There is a small shop at the intersection outside the village. It is called a shop, but it is actually a simple thatched shed with a sign on the top as a sign. The shop owners are a simple middle-aged couple, and they only sell coarse rice and cheap wine. It is still early, and there is already a table of guests sitting under the shed to rest. Gu Pinglin took the young man to another table and sat down.
The couple recognized Gu Pinglin. The wife, Wang, came over to greet him with a smile and asked Gu Pinglin in a low voice, "Xiaojiu, did you pick any herbs?"
Gu Pinglin shook his head: "It rained a few days ago and I couldn't go out. Let's go in two days. I'm hungry. Auntie, please serve me a bowl of rice, some dried tofu and pickles."
Wang quickly agreed and served him a bowl of rice. The boy was also very hungry. He said nothing and wolfed down the bowl without even waiting for the dishes or raising his head.
Gu Pinglin sat at the table, looking at the cinnabar mole between his eyebrows, and sighed inwardly.
A magic music spread across the sea. Thirty years later, the Penglai Magic Pearl, the overlord of the East China Sea, had fallen to this point.
This young man is Nanzhu, the illegitimate son of the master of Penglai Island in the East China Sea who left behind when he traveled to the Middle Earth. Although he is homeless at this time, there will be a big change in Penglai Island three years later. After the big purge, he will be taken back to Penglai Island by the old people and carefully cultivated. He will successfully inherit the position of the island master. It can be said that hard work pays off. This person is extremely talented. It only took him five years to make all the factions in the East China Sea surrender. After that, he ambitiously set foot in the Middle Earth and achieved considerable success. Unfortunately, he was unlucky and got involved with another madman among geniuses. Later, it was said that he was cut off one arm by Duan Qingming with a sword and retreated to the East China Sea. That was all before his self-destruction, so it is not very clear.
The important thing is that in the previous life, Penglai Island had always had a bad relationship with the Lingxin Sect. After he took over as the leader, the disciples of the Lingxin Sect encountered many difficulties when they went to the East China Sea to do business. After Nanzhu entered the Middle Earth, he was even more rude to the Lingxin Sect. He tried everything but to no avail. He was still confused and didn't expect that the reason was Gu Er. Nanzhu hated the Gu family too much. If Duan Qingming hadn't taken action first, he would have retaliated against the Gu family.
Seeing that Nanzhu had finished eating, Gu Pinglin asked Wang to bring two more bowls of rice.
After finishing the second bowl, Nanzhu hesitated and didn't move again.
Being so hungry but still able to maintain his sanity, he must be a person who knows how to control himself. Gu Pinglin made a judgment and waited for him to put down his chopsticks before speaking: "Your jade."
Nanzhu took out the jade and placed it on the table, pushing it in front of him with one hand.
As expected, there was a dragon carved on one side of the jade pendant and the word "Nan" on the other. Gu Pinglin was completely sure of the man's identity.
"Can you... keep it?" Nanzhu suddenly asked, "I'll come back to redeem it when I have the money."
"I don't want this," Gu Pinglin pushed the jade pendant back in front of him, "This piece of jade is very important, don't take it out casually again."
Nanzhu was surprised and silent for a while, but still pushed the jade to him.
"It's not safe to leave me here." Gu Pinglin said.
Thinking of Gu Pingsheng's temper, Nanzhu did not insist any longer and put the jade away again: "Your name is Gu Pinglin?"
Gu Pinglin nodded.
Nanzhu witnessed Gu Pingsheng's attitude towards him and thought that he was often bullied at home, so she felt sympathy for him and showed a bit of sadness. She received the kindness of this child, but she could not help him at all.
"I'll lend you some silver," Gu Pinglin took out a piece of silver from his sleeve and pushed it to him, "If you become successful in the future, remember to pay me back one thousand taels."
To stand out from the crowd? Nanzhu never expected a child to say this. Shocked, she smiled bitterly, "I will stand out from the crowd?"
Gu Pinglin said: "You don't dare?"
Nanzhu snorted: "You are just a child, what do you know!"
Gu Pinglin asked back: "What the child dares to think about, you don't dare to do?"
Nanzhu looked at him and slowly stopped smiling.
"Over there! Young Master Jiu, why are you running around?" Someone shouted from a distance. It turned out to be a servant of the Gu family.
Gu Pinglin saw it from the side and couldn't help but frown.
Gu Pingsheng was not good at cultivation and was often scolded by Gu Jin. This time he suffered a loss at the hands of his brother who had no cultivation at all. He should not dare to complain. Could something else have happened
His mind raced as Gu Pinglin waved to the servant.
Seeing the Gu family servant running over, Nanzhu suddenly reached out to take the silver, said expressionlessly, "I will return it to you", then stood up and left.
It was wise not to give up the most needed thing for that little bit of backbone. Gu Pinglin watched his back disappear and breathed a sigh of relief. Giving away all his savings was not really for the sake of reward. That little bit of money was of no use to him. It was better to have one more friend than one more enemy.
"The master asked you to go back! Hurry up!" the servant urged impatiently, without any respect.
"I understand." Gu Pinglin replied and walked straight ahead.
In the study, Gu Jin sat at the desk with an unexpectedly good look on his face. Seeing this, Gu Pinglin knew it was no bad thing and walked in to pay his respects.
Gu Jin said with a pleasant expression, "It's rare that Young Master Duan Liu remembered you and wrote you a letter personally."
Writing a letter? Duan Qingming? Gu Pinglin was momentarily surprised.
