Chapter 369 Servants

Jiang Luli's fingertips stroked the edge of the teacup, with a faint smile on the corner of his lips.

The pair of eyes that always contained sharpness were now narrowed into crescents, and even the tips of his eyebrows were tinged with mischief.

His mysterious look, like a naughty boy hiding honey, successfully aroused Gu Jiayue's curiosity.

"Just tell me." Gu Jiayue leaned forward, the jade hairpin on her temples swaying slightly with the movement, and there was a subtle urgency in her voice.

The feeling of knowing half of this kind of thing and keeping the other half is like having half a plum stuck in your throat, so sour and itchy that it makes you feel uncomfortable.

Jiang Luli tilted his head and concentrated on skimming off the foam with the tea lid. The celadon teacup made a crisp "ding" sound when it hit the tea tray.

He sipped his tea slowly, but refused to reveal his plan in full.

Gu Jiayue stared at his fingers holding the teacup for a long time, and suddenly relaxed her shoulders.

Forget it, since you don’t want to say it, she won’t ask.

Anyway, I will know sooner or later when he really wants to take action.

She finished the tea in her cup and stood up. "If you don't want to talk, I'll go back first. Remember to notify me when you start."

Jiang Luli's hand holding the teacup stopped in mid-air, and the smile in his eyes froze instantly.

This wasn't right. Shouldn't she be either holding her chin and speaking softly, or pulling on his sleeve and shaking it?

It is best if the tip of the nose is slightly red, with a hint of coquettishness.

Then he would have revealed the whole cause and effect.

All my cousins ​​in the family are like this.

Why didn't this girl play by the rules? She just left without saying anything?

Or Master, don’t you know that where there is a will, there is a way?

But who is Jiang Luli?

He has always been a man with a tough mouth that can withstand the city gate.

He put down his teacup and stood up. "Okay, I'll take you out."

Gu Jiayue had no intention of asking further questions, but now that she saw that he didn't even say anything to try to persuade her to stay, she became even more convinced that this plan must not be very legitimate.

Otherwise, why hide it?

If that's the case, it's better not to tell anyone. After all, things are done in secrecy, and as soon as you tell someone, there's a risk of it being leaked, and it would be bad if things go against your wishes.

Watching Gu Jiayue's figure turn around and pass through the Moon Gate, Lu Yao finally couldn't help but shook his head. "Master, you won't be able to catch up with Gu Shanzhang like this."

Jiang Luli was looking at the empty courtyard gate in frustration. He should have let go just now, even if it was just a hint.

Suddenly, Lu Yao exposed his thoughts. He turned around abruptly, his brows knitted into knots. "Oh, how can someone who hasn't even accepted a girl's handkerchief be qualified to give me advice?"

Lu Yao's face suddenly turned red, as if it had been burned by charcoal fire.

He clutched the jade pendant at his waist and pulled out a silver hairpin from his bosom. "Master, do you think this hairpin is suitable for Miss Ye?"

Jiang Luli raised his eyebrows: "Miss Ye? Which Miss Ye?"

"It's Master Ye from the academy." Lu Yao lowered his voice, his ears red as if they were about to bleed. "Yesterday we went to see the cement she developed..."

Jiang Luli looked him up and down, finally managing to say, "You and Master Ye are in love? When did this happen?"

This kid is either following him with a sword on his shoulder every day, or practicing in the martial arts field until his clothes are soaked with sweat. How could he still have time to think about these things?

Lu Yao quickly glanced around, making sure his master and he were the only ones there before he breathed a sigh of relief. "Master, please keep your voice down. Miss Ye doesn't even know I like her. Do you think it would be intrusive if I took this hairpin to ask her opinion?"

Jiang Luli looked at the silver hairpin in his hand. The orchid carved on it was lifelike. It was obvious that a lot of thought had gone into it.

only……

"Good luck!"

He had nothing to say, and he couldn't offer any advice.

After all, my sweetheart doesn’t even know that I like her.

But he was a little unsure. Gu Jiayue was a smart woman. He had already shown it so clearly, but she didn't respond at all.

There are only two reasons for this. One is that Gu Jiayue is still not open to feelings. The other is that she doesn't like him and is unwilling to take even a single step forward.

No matter which of these two reasons is true, it is very troublesome.

Gu Jiayue had no idea what the master and servant were thinking. Before she even entered the yard, she could see from afar that his yard was crowded with people.

She thought something had happened at home, so she walked quickly forward for a distance and saw many strangers standing in the yard, densely packed.

"Jiayue! You're back!" Grandpa and grandma clutched her hands, their knuckles trembling. Seeing her, they pointed at Gu Yuchuan standing beside them as if they had seen a savior and began to accuse him. "Your second brother is crazy!"

As soon as these words came out, the usually very strong-willed grandmother actually showed signs of crying.

Oh my God, what did my second brother do that was so infuriating that he forced grandma to become like this?

Gu Jiayue quickly looked at Gu Yuchuan.

Gu Yuchuan pointed at the stranger in the courtyard with a helpless look on his face. "I didn't do anything. I just bought a few servants for the family as grandma instructed."

"How many? How do you call these hundreds of people how many?" Grandma jumped up and wanted to hit someone.

Grandpa quickly pulled her back. "Don't be impulsive, don't be impulsive. He's a scholar now, you can't hit him!"

Grandma angrily threw him away. "Don't even mention the scholar. Even if he's the number one scholar, he's still my grandson. As long as I live, I can beat him!" After saying this, she ignored the attempts to stop him and searched the yard for something to hit him with.

