And the three brothers outside lost interest in reading because of Mrs. Lv’s matter. Da Lang forced himself to continue reading, intending to study for a while longer, but the second son was already packing his things.
"Second brother! Are you not going to read anymore?" The third son stood up to prepare to leave when he saw the second son packing.
"Let’s go back and sleep early!" The second son glanced inside, tightly clutching the book in his hand, giving away only what he didn’t want. He looked at the burning brazier in front of him, finding it unusually annoying at this mont. Previously, it felt warm, but now the firelight from the charcoal seed to turn into a mocking face, ridiculing them.
Taking a deep breath, he ignored the third son chasing behind him and walked straight to the west wing.
"Mother! Did you go to town today?" No wonder Mrs. Lv was dressed more elegantly than usual when he returned.
Mrs. Lv sighed deeply when asked, "Isn’t it all because of your third sister-in-law? I took her to Jingyuan Temple on Yun Mountain today to burn incense. Your second sister-in-law..."
Asked about botherso matters, Mrs. Lv instinctively answered without thinking. But halfway through, she realized that such matters should not be discussed with a child, especially concerning his sister-in-law.
"Cough! Why are you, a child, asking so many questions? It’s not sothing you should be concerned about. Go to bed early! I’m leaving." Mrs. Lv hurriedly left the study, fearing that Gu Chengyu would ask further.
Gu Chengyu pursed his lips, a slight smile on the corner, amused at Mrs. Lv’s quick steps. Actually, even without her ntioning, he knew what it was about. Going to Jingyuan Temple was clearly for fertility prayers, wasn’t it?
Gu Chengyu arranged the books on the desk neatly before preparing to return to his room. When he reached the outer room, he found Da Lang scratching his head while holding "University."
Gu Chengyu suddenly rembered that he had also bought plum cake today, and returned inside to retrieve a package of plum cake and a small bag of pine nut candy.
"Are there still things you can’t figure out? Let take a look?" Gu Chengyu asked with a smile, standing at Da Lang’s bookcase.
"Huh? Little Uncle hasn’t left yet? No need, I’ll think it over and figure it out myself. Little Uncle, go to bed first!" Da Lang didn’t want to trouble his Little Uncle. What did he not understand? Everything, really. He felt embarrassed to ask Little Uncle.
"I told you, feel free to ask about anything you don’t understand. This candy and plum cake, take them for the nieces. Girls love sweets." Gu Chengyu placed the paper package on Da Lang’s bookcase.
"Hey! Little Uncle has gone to copy books again?" Da Lang asked enviously. Simultaneously, he accepted the snacks without refusal; it wasn’t the first ti Little Uncle brought things for Da Ya and the others, and he was used to it.
"Exams are coming, and books are selling fast at Xiwu Bookstore. I’m helping to copy a few. Go to bed early!" Seeing that Da Lang was reluctant to bother him, Gu Chengyu didn’t insist.
Shanhe Town is just a small town, so Xiwu Bookstore doesn’t often hire people to copy books. Usually, when there’s sufficient stock, Manager Pan stops hiring for copying. Gu Chengyu’s writing is not only fast but also neat, and even though standard script suffices, his layout is very tidy, and the pages are clean, satisfying Manager Pan.
Therefore, whenever there is book copying work, it is usually left for Gu Chengyu alone, unless there’s a rush when it’s given to others.
The pay for copying books depends on their thickness. Books like "Thousand Character Classic" which Gu Chengyu copies, typically take three days, finished after schoolwork, earning about twenty coins. Thicker books require more paynt.
Previously, Da Lang was very excited to hear this, wanting Gu Chengyu to bring back a couple of books for him to copy so he could earn so copper coins too. Although food and drink were covered at ho, having no money in hand causes anxiety!
Later, when the second son found out, he laughed heartily. Da Lang’s writing could barely be considered proper; would Manager Pan accept it for book copying? That would just waste ink. Actually, Gu Chengyu intended to help him with so spare cash, even if it ant symbolically giving a few coins, so he wouldn’t completely crush his confidence.
But since the second son already pointed this out, Da Lang felt too embarrassed to bring it up again. So he always looked enviously whenever book copying was ntioned.
When Gu Chengyu was ready to head to bed, suddenly the sound of a cuckoo echoed outside the window, "Cuckoo, Cuckoo."
Gu Chengyu heard the call, feeling a wave of disbelief.
"Hey? Little Uncle? Where does a cuckoo bird co from in the dead of winter, and at night too?" Da Lang was sowhat puzzled by this strange occurrence.
"Who knows about this? You go rest first! I just rembered there are so books I haven’t organized. You go ahead!" Gu Chengyu said as he returned to the inner part of the study.
"Little Uncle! How about I wait for you? Otherwise, you can sort the books tomorrow." Da Lang, seeing the darkness outside, was afraid Gu Chengyu might be scared.
"No need! What’s there to fear at ho? You go first!" Gu Chengyu declined.
Helplessly, Da Lang had to leave first. He knew Little Uncle always liked cleanliness and tidiness, refusing to sleep without organizing everything. Also, Little Uncle actually didn’t like others touching his stuff, though he’d never said it, Da Lang had long sensed it.
Thinking it should be fine at ho, Da Lang picked up his lantern and left.
Only after hearing Da Lang had left did Gu Chengyu walk to the outer room and open the door.
"Oh! My goodness, it’s so painful, this wall is too high." At this mont, a man’s voice ca from outside.
Gu Chengyu was not surprised, sitting on a chair, waiting for the person outside to co in.
"Master, could you please not make climb your wall next ti? It’s just too high, and waiting outside at night is really cold! I almost got my nose frozen off." The person entered the room and began complaining.
After a while, he realized no one responded, so he looked up at the person sitting on the chair.
He saw Gu Chengyu with a sowhat mocking smile, but the amusent didn’t reach his eyes. He remained silent, simply looking at him.
"Oh! Look at , speaking nonsense. In such cold weather, I ca inside right away. Would you expect the master to step out?" At this mont, a mole on his mouth twitched as he spoke awkwardly.
"Yu Tuanzi! How went the matter I instructed you to handle last ti?"
Turns out this person was Yu Tuanzi, having worked with Gu Chengyu for over two years, handling matters Gu Chengyu found inconvenient, entrusted to Yu Tuanzi. Restrained by ’poison,’ Yu Tuanzi complied, completing tasks satisfactorily.
"I wouldn’t dare ignore anything the master instructs. It’s all done; I’ve arranged for people at that small courtyard." Yu Tuanzi looked at the young man before him, feeling countless emotions.
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