Her tone was a bit excessive, but Gu Shiba Niang didn't feel the need to apologize.
She glanced at Lingyuan and said, "Follow me."
Lingyuan followed her out expressionlessly, while Lingbao looked at them worriedly from behind, but did not dare to say a word.
It wasn't until she entered a clothing store and Gu Shiba Niang asked a boy to measure her size that Lingyuan looked slightly surprised.
"What to do?" he asked in a dry voice, reluctantly pushing the little boy away.
"Make some new clothes." Gu Shiba Niang said, while looking at the cloth on the floor, she looked back at Lingyuan.
Lingyuan looked away from her.
"...I want this crab shell green one...and this white silk one..." Gu Shiba Niang looked at the fabric in front of her and thought about it for a moment, "...and make another cloak with a big red feather veil..."
The lady in this family is so generous to her servants...
The shopkeeper responded with a smile on his face and kept looking at Lingyuan. This boy... is not ugly. No wonder the young lady favors him... I also thought of many secrets about other people's boudoirs, and the shopkeeper's smile seemed a bit weird no matter how I looked at it. .
"You don't need to send it." Lingyuan turned and left.
"Come back," Gu Shiba Niang called him, "Do you think I pity you so I make you new clothes for the New Year?"
Lingyuan's body froze and remained motionless.
"I need you to help me with something..." Gu Shiba Niang continued, while ordering two more items for Lingbao'er to wear.
"What to do? I'll go there myself, I don't need you..." Lingyuan turned around and bit his lower lip.
Gu Shiba Niang ignored him and only asked the boys to measure him, and then asked them to make Lingbao'er according to her own measurements.
"Don't worry, miss, we will definitely make it before the year." The shopkeeper reached out and took a piece of silver, nodded with a smile, and personally sent the two of them out.
Walking in tandem on the bustling streets, Lingyuan's eyes dared to fall squarely on Gu Shiba Niang.
She wore a large cloak with colorful decorations and walked slowly, giving people a sense of calmness and indifference that belied her age.
"A man relies on his clothes and a horse relies on his saddle..." She suddenly turned her head and said.
Lingyuan's eyes met hers and he hurriedly lowered his head.
Gu Shiba Niang didn't pay attention, she had already turned her head.
"...I want you to do something, which requires you to pretend to be a young master from a wealthy family..." She said in a steady tone.
Lingyuan took a few steps and stood beside her.
"Me?" he asked.
"Yes." Gu Shiba Niang looked at him with a slight smile on her lips, "What? Do you have a problem?"
"No." Lingyuan replied, "Just ask the lady for your instructions."
Very good, you know what to ask and what not to ask, Gu Shiba Niang smiled at him approvingly.
"...You still need to find a few people to pretend to be servants..." She continued, turning to look at him again, "Do you have the right people?" She said with a smile, "I just came here, I don't know anyone, you If there is anyone you can trust..."
"Okay." Lingyuan nodded and said just one sentence.
The street was crowded with people coming and going. Lingyuan was careful, but he still inevitably got squeezed into bumping into the girl.
Two or three children holding a rabbit lantern were laughing and running through the crowd. They bumped Gu Shiba Niang, and Lingyuan hurriedly stretched out his hand to support her.
"It's okay." Gu Shiba Niang smiled.
Lingyuan retracted his hand and stood a step away, and saw that Gu Shiba Niang did not continue walking, but looked at the stall selling lamps on the roadside.
There are many kinds of lanterns hanging on the long bamboo poles, which are very delicately made.
"It's even more beautiful at night..." she seemed to be saying to herself.
Once, under the persuasion of her mother-in-law, Shen Anlin, who had difficulty walking, took her in a car to visit the night market. It was also the only time the couple traveled together, and the lanterns on the street lit up in her heart.
"Let's go." She lowered her head, put her hands in her big cloak, and walked forward slowly.
Jiutang Street is also very lively. Shanhuo Store tonic medicine is the highlight of the New Year ceremony, but among them, Shunhetang, with half the door panel closed, seems a bit deserted. Two waiters can be seen inside chatting and laughing over the brazier.
Because they don't make money, the Shen family doesn't care about taking care of it, and the owner doesn't care about it. Naturally, the shopkeepers and masters of the drug store are more lax than the other, but because of the old master's presence, the shaky one can still sustain itself for two or three years.
Then let me add fuel to the fire and let it burn closer in two to three years.
Lingyuan withdrew his gaze with some doubts and fell on Gu Shiba Niang, not quite understanding what she was looking at.
The snowflakes swirled slowly down from the sky, falling on the warm face and turning into a drop of snow.
