Chapter 224

"You want me to learn how to make glass bottles from you?"

Gu Zhongtai raised an eyebrow, looking at Fan Xiaoxiao with a half-smile, his eyes seeming to say that he was not joking.

"yes!"

Fan Xiaoxiao swallowed hard, feeling a little nervous.

Although Boss Gu is relatively tolerant of me now, this kind of behavior of pulling the tiger's feathers is tantamount to courting death.

But people are always indebted to others.

Looking at the smile on Gu Zhongtai's lips, which seemed both mocking and disdainful, Fan Xiaoxiao inexplicably thought of Hu San's words about being laughed at as a spineless coward.

She didn't know what had gotten into her, but she suddenly felt wronged. After pouting, she vented her anger on Gu Zhongtai.

"Do you feel ashamed to learn from me? Do you think it's spineless to learn from a woman?!"

Gu Zhongtai, who was standing in front of her, remained silent for a while after seeing her sudden outburst. Fan Xiaoxiao gradually calmed down in his silence.

What followed was an indescribable disappointment and embarrassment. What was she doing? Forcing an ancient person to accept her modern way of thinking? She lowered her head and fell silent.

After a moment of silence, Fan Xiaoxiao lowered her head and whispered an apology.

She then stood up and prepared to go to the stove. There was nothing else she could do now, and this wasn't the time for her to be frustrated and sad. There were many things waiting for her to do, and instead of being sad here, she'd rather get to work on making the bottle.

She could burn several glass bottles with the time she had to be sad.

"stop."

Gu Zhongtai seemed to shift slightly, and Fan Xiaoxiao paused, about to stop, but then seemed to remember something. She walked back towards the door.

She wasn't going to listen to him! All the men here were jerks! Gu Zhongtai was just the better-looking one!

"Ha, you're throwing a tantrum before I've even said I don't want to study?"

"How could I dare? I'm busy boiling bottles right now! After all, time can't be wasted. If no one helps me, I have to do it myself."

Fan Xiaoxiao was, after all, someone who could take things in stride and let them go. However, the disappointment in her heart was like a spring that kept bubbling up, something she couldn't suppress no matter what she did.

Gu Zhongtai behind her chuckled again and took two steps outside as well.

"That's perfect, start teaching me now."

Fan Xiaoxiao turned around in disbelief: ? Am I hallucinating? What did Boss Gu just say? He told me to start teaching him right now? He didn't hear wrong, did he?!

As it turned out, Fan Xiaoxiao hadn't misheard.

Gu Zhongtai not only learned how to make glass bottles, but he also took several villagers from Ginkgo Village as his apprentices.

However, Fan Xiaoxiao found the process of accepting apprentices very strange.

because……

“I don’t want you to have any ulterior motives in learning this craft from me. If you are truly willing to learn, I have some pills here. You must take them before you become my apprentice.”

Fan Xiaoxiao looked at the few dark, round dumplings in his hand; they didn't look like anything good.

The young men, including Hu San, looked at what he was holding and all showed some hesitation.

Gu Zhongtai revealed a hint of sarcasm, placing the meatballs in his hand on the table in front of him: "Scared? You lot are laughable. When a woman teaches you, you say it's no good. Now that I'm doing it, you hesitate and look back. You're not acting like men at all."

Provocation!

Fan Xiaoxiao clicked her tongue inwardly, not expecting Gu Zhongtai to be so adept at manipulating others, now even resorting to provocation.

Tiger Three was the most stubborn person in Ginkgo Village; he couldn't be provoked at all. As soon as Gu Chongtai spoke, his eyebrows immediately rose, and he grabbed the pill on the table and swallowed it in one gulp.

“Who says I wouldn’t dare eat this! Every man in our Ginkgo Village is a pillar of strength! It’s just a pill! I can learn a skill to make money by eating it! It’s something that can be passed down through generations! Why wouldn’t I dare!”

As soon as he said this, the other villagers' expressions turned grim. After hesitating for a moment, a second person finally stepped forward and swallowed the dark pill in one gulp. With the first person setting an example, the other villagers followed suit.

Even so, a few people still gave up on eating the meatball.

Gu Zhongtai sneered, leaned back lazily, and stared at the group of villagers in front of him with a half-smile.

Suddenly, for some unknown reason, Hu San, seeing Gu Zhongtai's expression, knelt down with a thud, banging his forehead on the ground and shouting loudly, "Disciple greets Master!"

His movements were so dramatic that they stirred up dust on the floor. Most of the villagers who came were relatives of Hu San, and when they saw him kneel down, they followed suit and knelt down as well.

"Don't be too quick to thank me."

“Those black pills are ‘Guarantee Pills.’ By eating them, you are entrusting your lives and fortunes to me.”

He stood up and slightly raised his chin at Fan Xiaoxiao: "How long do you plan to use them?"

Fan Xiaoxiao was speechless for a moment because of his way of asking questions. After a long time, she replied, "I mentioned to Village Chief Fu before that people from the village who enter the distillery must sign a ten-year contract. During these ten years, everything they do in the distillery must be kept secret."

"Ten years... Come back in ten years and ask me for the antidote."

"Antidote!?"

Everyone was a little stunned. Although they had a general idea that the dumplings were something bad, two of them still panicked when Gu Chongtai admitted that the dumplings were poison. Those who hadn't eaten them even showed a hint of relief.

Fan Xiaoxiao saw all of this, and cleared her throat twice with a fist to her lips: "This medicine... if it's them..."

She spoke haltingly, but Gu Zhongtai understood her meaning and then began to describe the effects of the medicine in a back-and-forth manner.

"Oh, if they have any other intentions, then they can expect to die a violent death. I forgot to mention earlier that this thing needs to be given a medicine to suppress its toxicity every year."

At this point, the people from Ginkgo Village were somewhat hesitant, but their expressions remained resolute. Tiger Three, however, patted his chest and said, "My lord, please rest assured. Previously, when Lady Xiao offered to teach us, we were already somewhat ungrateful for refusing to learn because of the village rules. Now that you are willing to teach us, how could we be so ungrateful!"

"You little rascal! Tsk, you're really terrified of being poor!"

One of the villagers who hadn't taken the poison pills made a sarcastic remark about Tiger Three, and then, as if that wasn't enough, he added...

"Who doesn't know that your Hu San family is the poorest in the village!"

Fan Xiaoxiao glanced at the person who spoke and remembered their appearance.

"Yes! I'm poor! That's why I have the opportunity to earn money! And Lady Xiao has taken extra care of us! I can't be ungrateful!"

The man choked slightly, then left with his men, cursing under his breath.

After they became apprentices, Gu Chongtai taught them how to make the bottle.

When night fell, the crowd dispersed.

As Gu Zhongtai led Fan Xiaoxiao back, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"You should go back first; I still have some things to take care of."

Fan Xiaoxiao was taken aback. After glancing at Gu Zhongtai, she nodded.

After watching Fan Xiaoxiao walk away, Gu Zhongtai finally stopped.

"Come out."

(End of this chapter)