FIMA Ch48: Book Copying

Hearing the familiar voice, Xie Changyue looked up: “Husband.”

Seeing such a smiling face, Gu Siyuan’s mood unconsciously brightened as well. He reached out a hand toward him: “Time to go home.”

“Mm,” Xie Changyue nodded vigorously.

He grabbed Gu Siyuan’s large hand to stand up, then, thinking of something, quickly bent back down, picked up a stone, and erased the characters on the ground.

His husband’s name couldn’t be stepped on by anyone later.

Gu Siyuan looked at the name “Gu Yang” written all over the ground; this was the feeling of being loved wholeheartedly.

After he stood up, Gu Siyuan took an oil-paper package out of his back basket and handed it over: “For you.”

As soon as Xie Changyue saw the packaging, he knew there were pastries inside.

He instantly broke into a smile, revealing neat, white little teeth: “Husband, you brought this back specifically for me!”

Gu Siyuan gave a light cough and, with his usual cold expression, said: “I just happened to pass by Baoxiang Zhai.”

“I know!” Xie Changyue’s voice rang clear and bright.

Hehe, if his husband hadn’t been thinking of him and missing him after going to the county town, how could he have thought to bring him pastries?

Back when he was in the Earl’s Mansion, the Shen family’s conditions were so good, and the Second Master Shen also went out every day, yet he had hardly ever seen him think to bring anything back for Madam…

Xie Changyue held the pastries in one hand and tightly hugged his husband’s arm with the other.

“Husband, didn’t you say the academy only dismisses classes at the hour of You? How did you get back so quickly? Is it because you missed me, so you intentionally walked much faster…”

Gu Siyuan coughed lightly but did not refute it.

“I knew it! I miss Husband very much at home too,” Xie Changyue laughed excitedly. His crisp and delighted voice dispersed into the clear breeze.

The two walked toward home hand in hand. Their silhouettes, elongated by the evening sunset, almost merged into one.

After entering the house, Xie Changyue let go of Gu Siyuan and smugly showed off the pastries his husband had brought him to Gu Qingqing and Mu Xia. Then, he successfully had more than half of them divided away.

In the end, he could only carry the much-thinned oil-paper package back to his room, puffing out his cheeks as he hid it away.

Gu Siyuan pinched his cheek: “I’ll bring you more tomorrow.”

Xie Changyue shook his head: “No more.”

He knew pastries weren’t cheap, and they weren’t in the Earl’s Mansion anymore; how could they afford to eat them every day?

Gu Siyuan lowered his eyes, thinking to himself: Books must be read, and money must also be earned.

The next day, Gu Siyuan got up even earlier than yesterday.

When he woke up, Xie Changyue was still sleeping soundly in his arms, his face rosy.

He jogged all the way to the county town again, but he didn’t enter the academy immediately. Instead, he stopped at the entrance of a shop selling the Four Treasures of the Study. This was the shop with the best reputation on Book Market Street, and also the one the original owner frequented the most.

“Is that… Young Master Gu?” Shopkeeper Song of the bookstore paused for a moment upon seeing him before asking.

Gu Siyuan was tall and had good looks, standing a head taller than the crowd, making it easy for him to leave an impression. Moreover, as a shopkeeper who welcomed and saw off customers for business, his memory was better than average.

It was just that in his impression, this young master used to be somewhat gloomy and silent, not possessing such an astonishing aura.

Gu Siyuan cupped his hands: “Greetings, Shopkeeper Song.”

Shopkeeper Song also resumed his usual smile: “What does Young Master need today?”

Gu Siyuan got straight to the point: “I need to buy some paper. Also, I would like to ask if the shopkeeper has any book-copying work available?”

Shopkeeper Song paused.

Copying books was a way for impoverished students to supplement their livelihoods. It seemed simple, but in practice, it consumed a lot of mental energy—no mistakes or omissions were allowed, no alterations could be made, and every character had to be upright and neat.

During the ten years of arduous study at a cold window, there was barely enough time for reading and learning. Unless forced by necessity, very few scholars were willing to do this kind of work.

He looked Gu Siyuan over a few times, straightened his expression, and pulled out a sheet of paper: “Young Master needs to write a few characters for me to see.”

Naturally, Gu Siyuan knew the shopkeeper was testing his depth. Without hiding anything, he picked up the brush and dipped it in ink. He wrote at an extremely fast speed, yet every character was neat and upright. In just a moment, he had filled half a page.

Shopkeeper Song was utterly shocked.

