Chapter 97 Stealing Fragrance (Second Update)
When Gu Jiao and Xiao Jingkong came down the mountain, Xiao Liulang had already returned from the academy.
Gu Xiaoshun has been staying at the academy recently, partly because he has completely broken ties with the Gu family, and partly because he has become obsessed with the knives that Xiao Liulang brought him, carving them by lamplight every night in his dormitory.
As for Xiao Liulang's safety, he didn't need to worry. Recently, Uncle Luo Er sprained his ankle, and his son Dazhuang took over driving the oxcart.
Dazhuang and Gu Xiaoshun have a close relationship, and Dazhuang promises to take good care of Xiao Liulang.
Xiao Liulang was fetching buckets of water into the house, and he looked like he was struggling.
Because of his leg problems, Gu Jiao rarely let him do such heavy work. Gu Jiao walked over and took the wooden bucket from his hands: "I'll do it."
“I can,” Xiao Liulang said.
"Go start the fire, I'll cook in a bit." Gu Jiao didn't give him a chance to refuse, decisively took the wooden bucket, carried it on the shoulder pole, added another bucket, and turned to go to the village entrance to fetch water.
Little Jingkong patted his chest and said, "I want to help Jiaojiao fetch water too!"
After saying that, he found his own tools in the backyard—a mini carrying pole and two mini wooden buckets—and, imitating Gu Jiao, carried them on his little shoulders and went to fetch water with great pride!
This set of tools was made by Gu Jiao for Xiao Jingkong. The reason was that he wanted to help, but he couldn't lift the big wooden bucket. So Gu Jiao made him a pair of small, light, and leak-proof wooden buckets, along with a small carrying pole.
The water he carried back in one trip amounted to less than a large bowl, while Gu Jiao spent a lot of time and energy making tools for him.
When they arrived at the well, Gu Jiao first filled Xiao Jingkong's small wooden bucket with water. Although she allowed him to carry water, Gu Jiao explicitly forbade him to draw water from the well.
Little Jingkong is very obedient and never goes near the ancient well.
The two children carried the water they had fetched home. After Gu Jiao poured in the two large buckets of water, the water level in the water tank immediately rose considerably.
The two small buckets of water in Xiao Jingkong were filled... well, it was as if no water had been added at all.
But looking at the full water tank, Xiao Jingkong still felt that his two handfuls of water had played a great role, and he was very proud!
What are you grinning about?
It was Xiao Liulang who came over.
As soon as Xiao Liulang entered the kitchen, he saw a little monk standing on a stool, looking at the water vat with a proud expression.
He was just looking at the ripples in the water; someone who didn't know better would think he was admiring the small empire he had built with his own hands!
Hearing her wicked brother-in-law's voice, Xiao Jingkong's face turned serious. She raised an eyebrow at him and snorted coldly, "I'm working! I'm doing my labor!"
Xiao Liulang was amused and almost laughed: "You know how to work? What can a three-year-old kid do?"
Little Jingkong jumped off the small stool and said angrily, "I can do so many things! Much more than you! I can fetch water! I can feed the chickens! I can even wash Jiaojiao's clothes! I wash half of the clothes in the house! I do more chores around the house than you! I'm not a little kid! You are!"
Xiao Liulang glanced at his toy carrying pole and toy wooden bucket and chuckled, "Then you really know how to work."
Let others do the work.
It's exhausting to deal with all this stuff.
"Hmph!" To prove that she was indeed the chores expert in the house, Xiao Jingkong decisively walked to the wooden basin where the clothes were soaking, lifted up her trousers, kicked off her shoes, and jumped into the basin. Her little feet stomped on Xiao Liulang's courtyard clothes that he had just changed out of!
Xiao Liulang was completely stunned.
Is this how clothes at home are washed?
Little Jingkong's little feet were stomping happily.
He can enjoy splashing in puddles without it raining, and he can also wash his clothes at the same time. He is such a smart and hardworking child!
Gu Jiao came out, originally intending to wash her clothes, but seeing Xiao Jingkong stepping on them, she didn't go over for the time being.
