Chapter 2: Eating Cake

Chapter 2: Eating Cake

"Don't you dare come back until you've finished cutting all the chicken grass for Xue Geer!"

After finally calming down the two little boys, Chen Youyan let out a sigh of relief.

He lifted Yin Hongxue—so tender-looking with his fair skin and thin, pink-tinged eyelids—onto the donkey cart to sit together with Gu Muan, and handed Yin Hongxue's basket to Gu Chaoning, telling him to cut the grass.

Gu Chaoning's mind was still in utter chaos; he just did whatever Chen Youyan told him to.

Wearing the new clothes he'd put on specially for visiting his grandpa's place, sickle in one hand, basket slung over his back, he stood there, watching the donkey cart drive off.

But his gaze stayed glued to Yin Hongxue.

He couldn't understand it.

He just couldn't wrap his head around it.

Yin Hongxue was actually a ge'er—a boy who wasn't quite a typical boy—and he lived in the village right next to Little River Village.

And from the way his dad and his dad's husband acted, they didn't just know Yin Hongxue—they really liked him.

But...

Gu Chaoning pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling at a loss.

Wasn't Yin Hongxue the grandson of Marquis Anding?

He'd never heard anything about the Marquis's grandson ending up among common folks.

And the most unreal part of all was—

He just couldn't connect the cold, aloof, almost arrogant Yin Hongxue from his past life with the little kid who'd just opened his mouth and bawled his eyes out.

Gu Chaoning's head was starting to throb. He bent over, swung the sickle a little clumsily, and quickly filled the basket to the brim, then ran toward his grandpa's house, following the route he remembered.

At the Chen household.

Chen Youtian's wife, Madam Sun, and Chen Youliang's husband, Zhang Fulang, were in the kitchen fixing lunch.

Madam Sun had two sons and a girl—the oldest was thirteen, the second nine, and the youngest, a girl, was six.

Zhang Fulang had one son and one ge'er—the oldest was ten, and the youngest was three.

With that many kids, it was pure chaos, so they'd been sent out early that morning to cut grass.

Meanwhile, Grandpa Chen had fetched some water and came over to wash the two little boys' faces with Chen Youyan, while also listening closely as his son gave a lively account of what had just happened.

"That Chaoning kid—stiff as a brand-new fence post—jumped off the ox cart with a couple of thuds, planted his feet like they were nailed to the ground, stared at Xue Geer with eyes as round as copper bells, and asked the kid what his name was."

As he talked, Chen Youyan waved his arms around in stiff, exaggerated motions. Grandpa Chen got a laugh out of it and chucked the cloth he was holding right at Chen Youyan's face.

"At your age, still so flighty! Good thing Chaoning isn't here, or you'd be showing him a thing or two."

Chen Youyan caught the cloth and was about to bend down to wipe Yin Hongxue's face when he saw the boy staring up at him with big, watery eyes, watching him with unblinking curiosity.

Chen Youyan's face got a little hot, and he quickly covered Yin Hongxue's face with the cloth.

He hesitated, then leaned in close to his dad and whispered, "If I didn't know Chaoning was only eight and Xue Geer only six, I'd swear Chaoning fell for Xue Geer at first sight."

Grandpa Chen shot him a look and reached out like he was gonna twist his ear. "I just said you were flighty, and now you're talking like this. Chaoning's been going to the village school, and even his dad's picked up some skills—now he can recite poems and stuff."

"Hey, hey!" Chen Youyan quickly scooped up Yin Hongxue and stood, dodging his dad's grab.

Gu Muan was nestled in Grandpa Chen's arms, and seeing Chen Youyan hopping around, he thought it was a game, clapping his hands and laughing his head off.

That got Grandpa Chen laughing too. "Our An Geer can laugh all by himself now!"

The other grandpa—Grandpa Chen's father-in-law—walked over with a plate of mung bean cakes, set them on the stone table in the yard, and called out, "Come eat cake."

Gu Muan perked right up at the words "eat cake" and immediately waved his hands, yelling, "Cake! Eat!"

