Chapter 127 The Beloved One (Second Update)
The residence of the Marquis of Ding'an was not too far from the Imperial Academy, and Madam Yao arrived quite early.
Gu Jiao had just finished washing up when she heard a knock on the door. She opened it and was surprised to see Yao Shi standing there.
Yao smiled gently and said, "Did I disturb you?"
Gu Jiao shook her head: "No, I'm already up."
Madam Yao smiled and said, "You haven't had breakfast yet, have you? I brought steamed buns and brown sugar steamed bread."
The household was preparing a banquet for Gu Jinyu. The breakfast was bought by Madam Yao on the way from a very famous steamed bun shop in the capital.
"Come in." Gu Jiao invited Yao Shi into the courtyard.
Xiao Liulang also got up and was drawing water from the well.
Yao and Xiao Liulang had met several times in the countryside. Unlike Lord Gu's pickiness, Yao was very satisfied with Xiao Liulang.
The person is good-looking.
This is the key point.
He was good at studying and also very hardworking.
Originally, Yao was worried about the relationship between the two because they had not consummated their marriage. However, after observing them several times, she found that they actually got along quite well, and perhaps they just hadn't figured it out yet.
"Madam Gu," Xiao Liulang greeted Yao politely.
Gu Jiao was called Madam Yao, and Xiao Liulang called her that as well.
Madam Yao didn't mind the form of address and happily handed the food box to Xiao Liulang.
Gu Jiao wanted to go to the kitchen to cook porridge for her family, but Yao refused.
Yao Shi let her do whatever she wanted in other matters, but today was her and Gu Yan's birthday, and Yao Shi wouldn't let her do anything.
While at the villa, Yao would occasionally make some snacks. She was quite familiar with kitchen work. She first cooked the millet porridge for breakfast, and then began to prepare the next two meals.
She sent Granny Fang to buy groceries, and she wrote down what to buy and how much to buy on a list.
This was Yao's first birthday celebration for her daughter. She had prepared for it for a long time and practiced the dishes repeatedly.
Yao was quite popular at home; even the eccentric old lady was won over by her pastries, and everyone was happy when she came.
After having breakfast, Gu Yan had nothing to do, so he went to pick corn cobs, but Xiao Jingkong stopped him.
Xiao Jingkong took the corn cob, raised his little hand, made a stopping gesture, and said seriously, "Today is also your birthday, you don't need to do anything!"
I won't argue with you, I'll let you have your way for a day!
Madam Yao prepared a large table of delicious dishes, catering not only to Gu Jiao and Gu Yan's tastes but also to everyone else's.
Gu Xiaoshun stared at the dishes that were almost overflowing, so astonished he was speechless!
Is this Chinese New Year?
Wow, so many delicious dishes!
"Braised pig's trotters with soybeans!" Gu Xiaoshun's mouth watered instantly. This was his favorite dish. The pig's trotters were shiny and oily, and the skin was bouncy when you poked them with chopsticks. Gu Xiaoshun felt like he was about to pass out.
This was first braised, then stewed in a clay pot; it's glutinous and melts in your mouth.
Xiao Liulang now loves to eat fish, so Yao made a delicious crucian carp soup.
The old lady liked sweets, so Yao made brown sugar glutinous rice cakes, but only used half the amount of sugar.
There was also a vegetarian meat feast for Xiao Jingkong, which Yao didn't forget to put in Xiao Jingkong's special exquisite little bowl.
She had inquired about all of this from Gu Yan, and she had memorized it all and prepared diligently.
This is also why everyone likes Yao; she always takes good care of people in a subtle and gentle way.
In addition to the meals, Yao also made a bowl of longevity noodles for each of the siblings.
The longevity noodles had no extra ingredients, just a few chopped green onions and a few drops of sesame oil.
Gu Jiao felt that this bowl of longevity noodles tasted better than other noodles. It had an indescribable flavor that warmed her heart but made her nose tingle.
She couldn't tell if it was her own feeling or Gu Yan's feeling.
After the meal, everyone started giving Gu Jiao gifts.
The first one sent was Xiao Jingkong, the youngest and the most eager.
He gave Gu Jiao and Gu Yan each a small house he made himself out of clay. After making them, he even asked his wicked brother-in-law to help him bake them over the fire in the stove.
Actually, he remembered that the little house he sculpted wasn't like this; he didn't know why it deformed after baking.
The truth is that his sculpting was so terrible that Xiao Liulang couldn't stand it and secretly repaired it, making it look much better!
The door to the little house can be opened, and inside there are small wooden figures, which were carved by Gu Xiaoshun.
Gu Yan lived in Gu Yan's room, and Gu Jiao's room was supposed to be occupied by Gu Jiao.
However, when Gu Yan opened the small door, he was instantly dumbfounded: "Why are you in my sister's house?"
