Matchmaker Zhang had prepared a lot to say, but she never expected Qiu Yan to refuse so decisively.
"Qiu Yan, Zhao Zheng is deeply in love with you."
“I have already made myself very clear to him. My marriage is none of Aunt Zhang’s business.”
Gu Qian approached Qiu Yan. "One-sided love isn't enough; it has to be mutual." He then gave Qiu Yan a warm smile. "Don't you think so, Yan Yan?"
Qiu Yan tacitly agreed, but Gu Qian's way of addressing her made her feel awkward no matter how she listened.
The matchmaker's face froze. "Qiu Yan, you're the daughter-in-law the Zhao family has their eye on!"
The village is mostly inhabited by people with the surname Zhao. Old Man Zhao is Zhao Shan's distant paternal uncle, and Zhao Zheng's father and Zhao Shan are also cousins.
A few days ago, Zhao Zheng went home and visited Zhang the matchmaker. He told her that if she could arrange the marriage for him, he would pay her an extra two taels of silver as a running fee.
Of course, he gave the money privately, and he absolutely couldn't tell his mother.
"Just because the Zhao family has their eye on him, does Yan Yan have to marry him?" Gu Qian's voice suddenly turned cold. What did this woman mean? Was she trying to threaten Qiu Yan?
He admired Qiu Yan, but he also respected her implicitly.
Gu Qian exuded righteousness, and his strong and indomitable spirit made Zhang the matchmaker somewhat intimidated.
“I didn’t say that… Who are you? What’s it to you?” Zhang the matchmaker said, her tone softening.
"Yan Yan's affairs are my affairs." Gu Qian glanced at Qiu Yan, their eyes met, and his heart skipped a beat.
"Although Yan Yan's parents are both dead, don't forget that she still has her second uncle. Shouldn't you, as the matchmaker, have spoken to her second uncle, an elder, first?" This is clearly taking advantage of Yan Yan's loss of parents and trying to deceive her.
"I..." Zhang the matchmaker choked. "I haven't even had a chance to tell her second uncle yet."
As the rumors in the village said, Qiu Yan had given up on Zhao Zheng and chosen another man.
Zhang the matchmaker silently sympathized with the lovelorn man, but she felt sorry for Zhao Zheng, who had never changed his mind and always wanted to marry Qiu Yan.
These things really can't be forced. Never mind, she shouldn't make a fool of herself.
After all, people strive for better things.
As Zhang the matchmaker turned her head, she saw Gu Xiaoran glaring at her fiercely from inside the carriage, while Qiu Ling'er also looked hostile.
She pursed her lips, turned around, and left.
Since someone was speaking up for her, Qiu Yan didn't bother to say anything more.
After the courtyard quieted down, Qiu Ling'er ran over from the carriage.
"Sister, I want to go to Baiyang with you tomorrow too." She had never ridden in a carriage before.
Furthermore, her second uncle only returned for one day before disappearing again, and she wanted to go to Baiyang to find him.
Qiu Yan isn't going there for fun; I plan to take her when I have more free time.
But looking into Qiu Ling'er's pitiful big eyes, he couldn't bring himself to say no.
Seeing Qiu Yan's predicament, Gu Qian took the initiative to say, "Yan Yan, don't you still have me? Xiao Ran also wants to go out. I'll watch over them tomorrow, and you just focus on your business."
Hearing Gu Qian address her that way again, Qiu Yan turned around and glared at him. "How can you trust someone to look after the child?"
Gu Qian said earnestly, "Don't worry!" One careless mistake could cause him to regret it for the rest of his life. He still feels scared when he thinks about it now, and he will never let something like this happen again.
After a busy morning, Qiu Yan sent Zhang the matchmaker away and went straight to the carpenter's house.
Gu Qian took the two children to play near the mountains. Gu Xiaoran hadn't seen her father for a long time and clung to him tightly.
The carpenter's house happened to have a dining table and chairs, but there were only two sets.
Qiu Yanquan accepted the set and instructed the carpenter to make three more sets for her.
When Qiu Yan returned, she saw Gu Qian holding an axe and skillfully chopping firewood in the yard.
When he took his two children to play in the nearby mountains, he casually brought back two thick tree trunks.
He took the axe from his master's house, and even though he was met with a cold shoulder from his master's wife, he still shamelessly put on a smiling face.
He's gotten used to all of this.
Gu Qian was full of energy and soon finished chopping all the firewood. While delivering the axe, he also sent half of the firewood to his master's house.
His master and mistress refused him everything, but since firewood was worthless, they didn't refuse him, which gave Gu Qian some comfort.
Seeing that his master's water tank was not full, he helped fill it with well water.
Upon hearing that Qiu Yan had bought land to build a new house, Gu Qian's mind stirred, and he went to chat with Wang Shi.
Not long after, he went to the village chief's house alone and bought another piece of land next to Qiu Yan's land in his master's name.
Zhao Shan initially wanted to ask Li Zheng for his opinion, but Gu Qian said that a teacher for a day is a father for life, and there was no need to ask his master about this matter; he could make the decision. He immediately paid several taels of silver for the land.
Qiu Yan was unaware of this at first, but after hearing about it from Wang, she wasn't surprised.
Gu Qian wanted his master to have a better place to live; it was a heartfelt wish of his.
At noon, Qiu Xu returned home from school and saw that the food was not ready yet. He couldn't help but pick up a wooden stick and practice the moves he had recently learned from his master in the yard.
Because he was a beginner, his movements weren't very skillful, but he had made great progress, which made Qiu Yan very pleased.
Upon seeing this, Gu Qian couldn't help but offer some advice, "Junior brother has excellent comprehension. In just a few years, even your senior brother won't be your match."
Qiu Xu stopped what he was doing. "Senior brother is joking." That day in the mountains, he had personally witnessed his senior brother and master sparring, and it was clear that they were evenly matched.
After noon, Qiu Yan prepared to go to the mountains.
What were we going to do? Of course, we were going to gather medicinal herbs.
Qiu Yan decided that after the busy farming season, she would plant all two acres of her land with medicinal herbs.
As for medicinal herbs, they can occasionally be found in the mountains and forests.
Qiu Ling'er led Gu Xiaoran in playing house in the carriage, while Qiu Yan said goodbye to her sister and left.
When Qiu Yan left, Gu Qian was taking a nap, but as soon as she stepped out of the courtyard gate, Gu Qian followed her.
Gu Qian took the basket from Qiu Yan and carried it on his own back.
Just outside the village, Qiu Yan ran into Old Man Zhao, who was preparing to go into the mountains.
The old man was leaning on a cane in front of him and carrying a bamboo basket on his back, with the same goal as Qiu Yan.
"Great-grandfather, didn't I tell you not to leave the village?" He really can't stay still for even a day.
Qiu Yan was really afraid that the old man would run away one day.
He's lost things before, before.
When he gets confused, the old man can stay in the mountains for a whole day without going home.
They went back after they had calmed down a bit.
Fortunately, he was lucky and did not encounter any ferocious wild animals.
It should be said that there are almost no wild animals near the mountains, and even if there are, they come from remote mountain forests.
Old Zhao looked at Qiu Yan intently. The girl looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen her before. "It's so boring in the village, I'm going up the mountain to dig up some medicinal herbs."
"Didn't you just come down from the mountains? Why are you going back again? Come on, I'll take you home." Qiu Yan's words made Gu Qian chuckle.
Qiu Yan insisted on taking Old Zhao home. After being led around in circles by Qiu Yan, Old Zhao finally sighed.
"Sigh, what a wasted trip to the mountains today, I didn't get anything."
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