Chapter 59
"I heard that Liulang took the county exam." At dinner, Old Mister Gu asked about Xiao Liulang.
Before the end of the year, something happened to Young Gentleman Qin. Even though everyone was aware that Gu Jiao wasn’t doing it on purpose, they thought that Gu Jiao was truly an unlucky star. Since Xiao Liulang was married to her, he was also doomed to be unlucky.
Hearing Xiao Liulang"s name at this moment brought a sense of panic to the mother-in-law and daughters-in-law sitting on one side. When Old Mister Gu asked, they were afraid to speak, and merely continued to eat in the kitchen.
"En, he only took one exam." The one who answered was Gu Dashun.
Gu Changhai wondered, "Why only one? Didn"t you take five exams that time?"
Gu Dashun thought for a moment and replied, "He must’ve failed the exam, I think? If one fails the first exam, they will not be allowed to partic.i.p.ate in the following exams."
Gu Changhai: "Can you refund the exam fee then?"
Gu Dashun: "You can’t."
Gu Changhai clipped some pickles with his chopsticks and said, "Tsk, two taels of silver! At least if you throw it into a cesspit it can still produce bubbles."
Old Mister Gu frowned at his eldest son. Gu Changhai was terrified, shutting up at once and falling silent.
Everyone’s appet.i.te was gone at the mention of a cesspit, all except Gu Dashun.
Don"t think he didn’t know. It was the Dean who signed up Xiao Liulang’s name for this exam. The Dean ignored a good Linsheng like him, and instead put his high hopes into that good-for-nothing Xiao Liulang. As a result, he let himself be disappointed.
A sense of revenge rose from the bottom of Gu Dashun"s heart.
Ten days later, the results of the county exam came out.
Gu Dashun was waiting to see the scene of Xiao Liulang becoming a joke, only to be dumbstruck by a bolt from the blue!
Like dragons flying and phoenixes dancing, he saw several big characters written in the red banner of good news of the academy—— County Exam’s Top Scorer, Xiao Liulang!
In fact, the Yamen didn"t release the list this fast. It was the Dean who personally went to the county yamen in a hurry. After asking about the results, he didn"t wait for others to officially release the list and hung up the good news by himself in advance.
He hung it in the most conspicuous spot to ensure that everyone pa.s.sing by the academy could see it!
The Dean stood under the banner and smiled like a fool.
For those in the know, his student had taken the county exam and became the top scorer, but for the ones who didn’t know any better, they would only think that his own son pa.s.sed the provincial exam.
He also specially called Xiao Liulang over to Zhongzheng Hall to say, "...I knew my painstaking efforts would not be in vain."
You were really moved by me!
Xiao Liulang cast him a blank look and said, "I just hate taking so many exams."
The Dean said slowly, "Oh, in that case, you could have handed in a blank paper!"
If you have handed in a blank paper, you didn’t have to take the next exams, right? Just admit it, Liulang, you just love this Dean of yours! You didn’t want to let this Dean down!
Xiao Liulang ignored him, turned around and walked out.
The good news hadn’t reached the village yet, and Gu Jiao knew nothing about it. She had just been at home for several days, and now she had recovered completely from her cold. At the moment, she was packing up her things and preparing to go to the temple.
"The snack you brought last time was really good, so bring back some more again." The elderly woman stopped her before going out.
It took a long time for Gu Jiao to realize that the elderly woman was talking about the snacks the Madame gave her when she first went to the temple. She said, "Those snacks aren’t from the temple, but from a worshipper. I don"t know if I can meet her again this time."
Although she said this, since they had met the two times she went there, she inwardly thought the probability of meeting her again this time was quite big.
Gu Jiao put some mountain goods in her back basket, and planned to exchange them for some snacks with the other party later.
However, when she went up the mountain, she did not meet the Madame, but saw some strange little monks instead.
The little monks had finished their cla.s.swork for today. Right now, they were all like Arhats[1] stacked upon each other, sticking out their little heads from behind the door. One would wonder who they were looking forward to seeing.
When Gu Jiao arrived at the temple carrying her back basket, the eyes of several little people suddenly became round!
"She’s coming! She’s coming!"
She’s coming with a basket on her back!
She’s coming! She’s coming!
She"s coming with her flowy!
"Quick, quick, quick! Go hide!"
The little monks wanted to retreat quickly, but with a few small dumplings lying on top of each other, the one on top couldn"t get down, so the one below couldn"t retreat either. In the end, they could only fall down all together, rolling all over the floor like little wax gourds.
Gu Jiao looked at a string of little monks who suddenly came tumbling down in front of her, "..."
Hm?
A large-scale collective crash-for-cash scam?
"Jing Fan! Jing Xin! Jing Shan! Where did you guys go again?"
Wasn’t it enough that they fell down in front of a beautiful benefactor and lost face, oh? That loathsome senior brother actually still had to call their names!
The little monks ran away as soon as they got up!
Gu Jiao suddenly said, "What were you doing just now?"
Several little people’s small steps halted.
Little monk 1: "We are not looking at you!"
Little monk 2: "Yes, definitely not looking at you!"
Little monk 3 nodded in agreement!
Gu Jiao raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"
Little monk 123: "You look good!"
