Chapter 109.1
When Gu Jiao returned home, Gu Yan had gotten up and was sitting in the main room eating egg in sweet soup with the elderly woman.
When the elderly woman saw Gu Jiao enter the house, she quickly pushed the egg in sweet soup in front of Gu Yan and righteously said, "I told you I won"t eat it! You have to show filial respect to me!"
Gu Yan：“…”
Just who exactly took half of his egg in sweet soup again?
This egg in sweet soup was made by Xue Ningxiang. Of course, the elderly woman didn"t personally ask her to cook and instead urged Gu Yan to ask. Xue Ningxiang, completely unable to resist Gu Yan"s charm, cooked a big bowl of it without saying another word. Little Jing Kong and Gu Xiaoshun each got a small bowl as well.
Gu Xiaoshun was a fast eater. He had already gone back to his room to immerse himself in wood carving. As for Little Jing Kong, he was still training under the tree and hadn"t started eating yet.
Gu Jiao decisively confiscated the elderly woman"s egg in sweet soup.
The elderly woman, who had in fact already eaten a bowl and a half, wiped her mouth and went back to her own room.
As long as she ate fast enough, JiaoJiao couldn’t catch her!
Gu Jiao gave the three presents from the man to her three younger brothers, laying them on the table. Without her asking, the three people accurately found what they liked.
Little Jing Kong picked up the glittering Huarong Road and couldn"t put it down!
Gu Yan chose the jade thumb ring made of millennium icy jade, which was better than his original one.
Gu Xiaoshun picked the dagger that cut iron like mud. This dagger was smaller than the one he had and was easier to carry. It could be used as an excellent carving knife.
All three were very happy!
Xue Ningxiang went to help Gu Jiao clean up the backyard.
Xue Ningxiang often came to their house to help. In return, Gu Jiao would help Xue Ningxiang work in the fields, and the elderly woman would occasionally help Xue Ningxiang look after her child.
The main reason was that Gouwa didn’t talk much. Just give him a candied fruit and he could lick it all morning. The elderly woman"s ears were very peaceful, so naturally he felt that Gouwa was easy to look after.
Then, there was Little Jing Kong——
“Grandaunt! You"re eating candied fruit again! JiaoJiao! Grandaunt is eating candied fruit again! She already ate five today!"
Little Jing Kong, who caught the elderly woman in the act right after his training, said inwardly: Naughty Grandaunt! We told you not to eat but you still always eat in secret!
The elderly woman’s hands shook: Smelly little monk...
Xue Ningxiang actually came here today to find Gu Jiao.
"Jiao girl, Gouwa’s uncle wrote home again, please read it for me." Xue Ningxiang handed Gu Jiao a folded envelope.
Ever since Gu Jiao learned to read from Xiao Liulang, Xue Ningxiang never asked Xiao Liulang to read letters again.
Gu Jiao opened the letter and glanced at it, "Huh?"
"What"s the matter?" Xue Ningxiang asked.
Gu Jiao said, "Oh, this letter has different handwriting from the previous ones, as if Gouwa’s uncle wrote it himself."
Xue Ningxiang"s eyes lit up, "Really? His uncle can also write now?"
Looking at her proud face, Gu Jiao couldn"t bear to tell her why she could tell that it was written by him— because the handwriting was so ugly, it was even uglier than her own handwriting, and the wording was very immature, to say it was at the level of a primary school student was also right, though it was enough to express the meaning clearly.
The letter said that Gouwa"s uncle was promoted and became a soldier under the deputy general. Although he was only a soldier, it was a great honor to follow the deputy general.
However, as a result, the original plan of returning home to visit relatives this year would have to be canceled, as he would have to follow the deputy general back to the capital to report on his activities.
Ads by PubFuture "The deputy general only brought one hundred soldiers. He is one of them. This opportunity is really rare." Gu Jiao said.
However, this sentence didn"t comfort Xue Ningxiang, whose face dimmed, “After Gouwa"s father died, what my mother talks about most is Gouwa"s uncle. My mother looked forward to when he finally came home day after day, night after night, hoping that he could come back and see her. When she heard that he might pa.s.s by our village this year, I couldn"t describe how happy mother was. Her rheumatism in the leg almost got better. Now that he"s not coming back, how can I explain it to mother?"
