Chapter 31: The Messenger Has Arrived

Chapter 31: A Messenger Comes

Gu Muan had initially been following Xu Xiaoshui's movements, frowning and clenching his fists hard.

But as he listened, he couldn't help pouting.

Xu Xiaoshui and Yin Hongxue didn't notice the change in his expression, one continuing to talk nonstop while the other listened attentively.

It wasn't until Xu Xiaoshui finished speaking and looked at the two for a response that he noticed Gu Muan's displeased pout.

Xu Xiaoshui, who had been animatedly imitating Gu Chaoning's mannerisms, froze, his excitement fading.

He looked at Gu Muan timidly: "What's wrong? An Geer?"

Could it be that he was too enthusiastic about Chaoning Ge?

Or had he figured out that he secretly wanted Chaoning Ge to be his brother too?

Some kids didn't like others calling their big brother "brother," and they didn't like others getting more excited about their brother than they did.

Let alone someone like him, who actually dared to want someone else's brother to be his own.

Xu Xiaoshui fidgeted nervously, glancing at Gu Muan, then sneaking a glance at Yin Hongxue.

If Xue Geer found out, would he even still play with him?

Yin Hongxue didn't understand why Xu Xiaoshui had suddenly gone quiet. He looked around and only figured it out when he saw Gu Muan pouting.

"An Geer, what's the matter?"

Yin Hongxue didn't overthink it the way Xu Xiaoshui did; he just thought Gu Muan might not be feeling well.

Gu Muan, though, had no idea what either of the older boys was thinking.

He was caught up in his own thoughts, crossing his arms in anger and letting out a cold huff.

"Brother's got some nerve, not even telling me about getting revenge for Xue Gege."

Gu Muan copied Xu Xiaoshui's earlier gestures, raising his fists as well.

"If I had been there, I would've, like this and this, beaten Xu Fengshou to a pulp!"

Xu Xiaoshui froze, asking without thinking: "Why would you beat him to a pulp?"

He recalled the pretty painting board falling into the river, drifting away with the current.

It had looked so beautiful.

Gu Muan didn't catch what Xu Xiaoshui meant, scratching his head: "It's just... that's what 'to a pulp' means, you know."

"Who're you gonna beat to a pulp?"

A clear, pleasant voice rang out, and Gu Muan answered without thinking: "I'm going to beat Xu Fengshou to a pulp!"

Yin Hongxue whirled around in surprise, then called out happily: "Chaoning Ge!"

Gu Muan also turned around: "Brother!"

The two ran over together. Yin Hongxue stopped in front of Gu Chaoning, while Gu Muan, without a second thought, threw himself into Gu Chaoning's arms.

Gu Chaoning raised his hand and ruffled each of their hair in turn.

Xu Xiaoshui watched secretly, a look of envy in his eyes.

To his surprise, Gu Chaoning looked up and gave him a kind smile.

Xu Xiaoshui was startled, but quickly smiled back.

Gu Chaoning was very satisfied. He had been worrying about how to tell Yin Hongxue what he had done, but as it turned out, a trip to town had solved that problem for him.

Knowing that Yin Hongxue, his rival from his past life, had found out about his bold move left Gu Chaoning feeling great.

"Done cutting the grass? I bought some pastries on the way home—there are peach blossom cakes."

Though he had left in a hurry, he had still managed to buy some pastries before leaving Dukou Town.

He had no idea how the pastry shop in town did it—the peach blossoms hadn't even bloomed yet, and they already had peach blossom cakes.

As soon as Gu Muan heard about food, he started bouncing with excitement.

"Done, done! Let's go home quick!"

Not satisfied with just being eager, he put on his own basket, handed Yin Hongxue's to Gu Chaoning, and started pulling them both along.

Yin Hongxue quickly said goodbye to Xu Xiaoshui before hurrying after them.

Gu Chaoning also turned to say goodbye to Xu Xiaoshui, then got dragged away by Gu Muan too.

On the way back, with Gu Muan pulling them along like a little calf being led by a peach blossom cake, the three soon arrived home.

After washing his hands, Gu Muan grabbed a peach blossom cake for himself and one for Yin Hongxue.

The pastries from town were made small and delicate—one for each of them was perfect.

Before going to fetch the two boys, Gu Chaoning had already told Gu Wen about the situation in town, as well as the plans he, Gu Rong, and the other scholars had.

Now he simply sat calmly at his desk, casually pouring himself some tea and sipping it.

Sure enough, before long, Yin Hongxue came to find him, holding a pastry.

Yin Hongxue stood before his desk, his big, pretty eyes locked on him.

"Chaoning Ge, is this the way you mentioned before to make Miao Geer shut up?"

Gu Chaoning looked at him standing there and suddenly remembered how tiny Yin Hongxue had been when he first arrived.

Back then, when he stood before the desk, he was barely as tall as the desk itself, only a pair of bright, clear eyes peeking over the top.

Gu Chaoning didn't let his thoughts show on his face.

He nodded and said plainly: "Yes."

Yin Hongxue was puzzled: "But why beat Xu Fengshou?"

