Chapter 23

Seeing her carrying a bowl of water, Gu Xinxin gestured to Gu Qiuhe, "Take a sip first."

Gu Qiuhe was so angry: "You don't believe me?"

Gu Xinxin didn't argue with her, expressionless: "Hurry up, are you waiting to be beaten?"

Gu Qiuhe was so angry that she started to cry. She took a big sip from the bowl and said, "Is that enough? I'm not the type to spit in a bowl."

Gu Xinxin raised her eyebrows slightly, but still picked it up and observed it carefully for a moment before bringing it to her mouth. While doing so, she also carefully observed Gu Qiuhe. As long as her expression was slightly wrong, she planned to put the bowl on Gu Qiuhe's head.

Fortunately, Gu Qiuhe really didn't have the courage to do anything.

This bowl of water has the original flavor - the taste of rice cooked in a pot.

Gu Xinxin sighed. She missed the water dispenser, purified water, and self-heating kettle.

"Sister, I'm back." Not long after, Gu Xiangrong's voice came from outside. Gu Xinxin finally had some strength and quickly stood up: "A Rong?"

Gu Xiangrong said happily: "It's me, I'm back. What did you buy in town today?"

Gu Xinxin waved her hand. "Nothing much, just some raw materials for making fried dough twists. Now, how are you feeling about school today, your first day at school?"

Gu Xiangrong quickly said, "Fortunately, the teacher is very kind, and the classmates are also very friendly. Seeing that we don't have books, they even lent us their own books."

He paused and turned to look at Gu Daniu.

Gu Daniu frowned slightly, but said nothing.

Gu Wenshu rushed over: "Dad, I need money."

Without waiting for Gu Daniu to speak, Gu Wenshu counted on his fingers: "I need to buy pens, ink, paper, and inkstone, as well as books. Oh, and the teacher said that if I eat lunch at the academy, it will cost eight copper coins a day, or two hundred and forty a month."

Gu Xiangrong didn't say anything. Gu Xinxin reached out and touched his head: "Can you bring your own food?"

Gu Xiangrong nodded quickly, "Sure." But bringing food with you isn't exactly convenient. In the summer, it's hot, and the food might spoil. In the winter, it's cold, and eating it cold might give you a stomachache. Spring and autumn are the only suitable places, but there are lots of insects and ants there, so it's not suitable to bring it anywhere.

Gu Xinxin pursed her lips and looked at Gu Daniu.

This time, Gu Daniu didn't get angry impatiently. Instead, he stood up and went back to the house to get the silver. He came back and divided it among Gu Xiangrong and Gu Wenshu: "One tael of silver per person. Apart from the money for food, I won't ask about the rest, no matter what you have. But don't ask for any more, at least not this month."

After a pause, he added, "There's no money left. This is all our family has saved. We don't have any more."

Gu Wenshu grumbled unhappily. He had already found out: a copy of the Hundred Family Surnames, a copy of the Thousand Character Classic, and a copy of the Three Character Classic would cost two taels of silver. But he didn't dare to pester Gu Daniu. He just kept looking at Gu Xiangrong, hoping that Gu Xiangrong would come forward to ask for more money.

Gu Xiangrong whispered to Gu Xinxin, "I'm borrowing books from my classmates to copy. I give them ten copper coins for each book. This way I can save a lot of money. The rest is just enough to buy pens, inkstones, and paper."

Gu Xinxin was curious: "How did you copy it? Can you write?"

It's only the first day of school, and he can already write? Is the teaching speed so fast?

Of course not, so Gu Xiangrong was stunned for a moment, and after a long while he said awkwardly: "Then this money is not enough to buy books..."

Gu Xinxin waved her hand: "Money is not a problem. I will be able to make money soon... You can rent books from your classmates first. It costs one or two copper coins a day, no more than two."

Gu Xiangrong was stunned. Is there such a method?

Gu Xinxin smiled and said, "It's a loan, it's normal."

She stood up and headed for the kitchen. She needed to make money quickly. Otherwise, she wouldn't dare spend the money she had, which was really frustrating. Besides, she had to show Gu Daniu her abilities. Otherwise, Gu Daniu would always think she was easy to bully, the same daughter he could beat to death at any time.

You need to knead the dough first.

The requirements for the dough of honey twisted dough are very high. Eggs must be put in it, but not too many eggs, otherwise the taste will be fishy. Lard must be added to make the flour softer. Although it tastes sweet, salt still needs to be added to the flour to make the dough more chewy.

She got a piece of old dough to make a starter - when there is no yeast, the starter is the best thing to use to make dough rise.

She cracked the eggs in with a quick and decisive motion, which made Gu Chen's cheeks twitch. She muttered to herself, "Use fewer eggs. No one will be able to tell the difference anyway..."

Gu Xinxin turned a deaf ear and just focused on her own business.

Dinner was wild vegetable soup and wild vegetable pancakes. It didn't taste good, but Gu Xinxin still forced herself to eat it. She had to eat it. With such a lot of exercise, she would lose muscle if she didn't eat. Although she didn't have any muscles yet, she definitely wouldn't have any if she didn't eat, but maybe she would gain some if she ate.

Her most important thing now is to stay alive, so that kind of skinny figure is not suitable. It looks good, but it is not life-sustaining.

After dinner, she asked Gu Xiangrong to boil water for her as usual, and she carried the water herself. On the surface, she had nothing to tempt Gu Qiuhe, so she could only comfort herself in her heart that carrying water could be considered as exercising her arm strength.

Gu Chen disliked her, so whatever she did was wrong.

"Did that water just fall from the sky? Isn't it hard to fetch water? You, on the other hand, use two buckets a day, and I never see you fetching water, I only see you using it. Do you think water fetched by others is so easy to use?"

She deliberately stood at Gu Xinxin's door and said this, making sure that Gu Xinxin could hear it.

Gu Xiangrong hurried out of the kitchen: "I'll go get some water early tomorrow morning. I'm sure we won't be without water at home."

Gu Chen rolled her eyes at him. Gu Xiangrong was not used to arguing with a woman and suddenly felt embarrassed and uncomfortable.

Gu Chen began to ramble again: "You are a girl, but you don't act like a girl at all. You run around from house to house all day long. If you don't know me, you'd think I was a gossip who just likes to gossip about other people!"

After taking a shower, Gu Xinxin came out with a basin of water. As soon as she opened the door, it was like a "rain of blessing from heaven" for Gu Chenshi.

Gu Chen was stunned and looked at Gu Xinxin with a dazed expression. Gu Xinxin quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, stepmother. I didn't see you standing here. If someone didn't know, they would think you were standing guard for me. Otherwise, why would you be standing here while I'm taking a shower? I don't dare let you stand guard for me. Stepmother, you should go and have a rest."

Gu Chen's face turned pale, and after a moment she jumped up and down, cursing, "You filthy bitch, what are you doing with your eyes? If you can't see me standing here, what can you see? I think you did it on purpose! Damn it..."