Lin Zixing's sudden visit was exactly what Gu An'an had expected.
Chen Bei and Lin Zixing have a roundabout kinship, although this kinship is fake.
The mother of the young master of the Chen family, Madam Xie, the wife of the prefect of Anzhou, and the wife of Master Zhao, a wealthy man in Anping County, were sisters.
Meanwhile, Master Zhao's other concubine came from the Lin family.
People in Anping County say that the owner of Lin's Cloth Shop is Master Zhao's brother-in-law.
Although Lin Zixing has many sisters, it's not necessarily true that one of them would be sent to the palace to become an imperial concubine while the other would become a merchant's concubine.
That being said, Lin's Cloth Shop was not actually managed by Lin Zixing. It is estimated that the person in charge did not want to provoke the local bullies, so he sent a maid to Master Zhao. This was how the so-called marriage relationship was formed.
With this connection, Lin's Cloth Shop could compete with the cloth shop run by the county magistrate's own brother, and even had the upper hand.
The saying that merchants prioritize profit is a very true reflection of reality.
However, Gu An'an did not expect that Lin Zixing was actually related to Chen Bei, but this relationship stemmed from Chen Bei's father.
Chen Bei's grandmother and Lin Zixing's maternal grandmother were sisters.
In terms of seniority, Chen Bei should address Lin Zixing as his cousin.
Now that Chen Bei is alone in Anping County, it is only natural that his cousin Lin Zixing would come to visit him.
However, their relationship was already quite distant, and Chen Bei had some eccentricities, so he was rather cold towards Lin Zixing who came to visit.
Lin Zixing's words were also quite perfunctory: "If you need any help, just come to me."
Chen Bei verbally agreed, but when he returned with the person, he seemed somewhat sullen.
"You don't like him?"
Meeting Jiang Mingzhu's gaze, Chen Bei hesitated slightly, "My cousin Lin is considerate, but he's kind to everyone."
The indiscriminate treatment made Chen Bei feel that this person was very fake.
Of course, he wasn't interested in what Lin Zixing was really like behind his fake smile.
However, this false past constantly enveloped him, and Chen Bei simply wanted to escape it.
When Gu An'an arrived, she overheard the young man discussing Lin Zixing.
Chen Bei had a mild temper, but his insights were extremely sharp.
They really are from a prominent family.
Gu An'an didn't continue the conversation on this topic. "There are some dishes at Taibai Restaurant that are quite good. A'bei can try them later."
“Yes, Sister Gu. By the way, Cousin Lin said that the daughter of Minister Fu heard that the divine doctor from Medicine King Valley is in Anping County. She wants to come here in a couple of days to meet the divine doctor and ask him to go back and treat her grandmother.”
If Chen Bei hadn't mentioned it, Gu An'an would have almost forgotten about the Fu family's daughter.
She wrote a letter to the Fu family in the capital, and asked Zheng Shuoyi to deliver it through his connections, hoping that the Fu family's daughter would deal with Bai Qiaoyin, who had ruined her face.
However, there was no news for a long time, and Gu An'an almost forgot about it.
Unexpectedly, the daughter of the Fu family was coming. What surprised Gu An'an even more was that it was Lin Zixing who mentioned it.
Bai Qiaoyin is his person, shouldn't he protect her?
Or was she trying to remind herself that he already knew about her schemes and that she should put away her little thoughts?
Gu An'an wasn't sure which one it was for a moment, but reason told her that Lin Zixing would never let her deal with Bai Qiaoyin so easily, after all, she was his subordinate and represented Lin Zixing's reputation.
But what does this have to do with her? She just asked Zheng to write a letter.
When Bai Qiaoyin injured the daughter of the Fu family, did she ever care about the reputation of the Minister's Mansion?
"Sister Gu, do we have any miracle doctors from Medicine King Valley around here? I don't know about them."
“Fool Abei, Doctor Zheng and Doctor Tian next door are from Medicine King Valley.”
The young master of the Chen family was stunned for a moment. Recalling the two doctors he usually saw, he was somewhat incredulous. "I can't quite tell."
"Young Master Chen, let me ask you something." Jiang Mingxu appeared out of nowhere, looking up at Chen Bei, "What are you thinking when you look at me?"
The little boy will be six years old in a few months. He has been eating well lately, and his chubby, fair face has a cute and childlike appearance.
Chen Bei hesitated for a moment, but his gaze fell on Gu An'an. "Seeing you makes me realize that Sister Gu's cooking skills are excellent."
Jiang Mingxu chuckled, "You mean I'm a foodie?"
Chen Bei didn't say it that way, although that was exactly what he meant.
Sister Gu's children all have good appetites, and they also behave well at the dinner table.
Chen Bei felt that eating with them made him have a good appetite.
There's no need for anyone to serve the food; the whole family can just chat and eat happily together, and that's enough.
Unfortunately, he had never seen such a harmonious scene at home.
Chen's young master's honest words made the rest of the family burst into laughter, especially Jiang Mingzhu, who lost her composure and laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight while clinging to his arm.
"Only you would dare to say that to Xu'er."
If it were anyone else, who knows how this little devil would have schemed against them.
The girl's sudden intimate gesture made Chen Bei uneasy. He quickly looked at Gu An'an, only to see her holding Bao'er and talking to her, seemingly not even looking at him.
Chen Bei breathed a slight sigh of relief and subtly moved his arm away. "Sister Gu's cooking skills are indeed very good. I like it very much."
"You like it? Then be my mother's son. As long as you're always filial and caring, that's all that matters. I don't have any other big requirements." The Third Young Master Ming was furious. How dare this brat insult him! How could he be so unreasonable!
“A son-in-law is like half a son. But since you like wearing girls’ clothes, you can be my mother’s daughter, but don’t be a son-in-law. Bao’er is too young. It would be too disrespectful for her to be an old cow eating young grass.”
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Gu An'an didn't expect the child to talk more and more out of line, and her face immediately darkened, which made Jiang Mingxu a little annoyed. "I'm not talking nonsense. Mother, you care about him in everything now and don't care about us anymore."
After saying that, the little boy ran out.
The courtyard, which had been filled with joy and harmony just moments before, suddenly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Chen Bei looked somewhat awkward. "Sister Gu, it's me..."
"It has nothing to do with you, I'm going out to find him." Gu An'an didn't expect the children's jealousy to come so suddenly.
For a moment, she did reflect on whether she always prioritized Chen Bei's needs.
No, right?
She always treated all the children equally, but since Chen Bei was temporarily staying at her home and had psychological problems, Gu An'an couldn't help but show him more concern.
Unexpectedly, this angered her young master.
Gu An'an was both amused and exasperated, and decided to explain things clearly to the future healer, the third young master of the Ming family, after all, doctors have the heart of parents.
However, she didn't expect that as soon as she went out, she would see a little boy standing against the wall outside the door.
What are you doing?
Jiang Mingxu looked down at the tips of his shoes, his fingers nervously fidgeting with the hem of his clothes, his voice soft and weak, "I'm reflecting on my mistakes by facing the wall."
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