Xiao Jingkong: Oh no, we've been spotted!
That's right, the cunning monk Xiao Jingkong secretly had Gu Xiaoshun make an extra little wooden doll of himself and quietly put it into Jiao Jiao's room!
That way he can be with Jiaojiao every day!
Gu Yan was unhappy and made Xiao Jingkong move out of Gu Jiao's room.
Do not move the small cleared space.
He even said righteously, "This is Jiaojiao's gift, you can't destroy Jiaojiao's things!"
Okay, I won't cause any damage, I'll move in, alright?
Finally, Gu Jiao, Gu Yan, and Xiao Jingkong, the three little wooden figures, all moved into Gu Jiao's little house, leaving Gu Yan's little house empty...
Gu Xiaoshun gave him two Buddhist scriptures that he had carved himself.
In exchange for having someone carve a small wooden figure for him, Xiao Jingkong found his own attire, put on his Buddhist prayer beads, donned his monk's robes, took out his small wooden fish, and devoutly performed a ritual for the Buddhist scriptures.
So this is a Buddhist scripture that has been blessed!
Gu Jiao flipped through the Buddhist scriptures in her hand, somewhat incredulous.
Gu Xiaoshun is the most worry-free child in the family, but precisely because of this, he is easily overlooked by his family.
Gu Jiao had no idea that in just a few months, he had learned so many characters, many of which were rare.
"Can you read them all?" Gu Jiao asked.
"Yes, I will." Gu Xiaoshun nodded.
My brother-in-law said that if he can't read it, he won't know what to say if someone asks him what he carved.
So even though it was very difficult, he still tried his best to memorize these words, including their meanings.
Seeing Gu Jiao deep in thought, Gu Xiaoshun scratched his head and asked, "Sis, don't you like it?"
Gu Jiao looked up and smiled: "I like it, I like it very much."
Gu Yan gave Gu Jiao a bracelet.
He bought it with his hard-earned money.
From the moment he refused to move back to the Marquis's mansion, his father cut off his monthly allowance. Gu Jiao, on the other hand, would give him pocket money every month, but he always felt a little uncomfortable using the money Gu Jiao gave him to buy gifts for her!
So he decided to earn it himself!
There was no work to do at his aunt's place, he didn't know how to copy books at his brother-in-law's place, and he didn't know how to carve at Gu Xiaoshun's place. After thinking it over, he decided to hire Xiao Jingkong.
Xiao Jingkong earns thirty taels of silver in rent every month, making his family quite wealthy.
Gu Yan's money-making process went like this—
Five copper coins for feeding Xiao Jingkong's chickens every day!
Five copper coins a day for taking a chicken for Xiao Jingkong!
Five coins for cleaning up the chick droppings every day!
Praise Xiao Jingkong in a fancy and exaggerated way every day, and you'll get ten coins!
He worked for ten days and earned two hundred and fifty copper coins.
He had originally set his sights on a pair of beaded flowers, but unfortunately he didn't have enough copper coins, so he settled for a bracelet with jade beads strung on it.
Gu Yan knew that any random stone in the front room was worth more than these jade stones, but none of them were earned by him.
Gu Jiao put on the bracelet; it looked very nice.
Gu Jiao also prepared a gift for Gu Yan, but Gu Yan didn't open it in public. He went back to his room and secretly opened it by himself!
Little Jingkong was itching to know what Jiaojiao had given to Brother Gu Yan!
"Aunt, where is your gift?" Gu Yan asked.
"I didn't!" The old lady turned her face away.
Gu Yan grumbled, "I clearly saw it! You do it secretly every day!"
Gu Jiao looked over at the old lady.
The old lady reluctantly pulled out a purse, placed it on the table, and then stared at the sky, ignoring everyone: "What a waste!"
Gu Jiao picked up the purse.
Little Jingkong came over for a look and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow! Auntie! You can embroider ducks too!"
What duck? Those are mandarin ducks!
One is your sister! One is your brother-in-law! And a few little duck eggs... no, they're mandarin duck eggs!
Look how that stinky little monk has led her astray!
The old lady didn't know how to do needlework.
The fact that she didn't embroider the mandarin ducks directly as duck eggs is the result of her secretly ruining many purses.
Gu Jiao's purse is indeed worn out and needs a new one.
The old lady may seem oblivious to what's happening around her, but she's actually quite perceptive.
Gu Jiao smiled slightly: "Thank you, Auntie."
The old lady's purse wasn't pretty, but it was very practical. It had several layers to separate banknotes, loose silver, copper coins, and small items, and it also had a special sewing kit compartment.
How could an ordinary person think so meticulously?
This shows the old lady's love for Gu Jiao, and also her excellence in doing things.