“With such calligraphy, Young Master, even if it cannot be said that a single character is worth a thousand pieces of gold, it is still a rare sight. Wouldn’t copying books be a disgrace?”

Gu Siyuan chuckled lightly: “A thousand pieces of gold… perhaps there will be an opportunity in the future. For now, it’s more important to earn some silver and copper.”

Hearing the unparalleled confidence and pride in his words, Shopkeeper Song said no more. He turned around and retrieved an exquisitely bound hardcover book from the shelf.

“This is the recently arrived Complete Compendium of the Book of Documents. It has a total of nine volumes, and one volume costs ten taels of silver. If Young Master finishes copying one volume, I will give you two taels of silver.”

Gu Siyuan picked up the Complete Compendium of the Book of Documents and leafed through a few pages, unable to help but chuckle.

This was the ancient version of an exam sprint guide and model essay answers.

The Four Books and Five Classics were as vast as a smoky sea; memorizing them all and understanding their arguments and appreciations was incredibly difficult.

Thus, some people compiled the most crucial chapters that had been extensively annotated and explained by renowned scholars and great Confucian masters, transforming them into fixed, high-scoring writing templates.

Normally, students would select the templates they needed and repeatedly practice writing essays. Once in the examination hall, they would simply adapt them to the given topic.

In this dynasty, a great Confucian master had once severely criticized this trend, considering it scholarship without a foundation, a castle in the air.

However, it couldn’t be helped that this method was truly convenient and effort-saving. Although it was difficult to achieve a high rank with it, it was much more clever and opportunistic than helplessly relying on rote memorization.

Therefore, this compendium sold increasingly well and became more expensive.

Gu Siyuan left a small deposit and walked into the academy carrying this precious Complete Compendium of the Book of Documents.

The classroom was the same as the previous morning, with only a few figures silently reciting books while swaying their heads.

Setting down his book basket, Gu Siyuan took the policy essay he had written the night before and went to Master Chen’s room.

The door was wide open. Inside, besides Master Chen, there was a middle-aged man and a young boy. Looking at the gifts placed beside the middle-aged man, he must have brought the boy here to acknowledge him as a teacher.

The young servant boy beside Master Chen was brewing tea. Seeing Gu Siyuan approach, at the master’s signal, he specifically poured a cup for him.

Master Chen looked at the middle-aged man, stroked his beard, and said: “Duke Wang, this is the most outstanding disciple under my tutelage.”

Upon hearing this, both of them shifted their gazes over.

The middle-aged man sized up Gu Siyuan, noting his dignified appearance and cold, stern temperament. He was neither haughty nor humble in the face of praise or scrutiny. The man nodded deeply: “To be so highly regarded by Brother Chen, he is indeed no ordinary person.”

Hearing this, Gu Siyuan gave a slight nod, remaining silent as before.

Afterward, Master Chen returned to the main topic with the middle-aged man, which was indeed about educating the young boy.

From the conversation, Gu Siyuan also learned that this middle-aged man was not the boy’s father, but his thirteenth uncle. To have a seniority ranking down to thirteen, it truly was a massive family clan.

A moment later, the middle-aged man exchanged a few more pleasantries and then, somewhat vexedly, lectured the boy a bit before stating he was busy with family matters and stood up to leave.

Master Chen stood up with Gu Siyuan, intending to see him out to the academy gates, but was politely declined in the courtyard.

After returning and sitting back down, Master Chen introduced Gu Siyuan: “Gu Yang, this is your new classmate, surnamed Wang, with the single given name Xu. Like you, he will also take the exams next February.”

Surnamed Wang?

Gu Siyuan thought of the middle-aged man just now, who possessed quite an imposing aura, and to whom the master was extremely polite.

And in their Yongan Town, Wuqing County, there was precisely a prominent, famous clan surnamed Wang. For generations, they had passed down their heritage through poetry and literature. The clan had produced Hanlin academicians, Ministers, and high-ranking provincial officials.

In this current generation, there was even a lady of the Wang clan who was highly favored in the palace; not only had she been titled Noble Consort, but she had also given birth to one of the Emperor’s only three adult princes.

Of course, these true bigwigs of the Wang family lived year-round in the capital. Those remaining in the ancestral home in Yongan Town were just ordinary clan members relying on the protection of the surname, mostly managing ancestral sacrifices and such matters on regular days. But to ordinary commoners, they were already an unreachable behemoth.

The reason Gu Siyuan understood the Wang family so clearly was because, in the original plot, the instigator of the palace coup and rebellion that led to the death of the devoted third male lead—his eldest cousin Gu Zhen—was the Prince of Wu, none other than the Fifth Prince born to the Wang family’s Noble Consort.

