Gu Jingchun: "Raise your head."

Mao Zixiao slowly raised his head, and when he saw Gu Jingchun's appearance, he was stunned for a moment before hurriedly lowering his head.

Gu Jingchun: "Where are you from?"

Mao Zixiao: "A local."

"My...my parents are both dead."

As he spoke, he knelt down directly in front of Gu Jingchun.

"Girl, please, let me stay. I have no family, no home. If I go out, I will starve to death."

Gu Jingchun: "How could such a grown man, with hands and feet, starve to death?"

Gu Jingchun's words left Mao Zixiao speechless. He had no way to refute her and could only kneel on the ground and kowtow repeatedly.

As Gu Jingchun watched the blood gradually seep from his forehead, he already had a guess in his mind.

However, Gu Jinxi felt a pang of guilt and pouted, looking at Gu Jingchun pleadingly.

"Mother..."

Looking at Gu Jinxi's expression, Gu Jingchun thought that this was a good opportunity to teach Gu Jinxi a lesson, so he nodded in agreement.

"Alright, if you want him to stay, then let him stay for now."

As she spoke, she looked at Mao Zixiao again.

"However, you can't be his personal servant for now, so start with sweeping and cleaning."

Upon hearing this, Gu Jinxi immediately nodded happily.

"Mother, I knew it, you're the best."

Gu Jingchun laughed and patted Gu Jinxi on the head twice.

"Good to know."

After Gu Jingchun finished speaking, he looked at Mao Zixiao.

"In that case, you can start sweeping the yard."

Mao Zixiao asked in confusion, "Where should we sweep?"

Gu Jingchun gestured to the ground beneath his feet.

"all."

Mao Zixiao: ...

all?

Such a big yard?

Shouldn't he only be cleaning Gu Jinxi's courtyard? How did it become cleaning the entire prefectural governor's mansion?

When Gu Jingchun turned around with Gu Jinxi, they were met with Shen Hechuan's face.

He didn't know how long he had been standing behind the two of them, sizing up Mao Zixiao. When he saw Gu Jingchun's gaze, he immediately smiled, stepped forward, took Gu Jinxi's hand, and walked forward with her.

The three of them looked sweet and harmonious from behind, like a family of three that would make others envious.

After sending Gu Jinxi back to the courtyard, Shen Hechuan asked Gu Jingchun.

"Was there something wrong with that person just now?"

Gu Jingchun shook his head.

"I don't know, I just feel like something's not right."

Shen Hechuan: "I investigated him, and the facts are indeed as he said."

Gu Jingchun nodded.

She wanted to take this opportunity to verify something, so she didn't explain to him what was wrong for the time being.

After all, it's impossible for someone without parents to have neat, clean nails and hands without any calluses.

For the next three days, Mao Zixiao would start sweeping the yard as soon as he opened his eyes, and then go back home so tired that he would lie down on the bed and sleep soundly.

After he worked himself to the bone for three days, he had only cleaned half of the yard.

Seeing that Gu Jinxi was almost forgetting him, he became extremely anxious.

He began to think of various ways to get closer to Gu Jinxi.

Over the past few days, he has observed the daily routines of Gu Jingchun, Shen Hechuan, and Gu Jinxi, and has roughly figured out when they leave.

So, after confirming that Gu Jingchun and Shen Hechuan had left, he secretly went to Gu Jinxi's courtyard.

Gu Jinxi was reading listlessly when she saw Mao Zixiao and was naturally overjoyed.

Upon seeing him, Mao Zixiao immediately took out a small wooden doll from his pocket and placed it in front of him.

He originally intended to use this to win Gu Jinxi's favor and to get closer to her again.

After all, what child doesn't like this kind of thing? They'll definitely love it when they see it this time.

Unexpectedly, Gu Jinxi only glanced at it before frowning in disdain.

Who did this?

"How can it be so ugly? So rough?"

The xiao flute I had painstakingly crafted over several nights quietly shattered in my heart.

"Is...is this ugly?"

When Mao Zixiao first met Gu Jinxi, he took out a simple bamboo dragonfly.

Gu Jinxi had seen many sophisticated things, but this was the first time she had seen something so simple and fun, so she naturally loved it.

However, after playing with it for a while, he made another one that same night and upgraded it.

After that, I lost interest.

He saw Mao Zixiao again and thought he had prepared something good, so he was full of expectations, but he didn't expect it to be so disappointing.

He sighed dejectedly.

"Hey, I thought you were going to have something fun."

"Never mind, I'll go read a book first. You should go sweep the floor too."

Mao Zixiao: ...

Seeing that Gu Jinxi was about to leave, he didn't care about anything else and immediately took out all his most treasured possessions.

"Who said I don't have any good stuff? Look, what's this?"

As he spoke, he took out a hidden arrow from his pocket.

The hidden dart is exquisitely crafted, capable of firing three arrows at once. It is not only fast, accurate, and deadly, but also easy to conceal.

This was a gift from his master, and he liked it very much, using it to save his life in critical moments.

Now, in order to gain Gu Jinxi's trust, he had no choice but to reluctantly take this thing out.

Gu Jinxi glanced at it and couldn't help but look at Mao Zixiao with a pitying expression.

It seems he guessed correctly; he really hadn't seen anything good.

Seeing Mao Zixiao's expectant eyes, Gu Jinxi thought that since they were now good friends, she should share his things with him.

Therefore, he couldn't help but take out a more exquisite and smaller sleeve arrow from his sleeve.

"Look, this is the real hidden blade. It's half the size of yours, but it can fire seven in a row."

"Moreover, it's extremely fast. If I were to shoot at you now, you wouldn't have any chance to dodge at all."

Upon hearing this, Mao Zixiao was so frightened that he immediately took a step back, and his legs involuntarily knelt down.

"Don't kill me, don't kill me."

Gu Jinxi paused for a moment before putting away the hidden arrow and looking at him, saying, "Why would I kill you for no reason?"

Mao Zixiao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the hidden arrow retracted.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and asked casually.

"How do you have something so amazing?"

Gu Jinxi said proudly, "My mother gave it to me."

"And what about yours?"

Mao Zixiao was also very pleased with himself.

"Mine was a gift from my master."

Gu Jinxi's big eyes darted around.

"It seems your master is quite skilled, to be able to make such a powerful hidden blade."

Mao Zixiao nodded.

"Of course, although my hidden blade is not as good as yours, it is still better than all the hidden blades on the market."

He sighed as he spoke.

“My master’s legs are not good, but he still gave this to me for my sake, which shows how much he loves me.”