Xiao Liulang asked incredulously, "Is this how you wash clothes at home?"
Gu Jiao hummed in agreement: "Not just clothes, the pickled vegetables you eat every day are also made by him stepping on them like this."
Xiao Liulang was immediately speechless: "...!!"
"Haha!" Gu Jiao burst out laughing.
She rarely laughed so hard, but Xiao Liulang's expression, as if he had swallowed a fly, really tickled her funny bone for two lifetimes.
"I was just kidding," she said. "Why would I let him step on pickled vegetables?"
Xiao Liulang breathed a sigh of relief: Thank goodness.
Gu Jiao continued, "He's so weak, he can't even step on it properly."
Xiao Liulang again: "..."
Isn't it because the feet stepped on it and it's not clean enough to eat?
If that's the case, then when the little monk gets stronger in the future, won't he be able to step on the pickled vegetables and let me eat them?
The scene was too beautiful for Xiao Liulang to bear looking at...
Gu Jiao laughed so hard she bent over.
"Huff! Huff!" Xiao Jingkong finished his stomping, sweating profusely, and went back to his room to drink water.
Gu Jiao then stepped forward to wash the clothes that he had trampled on and wrinkled.
Xiao Jingkong was eager to work, and Gu Jiao never discouraged him. At worst, she would clean up the mess herself after he finished.
Gu Jiao didn't take it to the level of scientific parenting; she just felt that as long as he was having fun, that was enough.
At this moment, Gu Jiao had no idea that the future general who would conquer six kingdoms possessed all his courage and strength from the powerful childhood that Gu Jiao had given him.
“You don’t have to spoil him like this,” Xiao Liulang said expressionlessly.
"I spoil you too." Gu Jiao smiled, took a clean wooden basin, put Xiao Liulang's clothes in it separately, and then gently rubbed them with her not-so-delicate hands.
“You don’t usually wash your clothes like this. Today you put them in the basin yourself and he caught you doing it.”
The three of them wore coarse linen clothes, so it didn't matter if they were stepped on casually. Xiao Liulang's courtyard clothes, however, were made of silk and cotton, and Gu Jiao used a special wooden basin to wash them for him, and she was very gentle.
Because it's light, it's slow; washing one of his clothes is equivalent to washing the whole family's clothes.
But Gu Jiao never said any of this.
Xiao Liulang was still reeling from the shock of her words, "I spoil you too," when he saw her carefully and diligently washing her clothes. Her small hands, whitened from being soaked in soapy water, seemed to be grasping not his collar, but his heart.
For a moment, he felt that their relationship was developing in an uncontrollable direction.
Xiao Liulang broke out in a cold sweat.
Can't.
They were only husband and wife in name only, and one day they would have to part ways.
The two of them... absolutely cannot have anything that should not happen between them.
During the meal, Xiao Liulang sat on a bench, his white courtyard robe, which had been hung out to dry, fluttering in the wind, making him feel somewhat agitated.
After dinner, Xiao Liulang gave Xiao Jingkong a bath, then took an axe to the backyard to chop firewood.
Gu Jiao was tidying up the kitchen.
The old lady was secretly eating dried bayberries in her own room.
A light rain began to fall from the sky.
"Jiaojiao, jiaojiao!" Little Jingkong suddenly came running out of the west room, clutching a small pillow. "The roof is leaking!"
Gu Jiao and he went to the west room.
The rain isn't heavy right now; it must be rainwater that accumulated on the tiles in the afternoon, and now it's leaking out because the wind has blown it away.
The leak was right in front of their bed, and it was difficult to fix. Moreover, if it rained heavily in the middle of the night, the tiles might break. The roof was already unreliable, and it would be bad if it collapsed due to heavy rain.
Gu Jiao said, "I can't sleep here tonight. Sleep at my place. I'll fix the roof when the rain stops."
Little Jingkong, clutching his little pillow, happily went to Gu Jiao's room.
Xiao Liulang, of course, could only sleep with him.
Fortunately, Gu Jiao's bed was big enough that the three of them could actually lie down comfortably.
