"Qingqing, let's go to the county town tomorrow. We can bring Thunder and Lightning back with us when we come back."
"Okay, let's go to the county town together tomorrow!"
Hearing that Gu Nanxun would go to the county town tomorrow, Lin Qing immediately became happy. Since Gu Nanxun's leg recovered, he had never been to his county town with Gu Nanxun.
When she went to get her marriage certificate before, she went to the commune. She had to call her family, get a haircut, take photos, and get the certificate, so she didn't have a chance to really explore the area. Tomorrow she has nothing else to do, so she can have a good time with Nanxun. She can also go to the black market to sell some goods. She hasn't sold any goods in a long time. Ever since Nanxun found out, she hasn't gone to the black market to sell any goods so as not to worry him.
In fact, Gu Nanxun thought so too. Not counting the day they got their marriage certificate, he hadn't properly accompanied Qingqing on a shopping trip yet. He couldn't do it before, but now that his leg was healed, he would accompany Qingqing to do all the things he couldn't do with her before.
He had it all planned out. Tomorrow, he would first take Qingqing to see a movie, then have dinner at a state-run restaurant, and finally go to the department store to buy her some clothes. Now that his Qingqing didn't have to work in the fields anymore, she could wear pretty clothes.
He had previously asked Wang Dongsheng to find him tickets for the "Three Turns and One Ring" (a type of bicycle, a sewing machine, a radio, and a watch), but now his own father had bought them first. He wanted to buy Qingqing a camera the next day. When he took the photos that day, he saw that Lin Qingqing was quite interested in taking pictures, so he asked Zhao Youcai to pass on a message to Wang Dongsheng, asking him to get him a camera ticket. In this era, buying a camera required special approval, and Wang Dongsheng happened to be in charge of that.
"How does Qingqing want to use the puppet talisman?"
After hearing that Lin Qing agreed to go to the county town, Gu Nanxun asked another question.
"Why don't we choose two men and two women? The two girls will live in our inner courtyard. If we sign the puppet talisman for them, it will be more convenient for us to do things in the future!"
Upon hearing Gu Nanxun's question, Lin Qing thought for a moment and answered.
"Yes, what Qingqing said is exactly what I was thinking. I'll sign for Chun and Xia from the outer courtyard, and Qingqing can sign for the two girls from the inner courtyard! I'll feel more at ease if you take them with you wherever you go in the future."
"Okay, then it's decided!"
"..."
The next day, after breakfast, Gu Nanxun and Lin Qing called all ten people into the house.
"The main reason I called you all here today is to have a serious talk with you."
"After all, you are my uncle's people. I don't know if he asked for your consent before sending you here, or whether you were willing to come."
"I called you all here today to ask what you think. If you don't want to come with me or want to go back to your uncle, you can tell me. I will talk to my uncle and tell him that I don't need so many people and that you can go back."
"If you choose to follow me, I hope you are truly willing to stay. Now I'll give you time to think it over. If you don't want to stay, just tell me."
The puppet talisman is extremely precious; if one is even slightly unwilling, the binding will fail. Gu Nanxun didn't want to waste it, so he wanted to screen them first, giving these young men and women a chance to choose again.
“Young Master, we had already thought it through before we came. We weren’t directly dispatched by the Patriarch; we volunteered.”
After hearing Gu Nanxun's words, Zhao Chun, who was in the lead, said that they were the elites carefully trained by the family head. The family head was unable to have his own children due to an injury more than ten years ago, so he had been single all these years. Originally, the family head wanted to choose an heir from among the eldest, second, and third young masters. Now that he has chosen to send them directly to the fourth young master, it is likely that he has chosen the fourth young master as his heir.
Why wouldn't they be willing to serve the heir ahead of time? The only concern is that the fourth young master might not easily trust them.
"In that case, Chun, Xia, Chen, and Xi will stay here, and the six of you can go out first."
"Take this and drip a drop of blood on it."
After the six people left, Gu Nanxun looked at the four people who remained for a while before speaking.
His voice was deep and filled with unquestionable authority, as if it were not a request but an inviolable command.
This was Gu Nanxun's test, a test to see if the four people in front of him were truly willing to submit to him and serve him. If they were truly willing to follow him, they would not care whether his tone was harsh or not. Moreover, he also needed to establish his authority in front of the four people, just like when he was a soldier. If he wanted his subordinates to obey, he had to beat them into submission first.
"What...what is this for?"
The four men, their hands trembling, accepted the mysterious puppet talisman, their eyes filled with bewilderment.
"Don't ask so many questions, just do as I say."
Upon hearing the four people's questions, Gu Nanxun frowned and said sternly.
Sensing the displeasure in Gu Nanxun's words, Zhao Chun gritted her teeth, steeled her resolve, and took the lead in picking up the small knife on the table, pricking her finger, and carefully dripping a drop of bright red blood onto the puppet talisman.
The moment the drop of blood touched the talisman, it was instantly absorbed. The puppet talisman flashed with light for a moment, then returned to calm.
Seeing this, the other three, despite being filled with fear of the unknown, still chose to drip their blood onto the puppet talisman.
As the three beams of light flashed, Gu Nanxun secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, they all succeeded, otherwise he really hadn't thought about what to do if they had failed.
Fortunately, although the four of them were filled with fear of the unknown, they still genuinely followed him. Of course, he would not let those who genuinely followed him suffer losses, as he was always generous to his own people.
"Don't tell anyone about what happened today except the people in our house."
"Yes, young master."
"From now on, just call me Brother Gu in front of outsiders."
Gu Nanxun didn't mind them calling him "Young Master." Although he wasn't well-liked by his family before, he was used to being called "Young Master" since he was a child. However, in this special period, if others heard this title, it would cause trouble.
"Yes, young master."
"Alright, you can go now! Qingqing and I are going to the county town today. Just stay home and look after the house!"
"Young Master, should we send someone to protect you secretly?"
Upon hearing Gu Nanxun's words, Zhao Chun asked Gu Nanxun a question.
"We don't need too many, just two people will be enough!"
After hearing Zhao Chun's question, Gu Nanxun thought for a moment and said that although he was perfectly capable of protecting Qingqing, it would be more convenient to have someone with him now.
"Yes, young master."
"..."
Gu Nanxun and Lin Qing asked for leave from the brigade headquarters and then rode a bicycle to the county town.
Soon after, Zhao Chun and Zhao Xia also rode a bicycle and headed towards the county town to catch up.
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