Wang Dafu felt extremely guilty and didn't dare to say a word.
Wang Sang looked closely and exclaimed with delight, "Father, it really is you?"
Wang Dafu steadied himself, glanced at Wang Sang, and shouted sternly, "You brat, how dare you drive my carriage away!"
Wang Sang stepped down from the carriage, grinning, and said, "Father, I've come to pick you up again."
Wang Dafu snorted coldly, "You're here to pick me up? You might as well not have come at all."
Wang Sang tossed the whip in his hand to Laifu, and the father and son got into the carriage.
The two stared at each other, neither saying a word.
After a while, Wang Dafu asked Wang Sang, "How did you end up here? Did your mother send you to follow me?"
Wang Sang chuckled, not answering Wang Dafu's question, but instead asking, "Dad, why are you and Laifu here? Why did Laifu hit someone?"
Wang Dafu slapped Wang Sangyuan on the head and scolded, "Children shouldn't meddle in adult matters."
Wang Sang said aggrievedly, "Dad, I just want to ask one question: why did you hit me?"
"I'm going to tell my mother that you hit me!"
Upon hearing that Wang Sang was going to tell that shrew, Wang Dafu felt guilty and hurriedly coaxed, "Good son, let's not talk about what happened today, okay? You see, if we go back so late, your mother will definitely keep nagging. In the end, we'll both be in deep trouble." After saying that, he reached into his money pouch, took out fifty taels of silver, and handed it to Wang Sang: "Good son, take this and spend it. Ask your father for more when you've spent it all."
Wang Sang beamed with joy upon seeing the silver, her eyes narrowing into slits: "Thank you, Father. If Mother asks, I'll just say you took me to the teacher's house."
Wang Dafu smiled with satisfaction: "My good son!"
...
The next morning, Gu Nanjiao returned to Toad Village.
Lu's mother and younger sister got up early and were preparing the ingredients for their stall.
Seeing Gu Nanjiao return so early, Lu's mother asked, "Haven't you eaten yet? Let me make you a bowl of noodles."
"Mother, I've already eaten."
"Oh, it's good that you've eaten." Mrs. Lu looked at Gu Nanjiao, hesitating to speak, "What about your in-laws..."
Gu Nanjiao smiled faintly: "I can't be of much help, they've already taken care of everything."
Lu's mother nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
The three packed up the ingredients, pots, pans and utensils they needed for their stall and headed to the county town.
On the oxcart heading to the county town, there were quite a few people from the same village. Among them were a few I didn't know, but there was one I knew better: Yang Meiqin.
Yang Meiqin was dressed in flamboyant attire, with several luxurious hairpins adorning her hair and bracelets jingling on her wrists.
She gave Gu Nanjiao a disdainful look and muttered under her breath, "So what if she's in business? She's still as poor and shabby as ever."
Thinking that Gu Nanjiao hadn't heard her, she cleared her throat and pretended to show off the bracelet on her wrist, stroking it several times.
Several women, curious about what was in Gu Nanjiao's large basin, went up to ask.
Gu Nanjiao didn't intend to hide it. She opened the lid and let them take a look. Immediately, a fragrant aroma wafted out. Although the women were curious about what smelled so good, after seeing it, they didn't know what it was. Since they had never seen it before, they stopped asking.
Yang Meiqin peeked out, trying to get a closer look, but Gu Nanjiao quickly slammed the lid shut.
Yang Meiqin touched the hairpin in her hair and scoffed, "Who cares to look?"
Gu Nanjiao said, "Whether you like it or not, I won't show it to you."
The people on the bus looked at Yang Meiqin as if she were a joke, and she, feeling embarrassed, kept quiet.
...
Changyang Street was bustling with activity today; before noon, the stalls were already packed with people.
Perhaps because of the hot weather, no one was buying the pig offal, but the rolled noodles and garlic bullfrog were selling very well.
As soon as lunchtime arrived, the students poured out.
Lu Yanzhao rushed over and, after arranging for Lin Ji to sit down, his gaze couldn't help but fall on Gu Nanjiao, who had her back to him. He came to Gu Nanjiao's side, raised his hand and poked the little hair on her head, and couldn't help but laugh and say, "What kind of hairstyle is that?"
Gu Nanjiao said irritably, "I was in a rush this morning and didn't have time to do my hair. If you like, I'll do it for you tomorrow."
Lu Yanzhao...
With Lu Yanzhao's arrival, many girls flocked to him.
Gu Nanjiao's face turned somewhat unpleasant. She had known for a long time that Lu Yanzhao was popular, but she hadn't expected him to be this popular! Her stall was almost knocked over by the crowd.
Lu Yanzhao curled his lips but remained silent.
Next, under everyone's watchful eyes, Lu Xiucai rolled up his sleeves, took the takeout box from Gu Nanjiao's hand, and softly asked the customer in front of him, "What would you like to order?"
The girl in front of him was stunned. After a long while, seeing that Lu Yanzhao was getting impatient, she blushed and whispered, "Just... just three servings of this bullfrog."
"Okay, here you go."
Because of Lu Yanzhao's reputation, more and more girls came to the stall, and it soon became crowded.
Because there were too many customers, Gu Nanjiao and Lu's mother quickly got busy. Lu Yanzhao helped collect money, while Lin Ji, feeling a bit embarrassed sitting there, joined Lu Xiaomei in helping out.
The girls in red, yellow, blue, and green approached the stall somewhat awkwardly, glancing apologetically at Mrs. Lu: "Auntie, we're so sorry, we offended you the other day."
Madam Lu had no intention of arguing with the girls, and simply said, "You don't need to apologize specifically because I am Lu Yanzhao's mother. Just don't be so rude to others in the future."
"What happened?" Lu Yanzhao asked Gu Nanjiao, looking down at her.
Gu Nanjiao said, "I had a conflict with a few girls a few days ago."
Lu Xiaomei, standing to the side, said indignantly, "These red, yellow, blue, and green girls are so arrogant. They called my sister-in-law a country bumpkin and said my mother was a dead old woman who smelled like pig manure. Many people saw it. If it weren't for the fact that you are my brother, they wouldn't have come over to apologize! Brother, please don't pay any attention to them."
Lu Yanzhao's expression darkened: "I understand."
After Lu Yanzhao finished speaking, he picked up the spatula and walked to the pot where the bullfrogs were placed. Seeing that Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green were still nagging Lu's mother, he immediately frowned and walked up to the girls.
"Are you here for dinner?"
Red, yellow, blue, and green blushed and said shyly, "Yes...yes."
"One tael of silver per serving, would you like it?"
Upon hearing this, Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green were immediately dumbfounded. Even Lin Ji, who was standing to the side, was stunned.
The bullfrogs were supposed to cost fifteen coins a serving, but Lu Yanzhao asked them for one tael of silver per serving. Although Lu Yanzhao was usually smooth in his dealings with others, he was also honest and straightforward. To inflate the price and embarrass the girls in front of so many people was not the behavior of a gentleman.
The girl in red looked on incredulously: "What? They charge fifteen coins a serving, why are they asking us for an ounce?"
“You consider yourselves noble, so naturally the things we sell to you will be sold at double the price. We are just country folk, and we are afraid that the things we sell at low prices will not suit your noble palates.”
The girls all came from well-off families, and this was the first time in their lives they had been treated this way. Moreover, it was by the very people they had been longing for, which made them furious and embarrassed.
"Lu Yanzhao, who do you think you are? You're just a country bumpkin who lives off women."
"That's right, a poor scholar is a poor scholar. He's greedy for money. I think you're just a gigolo."
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