Xiao Jingkong was a little reluctant to share the bed with his bad brother-in-law. After all, his brother-in-law was so big that he would take up a lot of space, unlike him, who was small and could just snuggle in Jiaojiao's arms.
"I'm so happy to be able to sleep with Jiaojiao!"
Overjoyed, Xiao Jingkong lay down on Gu Jiao's bed, sprawled out in a starfish shape—covered by Jiao Jiao's quilt, lying on Jiao Jiao's mattress, with Jiao Jiao's pillow and pillowcase, Jiao Jiao Jiao Jiao Jiao Jiao Jiao…
Xiao Jingkong was so excited that he rolled around on the bed.
Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and a devilish hand reached out to him, grabbed his waistband, and lifted him up.
Xiao Jingkong was so startled that he flailed his arms and legs: "Grandma?"
The old lady said, "You'll sleep with me tonight."
Xiao Jingkong: "I don't want to!"
The old woman said, "You want it."
Xiao Jingkong: "Why?"
The old lady said, "For my great-grandson."
The old lady ruthlessly dragged the little guy back to her room.
Xiao Jingkong's beautiful dream was shattered. First there was his unreasonable brother-in-law, and then his even more unreasonable aunt. His life was truly miserable!
When Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang finished their respective tasks, Xiao Jingkong had already exhausted himself in his battle of wits with the old lady, and his head lolled to the side as he began to snore softly.
Gu Jiao didn't say anything, took a shower, and went back to her room to lie down.
She was exhausted after a long day and fell asleep quickly, soon breathing evenly.
When Xiao Liulang came over after taking a bath, she was already asleep on the pillow.
An oil lamp was left on for him in the room.
As the weather gets warmer, the thick quilt is no longer enough, so she covers herself with half and kicks off the other half.
Xiao Liulang hesitated for a moment, then went over and pulled the blanket up for her.
He then extinguished the oil lamp and slowly lay down beside her. At first, he had his back to her, but his body would go numb if he stayed in one position for too long.
He then turned around.
What he didn't know was that Gu Jiao had just turned around and moved her head onto his pillow.
His lips brushed against her cheek without warning.
His mind went blank for a moment.
The rain outside was getting heavier, pattering against the tiles, but he heard nothing; all he could hear was the sound of his own heartbeat.
He instinctively raised his hand, intending to push her away, but he pushed the wrong way; the touch was an unfamiliar, soft warmth, and his mind went blank...
Gu Jiao slept very well that night.
Perhaps it was the wound medicine and the herbs that Xiao Liulang had brought back that had taken effect, because when she got up she felt that her wounds were no longer painful.
However, she found a few drops of dried blood on the pillow.
"Huh? Whose blood is this?"
Xiao Liulang had already gotten up and was tending to the sacred fire in the kitchen.
After washing up, Gu Jiao went to the kitchen.
The sky is brighter now than in winter, and the kitchen is no longer pitch black, so Gu Jiao can finally see Xiao Liulang's face clearly.
She stared at her for a long time, then blinked and asked, "Didn't you sleep well?"
Despite having huge dark circles under his eyes, Xiao Liulang said without changing his expression, "I was reading a bit late."
"Oh." Gu Jiao went to bed early, so there was no way of knowing what time he was reading.
Thinking of something, Gu Jiao added, "By the way, are you injured? There's blood on your pillow."
Xiao Liulang said solemnly, "It's not my blood."
Gu Jiao asked doubtfully, "Then is it mine? My wound has already healed."
Xiao Liulang gave her a deep look, and then said in a serious but nonsensical tone, "You're feeling hot-tempered, you have a nosebleed, I saw it."
Gu Jiao was very puzzled: "I drink houttuynia cordata tea every day, how could I still get a sore throat?"
Xiao Liulang said expressionlessly, "Who knows?"
Xiao Liulang's expression was so serious that it was hard to suspect anything. Gu Jiao said "oh" and went to the main room to pinch her nose and drink a large bowl of houttuynia cordata tea.
After drinking so much, at least I won't get a sore throat anymore!
Xiao Liulang closed his eyes guiltily, breaking out in a cold sweat.
