Chapter 13: Blushing Again
As soon as Xingnong left the grocery store, she saw Xinghui and Gu Zesen walking towards her quickly.
Xinghui was extremely surprised to see Xingnong carrying two big bags of grain, as well as the things in her back basket.
Where did Big Sister get so much silver to buy so many things?
Could it be that she found silver?
Xinghui wanted to ask, but in the end, he didn’t. He would ask when they got home.
Gu Zesen was also surprised that Xingnong had bought so many things.
But he tactfully didn’t ask.
He reached out to take the cloth bag from Xingnong’s hand: “I’ll carry it.”
“No need, it’s quite heavy.”
“It’s because it’s heavy that Xinghui and I should carry it.”
“Right.” Xinghui nodded and reached out to take the bag.
Xingnong let go when she saw this.
Xinghui easily took the rice bag, but the cloth bag in Gu Zesen’s hand almost fell to the ground.
A blush crept onto his handsome face: “My hand slipped, let’s go!”
After speaking, he quickly walked a few steps forward, looking very relaxed.
Miscalculated! He saw Xingnong carrying it so effortlessly that he thought it was light, but he didn’t expect it to be this heavy.
Xingnong and Xinghui looked at each other, then followed.
After walking a short distance, Gu Zesen felt like his hand was no longer his own!
Just as he was thinking about whether to say he couldn’t carry it anymore, a hand took the cloth bag from him: “Brother Gu’s hands are for writing. Doing these rough jobs too much will make your hands sore, and you still have to go back to copy books. I’ll take it!” Xinghui said considerately.
Gu Zesen blushed even more, but he really couldn’t carry it anymore, so he said: “It’s fine, I’ll rest for a bit and carry it later.”
I’ll find an ox cart to go back later!
I can’t lose face in front of my younger brother and sister! Gu Zesen thought.
There was a bun shop and a pork stall near the city gate. Xingnong went to buy twenty meat buns, which cost forty copper coins, and then went to buy three catties of pork, thirty-five copper coins per catty, and three catties of pork bones, ten copper coins per catty, spending a total of 135 copper coins.
Xinghui really couldn’t hold back this time: “Big Sister, where did you get so much silver?”
Xingnong had already thought of an explanation: “I sold a recipe to the restaurant.”
Xinghui was surprised: “What recipe? Where did you get a recipe, Big Sister?”
“When I was washing dishes at the restaurant, the cooks were too busy, so they asked me to help cook, and then I came up with it.”
Xinghui thought of Xingnong’s ability to solve math problems by analogy, no, by ten analogies, and kept silent.
Gu Zesen smiled and said: “Xingnong is truly brilliant.”
Outside the city gate, there were three or five ox carts parked there, all waiting for people leaving the city to hitch a ride and earn some small change.
Gu Zesen was just about to say that he would hire an ox cart to go back when he saw his father driving an ox cart from afar, waving vigorously: “Zesen, Xingnong, Xinghui, over here!”
Gu Zesen breathed a sigh of relief. His hands were still soft, and he felt embarrassed to let his younger brother and sister, who were younger than him, carry heavy things all the way, but he really couldn’t carry them anymore. “My father is here, let’s wait for him.”
Xingnong looked over. A middle-aged man with regular features and a thin build was waving at them.
Xingnong recognized him as Village Chief Gu Yangbin from the neighboring Peach Blossom Village, who was somewhat related to Madam Gu.
Whenever the original owner went to the city and met him, he would always let her ride in his ox cart.
Village Chief Gu should be here to pick Gu Zesen up and take him home.
The ox cart soon arrived in front of them.
Everyone greeted each other.
Gu Zesen asked: “Dad, why are you here?”
“Well, I saw that you hadn’t come home for a long time, so I came to the city to look for you. It turns out you’re with Xingnong and Xinghui!”
Xinghui said embarrassedly: “I was the one who delayed Brother Zesen’s time.”
“It’s fine, he has plenty of time. Get in the cart and we’ll talk!”
✿✿✿
The three of them got into the ox cart. Seeing that they had bought so many things, Village Chief Gu said:
“Zesen, why didn’t you help Xinghui and Xingnong carry some of the things? What good is carrying an empty chicken cage?”
Xinghui hurriedly said: “No, Brother Zesen helped just now. We took turns carrying it, so it wasn’t so tiring.”
Hearing this, Village Chief Gu knew that his son couldn’t carry it anymore. He said bluntly: “A scholar who can’t lift a finger is exactly what you are! Do more farm work when you have time to build up your strength, otherwise, when you get married and have children in the future, you won’t even be able to hold them. Don’t listen to your mother, who only knows how to read all day long.”
