Chapter 72
Xiao Liulang was completely speechless.
Xiao Liulang had never raised a child. He couldn’t help but wonder if other family’s children were also such an exotic flower. [T/N: Meaning, weirdo]
But the little boy of Xue Ningxiang"s family was definitely not one. That small bean only knew to eat, unlike the little monk brought back by Gu Jiao. His mind was so out of the ordinary that Xiao Liulang simply didn’t know what was in his head.
Little Jing Kong fell asleep with the quilt in his arms as he waited for the kiss to sprout with peace of mind.
Nowadays, the west room was no longer leaking under the care and repair of Gu Jiao. The mattress had also been air out under the sun just a few days ago, so it was soft and warm.
Little Jing Kong slept comfortably, and his little face seemed to be br.i.m.m.i.n.g with happiness.
Xiao Liulang glanced at Little Jing Kong and then continued to copy books, no longer paying him any mind.
Copying a line of words, Xiao Liulang frowned slightly. He put down his brush, picked up a book and read it.
But shortly, he found that the book wasn’t very interesting, making him frown deeply.
For a moment, he turned his head and his gaze rested on the little monk who was sleeping sprawled out on his back.
He stood up and walked over to the bed. Then slightly stooping down, he stretched out his slender jade fingers, and slowly untied the veil wrapped around Little Jing Kong’s head.
Little Jing Kong was so fast asleep that he didn’t wake up from his slumber. He hadn’t the slightest idea that his bad brother-in-law was acting evilly again towards him.
Xiao Liulang looked at his little red face, stretched out his evil claws, and moved them as though he was pulling out something from Little Jing Kong’s face!
Gu Jiao, who was done with her ch.o.r.es, came to the west room to ask Xiao Liulang to do his rehabilitation.
The door was open, so she just walked in straight. As a result, she saw Xiao Liulang on the bed as he was grabbing something on Little Jing Kong’s face with his delicate jade hand, as if pulling out some invisible gra.s.s!
And he was also doing it very seriously, even more seriously than when he was studying!
Gu Jiao was bewildered.
What on earth was he doing?
Was he possessed or something?
He was a grown proud scholar, didn’t he find it childish toying with children like that?
The next day, Little Jing Kong was woken up by Gu Jiao.
The first thing Little Jing Kong did when he woke up was to touch his veil, and he was relieved to know that it was still wrapped around his head intact.
One night had pa.s.sed, buds must have grown out already. From now on, JiaoJiao"s kiss would always be on his face!
Gu Jiao couldn"t bear to tell him, ‘your little seeds and sprouts were destroyed last night; your brother-in-law pulled them out cleanly!’
After breakfast, Gu Jiao sent Xiao Liulang to the village entrance like always. She used to see him off alone before, but now there was also Little Jing Kong. Their pair of mother and... Er, no, pair of big sister and little brother saw him off together.
The family of three was a rather odd sight!
It was worth mentioning that Xiao Liulang’s reputation had become somewhat resounding in the town after he pa.s.sed the county exam as the top scorer, and many people had come to him for copying books. But in order to give him peace of mind to prepare for the prefectural exam, Gu Jiao forbade him to copy books for family expenses for the time being.
Xiao Liulang finished copying the book which he had promised beforehand and received ten taels of silver for it. This one was less than half of the amount of books he copied in the past, but the amount of silver was several times more.
After giving Gu Jiao all the money he earned, he really didn"t take on any task of copying books again.
As the day of the prefectural exam approached, the examinees began to get ready.
The county exam and prefectural exam of this dynasty were earlier than those of the previous dynasty. Around the end of the second lunar month, the examinees had to leave for the examination compound located in the prefectural capital for the prefectural exam.
It would take several days to get from the town to the prefectural capital by carriage. Although Xiao Liulang recovered little by little every day, he still couldn’t get rid of his crutch at the moment. Therefore, Gu Jiao was worried about him going out alone.
Gu Jiao would like to accompany him to the prefectural capital if possible, but there were old and young in the family, so she couldn’t leave home.
Fortunately, Feng Lin took a leave from the academy to accompany Xiao Liulang to the prefectural capital.
Before leaving, Gu Jiao packed up Xiao Liulang"s baggage for him. Apart from clothes and money, she also stuffed several bottles of emergency medicine taken from her small medicine chest to prevent him from getting motion sickness after a long journey, and also just in case he had an upset stomach from being unaccustomed to a new place.
The Dean prepared a carriage for Xiao Liulang’s trip to the prefectural capital, and Gu Jiao didn"t refuse. Even though she no longer lacked money to hire a carriage nowadays, how could a hired carriage be compared with the one the Dean prepared himself?
The coachman was also from the academy, and he was very familiar with the prefectural capital.
Before dawn, the coachman already arrived at the village with the carriage. Meanwhile, Feng Lin waited in the town.
Gu Jiao took the baggage to the carriage and gave the coachman a purse by the way, "Thank you for your hard work."
"This isn’t needed!" The coachman was tasked by the Dean to send Xiao Liulang to the prefectural capital for the exam. He had never seen the Dean care so much about a student, so he naturally dared not accept benefits from Gu Jiao in private.
What was more, the Dean was an incorruptible sort of man. If the Dean learned that he took benefits privately, he would be driven out of the academy.
Gu Jiao said, "Take it. The red packet for the Dean has more money than this."
The coachman: "..."
On the other side, a man-to-man conversation between Little Jing Kong and Xiao Liulang unfolded in the latrine.
Little Jing Kong had a serious look on his face as he asked, "Do you want to talk?"
"Talk about what?" Xiao Liulang asked back casually.
Little Jing Kong glanced at him and said, "You don"t have to turn your back to me while peeing. I won"t peek."
Xiao Liulang remained expressionless, "Get to the main point."
Little Jing Kong said in a firm tone, "I heard that you and JiaoJiao have been married for so long and all this time, you two have never been far away from each other."
Xiao Liulang raised an eyebrow and asked, "What about it?"
Little Jing Kong looked straight at him and replied, "The family’s a bit worried about you."
Xiao Liulang faintly pulled up the corner of his lips, "Oh."
Little Jing Kong solemnly raised his small hand, making a say-no-more gesture, then he said, "You don"t have to put too much pressure on yourself. It doesn"t matter if you don"t do well in the exam. Anyway, when I grow up, I will do well in the exam. The family doesn"t necessarily have to rely on you, I can support it!"
After saying that, he gathered up his pants, stepped away from his little pee bowl full of momentum, and went out with a domineering appearance!
Xiao Liulang who had been looked down upon while taking a p.i.s.s: "..."
Seriously, what was with this arrogant little monk who didn’t miss every single chance?!