After saying this, Ge Dalin led his sister-in-law Li out of the courtyard. Xiaoyue looked in the direction they went, glanced around boredly, and then walked out of the Ge family's courtyard dejectedly. She looked back at Ge Dalin, an old man, who was crying bitterly, and his sister-in-law Li gently comforted him.
Xiaoyue also returned home, had dinner with Li Qianqian, and then arranged for Li Qianqian to stay in the west room.
Nothing happened that night. Xiaoyue got up at the first crow of the rooster in the morning. The chicks had already shed their down. There were eight chicks, two of which were roosters. Now the roosters could crow every morning.
Xiaoyue gathered her discarded clothes. It was just barely dawn outside. She picked up her basket, filled it with her axe and change of clothes, and took a sickle before heading up the mountain. Ever since she overheard those words outside Liang Qi's courtyard…
Xiaoyue hadn't gone up the mountain that morning, but she knew in her heart that she couldn't let her guard down any longer. Things were happening one after another, and without some means of protecting herself, as the only woman in the village, she was in some kind of danger.
Xiaoyue practiced all the training exercises. Just as she was about to go down the mountain to clear the wasteland, she noticed Liang Qi walking towards her. When Xiaoyue arrived at her ramie field, she saw that there was still a large area of ramie left and planned to harvest all the ramie within three days so she could do other work.
By the time the sun rose, Xiaoyue had already filled her basket with peeled ramie bark, and then she went to the mountainside to chop a bundle of firewood.
He carried firewood on his back and a basket of ramie bark on his front as he walked home.
Once in the yard, Xiaoyue chopped all the firewood into uniform pieces and stacked them in the bins in the backyard. She then released the chickens, ducks, and geese and herded them into the cabbage patch in the back.
Xiaoyue entered the room and found that Li Qianqian had already left. The cotton was still on the kang in the west room. Xiaoyue didn't have time to make a quilt. She went to the kitchen, heated up the leftovers from yesterday, and ate them.
After collecting the dried green beans that had been drying for the past two days, Xiaoyue sat down on a stool to peel the green outer skin of the ramie shreds. She took a ramie peeling tool, picked up a piece of shreds, placed it on the tool, and pulled hard.
The green skin was peeled off, and just as they were getting into the swing of things, a person came in from outside the gate, carrying two thread-bound books in his hands, looking around Xiaoyue's courtyard with an air of smugness as he walked.
Xiaoyue looked up and saw the tall Gao Lei. In terms of appearance, Gao Lei was different from Liang Qi. Liang Qi was a thin and resolute man, while Gao Lei gave the impression of a refined and handsome young gentleman.
Upon closer inspection, his face was gentle, with slightly raised eyebrows and a pair of fox-like eyes that were so deep they seemed bottomless, adorned with dark lines. A white magnolia-shaped money pouch was tucked into his waistband.
Dressed in an ethereal style, he walked happily to Xiaoyue, who stood up and nodded slightly to Gao Lei.
Gao Lei handed the book to Xiaoyue, but she didn't take it. Her hands were covered in green sap, and her clothes were covered in green ramie bark. Xiaoyue brushed the debris off her clothes.
He brought out a stool, asked Gao Lei to sit down, and then sat back down in his original spot, resuming the same work.
Seeing that Xiaoyue wasn't very welcoming to him, Gao Lei straightened up from the stool and walked in front of her. In the shadows, he saw Xiaoyue pick up a piece of ramie with a green outer layer.
Place the ramie on a special tool, pull hard and the green skin will peel off. Do this in the opposite direction once, and the entire ramie skin will be completely peeled off. Then place it on a stool to the side.
Gao Lei squatted down, looked up at Xiaoyue, and seeing that Xiaoyue showed no excitement whatsoever, he said somewhat uncertainly, "Don't you want to ask me how I did on the autumn imperial examination? Don't you care if I'm living well in the county? Don't you want to ask me what I'm doing here?"
Xiaoyue continued working, glancing at her eyes without any extra expression, and casually asked, "Oh, all the exams are over. How did you do?"
When Xiaoyue asked him this, Gao Lei's initial hesitation and joy vanished, and he weakly replied, "I thought you would care about my affairs?"
I heard about your situation as soon as I got home. Liang Qi is engaged, and I'm so happy for him.
Xiaoyue glanced at Gao Lei, her tone calm, and said with a wry smile, "Congratulations! Liang Qi's engagement is a wonderful thing!"
Hearing Xiaoyue's words, Gao Lei became excited again, and said with great enthusiasm, "I got the top score in the exam! The top score! Isn't that amazing?"
Xiaoyue looked at Gao Lei with a puzzled expression and asked casually, "What is the chief scholar?"
"Out of all the scholars in the county, I came in first place, first place!"
Xiaoyue smiled, her hands still busy, and said casually, "Congratulations to you too, your parents must be so happy."
Gao Lei said, as if in a fit of pique, "I just want to make you happy."
"Of course I'm happy. Niukou Village hasn't produced a scholar in many years, and you've come up with the top score. Village Chief Xu is the happiest person here," Xiaoyue said perfunctorily.
"Do you know? I've passed the imperial examination and can now be exempt from taxes on my family's land."
"I've never heard of such a good thing. Aunt Gao is even happier."
While working, Xiaoyue didn't talk to Gao Lei. Gao Lei got anxious when he saw that Xiaoyue didn't ask him what he was doing there, and waved the three books in front of Xiaoyue's eyes.
"This is the Hundred Family Surnames. The other book is a list of people in my village, from Uncle Liang to your family. It lists the names of the people in each family from oldest to youngest. Even if you don't know them, you can match them up by their geographical location."
There's also a primer, with both pictures and words.
Xiaoyue wiped the dirt off her hands on her clothes, took the book, and flipped through the pages one by one. A familiar feeling came to her mind. When she opened the book of surnames, Xiaoyue actually read it aloud.
I turned three pages, and read out every single word correctly.
Gao Lei looked at Xiaoyue sitting in the pile of ramie, turning the pages of the book one by one and reading it word for word with surprise. He then snatched the book back in inexplicable anger: "Who taught you that?"
Xiaoyue glanced up at Gao Lei, but didn't argue. She continued working as usual, but her mind was in turmoil. She wondered where she came from. She had a vague impression of the South, but she couldn't remember anything.
Seeing Xiaoyue's disdainful look, Gao Lei couldn't help but feel angry again. He was calm and collected towards Yun Xingfei and Liang Qi, but he was always angry when it came to himself.
After thinking for a moment, Gao Lei suppressed his temper, took a deep breath, patted his face to make sure he had controlled his emotions, and forced a smile that was more like a grimace. He squatted down in front of Xiaoyue and said in a hoarse voice:
Do you know why I did so well on the test?
Xiaoyue rolled her eyes at Gao Lei, smiled, and said, "I don't know, and I don't want to know."
Gao Lei ignored Xiaoyue's teasing and started talking on his own: "Before the exam, my mother promised me that if I got the top score, I could decide my own marriage. So I put in three times the effort of others and got the top score."
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