Chapter 100.1: Competing for Favor
Chapter 100.1: Competing for Favor
Hold on, why were these baby chicks chirping like birds anyway? Weren’t they supposed to peep like any other chicks of another household?
Knowing that these several little chicks could speak another bird language while he had yet to learn the Turkic language really saddened Marquis Gu…
Yao shi noticed that her daughter’s house had been renovated. The roof tiles had been replaced with new ones, the backyard had been enclosed, and two additional rooms had also been built.
“JiaoJiao.” Yao shi called out to her daughter who was pouring water into the water jar, “Can I… stay here for a few days?”
Gu Jiao put the bucket aside after transferring the water, and then looked at Yao shi with slight puzzlement on her face.
Yao shi hurriedly said, “I can help you with farm work!”
Even though Yao shi was born in a family of great background, she never developed a pampered temperament since childhood.
But of course, it was still far-fetched to say that she could do farm work in the countryside. It was just, if her daughter could bear this kind of hardship, why could she, the mother, not?
“It’s fine, I can do it by myself.” Gu Jiao refused.
Yao shi’s eyes flashed a trace of disappointment. She knew that her daughter wasn’t refusing her offer to help but herself.
“Then… I can cook! I’m a good cook! Didn’t you praise my pastries for their delicious taste last time? I will make it for you every day!”
“No need.” Gu Jiao replied.
“What about washing clothes! Look, there are so many people in the family, how can you manage by yourself?”
Gu Jiao paused and looked up at Yao shi.
She didn’t say anything and just looked at her fixedly.
Yao shi suddenly understood.
It wasn’t that her daughter didn’t need her help with things at home, but she didn’t need her to live here.
In fact, she expected such a result, but she still didn’t want to give up. After all, she was worried about her children deep down.
Yao shi suppressed the bitterness she felt and smiled casually, saying, “Then, I’ll be leaving Yan’er in your care. It’s getting late, you go about your business, I’ll be taking my leave. “
After she finished speaking, she smiled and turned away.
There was no flaw in her expression and tone of voice, but the trembling of her body could not help but reveal her sadness.
Gu Jiao looked at her departing back and said, “You’re not the problem.”
Yao shi’s steps halted.
Gu Jiao hesitated for a moment. In fact, she was a little inarticulate in expressing her emotions. She said, “It’s me.”
She wondered if Yao shi could understand what she was saying.
She used to have very bad parents, which led her to reject all parents in the world.
When she grew up and had a life of her own, she thought she didn’t care anymore. But when Yao shi appeared, she realized that the hole in her heart had actually never healed.
She could accept Xiao Liulang, Little Jing Kong, Grandaunt and Gu Yan because they were not her parents.
But these words were something she couldn’t say to Yao shi.
Yao shi looked back at Gu Jiao. She once thought that her daughter couldn’t accept her because she couldn’t forget Gu Sanlang and Xu shi. Now she was suddenly not so sure.
Something must have happened to her daughter, but she wouldn’t say anything, and she couldn’t bear to ask either.
Yao shi reluctantly got into the carriage and headed back to the villa with Marquis Gu.
Gu Jiao continued to make a fire and cook their meal.
The rice was taking a bit longer to cook this time.
Perhaps it was the arrival of Yao shi that reminded her of some past events that she didn’t want to recall. She suddenly thought of herself when she was still two years old.
At that time, she stood barefoot in the cold and windy winter night wearing thin pajamas and holding a doll in her arms.
She was forcibly dragged out of the bed without even being given a pair of shoes.
A fierce dispute broke out between her parents, which was actually because of a small matter. However, the dispute got out of hand and finally landed on her head.
She was pushed back and forth and fell several times in the process, even breaking her hand.
At first, the man named Dad walked away in anger, and then the woman named Mom also left. She was abandoned in the crowded square.
As she looked at giants rushing past her, she only felt like a tiny ant.
“Mom—— Wuwuwu—— Mom——”
She was terrified and burst into tears.
But the woman named Mom didn’t come back.
And the man named Dad didn’t show up either.
Since the rice was taking longer to cook, Gu Jiao went to make two poached eggs in sweet soup first for Gu Yan, and then she walked to his door and called him.
“Are those two gone?” Gu Yan asked with his ears pricked up.
“Yes.” Gu Jiao answered.
Only then did Gu Yan open the door, but not completely, just a small gap enough to put his head out and look around. After making sure that his parents were no longer there, he walked out of the room gracefully.
Just then, the elderly woman woke up. Gu Jiao made her a bowl of sweet soup as well, and then told her about Gu Yan staying.
The elderly woman looked at the delicate teenager in front of her, and she couldn’t tell why, but she felt that she had met him somewhere before.
——That’s right, the Emperor of the State of Zhao liked the twins of the Marquis Ding’an Estate very much, and asked Imperial Concubine Shu to bring the twins to greet the Empress Dowager as well, so the elderly woman did meet little Gu Yan before.
It was just that she didn’t like children in general. She had people withdraw after giving them some presents randomly and now she couldn’t even remember this memory.
Little Gu Yan was still young at that time and couldn’t remember what the Empress Dowager looked like, so sitting face to face right now, neither of them recognized each other.
The elderly woman looked at the sweet soup in her bowl, and then at Gu Yan’s sweet soup. She opened her mouth and said, “I’ll trade with you.”
The elderly woman should avoid certain foods. The sweet soup given to her by Gu Jiao wasn’t sweet enough, but Gu Yan’s was.
Gu Yan didn’t know the truth, so he swapped with her generously.
After exchanging food with Gu Yan, the elderly woman ate the poached egg in sweet soup she had always dreamt of with relish!
Wu, it was so delicious that she wanted to cry!
Before Gu Yan came to the house, the elderly woman liked Gu Xiaoshun best because Gu Xiaoshun was the easiest to trick and she could use him to keep a few extra candied fruits at any time. As for Xiao Liulang and Little Jing Kong, the one was too smart while the other was too principled, and the elderly woman simply couldn’t fool them.
To be able to let the elderly woman eat poached egg in sweet soup on his first day at home, Gu Yan’s combat effectiveness was obviously stronger than Gu Xiaoshun’s.
In return for his generous act of giving her his poached egg in sweet soup, the elderly woman decided that he would always back this little boy up!
……
Meanwhile, after going down the mountain, Yao shi and Marquis Gu felt that they had forgotten something, but they were occupied on seeing Gu Jiao for a while and completely neglected what it was. Only when they returned to the villa and Yao shi took out Gu Jiao’s portrait did Yao shi’s brain buzz.
“Lord Marquis.” She stared blankly at the birthmark on her daughter’s face on the portrait.
“What’s the matter?” Marquis Gu leaned over to look at it with her, but he didn’t see anything amiss.
Yao shi said worriedly, “The abbot said that the birthmark on JiaoJiao’s face was gecko cinnabar, but JiaoJiao had been married long ago and yet the two of them… Could it be that they don’t get along?”
Yao shi couldn’t help but complain about the Gu Family at the moment, “How could they marry off JiaoJiao so early? If she had grown up in the Marquis Estate, I would have definitely kept her for a few more years.”
In the State of Zhao, women reached marriageable age at their fifteenth birthday. Wealthy and influential families usually started to choose marriage partners for their daughters only after reaching marriageable age.