Chapter 263: The First and the Second
He Jinglan had already given up hope at this point and was willing to reveal her past.
"I even asked my brother to get me a lot of calligraphy copybooks and practiced hard without telling you. But every time, yes, every time, as long as I took out my confident work and compared it with yours, I would find that you are still better than me!"
He Jinglan's face was all smiles, but her voice was tinged with gritted teeth.
Gu Xixi and Shitou couldn't help but nodded in sudden realization.
It turns out that this is how He Jinglan (Mr. He) developed his stunning handwriting!
"It's all in the past, don't take it to heart." Mu Nanzhao smiled at He Jinglan, "Compared to He Jinghui's handwriting that looks like a crawling turtle, your handwriting is now smooth and flowing, and you have already begun to have your own characteristics."
He Jinglan gave a weak fake smile, "Haha!"
"I have never defeated you once. It doesn't matter who praises me, but I will never accept your praise!"
Mu Nanzhao nodded, "Not bad, very courageous."
Shitou clenched his fist and said, "From today on, I will work harder on my calligraphy. One day, I will surpass the two gentlemen!"
Gu Xixi was relieved, "Not bad, very courageous."
"As the saying goes, the waves behind push the waves ahead, and the waves ahead die on the shallows. Stone, I'm counting on you!"
The two senior leaders were immediately unhappy.
Mu Nanzhao: "Have you memorized all the texts that Master Liu taught recently? How is your interpretation? Have you learned to write articles?"
He Jinglan: "That's right! Studying is important. Just practicing calligraphy is not enough!"
Gu Xixi felt deeply moved, realizing that all it took was a common crisis to turn enemies into friends.
When we were getting ready for dinner, Mrs. Zhou brought over two bowls of pickled vegetables.
She smiled and said, "I heard today that Mr. Chen was coming back. I was so happy for you that I thought of sending you some pickled vegetables to celebrate."
"Both are freshly made. The wild garlic was pickled for six days. I just opened the jar today to give you fresh ones."
"The ginger bracken is freshly mixed, and it may be more flavorful if eaten tomorrow morning."
Aunt Zhang took the two bowls, looked at them, and said with a smile, "The smell makes me hungry."
"The bracken has just been mixed. It looks like our pickled vegetable Xishi will go to the city to make a fortune again tomorrow morning?"
Mrs. Zhou laughed, "It's just a small business to make a living, it's not something you can call a fortune."
Other people in the village have to pay for her pickled vegetables out of their own pockets.
So when Mrs. Zhou went to Gu Xixi's house to deliver food, she didn't want to be seen by others, so she came under the cover of night.
After chatting and laughing for a while, she started asking about corn planting.
"Xixi, I will definitely listen to you about our two acres of corn. We will buy all the pesticides and fertilizers you need."
"But can you trust the workshop you mentioned?"
"After all, he is from outside. Will he cut corners when making things?"
Gu Xixi smiled and said, "I can guarantee that I won't do that. I'm too lazy to do it myself, so I'll just use the same method as everyone else."
Mrs. Zhou felt a little relieved and asked, "Everyone's corn has been planted. The workshop will deliver the corn in two days. Can it supply everyone?"
"Besides the people in our village, there are also so many relatives in the Gu family. If there isn't enough to go around, who should we give it to first and who should we give it to later..."
Gu Xixi understood why Mrs. Zhou came. She just wanted to use her connections to get the pesticides and fertilizers first.
She said gently, "I understand. Everyone is afraid of missing the farming season."
"You can rest assured that the first batch of goods will definitely be enough."
"I also said today that the use of pesticides and fertilizers for corn should be divided into times and stages, and the amount used is actually not large."
Mrs. Zhou was a little embarrassed, "If that's the case, I'll be relieved."
He Jinglan deliberately relaxed the atmosphere, "Sister-in-law and An Qinghe are also acquaintances. Are you still worried about him doing things?"
Mrs. Zhou smiled and said, "Yes, yes, we are all family."
The moon was rising above the treetops, and Mu Nanzhao walked out of the west room holding a set of clean underwear.
He has always loved cleanliness, and he didn't expect that there was a bathroom built in the yard when he came back this time. As long as he filled the big bucket with water in advance, he could take a shower at any time.
It's easy to sweat in the summer. A few days ago, Mu Nanzhao was riding a horse and was so dusty that he couldn't stand it anymore.
Thinking about taking a cold shower soon, Mu Nanzhao's cold face showed a little more joy.
However, when he walked over, he saw two people blocking the bathroom door.
He Jinglan said, "The shower was Xixi's ingenuity. If you want to use this bathroom, you have to give me some benefits."
Mu Nanzhao frowned, "Three boxes of rare Western Region seeds, aren't they enough?"
Gu Xixi said, "Let's put things in perspective. Didn't Chen Fang ask Chen Yuan to give the seeds to me, Gu Xixi? What does it have to do with you, Mu Nanzhao?"
Mu Nanzhao was silent.
It was intentional. This woman was clearly trying to settle a score after the event.
He Jinglan was having a hard time holding back her laughter. "Just for those seeds, Xixi acknowledged Chen Yuan in front of so many people. We are even now."
Mu Nanzhao raised his eyes and said, "Tell me, what else do you want?"
He Jinglan said, "Disguise."
Mu Nanzhao thought for a moment and agreed without hesitation, "It would be nice to get you two masks."
"But it won't be that easy for the time being. This mask was given to me by a friend from southern Xinjiang many years ago. It's made of human skin and is very thin and fits the face well."
"I tried other ones later, but they all had slight flaws and were not as realistic and fit."
"Human skin?" Gu Xixi exclaimed, suddenly feeling a little disgusted.
He Jinglan said, "I have heard of human skin masks and human skin 亂鼓. But I have never seen the real thing."
She reached out to Mu Nanzhao, "Take it out quickly and let us have a look."
Mu Nanzhao took out something from his sleeve pocket. It was thin, flexible, and translucent.
Gu Xixi's scalp felt numb.
Although we know that in ancient times, in addition to burying living people, people also used human bones and skins to make musical instruments.
But as a soul from the modern era, she is still unable to accept human products.
"Don't bother. I thought about it and I feel that I am not suitable for using a human skin mask."
"If necessary, I can use makeup to touch up."
Mu Nanzhao saw through it at a glance, "Are you afraid?"
Gu Xixi didn't want to show her weakness in front of him, "It's, it's okay."
In the darkness of the night, Mu Nanzhao seemed to chuckle.
"Don't worry. There aren't that many suitable human skins. Normally, we would just melt deer tendons and mix them with a special secret medicine. After solidifying, it will be flexible but not hard."
"It is made by professional mask makers according to different face shapes of different people, dried and stored, and soaked in cold water for half an hour before use. It can be reused up to five times."
He Jinglan sighed, "Such a complicated thing can only be used five times, the cost is very high."
Mu Nanzhao said, "Human skin is even more rare. For your ordinary uses, deer tendons are enough."
"After that, you can go find Master Liu and he will help you make the arrangements."
Gu Xixi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He Jinglan smiled and said, "That's great, Xixi. Actually, I don't really want to put someone else's skin on my face."
Gu Xixi said with a bitter face, "Stop talking."
Since the deal was done, He Jinglan took the initiative to give up her position.
He turned his head to look at Gu Xixi again, but she was still standing there motionless.
"I have another request that will not harm your interests. All you need is a simple promise."
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