Yao made two sets of clothes for each of the two children.
After arriving in the capital, Gu Jiao no longer needed to go up the mountain to chop firewood. Yao made her a set of clothes that were convenient for working at home, and another set of clothes, like those of the noble ladies in the capital, were elegant and gorgeous.
There was another box of gifts prepared by Lord Gu and his brother in the manor, but neither of them went to open it.
Finally, there was Xiao Liulang's gift.
Everyone was looking forward to it.
He never gives away pens or paper; the whole family knows what he'll give away this time. Could it be a calligraphy practice book?
Then Xiao Liulang took out a brocade box.
Under the eager gaze of everyone, Gu Jiao opened the box.
It really was a stack of calligraphy practice books!
Gu Jiao: "..."
Everyone: "..."
However, these do not appear to be ordinary calligraphy practice books; each one is a poem.
Gu Jiao thought these poems were very well written, even though she couldn't understand their meaning.
Gu Jiao patiently flipped through each calligraphy copybook. Xiao Liulang was clearly not expected that she would flip through the copybooks in public, and his expression became inexplicably nervous.
Gu Jiao flipped to the end and found an unexpected surprise: the box was specially made, with a white magnolia hairpin inlaid at the bottom.
Hmm?
Gu Jiao's eyes widened in surprise.
This straight-laced guy finally remembered to give her a hairpin!
What Gu Jiao didn't know was that this kind of hairpin was also called a "ji". In the Zhao Kingdom, girls would reach the age of fifteen and be given a hairpin by their elders. This was the coming-of-age ceremony, which signified that the girl had come of age and reached the age to get married.
Of course, if a girl marries before the age of fifteen, she will undergo a coming-of-age ceremony on her wedding day, which also signifies that she has reached adulthood.
Gu Jiao didn't have a coming-of-age ceremony when she got married. The Gu family wouldn't go to such lengths for a fool, but Xiao Liulang always remembered it.
When Madam Yao saw the hairpin her son-in-law had given to her daughter, she immediately understood what was going on. She had originally thought that her daughter had already gone through her coming-of-age ceremony, so she just considered today to be an ordinary birthday.
The son-in-law is very thoughtful.
Gu Jiao finally understood why this guy never gave her hairpins; it turned out that hairpins were really too hot to handle.
Before the coming-of-age ceremony, one cannot use hairpins.
Yao's eyes immediately reddened: "Jiaojiao, let me comb your hair."
Both Madam Yao and the old lady styled Gu Jiao's hair into a bun, and in front of everyone, Gu Jiao completed her coming-of-age ceremony.
The moon is high in the sky.
The bustling streets were left behind by the galloping horse.
Gu Changqing rode his horse into a quiet alley. He dismounted and strolled in, leading his horse with a nonchalant air.
Before I knew it, I had arrived at the familiar courtyard.
The courtyard gate was half-open, and the laughter of women and children could be heard from inside, along with the voices of teenagers, creating a harmonious atmosphere.
Gu Changqing paused at the door for a moment, but ultimately did not go in. He turned around and was about to mount his horse.
Suddenly, Xiao Jingkong came running over, his little body squeezing through the crack in the door: "Big brother! Is that you?"
Gu Changqing turned around and looked at him: "...It's me."
"Jingkong, who is it?" Madam Yao opened the half-closed door and saw Gu Changqing outside. Her smile froze.
Gu Changqing was also very surprised to see Yao Shi here, and even more surprised by Yao Shi's unguarded smile. Although it quickly froze, he still saw it.
He never knew that the melancholy Yao could be so happy, laughing like a child.
"You..." Yao hesitated, unable to finish her sentence.
Xiao Jingkong looked at Gu Changqing, then at Yao Shi, and asked, "Benefactor Yao, do you know each other?"
"Benefactor?" This wasn't a common form of address. Gu Changqing looked at the little guy strangely. "Are you a monk?"
Xiao Jingkong explained earnestly, "I was a monk before I came down from the mountain! I'm not anymore! Benefactor Yao is a pilgrim at our temple! I see her often! We're quite familiar with each other! Big brother, are you also here to celebrate Jiaojiao's birthday?"
Xiao Jingkong spoke from his own perspective, but Gu Changqing interpreted it as Yao Shi and the little monk's family being simply old-fashioned.
It's quite a coincidence that he and his stepmother know the same friend.
Gu Changqing said in a serious tone, "No, I was just passing by. Do you like birds?"
Xiao Jingkong tilted his head and thought for a moment: "I like it!"
Gu Changqing handed him a birdcage covered with a cloth that was hanging on the saddle: "This is for you."
Having said that, he mounted his horse and rode away without looking back.
Little Jingkong watched the departing figure ride the wind and waved his little hand: "Thank you, big brother!"
(End of this chapter)
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