Xue Ningxiang was only two years older than Gu Jiao. She should have been a young high school student in her previous life, but right now she was already a sister-in-law, a mother and a daughter-in-law.
Gu Jiao didn"t know how to comfort her, and just continued to look down at the letter, "Gouwa’s uncle also sent you money, saying that your birthday is coming soon. He’s asking you to take the money to make two sets of jewelry for yourself, a total of twenty taels."
Xue Ningxiang worriedly said, "Why did he send so much money? Is he not eating well there? He’s just giving all the money to the family!"
When it came to this, Gu Jiao knew how to comfort her, "Don"t worry, he can"t be hungry in the military camp. He just sent all the money back because there was no place to spend it there."
Xue Ningxiang was a little relieved to hear that.
Gu Jiao looked at the letter again and said, "Gouwa’s uncle also said that he doesn’t want you to farm. He’ll give you enough money to spend on yourself and Gouwa, so you can just rent the land to the villagers for extra advantages."
Xue Ningxiang hurriedly said, "How can that work? This money should be saved and used for his wife in the future!"
Gu Jiao said inwardly: A man wants to give you jewelry, does he really not have any other ideas?
After lunch, Xue Ningxiang planned to go to the bank to withdraw the money. Gouwa clung to her thigh and Xue Ningxiang couldn"t get rid of him, so she had to take Gouwa with her.
There weren"t many people in the bank. Xue Ningxiang waited a little while, got the twenty taels of silver and put it in the bag. She carried Gouwa on her back while holding the bag in her arms.
Coming out of the bank, she was. .h.i.t by a young man dressed as a scholar.
"Don’t you have eyes? How do you walk?" The scholar impatiently patted the arm b.u.mped by Xue Ningxiang.
Xue Ningxiang apologized embarra.s.sedly, "I"m sorry, I"m sorry…"
The scholar"s companion said, "Forget it, just ignore her. We’re still in a hurry to take the exam. We can"t afford to pay for the delay."
Xue Ningxiang"s face turned white when she heard about payment.
Fortunately, the scholar was persuaded to leave by his companion, allowing Xue Ningxiang to breathe a sigh of relief. But soon, she found that something was wrong with her bag, it seemed to be much lighter!
She quickly rummaged through her bag and was dumbfounded in an instant.
Her twenty taels of silver were all gone!
Xue Ningxiang thought of the scholar just now, the expression in her eyes changed and she caught up with him, "Wait!"
The two young men halted their footsteps.
The scholar who b.u.mped into her turned around and looked at her impatiently, "What else do you want?"
Xue Ningxiang plucked up some courage and said, "You... You stole my money!"
"What?" The scholar looked puzzled, and there was a trace of being wronged on his face.
Xue Ningxiang was a tyrant at home but a timid outside sort of person, those that oppressed the weak but afraid of the strong. Right now, she was really afraid to confront the two big men. But that was twenty taels of silver. Gouwa’s uncle earned it with his life. She couldn’t let anyone steal it!
"It’s, it’s you!" She forced herself to pluck up more courage, saying, "I just got out of the bank, and the money was secured all the way. Only when I b.u.mped into you... that the money was gone!"
The scholar was about to lose his temper, rolling up his sleeves, but his companion grabbed him and said,"What are you doing? Why argue with an ignorant woman?"
The scholar harrumphed, "It"s not my fault, it"s someone else who’s framing me!"
The companion sighed, "Forget it, the exam is more important, just ignore her."
"Consider this me giving you face. I won"t report this to the authorities!" The scholar snorted coldly and turned away with his companion.
Xue Ningxiang rushed forward and grabbed the scholar"s arm, "Give me my money back!"
"You’re crazy!" The scholar jumped in anger and brushed away her hand.
Xue Ningxiang pounced on him again.
Two people were tugging and pushing each other, so that the surrounding people gathered around them to watch.
The scholar was indignant and said, "You said I stole your money. Can you show me the evidence? If you frame me once more, I"ll really report you to the authorities! A woman with a child on her back, how honest can you be? Aren"t you ashamed to take your child to do such a dishonest thing?"
"You... You..." Xue Ningxiang was immediately green in the face at his words.
People around them also started to point their fingers at her.