While eating breakfast, Xiao Liulang suddenly remembered something: "I forgot to mention yesterday that I found a primary school in town, and I can take Jingkong to school today."
Suddenly, Xiao Jingkong, who was on his way to school, exclaimed: "...?!"
"So sudden?" Gu Jiao served a bowl of sweet potato porridge to the old lady and Xiao Jingkong respectively.
Xiao Jingkong slurped his sweet potato porridge while keeping a wary eye on his wicked brother-in-law.
...I have a feeling it's all part of my wicked brother-in-law's scheme!
"I forgot to mention it yesterday." I got teased as soon as I got home; I really had forgotten.
Xiao Liulang continued, "Children from wealthy families would have tutors at home from the age of five, and after they learned to read the Thousand Character Classic by the age of six or seven, they would be sent to the clan school or a private school for elementary education. Although he is a bit young, he is so smart and has taken classes at the temple, so there shouldn't be any problem."
For the first time, Xiao Jingkong was praised for being smart by her wicked brother-in-law, but she became even more wary.
A conspiracy, a complete conspiracy!
"Where is the elementary school?" Gu Jiao asked.
Xiao Liulang said, “Near Tianxiang Academy, there is a private school that has been open for more than ten years. There is a primary school class there. The class time is about the same as mine, so he can go to and from school with me every day.”
Here it comes, here it comes, the wicked brother-in-law is about to separate him and Jiaojiao!
Gu Jiao had attended a kindergarten in her previous life, so she was very accepting of three-year-old children going to school.
When Gu Jiao wasn't home, Xiao Jingkong was a little gossip, chattering all day long. The old lady suffered greatly from his chatter, but was also happy to see him go to school.
Gu Jiao turned to look at Xiao Jingkong: "Jingkong, do you want to go to school?"
In no mood!
Xiao Jingkong hesitated for a moment before speaking, thinking to himself, "If I say I don't want to go to school, wouldn't that make me a child who hates school?"
My wicked brother-in-law really knows how to dig a hole for him!
Luckily, I'm smart!
Little Jingkong said cutely, "If I go to school, Jiaojiao won't see me for a whole day!"
Gu Jiao patted his little head: "It's okay, I'll take you in the morning and wait for you at the village entrance in the evening. If I have time, I'll pick you up from the private school."
Having said all that, if Xiao Jingkong still refused, he wouldn't be a sensible child.
He swallowed the sweet potato porridge in his mouth without tasting it, and forced a cute smile: "Okay, since Jiaojiao wants me to go to school, then I'll go!"
He absolutely had to go to school, but in order to make up for the loss of not seeing Gu Jiao all day, Xiao Jingkong asked for two little kisses for his farewell.
Elementary school was not cheap; the tuition was two taels of silver a month, which included one lunch, and there was no refund if you dropped out.
Gu Jiao put two taels of silver into Xiao Jingkong's pocket. He insisted on paying his tuition himself and not asking his bad brother-in-law to do it for him.
The two children, one big and one small, rode in an oxcart to go to school.
Gu Jiao, meanwhile, was at home figuring out how to fix the roof.
She went up to the roof and found that quite a few tiles were broken. She estimated that if there were a few more heavy rains, all three houses would leak.
She decided to renovate the entire roof and, while she was at it, build two small houses on the east and west sides of the backyard so that Gu Xiaoshun wouldn't have to worry about having nowhere to stay when he returned to the village.
She had some money on hand, but it wasn't enough to do so much, so she went to Zhou's Money Shop in town, withdrew twenty taels of silver, and asked how much money was left in the shop.
The money exchange manager told her, "One thousand one hundred taels."
Gu Jiao stood there dumbfounded for three seconds.
"Are you mistaken? It's not one hundred and ten taels, it's one thousand one hundred taels!"
The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Our Zhouji Money Shop is a trustworthy business. We can't go against our conscience and cheat the young lady out of her money!"
When Xiao Liulang handed her the pair of tiles, she didn't think much of it, assuming it was only a hundred or eighty taels. She never expected it to be so much.
