Finally, Gu Jiao understood why the original owner and Gu Xiaoshun could get along so well. Their intelligence levels were on par.
Today, Gu Jiao made a dish of wild chicken stewed with mushrooms. Although the wild chicken tasted delicious, its meat was tighter than domestic poultry. She stewed it in a large iron pot for a whole two hours until it was tender.
She also made a refreshing cold mixed fungus salad, pickled white radish shreds, and served white rice and cornmeal cookies grilled over an iron pan.
Although Xiao Liulang only passed his exam by the skin of his teeth, Gu Jiao still took it seriously and even slaughtered a chicken to celebrate for Xiao Liulang. But she would never admit this out loud.
"Go and call your brother-in-law to eat." She lifted off the grilled cookies from the pan and said to Gu Xiaoshun.
"Okay!" Gu Xiaoshun cheerfully ran off.
Xiao Liulang had just finished copying a book.
Some excellent scholars who excelled in examinations would have their books and notes, which were filled with their own notes, borrowed by the bookstore to be transcribed for sale to other students. While these books were more expensive than regular ones, a lot of students were still keen to acquire them.
The books copied by Xiao Liulang, whose handwriting was pleasing to the eye, sold best.
"Brother-in-law! Dinner time!" Gu Xiaoshun peeped his little head through the door gap.
Having a thick skin was indeed a good thing. Just a few days ago, he had been bullying Xiao Liulang half to death, but now he was acting all buddy-buddy.
Xiao Liulang's expression remained as cold as ever. He didn't show the slightest surprise or pleasure at Gu Xiaoshun's change of attitude, nor did he bear a grudge against Gu Xiaoshun's past ignorance and use it to mock him.
Gu Xiaoshun suddenly felt that it was quite comfortable to get along with his brother-in-law.
The three of them sat down for dinner.
Gu Xiaoshun picked up a piece of mushroom first. In his memory, his sister didn't cook, so this was the first time he tasted her culinary skills. Unexpectedly, it was delicious!
He then picked up a piece of chicken.
Heavens!
It was so delicious that he felt like crying!
Gu Jiao scooped out two large chicken legs, one for Xiao Liulang and one for Gu Xiaoshun.
The chicken legs were well stewed, bursting with rich flavor. Taking a bite, Gu Xiaoshun felt like he was about to ascend to heaven.
Xiao Liulang was very calm.
But if Gu Jiao knew how much he used to eat, she probably wouldn't think so.
Both of them finished a bowl of rice very quickly. As Gu Xiaoshun went to get more rice, he noticed that Xiao Liulang's bowl was also empty. He offered, "Brother-in-law, should I get you another bowl?"
"Mm." Xiao Liulang did not decline.
Whether he was accepting Gu Xiaoshun's kindness or the term "brother-in-law", it was unclear.
Gu Xiaoshun quickly brought back more rice.
This was the most comfortable meal Gu Xiaoshun ever had. Not only did the food taste great, the atmosphere at the dining table was also good. Even though his sister and brother-in-law didn't talk much, he could entertain himself! The three of them enjoyed their meal together!
After dinner, Xiao Liulang helped Gu Jiao clean up the dishes, while Gu Xiaoshun went to the backyard to chop firewood.
After entering the kitchen, Xiao Liulang suddenly placed a money bag next to Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao looked at him, puzzled.
"For household expenses." He said.
What Xiao Liulang gave Gu Jiao was two taels of silver, what he earned from more than a month's work of copying books. He only had a dozen or so copper plates left. However, the book he was currently copying would be finished soon, and in a couple of days he should be able to take it to town to exchange it for money.
Gu Jiao arched an eyebrow at the money bag on the stove, picked it up and accepted it.
After cleaning up the kitchen, Gu Jiao went to fetch water at the village entrance, but Gu Xiaoshun quickly took over, "Sis, you rest. I can do this heavy work!"
He took the carrying pole and went off, leaving Gu Jiao no chance to stop him.
Everyone was having dinner in their houses at this time, so no one was out fetching water. He had the ancient well all to himself. While he was pumping water, two Herculean men rode up to him on horses and stopped beside him without saying a word.
The two men alighted from their horses.
Gu Xiaoshun felt an icy killing intent.
Being a little bully in the village, he instantly recognized that the two men were martial artists. All the bullies in the neighboring villages combined were no match for either of them.
"Do you live in this village?" One of the sturdy men asked.
"Uh… Yes. Can I help you with anything?" Gu Xiaoshun asked, stunned.
