Chapter 107.2
Gu Dashun was reluctant to come over. He stood behind several people by more than a dozen steps, holding his baggage.
Xiao Liulang frowned slightly. Gu Jiao put down the window curtain and signaled that he didn"t have to come down.
Gu Jiao turned to Zhou shi and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Alas, what are you saying? My niece’s husband is going to the provincial capital for the provincial exam. Can I not come and see him off? Look, this is a little token from aunt!" Zhou shi said and handed a basket of eggs to Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao knew what she was up to and didn"t reach for it.
Embarra.s.sed, Zhou shi gave her husband a meaningful glance.
Gu Changhai coughed lightly and said to Gu Jiao, "Jiao girl, this journey to the provincial capital will take a long time. Liulang is not able to walk well. It would be better for Dashun to accompany him and take care of him on the journey."
"Who would take care of who?" Gu Jiao asked rudely.
Even though Xiao Liulang was a cripple, he usually did more work than Gu Dashun, a man with perfect limbs.
Gu Dashun was brought up pampered. He could do nothing but study, and bringing him with them would be a burden.
Gu Changhai choked up.
He was Gu Dashun"s own father. Could he not know that Gu Dashun was simply unable to take care of himself when he wasn’t at home? Even his clothes in the academy were all brought back home to be washed.
Otherwise, how could he possibly ask Gu Jiao to let Xiao Liulang take Dashun along with them?
Originally, Gu Changhai was going to take Gu Dashun to the provincial capital by himself, but life at home was hard and they could no longer afford to pay the fare for two people.
He also heard about Xiao Liulang"s recent tutoring. The other party was a big family in the provincial capital and what they didn’t lack the most was money. If he left Dashun to them, they could save not only the traveling expenses, but also food and clothing expenses along the way.
He said earnestly, "Jiao girl, uncle has wronged you in some ways before, but your eldest brother never offended you, did he? Your eldest brother was so focused on his studies that he didn"t know anything about our relationship, nor did he get involved. When your parents are still alive, you don"t know how much they loved your eldest brother. How can you bear to see him suffer?"
Gu Sanlang and Xu shi did love Gu Dashun when they were still alive, but how did Gu Dashun, who was loved by them, treated the real Gu Jiao?
When the real Gu Jiao was bullied, did Gu Dashun stand up and say a word to protect his little sister?
Even in the dream she had, Gu Dashun framed his brother-in-law, Xiao Liulang, for personal gains. He didn"t do it in the end, not because he found his conscience, but because Gu Jiao intervened in advance.
Therefore, even if the feud between Gu Jiao and her elders was to be put aside, Gu Dashun would never be innocent!
Zhou shi said, "That’s right, Jiao girl, just let them take Dashun with them! Look how s.p.a.cious this carriage is. One more person doesn"t matter! Just let Dashun sit down in a corner!"
"The coffin under the ground is also quite s.p.a.cious. Why don"t you go in and lie down?" The elderly woman walked out casually.
The villagers watching the scene all sn.i.g.g.e.red. Sure enough, Grandaunt"s mouth never disappointed anyone.
Zhou shi choked up and almost flared up, "Is that how you talk to people?"
Elderly woman: "I do talk with my mouth, don’t tell me you use your b.u.t.t?"
Zhou shi fell back in anger!
The villagers also fell with laughter.
This was ridiculing Zhou shi, expressing that her words were nothing but a fart. But Zhou shi also only had herself to blame for digging herself a pit. Didn’t she know that there was no remark in this world that the elderly woman couldn’t retort?
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"None of them are your Gu Family"s children anymore, why do you still bring up past relationships here?" The elderly woman pointed to Gu Dashun not far away and continued, "If you really want them to take him, that’s okay, but let’s agree on this first, Liulang had difficulty in his leg and feet, and he’s not going with them as Liulang’s relative, so he must look after Liulang."
Gu Changhai politely said, "It"s natural! This is natural!"
It was good as long as Dashun could get on the carriage. And even if Dashun really didn’t take care of Liulang, could Liulang still drive Dashun out when the time came? Scholar"s reputation was the most important to them. If Xiao Liulang really dared to do that, they could go to the yamen to make a fuss, making Xiao Liulang"s reputation ugly!
The elderly woman said, "Verbal words alone are not enough, let’s put them on paper. Xiaoshun, bring a brush and paper here."