Actually, there was originally more, but he spent a full hundred taels of silver to buy a calligraphy brush for Gu Jiao. It was truly a masterpiece that was unique in the entire Zhao Kingdom. Poor Gu Jiao even complained about his straight-male aesthetic for a long time.
The other twenty taels were travel expenses that Gu Jiao had slipped into Xiao Liulang's bundle. Xiao Liulang didn't spend them all, so he deposited them into a money exchange.
Gu Jiao was starting to doubt herself: "Did he really go to take the exam?"
Are you sure they didn't go to the prefectural city to conduct book copying business?
Then Gu Jiao suddenly remembered what Dean Li had mentioned about the cheating in the college entrance examination. Dean Li said he didn't know why Xiao Liulang hadn't retaken the exam, and Gu Jiao thought she probably knew.
After receiving the money, Gu Jiao returned to the village to begin repairing the house. She hired several craftsmen from the village, told them her requirements, and asked them to complete the repairs as quickly as possible.
As long as the money is plentiful, there's no worry about people not working fast. Besides, this is Xiao Xiucai's home, and they're even hoping that if Xiao Liulang passes the imperial examination in the future, they can register a few acres of land under his name for free.
While Gu Jiao was busy renovating the house, Gu Jinyu suddenly fell ill.
She felt something was wrong the night she returned from Qingquan Village, but she thought she was just tired and didn't take it seriously. In the middle of the night, she developed a high fever.
The old servant woman at the mountain villa said that she had bumped into something unclean while visiting the graves.
The imperial physician prescribed medicine, but its effect was minimal.
Lord Gu was extremely anxious: "If I had known, I wouldn't have let Jinyu go to the grave!"
"Cough cough..." Gu Jinyu coughed twice, covering her mouth with a handkerchief, and asked weakly, "I'm fine, how's my brother?"
Gu Yan hasn't been feeling well these past two days, mainly because he's naturally weak and his body was exhausted after a night of excitement.
To prevent him from running away, Yao had to stay by his bedside every step of the way.
"He's fine." Lord Gu was quite relieved to hear this. His son's health was much better than before. If he had dared to push himself like that before, he would have died long ago. Now, he was back to his lively self after only a few days in bed.
However, just to be on the safe side, he and Yao both felt that their son should rest in his room for a few more days.
"It's good that my brother is alright," Gu Jinyu said, coughing.
Lord Gu said with heartache, "Oh dear, you're so sick, yet you're still worrying about your brother."
Gu Jinyu smiled: "After all, he is my only younger brother."
Lord Gu thought of his unfilial daughter, Gu Jiao, and gritted his teeth, saying, "If only that girl were half as sensible as you. I heard everything from Huang Zhong about what happened that day. She gave you a hard time, didn't she? I don't think you bumped into something evil; you just got sick from that girl's anger!"
Gu Jinyu quickly said, "Father, please don't say that about my sister. She grew up in the countryside all these years, and that family treated her badly. She just suffered too much and doesn't know how to deal with people. If it were me, I wouldn't have done any better than my sister."
Lord Gu said, "You're just too kind-hearted!"
Gu Jinyu shook her head: "My illness this time is really not my sister's fault, it's my own fault."
After a pause, she told Lord Gu about losing the exam paper.
"My aunt had high hopes for me, but I lost the problem that I had finally solved halfway through, and I fell ill because of the anxiety."
Lord Gu patted the back of her hand: "Silly girl, what's the rush? Even if you can't do it, your aunt won't blame you."
"Really?" Gu Jinyu asked, looking incredulous.
Lord Gu smiled mysteriously: "Your aunt wrote again. Guess what she said in her letter?"
Gu Jinyu thought about it seriously: "Should I ask Father to take me back to the capital as soon as possible?"
Lord Gu said, "Of course, is there anything else?"
Gu Jinyu frowned slightly: "I can't guess."
Lord Gu looked at her with affection and smiled proudly, "Your aunt has prepared a great gift for you. She originally planned to surprise you when you returned to the capital, but it's no harm in telling you earlier. Your aunt has asked His Majesty for a favor. On the day you come of age, His Majesty will personally issue an edict to confer upon you the title of County Princess!"
(End of this chapter)
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