"Naturally, because Xu Fengshou is the Xu family's pride and joy," Gu Chaoning patted his chest gently. "Hitting Xu Fengshou breaks the hearts of everyone in the Xu family."

"So in the future, to keep Xu Fengshou from getting beaten, they won't dare say anything stupid again."

Ah, so that was it.

Yin Hongxue suddenly understood.

Gu Chaoning had deliberately asked other children about the Xu family's situation before hitting Xu Fengshou.

Although many children are young, precisely because they are young, adults often don't bother to hide their malice in front of them.

However, the Xu family didn't really require asking around.

With just a casual inquiry, anyone would know how severely the Xu family valued sons over daughters and spoiled the boys.

Xu Fengshou had been spoiled since childhood—he'd kick anyone in the family except his dad.

Spoiled to such a degree, just to prevent him from being beaten again, not only would the Xu family themselves watch their words and actions, but Xu Fengshou would also supervise his family to do the same.

And that was exactly what Gu Chaoning wanted.

But accordingly, if this matter wasn't handled well, it could easily lead to harassment.

However, given the Xu family's timid and cowardly nature—bullies at home but cowards outside—you could tell from just one quick look yesterday, seeing how Xu Fengshou fawned over Erdan just to play with a slingshot.

The other option was to make a big deal out of it.

One reason was to make an example of them, and another was that the Xu family was unpopular anyway, so making a fuss wouldn't hurt. And Uncle Lizheng, for his own future's sake, would also side with him.

Gu Chaoning explained the whole matter to Yin Hongxue, who kept nodding while holding his pastry, and in the end, he even forgot to eat it.

Gu Muan saw both older brothers go into the room and not come out, figuring they were playing something fun, so he hurried over to look.

The little guy poked his head in, listened a bit, and was about to leave.

But Gu Chaoning grabbed him by the little topknot on his head and made him stay and listen to the whole thing.

Yin Hongxue tossed and turned that night, mulling over Gu Chaoning's words before he fell asleep. The next morning, after breakfast, he slung his basket over his back and went to the spot where he and Xu Xiaoshui usually cut grass and waited for him.

The grass here was thick and plentiful, and since it was right by the back mountain, there were also wild berries to pick and snack on.

After Yin Hongxue had filled his basket about a quarter of the way, he squatted down behind a sour jujube tree.

But it was still early in the season, so the tree didn't have any jujubes yet.

Yin Hongxue squatted there mainly because the tree blocked the wind.

Early spring mornings were still a little chilly.

He was gently playing with the tender buds that had just sprouted on the tree when he heard footsteps coming from the other side.

The two walked over together, stopped not far from the tree, and bent down to cut grass.

"Hey, did you hear something?"

"What?"

Villagers liked to chat and gossip while cutting grass, but the village was small, so gossip went around and around—same old stories.

Maybe seeing she wasn't too interested, the one who started the talk raised her voice.

"But what I've got to say this time is different!"

She perked up a little: "How so?"

"This time, it's about that Chaoning kid and Rong kid!"

Hearing this, Yin Hongxue stopped mid-motion as he was about to stand. He pulled his legs in and squatted down even lower.

"I heard folks say that Chaoning and Rong came back from town yesterday with long faces—they must've failed." She paused. "Otherwise, why didn't they go to town today, huh?"

Yin Hongxue thought, that's because Chaoning and Arong are going straight to the county seat to check, so they didn't go to town today.

"Don't believe me? I saw it myself yesterday!"

Saw what with your own eyes! You just said you heard it from someone!

Yin Hongxue got angry listening to this, and with a bit of mischief in mind, he just stood up.

Once he stood up and saw who it was, Yin Hongxue understood.

So they were from the Xu clan.

"Auntie Xu, what exactly did you see?"

Yin Hongxue's sudden voice gave both of them a scare.

Especially Zhang Cuifen, standing next to Xu Duoyu—she jumped to the side in fright.

Yesterday's bold move by the Gu family was still on her mind, and now she'd been caught by Yin Hongxue gossiping about Gu Chaoning with Xu Duoyu.

Zhang Cuifen regretted coming out to cut pigweed with Xu Duoyu, but she couldn't bring herself to apologize to a kid like Yin Hongxue.

She hadn't done anything wrong! It was Xu Duoyu who insisted on gossiping with her!

That Xu Duoyu! Seriously! Always dragging people into trouble.

Xu Duoyu didn't notice Zhang Cuifen's dirty look. She looked at Yin Hongxue a bit sheepishly.

She was secretly annoyed that a bought kid like him dared to talk to her so boldly.

Before Xu Duoyu could open her mouth, Gu Muan's voice came along with Xu Xiaoshui's.

Both were calling for him.

"Xue Age!"

"Xue Geer!"

The two came running over with a "thump thump," not even paying attention to the two people standing in front of them.

Yin Hongxue hurriedly stepped forward two paces: "What's wrong?"

Gu Muan's eyes were bright, and his cheeks were flushed red—whether from running all the way here or not.

He gasped and laughed: "Xue Age, the messenger has come! Brother... brother passed the exam!"

Yin Hongxue stood frozen in place as Gu Muan jumped excitedly.

"Brother is now a Tongsheng!"