Gu Jiao：“…”
Little monk 1 pointed to Gu Jiao"s birthmark and said, "Your flowy is beautiful!"
Gu Jiao found it amusing. All the children in the village treat her as ugly. Whenever they saw her, they either bullied her or avoided her. However, this group of little monks, who had never been down the mountain, had been deeply attracted by her birthmark more than once.
The few little monks succeeded in getting Gu Jiao’s adoration. She took some sesame candies from her back basket and gave it to them.
"We can"t take anything from the female benefactor." The little monk 1 refused.
Gu Jiao thought for a moment before saying, "Don"t you monks ask for alms in the city? If you ask me for alms, I’ll give you these sesame candies to receive good karma."
A few little monks thought it made sense! Immediately, they went back to their rooms and then looked for Gu Jiao again with a bowl in hand, asking for alms. Gu Jiao distributed the sesame candy to them.
The little monks sat on the steps holding small bowls in their hands and began to eat in earnest.
Gu Jiao counted the little monks and asked, "Hm? Aren"t there four of you? Why are there only three left?"
Little monk 1 answered, "You mean Jing Kong? He’s going down the mountain!"
So the name of that clumsy dumpling was Jing Kong.
Gu Jiao heard the entire story from the mouth of the little monk. Only then did she know that the clumsy dumpling was about to be adopted by a kind-hearted wealthy family. The couple of that family had been married for ten years, but they had never produced a son all this time. They then planned to bring back the clumsy dumpling to be raised as their own son.
"He must be very sad to leave here, isn’t he?" Gu Jiao asked.
The three little monks shook their heads in unison.
Little monk 1 was the most active, and he was the little spokesperson for the little monks group. He said, "He’s not sad at all. He has long wanted to go down the mountain."
Gu Jiao was puzzled and asked, "Why?"
Little monk 1 replied, "He said you can eat meat as soon as you go down the mountain!"
Gu Jiao：“…”
What kind of misguided little monk was this?
Gu Jiao asked again, "Then, you three must be very sad?"
The three little monks shook their heads again.
Little monk 1 said, "Actually, he can"t eat meat even if he goes down the mountain. He faints when he eats it! He doesn"t know!"
In this world, there were still people who would faint from eating meat? Don’t lie to her just because she wasn’t studying!
Gu Jiao asked, "Didn"t you tell him?"
Little monk 1 replied, "If we tell him, he won"t leave!"
Gu Jiao paused, and then said with emotion, "You guys are quite considerate of him." It was indeed better to be adopted by a kind-hearted family than to be a monk on the mountain for a lifetime.
Little monk 1 uttered ruthlessly, "Who told him to eat so much? He always eats up all our meals!"
Gu Jiao：“…”
What kind of two-faced little monks were these?
However, the clumsy dumpling ultimately failed to descend the mountain because the wealthy family suddenly didn’t come. The abbot asked people to inquire, and found out that the Madame of that wealthy family was pregnant, and she had just been diagnosed last night.
The physician guaranteed that it was a son.
When Gu Jiao went to the abbot"s living quarters, the little monk was sitting on the stone by the door, with a newly packed little bundle at hand. He was just hanging his small head down without moving, and his little back looked somewhat lonely.
Obviously, he already knew that he had been abandoned by the family who was supposed to adopt him; his whole body was shrouded in a trace of sadness.
Gu Jiao thought for a moment, walked over to him and asked, "Can I sit here for a while?"
The little monk didn"t speak and just pulled his little bundle aside.
Gu Jiao then sat down next to him.
As a sucker for good looks, Gu Jiao had always had no resistance to good-looking things. The little monks in the temple were actually all quite cute and adorable, but this one at present was especially cute. He had a round head and a pair of big eyes with long dark eyelashes, as though it had been applied with mascara.
"Very sad?" Gu Jiao asked.
"What?" Little Jing Kong responded confusedly, then he realized what Gu Jiao was talking about and grunted, "I"m not sad!"
His voice was adorable too.
Gu Jiao raised her eyebrow and said, "So, you don"t want to go down the mountain?"
Little Jing Kong crossed his arms over his chest, turned his head sideways, and said arrogantly, "That’s right! What"s so good about going down the mountain? I heard that I will be forced to eat meat there! I don"t want to break the temple’s rules!"
Yo, that wasn’t what your little friends said.
Gu Jiao teased him, "You really don’t want to go down the mountain?"
Little Jing Kong said solemnly, "Of course! I will never go down the mountain in my life! I want to be a monk my whole life! I will be the abbot of the temple in the future!"
Gu Jiao secretly gave him a thumbs up. This was one ambitious little monk, alright.
Gu Jiao glanced at him and let out a sigh, saying, "Since you are so determined, forget it. I originally planned to tell the abbot that I will bring you to stay with me at the foot of the mountain for a few days."
Little Jing Kong rested his hands on his hips and said, "I said I won’t go down the mountain! Especially not with you! Ask me again if you don’t believe!"
Gu Jiao waited for a while before she asked again, "Do you want to go down the mountain with me?"
Little Jing Kong grabbed his little bundle and said, "Yes!"
Gu Jiao: "...!!!”
[T/N: Yay! Little Jing Kong is finally here!]