Chapter 376: The Old Father's Smile
"You want to join the army now? Do you have what it takes? Apart from your muscular body, what else do you have to be worthy of joining the army? Are you relying on your mediocre skills or your not-so-smart brain?"
Gu Jingzhe is indeed Master Su's favorite disciple, and his mouth is even more poisonous than Master Su's.
He held a clean thick coat in his hand and personally put it on Master Su over his long gown.
Nie Xiaofeng laughed instead of getting angry when he heard this, and said, "Uncle, I know you have good intentions. You are trying to motivate me to make progress."
Gu Jingzhe: “…”
Nie Xiaofeng had never had a good face towards Gu Jingzhe before, and the two would always quarrel and ridicule each other whenever they met.
After spending more than half a month together, Nie Xiaofeng really treated Tong Huaqiong and Yiwodaizhu as his relatives.
Since he is a relative, there is no way I could cheat him.
Gu Jingzhe thought that this cheap nephew did have some advantages besides his strong body, for example, he was quite thick-skinned.
It's no wonder that people with thick skin and low sensitivity are suitable for joining the army.
In the military, people speak directly, no one cares about your fragile heart.
"I see that you joined the army not just to be a cook or just to be an ordinary soldier. If you want to be a general or a commander in the army, you have to fight your way out step by step with real skills. Not only must you have good martial arts skills, you must also have a quick mind, be able to deploy troops and battle formations, make the soldiers obey you, be able to judge the enemy's situation, and remain neither arrogant nor impatient regardless of a defeat or a great victory." Gu Jingzhe explained to Nie Xiaofeng seriously.
After listening to this, Nie Xiaofeng said, "I thought my uncle was just a bookworm, but he knows so much. I might as well take him as my teacher in the future."
Gu Jingzhe said, "How could I know anything about marching and fighting? Just follow Lai Fu and learn from him."
Gu Jingzhe said this as he carried some firewood into the kitchen.
After feeding the flowers, Tong Pandi went to the kitchen to cook.
"Cousin, let me cook. You go and look after the flowers." Gu Jingzhe said.
"Duo'er is watching. She won't wake up for a while."
Tong Pandi looked at his cousin with extremely complicated feelings.
In her previous life, Gu Jingzhe wouldn't even look at her cousin, let alone help her light the fire.
My cousin in this life is as talented in studying as he was in his previous life. If nothing unexpected happens, he will pass the imperial examination this spring.
He will marry the beautiful daughter of the Lu family in the autumn, pass the imperial examination the next year, and go to Beijing to take the imperial examination the year after and become a world-famous young champion.
He then divorced his wife and married the princess. He lived in prosperity for more than ten years, but eventually he brought the Gu and Tong families down with him.
Compared with his previous life, my cousin has become a different person, humble and down-to-earth.
And she hadn't heard that her cousin was engaged to Lu Zhaozhao.
She didn't want her cousin to have the same ending as in her previous life.
"Cousin...cousin..."
Tong Pandi came back to his senses when Gu Jingzhe called him.
"What's wrong with Jingzhe?" Tong Pandi asked.
"The pot is burnt." said Gu Jingzhe.
I was so absorbed in thinking that I forgot to turn the shovel.
Tong Pandi was very embarrassed as he waved the spatula to stir the food in the pot, and asked Gu Jingzhe as if chatting.
"Jingzhe, you will be fifteen after this year. Has your aunt arranged a marriage for you?"
Every time he returned to the village, the young wives in the village would ask him whether he was married or had a girl he liked, which was a regular question he would ask him.
Now my cousin is no exception.
Gu Jingzhe said calmly: "No."
Tong Pandi groaned, feeling an indescribable complexity in her heart. She wanted to see Lu Zhaozhao from her previous life, but she also didn't want Lu Zhaozhao to marry Gu Jingzhe.
In the previous life, after Gu Jingzhe got married, his aunt took Lu Zhaozhao to Heilongtan to show off that she had married a young lady from the Lu family.
Lu Zhaozhao gave Duoer a pair of bracelets, a longevity lock, and a set of head ornaments.