Seeing Chen Youyan walk over with Yin Hongxue and not pay him any mind, Gu Muan got even more worked up. "Dad! Dad! An! An! An wants to eat!"

"Dad!"

"Father!"

The front door banged open, and everyone looked over to see Gu Chaoning standing in the doorway, basket in hand.

Clearly he'd run over in a hurry—sweat on his temples, clothes and hair all messed up, and fresh bits of grass stuck to the bottoms of his shoes.

"Tsk! What now?" Chen Youyan was pretty annoyed with his own son.

The second Yin Hongxue saw him, he wanted to back away, but he was stuck in Chen Youyan's arms with nowhere to go. So Yin Hongxue just turned his head away.

If he couldn't see him, then he wouldn't be scared.

Gu Chaoning knew he was acting weird, but Yin Hongxue had just shocked him way too much.

He could see Yin Hongxue was scared, and on top of his shock, he felt something he couldn't quite name.

Yin Hongxue was scared of him?

Hahaha, if someone in his past life had told him that, he'd have wondered what kind of ghost or demon had possessed them.

But now...

Gu Chaoning calmed himself, straightened his clothes, and walked in, trying to look proper.

"Grandfather, Grandfather-in-law."

"Ah, Chaoning's back."

This time, he didn't make a fool of himself again. He first greeted the elders, and since he had recently started attending the village school, the two elders asked him several questions about it, all of which Gu Chaoning answered one by one.

Then Gu Chaoning went to the kitchen to greet his aunt and uncle.

His two uncles weren't at home—they had gone to town to haul sandbags.

Grandpa Chen shot Chen Youyan a look, like he was saying he was being a pain on purpose, then quickly offered Gu Chaoning some mung bean cake.

"Last night, Grandpa picked out the plumpest, freshest mung beans and made these just for you kids."

Gu Chaoning took a mung bean cake and bit into it. It was soft, sticky, and sweet, but his mind was somewhere else.

Yin Hongxue sat next to Chen Youyan, head down, nibbling at his mung bean cake.

The boy ate daintily, holding the cake in one hand and cupping the other under his chin to catch the crumbs.

Because he had just washed his face, the soft hair at his temples was damp and clung obediently together, his face fair with a bit of baby fat.

But...

Gu Chaoning had never raised a child, and in his previous life he had never married either. But compared to the chubby little boy Gu Muan, Yin Hongxue, who was four years older, seemed somewhat thin and small.

With that thought, Gu Chaoning asked out loud.

To his surprise, Chen Youyan got really angry, tilting his head back and spitting out: "Isn't it that stingy old whore of a stepmother Xue Geer's got, and that blind old fool of a father of his, who mistreat and abuse him."

"Xue Geer's dad had just passed away, and that old fool brought that old whore right into the house. After that old whore gave the old fool a son, she got even worse."

"Those two adults have no shame, shameless, heartless old bastards. When Xue Geer was three and could barely walk, he was sent out to cut grass, and they wouldn't even let him eat his fill."

Chen Youyan cursed with gusto, and even Sun Niangzi and Zhang Fulang in the kitchen kept popping their heads out to join in the cursing.

Chen Youyan cursed even harder, especially seeing how obedient Xue Geer was, carefully savoring the mung bean cake before swallowing, which made him even angrier.

Seeing him panting heavily, Xue Geer looked over with some concern, wanting to pour him water, but only stopped when Gu Wen poured it for him.

Tsk, tsk.

So it sounded like his real dad had died, and his dad and stepmom had teamed up to mess with him.

Gu Chaoning couldn't help but rub his chin.

In his previous life, Yin Hongxue had been somewhat short, a head or more shorter than Gu Chaoning.

Speaking of which, in his previous life, Gu Chaoning had deliberately used height to mock Yin Hongxue for being like a little Ge Er.

So that's why—he'd been tormented as a child and not properly nourished.

Thinking about it this way, Yin Hongxue was kind of pitiful.

Gu Chaoning didn't think twice about his own mocking, only cursing Yin Hongxue's biological father and stepmother in his heart.

Wait, no.

Gu Chaoning's gaze fell on the red dot on Yin Hongxue's forehead. Well, he was indeed a Ge Er, so he wasn't wrong in his previous life.

