After leaving Lu Zheng's house, the emperor went to the Yang family next door for a stroll and watched Master Yang and Uncle Gu doing carpentry work.
After watching for a while, I felt that the master and apprentice were quite skilled. If they used the best wood, the things they made would be no worse than those made by the carpenters under the Ministry of Works!
"Xinxin, Sisi, let's go! Don't disturb your fourth uncle and Old Yang while they're working!" The emperor grabbed one of them by the back of their collars.
Gu Xin and Gu Si felt a sense of familiarity, but they couldn't quite place it.
As the two girls walked, they introduced the village to the emperor, though Gu Xin did most of the talking.
Gu Si used to be a nobody. Even though she spends a lot of time with the two sisters from the second wife's family recently, she's not talkative. She just says a few unexpected things.
At noon, the second branch set up two tables. As the emperor ate salt and pepper potatoes and potato chips with chili peppers, the little devil in his heart had already decided that after that brat Lu Zheng presented potatoes next year, he would have someone specially prepare a plot of land to grow them for his own consumption.
...
The fifteenth day was Lu Zheng's and Gu Xin's birthdays; one turned sixteen and the other eleven.
Lu Zheng gave Gu Xin a set of twelve zodiac animals that had been painted. The wood carvings were as big as little potatoes, and Gu Xin loved them. Only Grandma Xiao knew that Lu Zheng had carved the wood carvings himself. She saw through her grandson's feelings, but Gu Xin was still young, so she didn't say anything. Mainly, she was worried that her poor little grandson wouldn't understand.
Although it seems that Lu Zheng treats all four Gu sisters the same, Grandma Xiao knows that he treats Gu Xin very differently, but he just doesn't show it usually.
Gu Nian made two large cakes, one for each of the two people. The cakes were covered with strawberry jam. She didn't plan to tell anyone what it was. As long as it tasted good, that was enough. Even if the gluttonous emperor asked, she decided not to tell him.
Gu Shouxin gave Gu Xin a calligraphy copybook, written by himself, in a small regular script style suitable for young girls to copy.
Cai Xiaolian made a set of clothes for Gu Xin. After a few months, she had become quite skilled at needlework.
They didn't send anything from the old house, just Grandpa and Grandma Gu gave Gu Xin a red envelope, which is what they did every year.
The emperor gave each of the two children a jade pendant, and said with a smile, "Keep these safe! They will be very useful."
"Thank you, Uncle Ye!" Lu Zheng accepted the gift without even trying to refuse, which made Xue Qianyu's eyes widen. You know it's the Emperor, but you're still accepting it so happily!
Gu Xin felt the jade pendant was too valuable and hesitated to accept it, but seeing how readily Lu Zheng accepted it, she reluctantly took it.
Emperor: You're being disliked? When have I ever been disliked for giving someone a gift?
The emperor was displeased and bluntly stated: "Xinxin, your uncle is a wealthy merchant, very rich. When you come of age, your uncle will give you even more, more beautiful, and more valuable gifts! You are not allowed to hesitate in the future! You must be as thick-skinned as your brother Yuanyuan, understand?"
Uncle Gu laughed from the side: "Brother Ye, it's a good thing you're a wealthy businessman, otherwise, with your behavior of forcing people to accept gifts, your ancestors would definitely jump up and beat you! I've seen people who don't want to give gifts, but I've never seen anyone force someone to accept them. You've really lived long enough to see all sorts of things, hehehe~ I absolutely won't tell you my birthday, I'm afraid you'll force me to accept it too! Brother Ye, don't ask me my birthday! Second brother, don't tell him either!"
Everyone: ...Uncle Gu, where's your face?
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