Editor: Atlas Studios
The Gu family really took a hit this time. Losing their entire capital – forty taels of silver – and the reputation that Gu Dashun had painstakingly built was also demolished.
For a long stretch of time afterwards, the Gu family probably wouldn’t have the strength to stir up any more trouble.
Gu Jiao was delighted and ate half a bowl more for dinner.
It snowed a bit in the afternoon that day but it wasn’t heavy and it stopped after a while. It didn’t affect s anyone’s ability to get around, but it was a bit cold. When Xiao Liulang got home, his hands were frozen stiff.
Gu Jiao hurriedly handed him the ginger soup she’d prepared.
Even with frozen hands, he drank the soup in a calm and unhurried manner, exuding a natural elegance and nobility.
Gu Jiao watched him intently.
“What’s up?” He turned to ask.
Caught staring, Gu Jiao wasn’t at all embarrassed. She smiled, “nothing. Carry on drinking your soup. I’ll go serve dinner!”
Gu Jiao dished out the hot food from the pot and invited the old lady to join them for dinner.
They were halfway through their meal when an uninvited guest arrived.
“I’ll get the door,” Gu Jiao put down her chopsticks.
“I’ll get it.” Xiao Liulang got up with his crutch before her.
“You eat.” The old lady said to Gu Jiao.
Although in the old lady’s mind, Xiao Liulang was her grand-nephew and Gu Jiao was merely her granddaughter-in-law, she never showed favoritism to Xiao Liulang.
While Gu Jiao continued her meal, Xiao Liulang opened the door, finding not a villager, but a young master and his servant standing there.
The young master was dressed grandly and exuded an air of nobility. It was clear he was from a well-to-do household.
Xiao Liulang was a bit surprised. Of course, they were also surprised, as they were looking for Gu Jiao and they had never expected that a young man would be the one to open the door.
The young man was dressed in the white uniform of the Tianxiang Academy, his demeanor pure and refined, his features exquisite and elegant.
Both the master and servant were taken aback to find such a delicate-looking young man in such a remote countryside.
The young master spoke, “May I ask… is this Miss Gu’s home?”
“Who are you? Why are you looking for my wife?” Xiao Liulang asked coldly.
The young master was taken aback: “My family name is Qin…”
“Young Master Xiaoqin?” Gu Jiao had somehow wandered over. She looked curiously at the young master standing outside her door. “What are you doing here?”
Young Master Xiaoqin nearly turned and ran when he saw her: “I was about to ask you the same thing! What are you doing here?”
“This is my home. Where else should I be?” Gu Jiao retorted.
“How did you come to be in Gu…” Speaking midway, Young Master Xiaoqin suddenly understood and stammered: “You… you’re… Miss Gu?”
Gu Jiao raised an eyebrow and lightly touched her chin. “So you didn’t know who I was after all.”
She had chased after him for so long and he hadn’t even bothered to figure out her identity.
Xiao Liulang’s face froze over; he gave Young Master Xiaoqin a cold look and then turned to go back inside without a backward glance.
She had the feeling that Xiao Liulang was upset.
It was only now that Young Master Xiaoqin realized Xiao Liulang had a limp. So that was why a handsome young man like him would marry a girl who didn’t act properly. He was disabled after all.
“What are you doing at my house?” Gu Jiao asked coldly.
Young Master Xiaoqin then noticed something else – the young girl’s eyes no longer held the former fanaticism toward him; she didn’t appear to be the slow-witted girl anymore.
“If you have things to say, just say it. If you have nothing to say, please leave. I won’t see you off,” Gu Jiao was about to close the door as she spoke.
Young Master Xiaoqin came to his senses, reached to hold the door. “I came to ask if you have picked up a letter?”
The silver in his package was taken by someone from the Zhou and the Liao families, but not the letter. It was casually dropped onto the avenue. Since the constables couldn’t find it, they thought of Gu Jiao who had been at the scene and could have picked it up.
They didn’t tell Young Master Xiaoqin that Miss Gu was the village fool from Qingquan Village, or else Young Master Xiaoqin would never have gone to ask for it himself.
Upon hearing Young Master Xiaoqin’s words, Gu Jiao was surprised.
Honestly, she didn’t expect the letter’s owner to be him. In her dreams, she had only been focused on looking for Xiao Liulang. How could she remember what the owner of the letter looked like?
But she did indeed pick up that letter.
Gu Jiao went back into the house, found the letter and then went back outside to ask him, “you mean this?”
Young Master Xiaoqin’s eyes brightened, “So you really did pick it up! But why didn’t you tell the constables?”
Gu Jiao shrugged. “They didn’t ask.”
The constables simply forgot.
“Here you go.” Gu Jiao handed the letter to him without any hesitation.
Young Master Xiaoqin immediately took the letter from her. The envelope was still sealed, showing no signs of being opened.
The joy of retrieving what he’d lost caused Young Master Xiaoqin’s opinion of her to improve instantly. Perhaps, the nonsensical things she did in the past were simply due to being slow-witted, but essentially she was a good girl who wouldn’t keep things she found.
“Oh, thank you so much!” Young Master Xiaoqin sincerely expressed his gratitude.
Gu Jiao cut her eyes at him and casually asked, “Just a verbal thanks?”
Young Master Xiaoqin was startled.
Gu Jiao smiled lightly, “Aren’t you planning on providing any substantial rewards like silver?”
Young Master Xiaoqin was stumped.
Where was the girl who picked up lost things and didn’t keep them?
A quarter of an hour later, Gu Jiao returned to the house holding a hundred taels of silver. This sum of money was three times the amount that the Zhou and Liao families had seized, moreover, it was willingly given by Young Master Xiaoqin. It was both fair and legal!
“Hmm? Where’s Xiao Liulang?” Gu Jiao asked the old lady.
The old lady gestured towards Xiao Liulang’s room with her chin.
Gu Jiao proceeded to Xiao Liulang’s room.
Xiao Liulang was currently copying books, a cold expression on his face.
Gu Jiao carried the earned… um, no, the newly-acquired silver over, gently placing it on Xiao Liulang’s table.
Xiao Liulang paid no attention to it.
“Are you mad?” Gu Jiao asked quietly.
Xiao Liulang simply turned his back to Gu Jiao, ignoring her.
That sulky attitude of his, had made Gu Jiao’s heart melt.
Gu Jiao leaned down to whisper in his ear, “Why am I so blind at such a young age? He’s obviously so ugly…”
Xiao Liulang’s eyelashes slightly quivered.
She was so close that her breath tickled his earlobe.
Gu Jiao spoke softly, “I didn’t know it was his letter. I simply picked it up and then forgot about it. When he came to ask for it just now, I swindled him out of a hundred taels.”
All the dissatisfaction in Xiao Liulang’s heart evaporated with her last sentence.
That she had swindled Young Master Xiaoqin meant that she must have truly given up on him after all.
In fact, he shouldn’t have been upset. After all, they were not really husband and wife. One day, he would leave her and this place. He didn’t care about her and Young Master Xiaoqin’s relationship before, and he shouldn’t care now.
He couldn’t explain why he got so angry earlier.
Gu Jiao gently soothed him, “Are you still angry? I won’t look at him anymore.”
“You can look at whoever you like,” Xiao Liulang’s voice was frosty.
Gu Jiao grinned and whispered into Xiao Liulang’s ear, “He’s nowhere near as good-looking as you.”