For a moment, people were trying to stop the fight, and the whole yard was bustling with activity.

Gu Jiayue was overwhelmed. "Okay! Can someone tell me what's going on?"

Grandma stopped and slumped down under the eaves, feeling like a broken jar. "Ask your second brother yourself! I only asked him to buy a few strong young servants to help with the work, but he bought me hundreds. Not only strong young ones, but also old and young ones! Does he think I'm some rich landlord?"

"So many people, living off my blood?"

Their family is just a farmer in the village. Even if they earned some money this year, they can't afford such hardship.

There are hundreds of people. Even if each person is only given one steamed bun per meal, they will eat three hundred steamed buns a day.

How much food does this require?

They have to be paid every month! Grandma wants to die right there just thinking about how much she has to pay out every month!

No! Even if that were the case, I would take this unfilial descendant away!

Thinking of this, grandma suddenly jumped up from the ground and reached out to pull Gu Yuchuan's clothes.

Gu Yuchuan was caught off guard and was pulled by the old lady, causing him to stagger and almost fall.

Grandma's palm, as big as a futon, slapped Gu Yuchuan's butt hard. "Prodigal son, I'll beat you to death!"

It didn't hurt, but it was a bit embarrassing. After all, there were not only the Gu family members in the yard, but also those newly bought servants.

But who is our Gu Yuchuan? He is a veteran of three dynasties and a prime minister for his entire life.

How shameless.

He knelt down in front of my grandmother and said, "Grandma, please beat me to death."

Grandpa quickly pulled him up and said the same thing. "Chuanzi is already a scholar, and there are outsiders here. Please give him some face!"

Looking at the gossiping looks from the servants, Grandma could only suppress her resentment. "Get up!"

Gu Yuchuan quickly stood up. "Don't be angry, Grandma. I was just thinking that since we're going to hire more servants, we need to fill all the positions in the house."

He pointed at the old man in the front and began to promote the business. "This is Uncle Wang. He was the steward of the previous master's family. He's a very capable steward. If the master hadn't gotten into trouble, we wouldn't have gotten our turn."

He then pointed at the woman in the blue cloth skirt. "She used to be the kitchen manager. Not only is she good at shopping, but she's also a great cook. Her spicy chicken is especially amazing."

Finally, he patted a few strong men on the shoulders and said, "These are the ones who can carry water and plow the land. They are stronger than cows."

Anyone who doesn’t know the situation and sees this scene will definitely think that Gu Yuchuan is just a talkative human trafficker.

Those whose names were called knelt and saluted, their movements so orderly that they seemed to have been rehearsed.

Although Gu Jiayue felt that what her second brother said made sense, she still couldn't help but feel her scalp tingling: "But our house can't accommodate so many people."

"That's right!" Grandpa quickly replied, his pipe shaking. "Just leave a dozen strong men behind, and the others can go back!"

The second brother's voice was flat. "I've already paid, there's no refund."

Haha, he has been on guard against his family for a long time.

Grandma slapped her thigh in anxiety. "What should we do? How can the rice in our granary be enough to feed so many people?"

She regrets it so much now.

I shouldn't have let Gu Yuchuan do this.

He usually looks calm, so why is he so outrageous when he makes a move?

Gu Yuchuan spread his hands, sunlight streaming through the cracks in the pomegranate tree onto his face. "If you don't want them, then sell them again. It'll probably be for less than what I paid for them."

"You are threatening me!" Grandma's voice was filled with tears.

Gu Yuchuan stopped talking.

"Jiayue, you take care of him!" Grandma pushed her forward.

Gu Jiayue was stunned.

Are you kidding me?

He is the male protagonist of a political novel, how could he possibly listen to a teacher like her?

But seeing her grandmother's red eyes, she still stepped forward. "Second brother, there are really too many people. Keeping so many servants in the village will cause gossip."

She was about to say, "A tall tree attracts the wind," but her second brother suddenly nodded. "Okay, then, let's go back halfway."

Gu Jiayue was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she suddenly realized what was happening.

Even if we refund half of it, there are still more than fifty left!

The monthly salary added up is enough to buy half an acre of land.

She was about to persuade him again when Gu Yuchuan suddenly spoke up, "Isn't Jiayue planning to dig a cellar to store water? Some of these people are good at feng shui and some are good at building walls, so they could be of use."

Grandma shut up!

Gu Jiayue did not hide the drought from the Gu family.

Therefore, the Gu family has long known that there will be a drought in Taohua Village in the future.

No matter what outsiders think, as a family, they still trust Gu Jiayue very much.

So after discussion, the family decided to build a cellar behind the house to store water.

If you have time, you can also make some ice cubes and store them in the cellar.

Building a cellar requires a certain degree of privacy, so it is indeed difficult to ask villagers to come and help.

But with the Gu family's current labor force, it is somewhat unrealistic to dig a huge cellar that can store supplies for use during droughts.

But if there were servants who had signed indentures to help, the result would be different.

Their indentures were held in the hands of their masters, so even if they had any ulterior motives, they would not dare to go too far. This largely preserved the power and privacy of the masters.

"But..." Grandma was about to say something when she was interrupted by Gu Jiayue. "Grandma, just listen to Second Brother. At worst, we can sell them after the cellar is repaired!"

It’s not that Gu Jiayue is cruel, it’s just that for these servants who are bought and sold, this is a very normal thing!

"Then you pick the second sister first?"