Gu An'an had no idea that in the blink of an eye, Jiang Mingzhu's mind was in turmoil.
"You and Zhu'er stay at home and don't go out and run around."
For some reason, he suddenly remembered the man in black he had encountered on the mountain, and his eyelids twitched.
This person, coming all the way to Jiangjia Village, must have something on his mind.
Could it be that the male and female protagonists in the book discovered something during their rebirth and came to eliminate the threat beforehand?
That can't be that bad, can it?
Forget it, I shouldn't overthink it.
Gu An'an then added, "If Second Aunt and the others come looking for trouble, Zhu'er should go find Grandma Li, understand?"
They divided the work and cooperated, feigning compliance on one side while seeking reinforcements on the other.
Gu An'an felt that her arrangement was ingenious.
Jiang Mingyi nodded in agreement, the young man breaking his usual silence. "Are you sure you can go back by yourself?"
Gu An'an couldn't help but laugh at his mature-beyond-his-years appearance. "Do you think you can hold me captive? Alright, I'll just swagger over there. If I don't come back, then you can go to the old courtyard to find your grandma and tell her that the Gu family is holding me captive and is going to remarry me. She'll definitely run away faster than anyone else."
Jiang Mingyi raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "Really?"
"Of course, she hates me to the core. But if I were taken away and remarried, the Jiang family would lose all face. How could they ever face anyone in Jiangjia Village again?"
The old lady didn't think there was anything wrong with her daughters-in-law arguing and bickering, but having her daughter-in-law taken away was like having someone sit on her head and shit on her.
No wonder she can't stand it.
Jiang Mingyi frowned, about to speak, when he felt a shadow pass by and then a pair of hands pressed on his brows. "Why are you frowning every day at such a young age? You're acting like an old man."
Gu An'an rubbed her furrowed brows and said, "Once the weather warms up after the New Year, I'll send you to your teacher to study."
Whether the Four Books and Five Classics are useful or not is debatable, but there are appropriate things to do at appropriate ages. These children are still in the compulsory education stage, so they should go to school.
Both boys and girls went.
In Gu An'an's eyes, men and women are equal, and they are all the same.
Jiang Mingyi's brows furrowed even more deeply. "We're all going?"
The usually composed young man's tone was now filled with surprise; he didn't believe what he had just heard.
“Yes, everyone should go. If your younger siblings fall behind in their studies, you, as their older brother, will have to help them out.”
Gu An'an smiled and gently rubbed the young man's cheek, then pinched Jiang Mingzhu's delicate face. "Zhu'er, go too. Learning to read and write will prevent you from being deceived in the future."
After saying a few words, Gu An'an went back to her work. She needed to figure out how big the kang (a heated brick bed) should be and how many bricks she would need.
People who strive for perfection in their experiments are naturally even more meticulous these days.
However, the brother and sister were left inside the house, and at this moment they were speechless.
Finally, Jiang Mingzhu spoke first, "It's okay if I don't go to the private school."
Some private tutors had bad tempers, so girls might not be able to get in.
Furthermore, sending one more person would cost more money, and where would we get that much money at home?
Even if you have money, you can't waste it like this.
She was grateful that Gu An'an was thinking of her, but there was no need for it.
Jiang Mingyi took a while to speak, "You really don't want to go?"
Don't you want to?
How could she not want to?
Should she, like other girls in the village, find someone to marry off when she turns thirteen or fourteen?
She didn't want to.
Jiang Mingyi patted Amei on the shoulder, "Since she agreed, we'll see how it goes."
He didn't want to see Pearl, with such a beautiful face, suffer such injustice.
...
When Uncle Liu, who was driving the cart, stopped at Jiangjia Village, he watched Gu An'an get on the cart with four children of all ages, and his eyebrows kept twitching.
Someone who boarded earlier couldn't help but joke, "Oh, so you're bringing the kids into the city?"
Gu An'an replied with a smile, "Let's go into the city to see the excitement."
This oxcart is quite special; it's very spacious, and it can easily fit ten or more people.
Gu An'an put the two baskets of persimmons down, settled the two older ones down, and then put her arms around the two younger ones, teaching Bao'er to write her own name.
Bao'er's real name is Baozhu, but she is always lazy. When she studies, she just writes the character "Bao" and that's it.
Gu An'an looked at the little girl who was smiling innocently at her, and she couldn't do anything about the child.
"What if you grow up to be just as lazy as this?"
Bao'er snuggled into Gu An'an's arms, saying, "I'll stay with Mother, Mother will raise me."
Good grief, they've really stuck with it.
But who could resist such a little girl?
"Okay, okay, Mom will take care of you for the rest of your life, alright?"
The other women on the bus curled their lip upon hearing this, thinking, "What's the point of supporting a good-for-nothing like that?"
...
As Gu An'an arrived at the market with her child and persimmons on her back, she ran into the same familiar faces she had met the day before yesterday.
The persimmons sold out very quickly; in no time, both baskets were gone.
The owner of the next stall smiled wryly, "Young lady, you are such an honest person. The daughter of Master Zhao in our county loves to eat these persimmons. I heard that she can sell them at a high price, ten of them for one tael of silver."
These people buy them for one coin each and resell them for a profit of tens or hundreds of coins.
Good heavens, Gu An'an never expected to run into a middleman.
She almost fell off a cliff while trying to get these persimmons!
It really comes down to a lack of experience. Once bitten, twice shy. Next time... there's nothing we can do. We can't just not sell, can we?
Unless he can directly connect with that Master Zhao.
The problem is, she doesn't have any persimmons left.
When I return to the county town to sell pork sausages, I need to be more careful.
"I'll be more careful next time, thank you for reminding me, sister-in-law." Gu An'an had asked Jiang Mingyi to buy some snacks for Bao'er and Jiang Mingxu earlier, and there happened to be an unopened box left, so she gave it to the woman at the stall next door.
Sister-in-law Qiu was a little embarrassed, "No need, no need, it's really unnecessary."
Gu An'an stuffed the pastries into her mouth. "Sister-in-law, I have something to ask you. I just saw two fabric shops over there. It's getting cold, and I want to buy some fabric to make clothes for the children. Which fabric shop should I go to?"
With the competition taking place across doors, Gu An'an suspected there might be something fishy going on, and she needed to be careful.
Sister-in-law Qiu took the pastries. "The Lin family cloth shop is run by Master Zhao's brother-in-law. I heard their business extends all the way to the capital. The Chen family cloth shop across the street is run by the brother of our county magistrate."
One is rich, the other is powerful.
Gu An'an understood. "I understand. Thank you, sister-in-law. I'll be going now."
Sister-in-law Qiu watched Gu An'an and her family of five leave. She quickly opened the box of pastries and took a look. The sweet aroma made her feel intoxicated. Thinking that her children had never eaten them before, she pinched one with her finger, tasted it, and then quickly closed the box.
Looking up again, Gu An'an had already led the children into the Lin family's cloth shop.
Sister-in-law Qiu muttered to herself, "Could it be that they want to get involved with the Zhao family so they can directly make money off Master Zhao later?"
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