"Let's go." Gu Shiba Niang put on her cloak and hat, hiding her entire face, and walked through the lively Jiutang Street. If she was accidentally recognized by someone from a medicine shop, it would be inevitable. A warm greeting.
For now, Gu Shiba Niang is still a little unsure about accepting this kind of enthusiasm. The only thing she can do is to study Liu Gong's book carefully to live up to this rare opportunity.
"This is silver." When she reached the intersection, Gu Shiba Niang threw a bag of silver to Lingyuan, "Take it and rent a better small courtyard to live in. Once you find someone, I will tell you what to do. …”
This time, Lingyuan didn't say another word. He put the money away, nodded and saluted, turned around and left. He walked until he reached the corner of the street and then quietly looked back. The noise and crowds on the street made the girl's figure long gone. .
Although the New Year atmosphere was somewhat visible on every student's face, the school was still as quiet as ever, but the silence was broken in an instant.
A crashing sound of something falling to the ground suddenly sounded outside the window, accompanied by the laughter of several teenagers.
The students who were sitting in the classroom reading and writing immediately looked at each other, quickly rushed to the window sill and looked out with excitement on their faces.
It’s been a long time since something so lively has happened…
Looking at the cracked box, the fine venison rolling on the ground, and the cracked jade fan, Gu Hai felt his blood boiling over him, and his eyes became blurry for a moment.
It seemed that he didn't expect this guy to give such a heavy New Year's gift, and Gu Long was stunned for a moment while laughing.
"...Ha... I just said you are useless... First you squeezed in with the favor of the old patriarch... Why... do you think you can please your husband by giving these heavy gifts?" A young man who was following Gu Long spat. smiled.
When these words hit Gu Long's heart, he snorted, raised his foot and stepped on it as if casually, causing the venison wrapped in oil paper to burst open immediately.
"..You idiot, an idiot is an idiot... Do you think that if you dress better and give bigger gifts... you will be a good person? Look at your pretense..." He raised his chin and shouted loudly.
There were more and more people around, some were laughing, some were shaking their heads in silence, and some were looking at them with disdain.
Before Gu Long could finish his words, he saw a figure flickering and a fist coming in front of him.
With a bang, Gu Long screamed and fell to the ground on his back, covering his face.
The people around him were stunned. Before it was over, the young man was already sitting on Gu Long, and his fists came down like raindrops.
This is a New Year's gift that my sister earned through hard work and painstaking efforts, freezing her hands and losing weight, and working hard day and night...
This is his sister's sincere affection for him...
You can scold me and laugh at me, but don’t try to trample on my sister’s feelings.
Gu Long was very strong. After all, he was raised in a well-dressed and well-fed man. How could he withstand the fists of this young man who had carried rocks and chopped firewood.
After two or three punches, the sound changed.
At this time, his companions and the servants who got the news rushed over, but they couldn't pull Gu Hai away, so they just started fighting in a melee.
The crowd was noisier and even more people were banging on the table and cheering.
"Stop it all!" a loud shout sounded from outside the crowd.
The noise subsided instantly, and the timid students immediately backed away.
A few more people came forward, and the two sides of the melee were separated. Everyone was injured, some had torn clothes, some had lost their hats, and the most seriously injured were naturally Gu Hai and Gu Long.
"Hello..." Mr. glanced at everyone.
Gu Hai stood with a bruise on his face. He raised his hand to wipe away the blood from his nose, his expression calm and even a little joyful.
Gu Long was in a much worse situation. He was sitting on the ground with a bloody nose. He was covering it with his sleeves, his eyes were black and blue, and his other hand was rubbing his body. It seemed like it hurt wherever he rubbed it. The whimpering in his mouth couldn't tell whether he was crying or scolding.
A student told his husband the whole story in a low voice.
"What are you here for?" The gentleman looked at the two of them and said calmly.
"He hit me first... Sir... he hit me first... Oops, I'm going to die..." Gu Long shouted. He had never been beaten like this before in his whole life. He was really embarrassed and in pain. He pointed Looking at Gu Hai on the side, he called to the young boys with yellow faces beside him, "Go, beat me, beat me to death..."
"Shut up." The gentleman shouted again.
Gu Long was silent for a moment. Although he stopped scolding, he still kept moaning.
"Get out of here." The gentleman looked at Gu Hai with a bit of contempt in his eyes.
Gu Hai raised his head and looked at the teacher, "I don't know what's wrong, disciple? I hope the teacher will make it clear."
As soon as these words came out, everyone around was a little surprised.
