Chapter 57: Parents
Chapter 57: Parents
After leaving the medical hall, Gu Jinyu went straight to a tea house in town, where the Marchioness had been waiting for a long time.
As soon as Gu Jinyu entered the room where the Marchioness was, she threw herself into the Marchioness’s arms just like a baby swallow, and called her mother softly.
The Marchioness hugged her daughter who had been away for a long time, and said, “How old is this daughter already? Still throwing herself into mother’s embrace? You have no shame.”
Gu Jinyu hugged her even tighter, and said like a spoiled child, “No matter how old I am, I’m still yours and Dad’s daughter, am I not? How does this make me have no shame?”
The Marchioness pinched the tip of her little nose, saying, “You really are spoiled by your dad!”
Gu Jinyu grunted, “Who told Dad to have only one precious daughter like me?”
The Marchioness didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her response. She asked her, “Did everything go smoothly when you sent the treatment fee to the Rejuvenation Hall today?”
At the mention of this, Gu Jinyu’s eyes dodged her line of sight.
The Marchioness keenly sensed the abnormality of her daughter, and said, “What’s the matter? Is the Rejuvenation Hall dissatisfied with the payment?”
Speaking of which, this treatment fee matter was also a big mishap. The Marchioness thought the servant already paid them, while the servant thought the Marchioness had taken care of it.
If the Marchioness hadn’t asked casually, don’t know how long they would have continuously owed the Rejuvenation Hall a treatment fee.
It was for this reason that the Marchioness had planned to go to the Rejuvenation Hall in person today, only to meet her daughter, who had just arrived from the capital, as soon as she stepped out of the villa. After hearing about the ins and outs of the incident, Gu Jinyu felt duty-bound to take on the important task of paying the treatment fee. At the same time, the Marchioness wasn’t idle either, and instead went up the mountain and lit an incense for the Bodhisattva.
“It’s not that the Rejuvenation Hall is not satisfied with the payment, but…” Gu Jinyu confessed everything that happened in the Rejuvenation Hall, without embellishing the story or hiding anything. Her mother also taught her not to judge people by appearance, so she deliberately didn’t emphasize that the village girl was ugly and had a striking red birthmark on her left face.
“This daughter is wrong and shouldn’t be so arbitrary.” Gu Jinyu bowed her head and admitted her mistake.
The Marchioness said earnestly, “There will always be people who are more precious than ourselves. Never think that you can look down on others just because you have a higher status than them. Otherwise, if you meet someone who has a nobler status than yourself in the future, can they also look down on you then?”
The Marchioness loved her daughter very much, but there were still some moral standards she wanted her to follow.
Gu Jinyu pulled the Marchioness’s arm in a spoiled manner and said, “This daughter is the young miss of the Marquis Estate. Who can look down on this daughter?”
“You!” The Marchioness gave her a helpless look.
“But what’s with my brother’s jade thumb ring?” Gu Jinyu asked.
The Marchioness replied, “Your brother said she took it by accident. You know that your brother won’t lie.”
However, Gu Jinyu still didn’t understand as she said, “What does took it by accident exactly mean? How did he know it was by accident? Did he see it?”
“This… I don’t know.” The Marchioness spoiled her daughter while also wanting her to follow some principles, but when it came to her son, she would never question anything. After all, her son was a person who lived one day less than others, and she didn’t want to restrain him with rules.
Her son didn’t want to say much about that day, so she didn’t ask any more about it.
Moreover, it was just a jade thumb ring. If it was gone, it was gone. Everything was fine as long as her son was happy.
Gu Jinyu harrumphed sourly, “I took it away by accident last time, but he ignored me for a whole month! Am I still his sister or not?”
“You.” The Marchioness poked her forehead and said, amused and vexed, “If you’re not, then who is? Could it be the little girl who has the jade thumb ring?”
Because of this completely impossible joke, Gu Jinyu became in a better mood. She leaned against her mother’s arms and held out her dainty hand, “Mom, my hands are cold.”