Gu Xiaoshun went to the west room to get things.
The elderly woman said slowly, "Write what I say clearly, Gu Dashun will buy breakfast for Liulang, iron his clothes, wake Liulang up every morning, help Liulang in changing clothes, and of course, Liulang needs water to wash his face and rinse his mouth. He has to personally deliver the water to Liulang. He has to wash Liulang"s clothes, and he has to clean Liulang"s chamber pot."
Zhou shi"s expression changed drastically, "Why must he clean his chamber pot too?"
The elderly woman ignored her and went on, "When the weather’s hot, he has to fan for Liulang, when there are many mosquitoes, he has to kill mosquitoes for Liulang. He can"t sleep until Liulang falls asleep. If Liulang wakes up in the middle of the night, he also has to wake up. In short, if my Liulang has any needs, he has to meet them unconditionally, never talk back or disobey him, otherwise Liulang can hit him!"
"You... You..." Zhou Shi was so angry that her chest ached. She wanted to leave it to Gu Changhai, but Gu Changhai"s expression was no better than hers.
Zhou shi burst into tears with snot, and said, "Fellow villagers, you can judge between right and wrong ah! Which part of those is looking after someone? Clearly, she wants to use my Dashun as a servant!"
The elderly woman looked innocent as she said, "Yi? This is a servant? For so many years, you have been treating the parentless child of the third branch like this. I thought this is how your Gu Family normally looks after people!"
No matter how thick-skinned Zhou Shi was, she could only leave Gu Jiao"s house with her husband and son in disappointment after that.
Gu Jiao lifted up the curtain of the carriage window and handed a pouch to Xiao Liulang, saying, "I put some small bits of silver and silver banknotes in it."
The small broken pieces of silver were worth ten taels altogether while the silver banknotes were worth one hundred taels. In fact, the plate of the bank was also in it, but sewn more secretly.
Xiao Liulang nodded, took the pouch and said to her, "We’re leaving."
"En." Gu Jiao nodded and watched until the carriage disappeared at the entrance of the village, only then did she turn around and enter the house.
Gu Jiao looked at the empty west room and said, "Oh, he’s really gone."
As soon as her voice fell, she noticed the sudden shadow on the ground. She looked up blankly and saw that Xiao Liulang had somehow appeared at the front door.
"Why are you back?" She asked with her eyes wide open.
Xiao Liulang stared at her deeply and said, "I left something behind."
Gu Jiao watched him walk towards her and suddenly felt a series of tiny hearts flashed through her mind: Is it me? Is it me? Is it me?
Is it me that he left behind?
Gu Jiao looked at him with sparkling eyes.
Then, he walked past Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao：“…”
Xiao Liulang came out of the west room with a provincial exam certification in his hand, he said, "Without this, I can"t enter the examination compound."
Gu Jiao pulled open the door with an expressionless face, "Walk slowly, I won’t be seeing you off."
Xiao Liulang looked at her with a meaningful glint in his eyes. After he stepped out of the door, he suddenly stopped and said, "If I say that regardless of the final result, I still wouldn"t go to the capital to take the exam there, do you still think I should go and take the provincial exam this time?"
"Yes." Gu Jiao spoke firmly as she looked at his back, "Even if you don’t go to the capital in the future, I hope it’s because you choose not to go, not because you are not qualified to go."
Xiao Liulang clenched his fists, and a trace of complexity flashed across his eyes, "What if..."
Gu Jiao smiled and said first, "If there is trouble or danger, I will protect you."
That wasn’t what he was about to say, but… Xiao Liulang"s chest was inexplicably filled with strange emotions.
This time, he really left.
Gu Jiao returned to the west room and found an extra envelope on the desk.
Gu Jiao opened it, and a bank plate fell out of the envelope.
"He found it so soon..."
Could it be that the provincial exam certification was false and he just wanted to send back the bank plate?
There was also a small note in the envelope.
These days, Gu Jiao already knew a lot of Zhao characters. When she opened the note, she saw that it was written in clear handwriting: I won’t be living in the Lin residence, so don"t be jealous.
The character for ‘jealous’ was written in a specially vigorous and forceful way. Gu Jiao furrowed her eyebrows strangely. Why could she see a little ostentatious tone in this ordinary note?