Chapter 102 Dreaming (First Update)

Manager Zhou said, "I thought about it all night and felt that the demands we made to Brother Xiao were a bit excessive. As the saying goes, 'The master leads you to the door, but the practice is up to you.' Whether my young master can pass the imperial examination depends mainly on his own fate, but our desire to learn from Brother Xiao is sincere! My master said that as long as Young Master Xiao is willing to go to the provincial capital, everything else is negotiable!"

Gu Jiao glanced at him: "So, if we don't pass the exam, it's not our fault?"

Manager Zhou hurriedly replied, "Not bad at all!"

Gu Jiao: "Silver?"

Manager Zhou: "Give it to me! I'll give it to you as soon as we get to the provincial capital! I will never go back on my word!"

Gu Jiao said, "You can go and talk to my husband directly."

Manager Zhou said helplessly, "Why didn't we go? But Brother Xiao is no longer willing to talk to us! I hope Madam Xiao will do me a favor. You can take this money first, and it's yours whether it works out or not!"

Gu Jiao accepted the brocade box he offered with both hands and said aloofly, "The money doesn't matter, I just wanted to do you a favor."

Manager Zhou: "..."

Can you please stop portraying greed in such a refined and elegant way?

Manager Zhou expressed his gratitude profusely, but Gu Jiao repeatedly emphasized that she was only relaying messages and not acting as a persuader.

Manager Zhou smiled broadly: "Of course! Of course!"

Gu Jiao returned to the village with the silver and Xiao Jingkong.

She counted it; it totaled five hundred taels.

That's quite a hefty fee for relaying the message.

That evening, after Xiao Liulang got out of school, Gu Jiao told him about her meeting with Steward Zhou during the day, without hiding a single word or embellishing anything.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Liulang frowned. He wasn't complaining that Gu Jiao had gone to see Steward Zhou, but rather that he hadn't expected Steward Zhou to be so persistent and come to his house.

He said, "If anyone comes to our door again, don't leave with them easily. Manager Zhou we encountered this time wasn't a difficult person, but what if..."

Gu Jiao looked at him with a half-smile: "You seem worried about something. Is someone going to come looking for you?"

Xiao Liulang opened his mouth, hesitated, and after a long while said, "I just want you to be careful in everything you do."

"I understand." Gu Jiao smiled, then looked at the box of silver on the table and asked, "What do you plan to do about the Lin family's matter?"

Xiao Liulang knew about the Lin family's situation, which was exactly the same as what Steward Zhou had said: if no one in the family could become an official, no one would be able to protect the Lin family in thirty years.

Of course, the Lin family could buy official positions, but the positions they could buy were either not high enough or no one would dare to sell an official position to the Lin family. Therefore, the imperial examination was indeed the only way out for the Lin family at present.

I heard that the patriarch of the Lin family is so eager to have more useful sons that he's practically turned himself into a little boar.

Xiao Liulang glanced at Gu Jiao and said, "If we don't insist on a result, it wouldn't hurt to go."

Gu Jiao also thought it was feasible, after all, it was two thousand taels of silver.

Moreover, the provincial capital is farther than the prefectural capital. If it is the provincial examination, one has to set off more than a month in advance. It is hard to say whether one can find a suitable place to settle down after arriving there.

It would be much more convenient to stay at the Lin residence.

Gu Jiao asked, "Won't this interfere with your studies?"

Xiao Liulang said, "No."

Gu Jiao remembered the dean saying that Xiao Liulang was an extremely intelligent person, but he was unwilling to go to the capital to take the imperial examination. Letting him travel around might not be a bad thing.

Gu Jiao nodded: "Then it's settled."

Xiao Liulang: "Hmm."

Gu Jiao thought the matter of going to the Lin family was settled, but that night, she had a dream.

She dreamt that Xiao Liulang agreed to Steward Zhou's request and, escorted by Steward Zhou and the Lin family guards, went to the provincial capital.

The Lin family was indeed sincerely seeking advice, and this matter should have been foolproof. However, things didn't go as planned. Xiao Liulang and his group encountered a once-in-a-decade torrential rain halfway there.

The post station where Xiao Liulang was staying was flooded, and the group was separated by the flood. Xiao Liulang clung to a piece of driftwood and survived, but he fell seriously ill. By the time he was found by Steward Zhou and others and brought back to the Lin family, he was already emaciated.

Fortunately, they set off early, and even with such a long delay, there were still two full months until the provincial examination.

While recuperating at the Lin family home, Xiao Liulang also tutored Lin Liu Gongzi in his studies.

Lin Liu Gongzi is a person of upright character. He is not exceptionally intelligent, but he is diligent and persevering. Xiao Liulang gets along with him quite well.

However, a major event occurred just before the provincial examination: a cousin of the Lin family came to stay at the Lin residence for a while; she was the niece of the matriarch of the Lin family.

That young lady fell in love with Xiao Liulang at first sight.

Even though Xiao Liulang was a cripple, people still took a liking to him, which shows just how much of a femme fatale this man was.

However, she was a respectable young lady and couldn't bring herself to offer herself up right away, and coincidentally, Young Master Lin had caught a cold.

