistress were unusually delicious, especially the water, which seemed to make it smarter after drinking.
Because of Hua Hua, the mistress seemed to dislike it quite a bit, but because she liked Lightning so much, she tacitly allowed its existence.
The little black snake firmly believed that one day, the mistress would discover that it hadn't intended to scare Hua Hua, but rather to play with her, and that it was a good snake.
When everyone entered the inn, Wen Zhimuo sighed with emotion as he watched Bai Sheng and Lu Ye, as clean as if they had just emerged, walk past them.
"People are truly different. Look at my little sister and brother-in-law, and my nieces and nephews. They haven't bathed for days like us, yet they still look as clean as new, like celestial beings. Then look at us; we could fumigate ourselves to death. Alas, the disparity between people!"
The Lu Ye Bai Sheng family of six: "Excuse us, we secretly went into the space to bathe every night."
The innkeeper and the waiter, upon seeing so many carriages and guests entering, bustled about with excitement, warmly greeting them.
Lu Ye booked two private rooms and two large dormitories.
The Lu Ye Bai Sheng family of six slept in one private room, Wen Zhimuo and Wei Han in another, the wet nurses and four maids in one large dormitory, and Wen Zhimuo's two attendants, Yang Ming Tong Tie, and the five cubs in the largest dormitory.
Then came the bathing water. The water in Changzhou was not as expensive as in Bianzhou, but even so, the bathing water for everyone still cost seven to eight taels of silver.
For dinner, the female companions each had a bowl of shredded meat noodles, while Lu Huo had five large bowls alone; the men each had two large bowls, and Lu Ye also ate the leftover noodles from Bai Sheng.
This group of important customers was very generous with their spending today, making the innkeeper smile from ear to ear. The noodles and shredded meat were given generously.
After dinner, the clean Huo Yin Qiu Dong, with their hair disheveled, came to find Bai Sheng, saying they wanted to go to the city's fabric shops tomorrow to buy some sturdy fabric and needles and thread. This was because Lu Huo wanted Qiu Dong to help make a satchel that could carry all four young masters simultaneously.
"Carry all four cubs at once?" Bai Sheng was a little surprised.
Lu Huo gave a simple laugh, "Mistress, a few days ago, the eldest young lady was almost bitten by a poisonous snake. I thought that when the young masters grow bigger, I would carry all four of them every day, never leaving their side, so there would be less danger." Lu Huo felt like a big glutton. Not only did the madam not dislike her, but she often told her to eat enough and not to starve herself out of shyness. For such a mistress, she wanted to serve with all her might and be loyal to her for a lifetime.
Bai Sheng's heart warmed. Lu Huo was truly a loyal girl, and it was reassuring to have her look after the four cubs.
She took out 10 taels of silver and placed it in Lu Huo's hand, smiling, "We will rest in Ye City for a day before leaving. Tomorrow, you four go out and explore. Besides buying fabric, see if there's anything each of you needs to purchase."
Lu Huo took the silver, "Thank you, Mistress."
The other three, Yin Qiu Dong, also quickly thanked her, "Thank you, Mistress."
Bai Sheng smiled, "No need to be polite. We are all family. If you need anything, come and find me anytime."
The four maids' hearts all warmed, and they each responded affirmatively.
Bai Sheng thought for a moment, "How about this, I will design the satchel. Tomorrow I'll give the pattern to Qiu Dong, and you two will be responsible for sewing it. Make sure it's sewn very sturdily."
"Yes, please be assured, Mistress. We will sew it very sturdily and will never harm the young masters," Qiu Dong replied respectfully.
"Alright, thank you for your trouble," Bai Sheng smiled gratefully.
Qiu Dong blinked slightly. The mistress was still so polite to them, as if they were not servants, as if they were worthy of respect. This feeling, they had never experienced when following their previous mistress.
They especially liked their current life. As long as they behaved themselves and diligently did their jobs, they lived very easily and were not tired at all.
After the four maids left, Bai Sheng prepared to send Lightning and Violent Rain into the space. However, the little black snake was coiled on Lightning's head, looking at her ingratiatingly. Its meaning was obvious: it hoped the master would keep the little black snake.
Bai Sheng said to Lightning, "Lightning, this piece of black dung almost scared my Hua Hua. I don't like it, but for your sake, I'll graciously take it in.
However, you must keep a good eye on it from now on and never let it scare my Hua Hua again, or I'll skin it and eat its gallbladder."
The little black snake's body trembled. It wanted to cry but had no tears. "Mistress, why describe me with 'piece of'? My name isn't Black Dung, and besides, I... I really didn't go to scare Hua Hua, ah, how wronged I am, boohoo..."
Lightning nodded happily.
Bai Sheng then sent the little black snake into the space as well.
Thinking of Lightning's appearance, Bai Sheng felt something was not quite right. Was that piece of black dung a female snake? Was Lightning... in heat?
However, Bai Sheng immediately dismissed this terrifying thought because the size difference between them was too great, and they couldn't do that... right? The biggest possibility was that Lightning wanted a companion of its own kind.
Thinking about this, and then extending it to the others, Bai Sheng suddenly realized that there was a large group of bachelors in her space.
Dark Clouds had also grown up. Should she get a male camel for her?
Should Hmph Hmph be paired with a sow?
Should Violent Rain be paired with a female wolf?
And Snowflake, shouldn't she be off flirting with the female rabbits? Bai Sheng wasn't worried about Snowflake, as there were so many female rabbits in the space.
Bai Sheng didn't know if Hail had reached adulthood...