But even so, Yin Hongxue's biological father and stepmother were still awful.

Gu Chaoning saw Gu Muan holding a cake in each hand, taking a bite of one and then the other like he didn't have a care in the world, then looked at Yin Hongxue, who was all hesitant and careful, and felt a bit uneasy.

In his previous life, that Yin Hongxue who could have anything he wanted, who had everything at his fingertips, was how he should have been.

Gu Chaoning picked up a piece of cake and shoved it into Yin Hongxue's other empty hand.

Seeing that none of the four adults had noticed, he sneaked closer and asked, "Did you have breakfast?"

Yin Hongxue looked at the cake in his palm, then at Gu Chaoning who had leaned in. He wanted to move away, but felt it would be rude.

He secretly glanced at Chen Youyan, hoping that Chen Fulang would help him drag Chaoning Ge away.

But Chen Fulang was busy talking with Uncle Gu, so that probably wasn't going to happen.

Yin Hongxue dropped his gaze, lowered his lashes slightly, and said softly, "I had porridge."

"What kind of porridge?" Gu Chaoning was a bit pleased, while his gaze fell on Yin Hongxue's lashes.

Why hadn't he noticed before how long Yin Hongxue's lashes were?

Like a little foal, kind of... cute.

"Coarse rice porridge." Yin Hongxue was nervous inside, wanting to fidget with his hands but reluctant to let go of the cake in them.

Recalling the texture of coarse rice, Gu Chaoning frowned slightly and asked again, "Then, did it have more rice or less?"

Yin Hongxue remembered the bowl of coarse rice porridge he'd been given for breakfast—it had only a few grains of rice. He paused, feeling embarrassed to answer Gu Chaoning's question, and just shook his head.

But even without him saying, Gu Chaoning could guess.

He asked again, "Did your father leave you any jade pendant or anything like that?"

What's a jade pendant?

Yin Hongxue looked up in confusion, his big, clear eyes full of bewilderment.

Gu Chaoning frowned slightly, didn't ask anything more, and just pushed the mung bean cake toward him.

Seeing Chen Amah and Chen Youyan heading to the kitchen to cook, Gu Chaoning tagged along and walked in as well.

"What are you coming in here for?" Chen Youyan glanced at him.

"Why aren't you playing with your younger brothers?" Sun Niangzi also asked.

Gu Chaoning picked up a piece of wood to help stoke the fire, while tentatively asking, "Which village was Xue Geer's dad from?"

Seeing that he was indeed asking about Xue Geer, Chen Youyan glanced at Grandpa Chen and answered with a question of his own: "Why are you so curious about Xue Geer?"

Gu Chaoning put on a smile, "I heard Xue Geer's name is Hongxue, which sounds like a name given by someone who knows poetry and literature. And I don't think Xue Geer's dad seems like the type to pay someone to name his kid, so I'm curious."

In villages and towns, those who cherished their children would spend money to have a scholar or student name them, fifteen copper coins each time.

The Gu family paid Teacher Zhang from their village school to name both Gu Chaoning and Gu Muan.

So that's how it was.

Chen Youyan nodded, and when it came to book learning, he also became more serious: "Xue Geer's father, Song Fulang, was bought by his father Yin Dakui for three strings of coins. I still remember, when he first arrived, Song Fulang's presence and manner were nothing like an ordinary person's."

"Later it turned out, he was originally a servant sold off by a great household for some offense."

Chen Youyan was still describing Song Fulang, but Gu Chaoning had stopped listening.

Bought? How could Marquis Anding's Ge Er end up sold in a village?

In his previous life, he knew that Yin Hongxue's father had died when Yin Hongxue was three, and that his father didn't know who his real father was.

So Yin Hongxue had lived in the Marquis's residence since he was ten, and Marquis Anding doted on Yin Hongxue.

Gu Chaoning furrowed his brow without realizing it, "Can Xue Geer stay for a meal?"

He was mainly looking at Grandpa Chen and the other two, after all, this was his maternal grandparents' place.

The few who had been chatting animatedly suddenly fell silent, just staring at Gu Chaoning.