Gu Zhengkai confirmed the school his niece wanted to apply to again. "Have you thought it through? That place is under military-style management. It's not like a regular school where you can just go out whenever you want, let alone ask for leave. I'm worried that you won't be able to handle the restrictions."
Ma Liu sighed, "That's true. But if we don't put them on the test, it's a waste of our children's talents. But if we do put them on the test, we don't know what they'll learn."
This is also a headache for Gu Zhengkai. He has discussed it with his brothers, but his second brother has a completely laissez-faire approach. As long as the child wants to be raised, the couple will not interfere at all.
Jiang Qiao knew that Gu Zhengkai was doing this for her own good, but Jiang Jinyu might not have been completely oblivious to her feelings either.
"Uncle, don't worry. I'm capable of both activity and stillness. Not only can I endure hardship there, but even if others can get through it, so can I. Don't forget, I'm your niece, and I also share the surname Gu."
Gu Zhengkai smiled and said, "Since you have no objections, you just have to persevere and not give up halfway. Keep an eye on your older brother for me. Although he is older than you, he lacks experience. Just make sure he studies hard and doesn't mess around."
Ma Liu, sensing something was wrong, asked, "Boss, is something amiss?"
Gu Zhengkai paused for a moment, then shook his head. "Nothing major is happening for now, but I heard that some educated youth will be sent to the countryside next year."
Jiang Qiao asked, puzzled, "Go to the countryside? What do you mean? Does it mean educated people come down to the countryside? Do you mean they'll come and farm?"
Gu Zhengkai nodded. "That seems to be the idea. We'll learn from and guide each other. As for the specific arrangements, we'll have to see how the receiving areas handle them."
Ma Liu frowned and muttered, "All the educated people have come down to farm. I really don't understand. Who can come down? The countryside is nowhere near as good as the city. Do they really think farming is such a simple thing?"
Gu Zhengkai gave a wry smile. "I heard it's all voluntary. There's a lot to be done in the vast countryside. Everyone has different aspirations."
Jiang Qiao served the rice. "Alright, let's eat. As for who will farm, that's not our concern."
After dinner, the snow stopped. Even Gu Hanting was amazed by God's blessing, knowing that the children would be visiting the graves the next day.
"Eldest son, get up early tomorrow and take the kids to familiarize themselves with the way. When you all get old, you'll be counting on these kids to visit your mother and the others."
Gu Zhengkai nodded calmly. Actually, he didn't want his wife to sleep in the deep mountains and forests either, but there was nothing he could do. There were some things he couldn't tell his children. Fortunately, their family had moved their graves. He had heard that many people were eyeing the ancestral graves of wealthy families.
Early in the morning, Gu Zhengkai finished exercising with the two boys and then quickly ate breakfast at Jiang Qiao's urging.
Jiang Qiao had prepared everything. Each person carried a basket and was dressed very warmly. The forest was different from home. In this cold weather, it was easy to freeze if you stayed outside for a long time.
Jiang Qiao genuinely didn't know the exact location of their family's ancestral graves. Not only her, but even Gu Zhixuan and Gu Zhixuan weren't quite sure. Only Gu Zhengkai personally got involved.
Therefore, Gu Zhengkai walked in front, followed by a string of little tails, with Jiang Qiao bringing up the rear.
Even though the snowfall wasn't heavy yesterday, it still affected their walking somewhat.
However, it wasn't that no one came; the tracks of prey could be clearly seen on the snow.
Sure enough, not long after entering, Jiang Qiao had already killed two wild rabbits and a pheasant.
This amused Gu Zhengkai and the others so much that they couldn't walk properly anymore, their eyes constantly searching their surroundings.
However, it was all in vain for them to watch. They weren't as strong as Jiang Qiao. They had tried, but they always scared away their prey.
"Alright, I think we can just cook and eat these things in the old forest later."
"Uncle, how much further? Why haven't we arrived yet?"
Gu Zhengkai pointed ahead and said, "Almost there—"
"Uncle, is it near the edge of the valley?"
Gu Zhengkai nodded. "They weren't right next to each other; there was some distance between them."
As Jiang Qiao walked, she said, "I heard they installed a radar station over there. How about I take you guys for a stroll later?"
Gu Zhixuan became interested. "Sure, why not? Let's go and see what's so different about that place."
Gu Zhengkai knew a little about his niece's situation. "Go and see her. Did she promise to gather herbs and make medicine, but hasn't come back yet?"
Jiang Qiao smiled and nodded, "That's right. I've been away for almost a year, and I haven't done what I promised yet. I'll go over there first and make myself known."
When they arrived at the location, Jiang Qiao was dumbfounded. There were no tombstones, just a grave gate. If she didn't know the details, she wouldn't be able to tell who was who.
Gu Zhengkai pointed out to each of the children who was buried there.
“It’s not that we don’t want to erect a tombstone, but given the current situation, it’s better not to. If we write something on it, wouldn’t that tell people that this is our family’s grave?”
What's the point of moving it over? It's not like no one has ever been in and out of this forest before.
Remember this, everyone: who belongs to whom, don't get it wrong.
The three siblings nodded in unison, "We can't have made a mistake, let's hurry and get the things—"
After arranging the offerings they had brought, Jiang Qiao and Gu Zhixuan built snowdrifts to prevent the burning of paper money from causing a forest fire.
Gu Zhengkai sat down at each grave and talked to his relatives, while Jiang Qiao and the other two bowed their heads and burned paper money.
After the worship ceremony, Gu Zhengkai led the three children around the valley. This time, Gu Zhixuan and his brother finally realized that there was such a place deep in the mountains. Especially when they saw the silly roe deer looking for grass to eat, before the two brothers could even shout, Jiang Qiao's silver needles were as fast as lightning and went straight for the silly roe deer, piercing its brain.
Not a drop of blood was seen. The silly roe deer lay on the ground, kicked its legs a few times, and then fell silent.
Gu Zhengkai has now witnessed his niece's prowess firsthand. "My goodness, few people can match your skill. It seems your internal strength has improved quite a bit."
I remember your father was the same way back then, always hitting his mark with a bow and arrow. I never imagined you'd surpass him.
Jiang Qiao smiled and shook her head. "I can't compare to my dad. I'm not as strong as him. He's the kind who cultivates both internal and external strength, while I only practice internal strength, mainly for healing. I was forced to develop this skill back then. What could I do when there was no meat to eat? I just practiced it out of necessity. Let's go down and pick up some roe deer."
Now that they were already here, Jiang Qiao wanted to go down and see how the valley had been cleaned up.
Before they even reached the underground, someone in the distance had already given a warning, and soon a patrol of soldiers arrived.
"Uncle, please wait a moment while I tell them."
Jiang Qiao ran over to greet them first. When they learned that the beautiful girl in front of them was Jiang Qiao, the group was still a little skeptical. However, after seeing the pass that Jiang Qiao showed them, they finally believed that the beautiful girl in front of them was indeed the one who was gathering herbs.
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