Chapter 122.2
Steward Liu smiled faintly, "No, Lord Marquis doesn"t have to bother with this trivial matter. Just wait and see, he will soon find out how difficult it is for students from poor families to get by in the capital, and when that day comes, he will return home obediently."
The elderly woman really slept until noon. When Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang entered the courtyard, Gu Yan was squatting by the well soullessly, washing his face and rinsing his mouth.
There was a public well near the alley, but there was also a well inside the courtyard, so they didn’t have to go outside to draw water.
The millet porridge in the kitchen had been cooked earlier on. Gu Jiao warmed the steamed buns and stir-fried a plate of bamboo shoots and black fungus, a plate of green vegetable bean sprouts and a large portion of chive eggs.
Little Jing Kong couldn’t eat eggs either, so Gu Jiao stewed another small pot of tender bean curd soup for him alone.
Little Jing Kong"s meals were all vegetarian dishes, but the food representation as well as the utensils were more exquisite than other dishes, so much so that even Gu Jiao herself felt very reluctant to let others eat them.
Little Jing Kong looked particularly smug as he showed off his own food to others. In fact, people at the table didn’t feel envious whatsoever, but all of them went along and acted like they envied him.
After lunch, Little Jing Kong went to wash his small rice bowl.
This was a habit developed in the temple, where they were trained to wash their own dishes.
Others were not idle either. The elderly woman went to collect corn cobs and Gu Yan sat down with her to help out. The two of them were the least able to do physical work in the family, and they used to be the most pampered individuals among them. Despite that, they still took the initiative to share the housework as much as they could.
Meanwhile, Gu Xiaoshun went to chop wood.
As for Xiao Liulang and Gu Jiao, one tidied up the kitchen while the other cleaned up the two yards.
Gu Jiao had already thought about it. One yard would be for growing vegetables and raising chickens and puppies while the other yard was for family activities. There was a sweet osmanthus tree in the backyard, which Little Jing Kong could use during his training.
Gu Jiao took a hoe and went to the front yard to dig the ground.
Little Jing Kong led the chickens over to where she was and said, "JiaoJiao, I"m going to walk my little chickens!"
"Alright." Gu Jiao nodded and added, "Don"t go too far."
"En!" Little Jing Kong answered agreeingly.
Back in the countryside, Little Jing Kong used to walk the chickens from the entrance of the village to the end of the village. After arriving here, he decided to walk them from one end to the other end of the alley.
Gu Yan"s puppy was very envious and also wanted to go out for a walk.
However, its own master was awfully lazy; he lay stiff like a corpse on the rattan chair after picking up some corn cobs.
Hence, with a shake of its b.u.t.t, the puppy followed Little Jing Kong outside.
Little Jing Kong strolled to the end of the alley with seven little chickens and a puppy in tow. He was ready to turn back when two beggars nearby fixed their eyes at his family’s puppy.
The puppy was no longer the one-month old baby puppy of back then. Now it had grown a little fat and looked chubby. Its meat should be especially fresh and tender too.
The beggars started drooling, and the two of them exchanged glances. One of them took out a meat bun from his pocket and split it in two, using it to bait the puppy over.
This puppy was also rather a bit stupid and was immediately fooled!
It ran over to them and was caught in a sack.
"Woof——" The puppy barked.
Little Jing Kong looked back and wondered, "Yi? Where’s Little Eight?"
That’s right, Little Jing Kong named Gu Yan"s puppy Little Eight.
After catching the puppy, the two beggars set their eyes on Little Jing Kong"s chickens next.
Seven chickens!
Enough to fill their stomach for several days!
Thereupon, the two beggars repeated the same trick and tried to lure the chickens with large meat buns, but none of the seven little chickens moved.
Seeing this, the two beggars simply started to catch them. Little Jing Kong was just a three-year-old child, so no one paid attention to him, let alone the seven little chickens!
But just as the two of them rushed over, the seven little chickens suddenly fluttered their wings and jumped up.
They were no longer the same baby chicks who couldn’t even jump over the threshold. Now they were able to jump as high as half a person. The two beggars were short in stature, so the seven little chickens easily jumped up on their shoulders and pecked at their heads!
"Ah——"
The two beggars let out a miserable cry!
The sack containing the puppy also fell off one of the beggars’ grasp.
Little Jing Kong walked over and opened the sack, "Little Eight."
Little Eight, who was caught in a sack, was enraged. Little Eight decided to retaliate!
Little Eight opened its mouth wide and bit down——
"Wu——"
It bit its own tail…
Little Jing Kong covered his eyes. Simply too stupid, he couldn’t bear to look at it!
The two beggars were pecked to the ground by seven little chickens and ran away.
The seven little chickens flapped their wings and chased them halfway down the street. It was not until Little Jing Kong called them that they came back triumphantly.
However, just as they were crossing the street, a carriage galloped past. Little One to Little Six stopped, but Little Seven did not.
"Little Seven——"
Little Jing Kong ran over to it with his short legs.
The coachman might not notice a small chicken, but he wouldn’t fail to see a child. It was just that the carriage was going too fast, even if he tightened the reins now, it was already too late.
Seeing that the child was about to be trampled by the horse hooves, a long whip suddenly came over, wrapped Little Jing Kong, and yanked him out of the way.
The horse hooves trampled an empty s.p.a.ce. The coachman was then relieved and continued to drive forward.
Little Jing Kong felt dizzy and the next thing he knew, he was sitting in a cold and thick arm.
He looked at the ground and exclaimed, "It"s so high!"
The man sat atop a fine horse, wearing dark black brocade garments. His one hand tugged at the reins while the other held a whip. The hand holding the whip was the same arm that carried Little Jing Kong.
Little Jing Kong blinked his big eyes at him, saying, "Thank you."
The man looked at the small chicken in his arms and said coldly, "It"s just a chicken. Don"t do it again."
"It"s called Little Seven!" Little Jing Kong handed the small chicken to the man.
"Where are your parents?" The man asked.
Little Jing Kong had no parents. He was abandoned in the temple when he was still a few months old, but JiaoJiao had parents.
He thought for a moment before saying, "My parents have pa.s.sed away."
"You’re an orphan?" The man frowned.
Little Jing Kong shook his head like a rattle drum, "I have JiaoJiao!"
The man: "Where do you live?"
Little Jing Kong raised his hand and pointed, "There!"
The man sent Little Jing Kong home.
Gu Yan and the rest were in the backyard, only Gu Jiao was in the front yard. She had just finished digging the ground and was currently making a fence with woods chopped by Gu Xiaoshun.
She was wearing the same attire she wore when working in the village, which looked plain and simple.
“JiaoJiao! I was almost hit by a carriage just now, and this big brother saved me!" Little Jing Kong walked into the front yard holding the man"s hand.
Gu Jiao put down the wood in her hand, lifted up her sweaty head and looked at the man.
The man had a tall and st.u.r.dy physique, his facial features were frosty and resolute, and he was giving off an unapproachable aura.
However, it was unknown whether it was her own illusion or not. Gu Jiao felt that the other party’s appearance was a little familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before.