Chapter 105.1
Gu Jiao made a bookbag for Gu Yan overnight.
At dawn the next day, Gu Yan was packed by his own big sister and sent to Big Zhuang"s oxcart.
[T/N: In case you forgot, Big Zhuang is Second Uncle Luo’s son. Second Uncle Luo already retired from oxcart business. XD]
Xiao Liulang asked Gu Xiaoshun to ask the academy for an hour"s leave on his behalf, while he and Gu Jiao sent Gu Yan and Little Jing Kong to the private school.
Xiao Liulang paid the tuition fee and went through the admission formalities.
Little Jing Kong asked Gu Yan, who was waiting in the corridor, "Which cla.s.s do you think you will be in?"
Gu Yan snorted with a cold face and replied, "In any case, it can"t be the same cla.s.s as yours!"
Little Jing Kong was enrolled as a primary student. Gu Yan was already fourteen years old, so naturally, he couldn’t be enrolled into primary grades.
He was a.s.signed to Teacher Chang’s cla.s.s, which was full of students about his age that had a basic knowledge of Four Books and Five Cla.s.sics.
Gu Yan was barely satisfied with this placement.
But before his b.u.t.t could warm the chair, Teacher Chang brought another new student in.
There happened to be an empty seat next to Gu Yan, and Teacher Chang asked the new student to sit next to Gu Yan.
Gu Yan looked at the three-head tall little monk next to him and his eyes immediately widened, "You, how could you be in this cla.s.s?"
Little Jing Kong spread out his hands and said, "I skipped grades!"
Gu Yan：“……”
That works?!
Gu Yan began his day in extreme misery. He couldn’t lose to a little monk, especially a little monk who was competing with him for favor. If a little monk like him could skip grades, so could he!
Humph!
Gu Yan, who had been just fooling around and waiting to die in the past, became earnest about something for the first time.
His two Dark Guards were bewildered.
It had been several years since the Old Marquis a.s.signed them to guard the young master. It could be said that they had now a firm grasp of their young master’s nasty nature, but why did the young master seem like a different person since he recognized his twin older sister?
Could you believe that he started studying seriously?
……
After completing the geomorphic map, Gu Jiao began to make plans for the land reclamation. She marked on the map where to cultivate medicinal plant fields, where to grow crops and where to build small ponds.
The mountain went up from the back of Second Uncle Luo"s house. Its shape was like a small undulating mountain range, with one big mountain and four small hills, and there happened to be a clearing halfway up the first hill.
Gu Jiao wondered what she should do in that open s.p.a.ce.
Marquis Gu hadn’t come back after threatening the couple and failing to separate them, but Yao shi visited several times, each time she carried some homemade snacks with her.
The elderly woman loved it.
Yao shi also brought some clothes made by her own hands for Gu Jiao. She knew that Gu Jiao had to work, so the bedclothes she made for her were out of fine silk while her daytime clothes were mostly durable cotton and linen.
Grannie Fang, who didn"t quite understand her actions, said, "Since the eldest young miss is having a hard time, just provide her with more money.” Why make this kind of clothes that all servant girls wear?
Yao shi just said with a smile, "JiaoJiao doesn"t need my money."
Yao shi lived all her life in the inner courtyard, living a life dependent on men, as everyone thought she should do, and she also thought so herself, until she met her daughter.
She felt that her daughter was living the life she wanted.
It wasn’t about money, but freedom.
Ever since she was rejected the first time, Yao shi hadn"t mentioned again that she wanted to stay here. She also never forced Gu Jiao to call her mother.
She just came to see Gu Jiao, and then let Gu Jiao perform a check up on her.
When she ran out of medicine, Gu Jiao handed her four more boxes.
Gu Jiao got along with Yao shi as a physician, and fairly comfortably at that.
Grannie Fang was here too. She apologized to Gu Jiao for having offended Gu Jiao before.
The apology was sincere, but she still had complaints about some of Gu Jiao"s actions.
She thought that Gu Jiao should go back with Yao shi, show her filial piety to Yao shi properly, and maintain her ident.i.ty as the eldest young miss of the Marquis Estate.
Having gone to attend school, Yao shi and Grannie Fang did not see Gu Yan at home for several times, but today Gu Yan and Little Jing Kong’s private school was on a holiday, and Yao shi finally met her son who had been separated from her for a long time.
Yao shi then discovered that his son had gained weight!
Yao shi was so excited that she almost cried.
She never dreamed that her seriously ill son could develop into a small steamed stuffed bun.
In fact, Gu Yan wasn’t really fat, it was just that his face was originally too thin that his cheeks were sunken. Now he had baby fat on his cheeks, which made his face look like a cute round steam bun.
Yao shi couldn"t resist pinching his cheeks.
It felt nice!
Gu Jiao nodded deeply.
She liked the feeling when she pinched it every day too.
After getting into the carriage, Yao shi said to Grannie Fang with tears of joy, "Look, wasn’t it really the right thing to let Yan’er live here?"
Grannie Fang couldn"t refute it, saying, "...Yes, the young master has gained weight and looks much way better."
Gu Yan’s temper used to explode every other day when he was at the villa. He wouldn’t eat well or sleep well. Yao shi could only coax him, but not force him.
However, since coming here, Gu Yan"s violent temper had stabilized a lot, and he had his own friends and playmates—— Gu Xiaoshun, who stabbed him five times as soon as they met, and Little Jing Kong, who was always trying to one up him.
“Mom.”
When Yao shi"s carriage arrived at the courtyard, Gu Jinyu had been wandering in front of the gates for a long time.
Yao shi took her hand and wiped the sweat on her forehead with a handkerchief. She said, "Have you been waiting for me here? The sun is already high, aren’t you afraid of getting scorched!"
Gu Jinyu never once basked in the sun before, fearing that she wouldn’t look good if she became tanned.
Gu Jinyu smiled sweetly and said, "I just miss mom. How is it going? Did you have a good time seeing sister and brother?"
"En, your brother"s private school is on holiday today, I saw both him and JiaoJiao. They are both fine." There was a smile in Yao shi’s eyes as she spoke.
Gu Jinyu was in a trance. She didn"t remember how long it had been since she had seen her mother this happy.
"What"s the matter?" Yao shi sensed her daughter"s absentmindedness.
Gu Jinyu snapped out of her trance and replied with a slight smile, "I want to see them too. When my sister is no longer angry with me, I will visit her again."
Yao shi said earnestly, "She"s not angry with you. You misunderstood her. She"s not the kind of narrow-minded person. She"s just used to her present life and doesn"t want to be disturbed."
Gu Jinyu bowed and said, "Yes, this daughter shouldn"t speculate on sister like this."
Yao shi smiled, let go of her hand and went into the house.
Gu Jinyu"s eyes flickered, stepped forward and kept up with her.
"Madame, the clothes you made for the young miss are ready!" A servant girl came up with a bedclothes made of soft silk.
Gu Jinyu smiled pleasantly, held out her hand and took the bedclothes, "Is it for me?"
After unfolding it, she found that the size was not quite right. Her clothes weren"t this long.
Her fingertips tightened.
The servant girl didn"t notice her just now, but now that she saw her, her face turned white with embarra.s.sment.
It wasn’t good for the servant girl to take it back, but it wasn’t right to just give it to her either.
Gu Jinyu smiled and said, "Mom, you’ve made my clothes long. You"d better give them to my sister."
Yao shi originally made it for Gu Jiao, but now that Gu Jinyu said this, it would be a little embarra.s.sing for this child If she still told the truth.
She said in a soft voice, "Then mother will make you a new one."