Village Chief’s wife saw that Gu Zesen loved to read since he was a child, so she let him concentrate on his studies and never let him do heavy work at home. This resulted in him having less strength than the other children in the village.
Gu Zesen was embarrassed, and two more blushes appeared on his fair face.
Can you please give me some face?
He subconsciously glanced at Xingnong.
The girl’s eyebrows curved slightly, and her eyes brightened a little, making her look particularly lively and eye-catching.
That feeling came again. He felt that the girl in front of him had changed. She had become calmer and more composed than before, more confident and lively, and she had a feeling that made it hard to look away.
It was still the same face.
What made her change?
Noticing his gaze, Xingnong looked at him.
Gu Zesen was startled and subconsciously looked away. His face turned red again, and again, and again. He hurriedly said to his father:
“Dad, talk to Mom about it!”
Anyway, he knew that his father only had two lines in front of his mother: You’re right, honey! Whatever you say, honey!
But why did he look away just now? Wouldn’t it have been fine to just smile?
“. . .” Village Chief Gu glared at him, then smiled at Xingnong: “Xingnong, Xinghui, sit tight. Let’s turn around and go home.”
The ox cart moved slowly.
The two villages were close to each other, and nothing could be hidden.
Village Chief Gu talked about Xingnong reporting to the authorities. “. . .You were too hasty, child! You have no sales contract and no land deed. Those people in Plum Blossom Village are not human. What’s the use of reporting to the authorities? Who will testify for you? You were just beaten with boards and rolled on nail boards for nothing, right?”
Gu Zesen looked at Xingnong in surprise.
He had been living in the academy. Today afternoon and tomorrow were his days off, so he had just gone back and didn’t know about this.
“No, I didn’t report it.”
Hearing this, Village Chief Gu said: “It’s right not to report it. You shouldn’t have reported it in the first place. You suffered for nothing! If the Shen family’s eldest branch dares to drive you away in the future, come find me! I’ll take people with me, grab some tools, and ask them if they have any shame!”
Gu Zesen broke out in a sweat. His father clearly looked quite gentle, so why did his words and actions resemble those of a scoundrel?
Xingnong smiled: “Okay.”
“Don’t worry, you don’t have to be afraid of them. As long as you don’t move, they won’t dare to really drive you away. Shen Zhiyuan still needs to take the imperial examination, they can’t afford to lose face! However,. . .” Village Chief Gu expressed his true thoughts, “Actually, the house your family lives in is not suitable for living. The villagers of Plum Blossom Village are not human, they all want to drive you orphans and widows away. You should persuade my elder aunt to take you back to Peach Blossom Village, so that your life won’t be so frustrating.”
These words were sincere.
Hearing this, Gu Zesen said: “Dad, the old house in our family is vacant anyway, can’t we let Great Aunt’s family live there?”
Madam Gu and Village Chief Gu’s family were somewhat related, so Gu Zesen called Madam Gu Great Aunt, but that was several generations ago.
“That’s what I wanted to say. Xingnong, you go back and persuade my elder aunt. If you move to Peach Blossom Village, I’ll give you my old house to live in. That house was built with the help of your maternal grandfather.”
“Okay.” Xingnong thought that moving to Peach Blossom Village might be a good idea.
Peach Blossom Village was originally a refugee village. Perhaps because of this, the villagers were very united. The villagers there would always smile and greet the original owner whenever they saw her, unlike the villagers in Plum Blossom Village who would call her “bastard, bastard.”
“Elder aunt’s temper is like a rock, she won’t be moved no matter what you say. You and Xinghui should say this. . .”
Village Chief Gu vividly taught the two of them a bunch of things, telling Xingnong how to use Xinghui’s future prospects, the marriages of their siblings, and the feng shui of their house as excuses. He even brought up the deceased Shen Chongshan as an excuse.
Xinghui was dumbfounded.
Gu Zesen broke out in a sweat. It’s over, his father’s image as a chatterbox and a gentle scoundrel could no longer be hidden.
Gu Zesen hurriedly said: “Don’t listen to everything my father says. You can’t use the deceased elders as an excuse. Great Aunt will be sad.”
Hearing this, Village Chief Gu said: “You can leave that out, but you must say everything else according to what I said. In short, you have to say that if you continue to live in that house, your family might be ruined and you might suffer misfortune! Only then will your grandmother move.”
Gu Zesen: “. . .”
Xinghui: “. . .”
Xingnong: “. . .”
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