Gu Jin took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to him: "Take it."
The envelope was bulging and the seal had been opened. Gu Jin had obviously seen it. Gu Pinglin took it in his hand but did not open it immediately: "I can't read."
I usually neglected this son too much, and I didn't expect him to be so unpresentable. Gu Jin suddenly had a headache. Duan Liu was a son of a noble family. If the gap was too big, how long would Duan Liu's interest in him last? Zhou's wife was only jealous and didn't know how to consider the overall situation. Gu Jin was secretly angry and said coldly: "If you don't know how to do it, then learn it. Go to the family school tomorrow to study, and don't be lazy!"
Gu Pinglin was not lying. In his previous life, he was really illiterate before he joined the Lingxin Sect. Later, his master and senior brother taught him one by one. Now he couldn't just suddenly learn to read. Keeping it a secret was not a solution. Learning from the family was a good reason.
"You are lucky that Sixth Master Duan remembered you," Gu Jin said, showing a trace of embarrassment. He coughed and then said lightly, "You can't be rude now. You can't write, so I'll ask your third brother to reply on your behalf." For Gu Jin, his other sons were more reassuring. Seeing that Gu Pinglin was silent, Gu Jin knew that he was unhappy. Fortunately, this son was cowardly by nature, so Gu Jin just showed his fatherly dignity and taught him a lesson: "We are all members of the Gu family. Brothers should be equal. Don't worry about trivial matters."
Gu's family? Gu Pinglin declined to comment.
In his previous life, after he became the head of the sect, Gu Jin brought his other sons to the Lingxin Sect. He did not care about the blood relationship and focused on dealing with Duan Qingming. Later, his Taoism was abolished and he fled. Gu Jin and Gu Ping'an immediately cut off their relationship with him and tried their best to kill him. At that time, how could they care about the family relationship? However, he did not expect that Duan Qingming would vent his anger on the Gu family and abolish several brothers.
Gu Pinglin is not a genius like Duan Qingming, but he is not stupid either. He was bullied at home when he was young. He knew how to please these people, but he was strong-willed by nature and refused to bow his head, so he suffered more hardships than others.
In this life...
Gu Pinglin raised his eyebrows.
In this life, he also couldn't let go of his pride, which was the difference between him and Duan Qingming. How could the path of the Tao allow for too many fetters? In the future, he would need to get rid of these worldly ties as soon as possible.
Gu Pinglin didn’t care who replied to Duan Qingming’s letter, and just answered “yes”.
Meeting his calm gaze, Gu Jin felt inexplicably guilty and frowned, "I heard that you go to the fire room to chop wood every day? Humph, a member of the Gu family doing the work of a servant, you really take after your mother..." Gu Jin was full of contempt, and finally stopped the topic in time, saying sternly, "If you go there again, I'll break your legs!"
Gu Pingsheng was eavesdropping outside the door. When he saw Gu Pinglin coming out, he deliberately mocked him: "A son born by a maid is a son born by a maid. He will be born with the appearance of a servant!"
Gu Pinglin pretended not to hear it and went straight back to his room, then took out the letter to read it.
Duan Qingming was an unusual person, and the letter he wrote was also unusual, actually stretching to ten full pages.
Even though Gu Pinglin had lived two lives, he couldn't help but twitch his lips when he saw the content.
The letter was not written in a commonly used font, but rather in a beautiful cursive script. The content was rambling and full of nonsense, even mentioning things like his aunt's brother bought a bird and two fish died in the pond. No wonder there were so many words in the letter. Gu Jin must have been speechless after reading it. However, this letter was flawless, and was completely a letter from a normal child, just like the person who wrote it, with a normal appearance.
The writer's intention is not in the content.
Gu Pinglin was in a good mood and put away the letter.
I didn't expect Duan Qingming to do this. Rather than helping me, it would be more like he was deliberately making my life uneasy in the Gu family. He was playing tricks on me at such a young age. It seemed that day was not far away.
Compared to the calm and nonchalant Duan Qingming who appeared later, this young child was much cuter.
There are many ways to exercise your body, and the ban on cutting wood has no effect on Gu Pinglin. Gu Jin did not let him reply to the letter, but he would not change his words. Gu Pinglin went to the family school on his own the next morning, and no one stopped him. As for the letter, Gu Pinglin used it to gain the "opportunity to learn to read" and then threw it away.
In just one month, Gu Pinglin was able to "learn to read" smoothly, which shocked the family education teacher. The teacher immediately praised him highly in front of Gu Jin and suggested that he pursue a career in officialdom. Gu Jin certainly wouldn't care, and Gu Pinglin was even less interested. How could ordinary fame and fortune compare to the great road to heaven
Two days later, Gu Jin called Gu Pinglin to the study again.
This time, Gu Jin's face was not very good. He stared at Gu Pinglin thoughtfully for a long while before slowly saying, "Sixth Master Duan, I hope you can reply."
This was also within Gu Pinglin's expectations. Gu Pinglin smiled, thinking that the mischievous child had set his sights on him.
Gu Pingxin was about the same age as Duan Liu, and he also wrote a good letter, but Duan Liu was not interested. Gu Jin had no choice but to tell Gu Pinglin, "The teacher said your handwriting is barely passable. Go down and write a reply. Let me have a look after you finish writing."
Gu Pinglin lowered his eyes and suddenly said, "I think it's better not to reply to this letter."
Gu Jin scolded: "Nonsense!"