Surprise
There was a xiǎo gōngzǐ in the village, who was so white and fat. The villagers passed by Shen Qiukui's house specifically to take a look at the xiǎo gōngzǐ. Aunt Li, who liked chattering, also found an excuse to go to Shen Qiukui's house to observe the xiǎo gōngzǐ. The xiǎo gōngzǐ was innocent and cute, he was willing to answer every question. It made the fine lines on Aunt Li's face squeezing into flowers.
"Auntie, this is my guest. So don't blabber around the village!" Before Aunt Li left, Shen Qiukui reminded.
Aunt Li fully agreed. But as soon she turned her head and saw a group of daughters-in-law washing clothes by the river, her mouth opened involuntarily. "Have you all seen that xiǎo gōngzǐ? Xiǎo gōngzǐ's round face is white and tender, like a peeled egg. The skin on his body is white and delicate as if poured by milk!"
"Aunt Li, do you think so?" The wife in a flower skirt covered her mouth and smiled.
Seeing someone following the conversation, Aunt Li was even more excited. "Such a soft xiǎo gōngzǐ, I can't bear to speak loud! And I dare not speak carelessly!" Her expression became mysterious. "Xiǎo gōngzǐ is full of nobility aura, what he wears from head to toe are not common products. What his young servant wears much better than the young servant of Li Yuanwai's family wears!"
"I see. Actually, I saw the xiǎo gōngzǐ from a distance that day going to the village chief's house with the steward. The steward looked calm and tactful, only a truly wealthy and influential family can have such a grand steward." A Shuānger admitted.
"Yes! That's the reason!" Aunt Li smiled.
A cold snort sounded, someone said impatiently, "Isn't he just a young master with fat intestines raised by a rich family. Don't you think you are so exaggerated, Aunt Li?"
"How can you regard a pig as a flower!"
Aunt Li found that it was Lin Wanru who was talking. Lin Wanru lowered her head and was washing her face with disdain. As the best-looking girl in Shenjia Village, she had always been the center of the conversation. What gōngzǐ? It was just a white pig! Flattering so high when you saw other people's wealth, what a snobbish attitude!
Thinking of this girl became the object of the whole village’s teasing because of her propaganda the last time, Aunt Li didn’t feel embarrassed either. She glanced at everyone and raised her eyebrows and asked, "You don’t know, right? This xiǎo gōngzǐ is Shen Yan's Fulang's friend!"
Everyone was stunned.
"His Fulang? That Shuānger?"
When they talked about Gu Changfeng, everyone's expression was a bit complicated. You could say that at first, they felt pity for this Shuānger, and now they really were jealous of him. When the two were at home, they would walk around the village after dinner. As long as they were not blind, they could tell that the couple had a good relationship. Not to mention that the Shen's Family now had ricefields and raising fish and ducks. Although it was still unclear that they would have a good harvest, this kind of hope was quite enough to make them envy!
"It looks like Shen Xiucai's family is about to back to its glory..."
"Isn't it? Married a Fulang, have a book boy, farming and raising fish and ducks, it seems that their days are going better!"
"Yeah! This Shuānger looks quite rough, I didn't expect to be so Wang Fu*!"
*an ancient feudal idea, that is, a woman will let her husband go well and become rich, as opposed to Koff.
Everyone was talking about it, unanimously agreeing that although Gu Changfeng was not good in appearance and figure, he had such fortune aura. Since Shen Xiucai married Gu Changfeng, he had been so lucky that he fully recovered, and his mind had become more clear!
Lin Wanru interrupted everyone coldly, "Do you think that Shen Yan really treats his Fulang very well?"
The flower skirt daughter-in-law smiled and said, "Yeah, why not? Once I accidentally ran into Shen Xiucai. They were holding each other's hand and laughing, and he secretly kissed his Fulang!"
Everyone laughed.
"If he is really good to his Fulang, why he doesn't buy clothes and jewelry for him?" Lin Wanru stood up, wearing a water blue skirt to set off her good figure. She held the tub with one hand, and she pulled the fallen hair behind her ear with the other hand. The twisted silver bracelet dangling on that slender wrist, and there were earrings on the earlobes. There was a hairpin obliquely inserted on the black silk, which swaying like a waterfall.
Seeing everyone's eyes falling on her, Lin Wanru smiled lightly. "If someone really favors his lover, he will be willing to spend money for him!" Like what Shen Yan did for her. He would buy her headdress flower, rouge gouache, gadgets... …, Shen Yan gave her away without blinking!
Knowing the meaning of her words, everyone laughed. No matter how it was in the past, Shen Xiucai now really loved his family Fulang.
Lin Wanru's face was a little ugly seeing everyone mocked her. Knowing this, Aunt Li hurriedly turned the topic back. "Let's talk about xiǎo gōngzǐ! I asked him before, xiǎo gōngzǐ said he lives in the town and has a sister..."
"Then what does he do in our village?"
"He said that our Shenjia Village has beautiful scenery and outstanding people, so he came here to stay for a while to cultivate the body..."
What had to discuss about a fat man!
Lin Wanru frowned, holding the tub, and walked away angrily.
Su Qingze didn't know that he had become the center of the topic. He now was standing in the backyard of Shen Yanbei's house and watched Shen Yanbei practicing boxing enthusiastically.
"Shen Dàgē, your punches are pretty good-looking. Who did you learn from?"
Shen Yanbei smiled. Of course, he learned it from his wife!