The Marchioness touched the back of her hand, and found that it was really cold. She laid down the candy in her hand at once and took out an exquisite hand warmer furnace to warm up her daughter.
Gu Jinyu looked at the sesame candies on the plate and her expression turned strange, “Mom, where did you get this kind of thing? It looks unclean, beware of eating something bad.”
The Marchioness thought of the little girl she met at the temple, and her eyes were painted with a trace of tenderness, “I received it from a kind girl.”
On the other side, Gu Jiao finally got his own treatment fee, a total of 20 taels. Including all the money in hand, she now had enough to buy the mountain.
Second Owner was worried that today’s events would upset Gu Jiao, so he asked, “That… Next month’s treatment…”
Gu Jiao said faintly, “I promised to treat a patient once a month, and I won’t go back on my words.”
After she said this, she took the silver and headed to the academy.
The Dean, who wasn’t going back to the academy, had already left first.
When Gu Jiao arrived at the academy, the classes were already over, and the students clad in their white uniforms came out one after another. Gu Jiao as usual waited at the alley entrance of the same place, but after a long while, she never saw Xiao Liulang and Gu Xiaoshun coming out.
Just as Gu Jiao wondered whether they were held up by their teacher, she saw Xiao Liulang and Gu Xiaoshun coming from another direction.
Xiao Liulang and Gu Xiaoshun were carrying a bunch of things in their hands. When they approached Gu Jiao, she found that they were holding some incense sticks and candles, as well as thick ritual paper money.
Gu Jiao asked, “What are you going to do with all this stuff?”
Gu Xiaoshun was dumbfounded, “Big sis, have you forgotten? Today is the death anniversary of Third Uncle and Third Aunt!”
Gu Jiao was instantly muted.
She, she really forgot.
There was indeed such an important day in the memory of the original soul. Unfortunately, Gu Jiao wasn’t the original soul, so she overlooked this day.
“Thank you for remembering.” Gu Jiao said to Gu Xiaoshun.
Gu Xiaoshun scratched his head sheepishly and said, “Actually, it wasn’t me, it’s brother-in-law.”
Gu Jiao raised her eyebrow and glanced at Xiao Liulang. She didn’t remember herself mentioning the date of her parents’ death anniversary to him. He should have heard it from the villagers. Given their current false husband and wife relationship, it was a kind thing for him to remember it.
Gu Jiao: “Many thanks.”
Xiao Liulang was expressionless as he got on the oxcart with his crutch. He was still angry about the “secret dealings” between Gu Jiao and Dean Li, and planned not to talk to her for a day!
Gu Jiao had no idea what his sudden unfriendly attitude was all about, but he had remembered the death anniversary of her parents for her, so it should not be because of her!
Gu Jiao got on the oxcart without caring about it.
Gu Jiao, who believed their relationship was extremely good, had specially chosen a seat closest to him.
Xiao Liulang was only somewhat angry at first, but the source of his anger simply had no awareness of doing anything wrong, so Xiao Liulang became even angrier.
After the three returned to the village, Liu shi directly called Gu Xiaoshun away, while Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang went to the graveyard at the other end of the ridge between the paddy fields.
The graves of Gu Sanlang and his wife, Xu shi, were next to each other. Because no one had taken care of them for a long time, the grasses on the grave mound were already half a man tall.
Xiao Liulang was sulking, but he still rolled up his sleeves and pulled out the grasses on the grave mound one by one.
He was so earnest in pulling out the grass that he didn’t notice that Gu Jiao, who was behind him, was staring at the graves blankly.
In the original soul’s memory, Gu Sanlang was washed away by the flood. The villagers wandered along the riverside, trying to salvage his dead body for half a month before finding it. At that time, his corpse was already too spongy to look at, and Xu shi collapsed on the spot after one glance. After that, she had never felt better again.
She lasted only one year before she died on the death anniversary of Gu Jiao’s father, leaving her then five-year-old daughter.
They were both excellent parents, many times better than Gu Jiao’s parents in her previous lives, but unfortunately, they passed away so early.
It seemed that no matter whether in the previous life or in this life, she was destined to not receive any parental love.