When she was about to leave, Lu Zhaozhao sent a maid to secretly give her a stack of silver bills.
She knew that Lu Zhaozhao helped her because she saw that she was having a hard time in the Wu family.
Thinking of this, Tong Pandi asked unconsciously: "Last time, my aunt told Mr. Huang's daughter about the son of the Lu family. I heard that there is a young lady cousin in the Lu family. Do you know her?"
Gu Jingzhe raised his head and looked at Tong Pandidi in surprise, wondering why his cousin brought up this for no reason.
Could it be that my cousin saw the Lu Zhaozhao he wrote on the paper while helping me clean the house?
"I know him, but not very familiar with him." Gu Jingzhe said unnaturally.
He hoped Tong Pandid would end the topic as soon as possible.
Fortunately, Tong Pandi didn't continue the conversation.
"Oh, cousin, you've cooked so many dishes. Luckily, our family is well off, otherwise we wouldn't be able to feed so many people. Just like the food you feed Hua Er Duo Er for a month, it would cost a lot of money."
Liu Yue'e came back from visiting a friend and leaned against the threshold of the kitchen, eating melon seeds and talking.
These days, Tong Pandi has heard Liu Yue'e gossiping behind Tong Huaqiong's back.
Tong Pandi smiled. She usually didn't bother with Liu Yue'e. This cousin's wife was always talkative.
Gu Jingzhe frowned and said to Liu Yue'e, "Second sister-in-law, look at what you are saying. Cousin is not eating and drinking for free in our house. She feeds pigs, cooks, washes clothes, and does all kinds of work. Second sister-in-law, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but why have you been talking like you were fed up with gunpowder these past two days? Is it because mother didn't allow you to go to the capital with second brother, and you are angry in your heart but dare not vent it on mother, so you always criticize cousin."
Liu Yue'e was usually a little afraid of Gu Jingzhe. She didn't dare to fight back after hearing what Gu Jingzhe said. She snorted and turned away.
Gu Jingzhe said to Tong Pandi, "Cousin, don't worry, my second sister-in-law is just like that. She doesn't dare to say harsh words to mother and Taohua, but she will say bad things to anyone she sees at home."
Tong Pandi smiled and said, "I know."
At the same time, I made up my mind that I would move out of my aunt's new house when spring comes and the flowers grow bigger.
......
In the evening, Tong Huaqiong returned from Pingchuan County with Gu Taohua and He Chao.
Maner, Xiaolong and other children rushed to welcome Tong Huaqiong.
Tong Huaqiong smiled, hugged Man'er, kissed Duo'er, and told the children that she had brought beautiful lanterns from Pingchuan County for everyone.
The children cheered.
"Grandma, we already have lanterns, given to us by Master Su." Maner said.
Master Su actually came to the house and gave lanterns to the children.
Tong Huaqiong came home and saw Master Su was there too.
She was touched that Master Su had done his best for Gu Jingzhe.
But Tong Huaqiong soon discovered that Mr. Su's purpose of coming to her house did not seem so pure.
"My aunt is here."
Tong Pandi was sitting on a cushion with flowers in his arms. He stood up when he saw Tong Huaqiong come in.
"Hurry up and sit down."
"Master Su is here."
Tong Huaqiong asked Tong Pandidi to sit down while greeting Master Su.
Master Su felt quite uncomfortable when he saw Tong Huaqiong coming.
Master Su was teasing Huaer with a rattle. As Huaer's little face turned with the rattle, a bright smile appeared on his face.
Tong Huaqiong felt this smile was familiar.
The smile of an old father.
Thinking of this, Tong Huaqiong couldn't help but look at Master Su carefully.
Master Su is not very old this year, at most in his early thirties.
Because he taught in a private school, he did not have to work in the fields or worry about food and clothing. His temperament was more elegant and youthful than most men in Yanguan Town.
This Spring Festival, Master Su has come to the Gu family three times.
Before Tong Pandi and Li moved into the Gu family, Master Su had only come once.
Could it be that Master Su has fallen in love with Tong Panddi?