After talking to Gu Changfeng that day that he wanted to learn some martial arts to keep fit, Gu Changfeng later taught him a set of soft boxing. During this period of time, he was in a good mood, had enough sleep, and always took medicine to nourish his body. When his body seemed fine, he started practicing for half an hour every day. But he still couldn't do too vigorous exercises right now. The rhythm might be slow but it really suited him well.
Seeing Su Qingze staring at him intently, he said, "This boxing technique can strengthen the body, how about you practice it too?"
"Okay!" Su Qingze didn't doubt at all. He followed Shen Yanbei to punch and kick.
In Gu Changfeng's opinion, Shen Yanbei's punches were not even fancy, but he did it seriously. When his clothes fluttered, it looked pretty good. Meanwhile, Su Qingze, who followed the gestures, looked clumsy and cute. People couldn't help but laugh.
After doing several tricks, Shen Yan began to sweat on his forehead. When he finished, he was already out of breath. Su Qingze was so tired that he fainted on the ground. Although he was not the type of person who unable to endure hardship, it didn’t change the fact that he was pampered.
"More haste, less speed*. Take your time." Shen Yanbei persuaded.
*yùsùzébùdá: haste does not bring success.
That day, Su Qingze's family gave him hand-annotated books. When he was suspicious, he asked Su Qingze directly. The boy didn't hide it. He directly said that this was the book his brother-in-law had used during the imperial examination. He asked again, it turned out that Su Qingze's brother-in-law was the newly appointed county magistrate Li Zhiyuan. No wonder that day was so coincidental that he met Li Zhiyuan in the field and met Su Qingze at his house.
After understanding the relationship between the two, he also understood Li Zhiyuan's intention to send him the book.
It might shock him but on the other hand, it proactively expressed friendship.
He was a Xiucai, but the opponent was a second-class jinshi* who had fought through the imperial examination. There were too many places where the other party could Instruction him on the way of imperial examination. If he took good care of him, he would gain benefit a lot. If he didn't, since the other party was the county magistrate, he could easily make him suffer in many ways. Actually, he only wanted to help Su Qingze because of his wife, but now... Shen Yanbei was in a slightly complicated mood.
*The imperial examinations of the Sui and Tang Dynasties set up Jinshi, which is called Jinshi after admission. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Juren was called Jinshi after being admitted through the examinations and the palace examinations.
It was just to help people lose weight, but he didn't expect there would be so much involved. However, he didn't think too much. It still was a surprise to catch the attention of the county magistrate.
"Okay." After taking a breath, the flushed Su Qingze took the water that Ming'an handed over, and took two sips quickly.
"Young Master, let's sit there for a while," Ming'an said distressedly.
"It is not advisable to sit down and rest immediately when you are tired. You have to stand up and walk slowly." Shen Yanbei frowned.
Hearing this, Su Qingze waved his hand to reject Ming'an. He stood up by supporting his knees. He then stared at Gu Changfeng with bright eyes, who was wearing a dark bunt that looked more tall and strong.
"Gu Dàgē, I'll help you feed the ducklings later!"
Shen Yanbei. "..."
So this boy stared at his wife for a day yesterday just to observe what his wife was doing?
Gu Changfeng nodded. "I have to go to the river to get some small fish snails."
"Can I go with you?" Su Qingze asked directly.
Shen Yanbei couldn't laugh or cry. "Just go if you like it. Zhou Yu is watching ducks in the field, so you can go and see."
"Okay, okay!" Su Qingze nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. After all, he was a teenager. It was normal to act lively and active. And as a newcomer, he was full of curiosity about everything around him.
After Gu Changfeng took the people out, Shen Yanbei went to wash his face then went into the study. The study was re-arranged according to his preferences. All the things left by the original owner were cleaned up by him. Useful books were put on the shelves in different categories and the unuseful kinds of stuff were packed in boxes. On the desk were the books he bought in the county before. Shen Yanbei took out the book given by Li Zhiyuan, while reading it, he held up a pen to make notes.
It had to be said that Li Zhiyuan, who had a background passing imperial examinations, was indeed good at learning! You could see the gap between the two by looking at the notes at the top of the book with the original owner's thinking to understand and compare. The vision of the young Xiucai in the countryside was too narrow. There were many shortcomings in considering issues. It seemed that he had to go out and took a look...
The atmosphere in the study was quiet. The young man wrote seriously, sometimes he curled his eyebrows in contemplation. Gu Changfeng stood at the door and looked at him quietly. He watched him until Shen Yanbei realized that there was no ink left in the inkstone and was about to get up to rub the ink.
"You're back? Why don't you come in?" Shen Yanbei hooked his lips.
"I don't want to disturb you." Gu Changfeng walked in. He added some water to the inkstone, and then ground the ink stick in there.
Shen Yanbei squinted at him with a smile and re-dipped the ink to write.
After brushing horizontally and vertically, three words suddenly appeared on the paper.
Putting down the pen, Shen Yanbei held the paper and asked Gu Changfeng, "Wife, look at this!"
Gu Changfeng stared blankly, his low voice slowly sounded. "Gu Changfeng..."
Shen Yanbei was slightly surprised that his wife was literate!
Not only could do martial arts, but also literate...
Shen Yan continued to write three more words on the paper without changing his expression.
"What about this?"
"Shen Yanbei."
"Say more." Shen Yanbei stared into his eyes.
Gu Changfeng was stunned. He said in a deep voice, "Shen Yanbei..."
"Yeah!" Shen Yanbei replied loudly, with smiles in his eyes.
Gu Changfeng's eyes were filled with confusion. His lips opened, and he whispered, "Yanbei..."
"Wife, you call it so nice!" Shen Yanbei smiled and kissed that lip.