Miss Xiao had an idea and persuaded her aunt: "My cousin probably won't pass the exam, so why don't we let Xiao Liulang take the exam in his place? My cousin can write his name, and he can write my cousin's name. This way, the chances of him passing the exam are much greater than if my cousin does it himself."

The young lady told her aunt that, as a token of her gratitude, she was willing to become Xiao Liulang's concubine.

Madam Lin is an experienced woman; what is there that she can't see through? It's just that these words really struck a chord with her.

Although the sixth young master was not her son, it concerned the future of the entire Lin family, so Madam Lin agreed.

Xiao Liulang sternly refused and even reprimanded the two of them.

Mrs. Lin was just trying it out; if it didn't work, so be it.

That young lady was quite ruthless; in a fit of anger, she drugged Xiao Liulang!

To be fair, that young lady was quite beautiful, even stunning. Yet, despite this, Xiao Liulang overcame the effects of the aphrodisiac with his strong willpower.

But he developed a chronic illness from that experience.

Gu Jiao was so spoiled after waking up!

What kind of lousy young lady would scheme against Xiao Liulang? And use such a despicable method to ruin him and his future!

And this isn't just a blessing for him alone!

This is intolerable!

It seems we can't go to the Lin residence.

That young lady was a frequent visitor to the Lin residence. As long as Xiao Liulang stayed there, he would inevitably run into her no matter how careful he was.

As dawn broke, Gu Yan and the old lady were still fast asleep in their respective rooms, while Gu Jiao sat in the main room having breakfast with Xiao Liulang and Xiao Jingkong.

Xiao Jingkong finished eating first, and then went back to the west room to pack his books.

Gu Jiao took a sip of porridge, hesitating about how to bring it up with him.

He got up early and packed his luggage. Gu Jiao looked at the two bundles on the chair with a subtle expression.

"Um..." she said calmly, "I've thought about the Lin family matter. Do you want to reconsider?"

"What's wrong?" Xiao Liulang looked at her, puzzled.

Gu Jiao said seriously, "You've been gone for so long, what will happen to the family?"

Xiao Liulang was taken aback: "Our family doesn't farm."

Gu Jiao continued in a serious tone: "I don't farm, but I have elderly parents and young children to take care of, and it's very hard for me to do it all by myself! Occasionally I also need to go up the mountain!"

Xiao Liulang was puzzled. He didn't seem to have been of much help at home; he barely did any chores, and she had practically taken over all of them. Logically, she should have had an easier time when he wasn't home…

Gu Jiao: "I can't keep troubling Xue Ningxiang!"

Xiao Liulang: "Then how about... we hire a maid?"

The family can afford to hire maids nowadays. It's not very convenient for him to live under the same roof as a man, but if he's not around, there's no need to worry about avoiding suspicion.

Gu Jiao: "I'm not used to strangers living in my home."

This still couldn't convince Xiao Liulang, after all, it was she who first expressed her desire for him to go to the provincial capital yesterday.

Gu Jiao understood, so she added another strong dose of medicine: "Besides, I heard from Gu Yan that the Lin family has many beautiful young ladies. Who knows if you'll go there and start a fling? Find me a few younger sisters instead."

Gu Yan was the son of a marquis, and it was not surprising that he was well-informed and had heard about the Lin family.

Furthermore, Xiao Liulang wouldn't go to Gu Yan to verify whether he had instilled any strange ideas in his sister.

Xiao Liulang looked intently at Gu Jiao: "So you're jealous?"

Gu Jiao: Can I say no?

Xiao Liulang scooped up a spoonful of millet porridge: "I understand, I won't go."

Seriously? So easy to talk to?

Gu Jiao glanced at him with her eyes and said, "I was just mentioning it casually. The decision is yours... It's two thousand taels of silver. Aren't you really not heartbroken?"

Xiao Liulang said casually, "It seems like you're the one who's more heartbroken."

Gu Jiao said awkwardly, "Is it...is it that obvious?"

Then, without changing her expression, she said, "Actually, money doesn't matter. The main thing is to try to save a young man who is determined to improve himself. But forget it, there's no point in saying all this now."

If we don't go to the Lin family anymore, how are we going to earn this money?

Xiao Liulang glanced at her, pretending to be nonchalant, probably unaware that his little mouth was already pouting so much it could hold a jar of oil.

Xiao Liulang and Xiao Jingkong went to town. He first sent Xiao Jingkong to a private school before heading to Tianxiang Academy.

Manager Zhou had been waiting here for quite some time.

Upon seeing Xiao Liulang, he greeted him with a broad smile: "Scholar Xiao, what have you decided?"

Xiao Liulang said calmly, "I can teach your young master, but I have one condition."

Manager Zhou was overjoyed: "Don't even mention one condition! Ten will do!"

Xiao Liulang said, "I won't go to the provincial capital. If your young master is truly eager to learn, let him come here. I will arrange for him to enter the academy and be my classmate and deskmate."

Manager Zhou opened his mouth: "Ah... this... how about I add some more silver?"

Xiao Liulang said calmly, "Adding gold won't help. If someone comes, I'll teach them; if not, I'll find someone else."

Xiao Meiren: My wife is jealous, what should I do? I need help urgently! I mainly want to show off to you guys!

(End of this chapter)