"We're looking for someone!" The sturdy man brought out a broken umbrella and asked fiercely, "Have you seen this umbrella before?"
How could he not have seen it? That was his sister's umbrella!
Gu Xiaoshun felt his heart sink.
"You've seen it, haven't you?" The sturdy man squinted dangerously.
"I... I... I…" Gu Xiaoshun began to stammer. What had his sister done to have such terrifying people knocking on their door looking for her?
"Little fellow." The sturdy man reached out his large rough hand and lightly pressed it on Gu Xiaoshun's shoulder, "I'd advise you to tell the truth. Otherwise, I'll have to ask someone else…"
This man was so strong, he couldn't even move half of his body!
Gu Xiaoshun gritted his teeth: "It's mine!"
The sturdy man froze.
He exchanged a look with his companion.
The sturdy man retracted his hand, asking dubiously, "Your umbrella? Are you sure?"
Although Gu Xiaoshun's legs were already starting to go weak, he stubbornly replied, "Of course I'm sure it's my own umbrella! There's a scratch mark on the handle, and the character 'Xiao' is carved on it, I did it myself!"
The last few sentences were true. When he was bored, he carved his name on his sister's fan handle, but he could only write the character 'Xiao'.
The sturdy men, of course, knew there were characters on the umbrella handle. So after hearing his words, they mostly believed him.
"So, the person who went to the back mountain that day was you?"
"It was me!"
"The person who stepped on our master's face was also you?"
"...Yes!"
"Did you injure our master's arm?"
"...Yes! All me!"
"The needle hole in his butt, were you responsible for that too?"
Gu Xiaoshun almost tripped, sister, my dear sister, what were you doing poking people's butts for fun?
Gu Xiaoshun took a deep breath and closed his eyes: "Yes, yes, yes! All me! If you don't believe it, you can ask around, besides me, Gu Xiaoshun, who else would do such a thing?"
Gu Xiaoshun felt he was about to be beaten to death right there and then, yet the expected pain didn't come. He cautiously opened his eyes to see, only to find the two sturdy men had stepped back quite a distance, bowing deeply towards him.
"Benefactor! We have finally found you!"
Gu Xiaoshun: "..."
"Sister! Sister!" Gu Xiaoshun dashed into the kitchen like a sprinter, "I think I've got myself into trouble!"
"Lower your voice, your brother-in-law is studying." Gu Jiao made a shushing gesture at him.
With a long face, Gu Xiaoshun retold the incident at the entrance of the village to Gu Jiao in detail: "...sis, what should I do now? What's this benefactor talk? Are they trying to swindle me?"
"So that's what happened." Gu Jiao thought about the incident on the mountain that day and nodded thoughtfully, "Didn't you ask them who they are?"
Gu Xiaoshun slouched: "I forgot to ask."
"Have they left?" Gu Jiao asked.
"Not yet." Gu Xiaoshun sobbed.
Gu Jiao put down the broom: "Alright, wait here for me."
"Sister, don't go!" Gu Xiaoshun tried to hold her back.
"It'll be fine." Gu Jiao smiled, then headed towards the village entrance.
Gu Xiaoshun didn't know what his sister said to those two, but they left obediently.
The next day, just as dawn broke, a horse carriage entered the village, stopping outside the main gate of the Gu Family.
A cultured middle-aged man stepped down from the carriage.
Today was the day the elder house cooked, so the Zhou Family and Zhou Yue'e got up early.
As Gu Yue'e went out with a basket on her back to gather pig feed grass from the fields, she found a middle-aged man about to knock on their door, and behind the man was a large horse carriage.
Gu Yue'e had never seen such a spectacle and froze on the spot.
The middle-aged man smiled kindly, "Excuse me, is this the home of Gu Lizheng?"
Gu Yue'e turned and ran into the house: "... Mother, Mother! Someone's looking for Grandpa!"
The one who came out was Gu Changhai.
Gu Changhai, being the eldest son of old master Gu, occasionally accompanied the old master to the Yamen for official business, hence knew more than most villagers.
It was immediately clear to him that this visitor was significant.
Gu Changhai courteously asked, "My father is washing up, may I know who you are..."
The middle-aged man smiled, "I am the steward of Tianxiang Academy. I've come specially today to deliver the admission documents for Young Master Gu."
Admission documents are usually collected personally from the town, so why would the academy send someone all the way here to deliver them?
Could it be that Dashun did exceptionally well in the examination?
Gu Changhai felt a surge of pride straightening his back. He called into the house proudly, "Dashun, the academy has sent your admission documents!"