Chapter 33 Coaxing
The Gu family has suffered a devastating blow this time. Forty taels of silver have wiped out their entire fortune, and Gu Dashun's carefully cultivated public image has also completely collapsed.
For a long time to come, the Gu family probably won't have the energy to come knocking on their door and cause trouble.
Gu Jiao was very happy and ate half a bowl more at dinner.
It snowed a little again that afternoon, but not heavily, and stopped after a short while. It didn't affect walking on the road, but it was a bit cold. Xiao Liulang's hands were frozen when he got home.
Gu Jiao quickly handed him the ginger soup she had prepared.
Even though he was freezing, he drank the ginger soup slowly and deliberately, a refined elegance that emanated from his very bones.
Gu Jiao stared at him without blinking.
"What's wrong?" he asked, turning his head.
Caught red-handed, Gu Jiao wasn't embarrassed at all. She smiled and said, "It's okay, you drink, I'll go get the food!"
Gu Jiao brought out the food that was still warm in the pot and invited the old lady to eat together.
We were only halfway through our meal when an uninvited guest arrived at our home.
"I'll go open the door." Gu Jiao put down her chopsticks.
"I'll do it." Xiao Liulang stood up first, leaning on his cane.
"Eat your food," the old lady said to Gu Jiao.
Although in the old lady's mind, Xiao Liulang was her grand-nephew and Gu Jiao was just her granddaughter-in-law, she never showed favoritism towards Xiao Liulang.
Gu Jiao continued eating. Xiao Liulang removed the latch, opened the door, and found that the people standing at the door were not villagers, but a young master and servant.
The young man was dressed in fine clothes and had a noble air about him; he was clearly the master of a wealthy family.
Xiao Liulang was somewhat surprised, and of course they were also surprised. They had come to find the Gu family's daughter, but they never expected that a young man would open the door.
The young man wore the white academy uniform of Tianxiang Academy, exuding a clean and refined air, with delicate features and picturesque eyebrows.
In such a remote and impoverished place, there was such a delicate and refined young man. The master and servant were both stunned for a moment.
The young man spoke up: "Excuse me... is this Miss Gu's home?"
"Who are you? What business do you have with my wife?" Xiao Liulang asked in a cold tone.
wife?
The young man paused for a moment, then said, "My surname is Qin..."
"Young Master Qin?" Gu Jiao walked over unnoticed, looking at the young man outside the door with a strange expression. "What are you doing here?"
When young Master Qin saw that it was her, he was so frightened that he almost turned and ran away: "I should be asking you that! What are you doing here!"
Gu Jiao said, "This is my home. If I'm not here, where should I be?"
"How did you end up in Gu's..." He stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing something, and stammered, "You...you are...Miss Gu?"
Gu Jiao raised an eyebrow and touched her chin: "So you still don't know who I am."
It's a waste that the original owner of this body has been bothering him for so long, yet he hasn't even bothered to find out who the original owner is.
Xiao Liulang's face turned cold. He gave Young Master Qin a cold look and went into the house without turning his head!
Gu Jiao: "Hey—"
I have a feeling that my husband is angry for some reason!
Only then did Master Qin notice Xiao Liulang's leg ailment. He thought to himself, "How could such a handsome young man marry such a foolish woman who doesn't uphold traditional virtues?" Turns out, he's a cripple.
"What are you doing at my house?" Gu Jiao asked coldly.
Then, Master Qin discovered something else: the little fool's eyes no longer seemed to hold the same fervor for him as before, and the little fool no longer looked foolish at all.
"If you have something to say, say it. If not, take your time and don't bother seeing me out." Gu Jiao said, and was about to close the door.
Young Master Qin snapped out of his daze, pressed down on the door, and said, "I came to ask if you've found a letter?"
The silver in his bundle was picked up by Zhou and Liu, but the letter was missing. It was simply left lying on the street. The constables couldn't find it, so they thought of the Gu family girl who had returned to the scene before, hoping she might have found it.
The constables didn't say that the Gu family girl was the little fool from Qingquan Village, otherwise Young Master Qin would never have come to their door on his own.
Gu Jiao was surprised after hearing what Young Master Qin said.
To be honest, she didn't expect the owner to be him. In her dream, she was only focused on looking at Xiao Liulang, so she didn't remember what the owner looked like.
However, she did find that letter.
Gu Jiao turned and went into the house, took out the letter, and came out to ask him, "You mean this?"
Young Master Qin's eyes lit up: "You really found it! But why didn't you tell the constable?"
Gu Jiao shrugged: "The constables didn't ask either."
That's true...
The constable forgot.
"Hey." Gu Jiao generously handed him the letter.
Young Master Qin quickly took the letter. It was sealed with wax and showed no signs of being tampered with.
The joy of finding what she had lost instantly changed Mr. Qin's opinion of her. Perhaps she had done those foolish things before simply because she wasn't very bright, but she was not a bad person at heart and was an honest girl who returned lost property.
"Thank you so much!" said Young Master Qin sincerely.
Gu Jiao glanced at him sideways and said casually, "Just a verbal thank you?"
Young Master Qin was taken aback.
Gu Jiao smiled faintly, "How about something more substantial, like money or something?"
Young Master Qin was petrified.
Where is the honest girl who returned the lost money?
A quarter of an hour later, Gu Jiao entered the house with one hundred taels of silver. This amount was three times more than what Zhou and Liu had managed to seize, and it was given willingly by Young Master Qin—both reasonable and legal!
"Huh? Where's my husband?" Gu Jiao asked the old lady.
The old lady gestured towards Xiao Liulang's house with her lips.
Gu Jiao pushed open the door and entered the room.
Xiao Liulang was copying a book, his face cold.
Gu Jiao took the silver she had obtained... uh, no, and gently placed it on Xiao Liulang's table.
Xiao Liulang didn't even glance at it.
Gu Jiao asked softly, "Are you angry?"
Xiao Liulang turned his back indifferently, ignoring Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiaomeng was completely charmed by his proud and aloof demeanor.
Gu Jiao leaned closer, bent down, and whispered in his ear, "How could I be so blind at such a young age? He's so ugly..."
Xiao Liulang's eyelashes trembled slightly.
They were so close that her breath fell on his earlobe.
Gu Jiao said softly, "I didn't know it was his letter. I just picked it up randomly and forgot about it myself. He came to me to get the letter just now, and I extorted a hundred taels from him."
All of Xiao Liulang's unhappiness vanished with his last sentence.
They've already tried to extort money from Young Master Qin; it seems they've truly given up.
Actually, he shouldn't be angry. They were never really husband and wife. He would leave her and this place one day. He didn't care about her relationship with Xiao Qin before, and he shouldn't care now.
He himself couldn't explain what caused that anger he felt just now.
Gu Jiao coaxed softly, "Don't be angry anymore, I won't look at him anymore."
"Look all you want," Xiao Liulang said coldly.
Gu Jiao smiled and whispered in Xiao Liulang's ear, "He's not as good-looking as you."
Xiao Liulang: "..."
(End of this chapter)
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