"Oh?" A smile appeared on the corner of the gentleman's mouth, "So, you are still justified in fighting?"
"Fighting is wrong, but always look at the causes before discussing the consequences," Gu Hai said calmly. His eyes swept over the disfigured Nian Li who had been trampled on the ground in the melee, and he felt a twinge of pain in his heart.
"...Mr. Mingjian, Gu Long and others innocently ruined my New Year's gift first, then insulted me last..."
"...It doesn't matter if you insult me, it's just that this New Year's gift was specially prepared by my family for my husband, and it was destroyed without reason. If I don't seek justice, Gu Hai will be ashamed of his family and my husband..."
"...it is unfilial to accept family members' wishes and not pass them on to your husband..."
"...It is also unfilial to fail to protect the etiquette of respecting teachers..."
".. Even if Gu Hai knows that hitting someone is wrong, he cannot be an unfaithful and unfilial person..."
The whole place was silent, and even Gu Long, who was cursing, was stunned. This... wasn't just a fight, why did it rise to the level of disloyalty and unfilial piety
After this fight with me, he still acted confidently and righteously
The gentleman smiled instead of getting angry when he heard this, and two elegant older students outside the crowd also showed a hint of smile.
"Wise words," one of them sneered.
"I didn't realize that he still had such thoughts..." The other one smiled softly and was quite curious.
"What's the use of such thoughts? If it's not used for the right purpose, it's even more abominable." The first person said coldly.
"I think what he said made it difficult for you sir..." The gentle student chuckled, "Why don't you just accept the favor of your uncles and brothers... and give him a push. There is a period of overt and covert attacks around us day by day..."
"These incompetent people who came in relying on favors still need you and me to step in?" The cold-faced student snorted and casually patted a student next to him who was watching the excitement in the field.
"Senior Brother Gu Qian." The student hurriedly saluted.
The cold-faced student who was replaced by Gu Qian turned slightly to the side and whispered a few words to him. The student nodded repeatedly.
At this time, the gentleman in the field smiled calmly and was about to say something, but he saw the student raised his hand and started to speak loudly.
"Sir, the student has something to say." He said this and squeezed in, standing in front of Gu Hai.
The gentleman's eyes seemed to glance at the two outstanding students standing outside the crowd inadvertently, and then he swallowed what he wanted to say.
"Gu Hai, how did you come to the school? You know it yourself, and everyone knows it..." The student looked at Gu Hai and said with a smile, "... Since this is the case, it is inevitable to be said to be laughed at. Brother Gu Long must also be right. That's why I accidentally violated your New Year's gift... but you fought so cruelly, it's really..."
He shook his head as he spoke, looking pitiful.
"Yes, he is an idiot. He still doesn't admit it. He relied on the old patriarch, and now he wants to rely on giving some heavy gifts..." Gu Long shouted at the top of his voice, regardless of the pain in his mouth.
"Idiot." Gu Hai turned to him and sneered, "You are an idiot. Don't think that everyone is an idiot. If your family hadn't taken away my admission quota, would I have come in like this?"
"Oh?" The student smiled, walked back and forth a few steps, looked at Gu Hai and said, "So if you are kicked out of the school today, brother Gu Hai must be unconvinced?"
Kick me out? Gu Hai snorted. He straightened his back and glanced around. Are these people so thoughtful
In their eyes, I am a useless idiot...
"Yes." He replied in a deep voice, looking directly at the student, with a smile on his lips, "This senior student, do you know of any good way? Can you drive me out and convince me? "
Why did this sound strange? A trace of embarrassment flashed across the student's face.
One of the two students standing outside the crowd snorted, and the other laughed.
"Interesting." The smiling student whispered, looking at Gu Hai with a little more curiosity in his eyes.
"In that case, all you need to do is prove that you are not an idiot, okay?" Even though it was embarrassing, the student had to say.
"Okay," Gu Hai said calmly, "Senior brother, please tell me."
He agreed so happily that he didn't even know what he was going to do to prove it. Was this because he was motivated or confident
The student was stunned and coughed to hide his surprise.
"So there are seven steps to make a poem. Why don't we write a seven-step poem today." The student clapped his hands and said with a smile, "I wonder if this is acceptable to my junior?"
Gu Hai smiled and asked him if he could accept it? Now you have to accept it even if you don’t accept it, right
"Okay, if I can do it, I'll stay. If I can't do it, I'll leave." He said with a straight voice, raising his voice a bit so that everyone watching around could hear it.
Hearing this, there was an uproar around him, and even the gentleman was slightly surprised. He looked at Gu Hai, his brows furrowed in thought.