These thoughts cycled through Gu Siyuan’s mind, but on the surface, he remained impassive: “Greetings, Brother Wang.”

This young boy, Wang Xu, looked quite rebellious and untamed, but his upbringing was actually good. Hearing this, he also politely replied to Gu Siyuan: “Greetings, Brother Gu.”

After exchanging greetings, Master Chen had the two sit to the side to wait.

He took Gu Siyuan’s policy essay and set it aside, not looking at it immediately. Instead, he first had Gu Siyuan recite a few passages of classical texts from memory and tested him on the text explanations he had lectured on yesterday.

Faced with this sudden questioning, Gu Siyuan wasn’t panicked in the least. Almost without thinking, he answered word for word, his speaking pace steady and fluent.

Master Chen listened, nodding repeatedly; this was true wide-ranging knowledge and strong memory, completely integrated and understood. Next, he asked a few extremely obscure and difficult classical text questions.

Gu Siyuan remained unhurried, answering fluently as before.

Listening from the side, Wang Xu couldn’t help but cast a glance at him.

Since he was rebellious, he naturally had the capability to back it up. He had been famous since childhood for being able to recite anything after a single glance, having almost read through all the Four Books and Five Classics.

Yet at this moment, the person in front of him not only similarly excelled in memory but could explain profound theories in simple language and draw inferences from one instance even better than him.

A rare trace of battle intent rose in his eyes.

Naturally, Master Chen saw Wang Xu’s look, but he just stroked his beard and nodded in great satisfaction.

After testing his recitation and comprehensive annotations, Master Chen finally picked up the policy essay to read.

Upon reading the first sentence, Master Chen drew in a breath, glanced up at Gu Siyuan’s cold and composed face, and silently continued reading.

A long while later, he gently set down the paper and said with a rather strict expression: “The perspective lands very high, and the insights carve out a new path. However, it is still very raw; the writing style needs to be more well-rounded…”

Hearing this, Wang Xu couldn’t resist looking at Gu Siyuan again.

Hmph, what kind of criticism or guidance was such an evaluation?

Such specious flaws were almost tantamount to having no flaws.

If the previous recitation merely proved that Gu Siyuan had a good memory, Master Chen’s evaluation of the policy essay now truly made him begin to value this cold-faced classmate.

Master Chen then asked Gu Siyuan for his reasoning behind addressing the topic in this manner.

Gu Siyuan’s tone remained flat, but the content of his answers was far more profound and broad than what was written on the paper.

It was evident that when he put pen to paper, he had deliberately held back.

After all, for such sharp and profound policy essays, examiners who liked them would absolutely love them, but those who didn’t might scrutinize them extra harshly.

So, to play it safe, Gu Siyuan had watered it down a bit.

After listening, Master Chen was simply astounded that there could be a student with such youthful sharpness yet such seasoned steadiness.

This was an innate difference in vision and capability; born to see further and think broader than others.

Master Chen thought to himself: With such talent, logically speaking, his reputation should have spread far and wide long ago. How could he have remained completely unknown?

But his eyes shifted, and he thought that perhaps Gu Siyuan’s previous teacher also cherished his talent, fearing that being praised too highly and gaining too much fame at a young age would lead to a ‘Shang Zhongyong’ situation (early brilliance fading due to lack of effort). Therefore, they intentionally suppressed him for a few years, only allowing his brilliance to be revealed now as he neared adulthood.

He nodded; this made sense. Seeing that the person before him was only seventeen or eighteen years old, yet possessed such calm composure, not changing his expression even if Mount Tai were to collapse before him, it was clear that his cultivation had indeed been highly effective.

Having finished his thoughts, Master Chen wrote a few characters with his brush and handed them to Gu Siyuan: “This is today’s essay topic. Come to me at this time tomorrow for inspection as well.”

Gu Siyuan bowed: “Thank you for your trouble, Master.”

Master Chen stroked his beard and shook his head: “You may go first!”

It seemed he had no intention of returning the policy essay to him.

Seeing the person walk away, Wang Xu stood up and bowed respectfully to Master Chen: “Master, may your student catch a glimpse of Brother Gu’s great talent?”

Master Chen glanced at him and, in a rare display of agreeableness, nodded.

A smile appeared on Wang Xu’s face, and he took the paper with both hands.

A moment later, he quietly set down the policy essay, bowed silently, and walked out of the room.

There truly was always a higher heaven, always someone better out there in the world.

When he was in the capital, he had been full of arrogance, thinking only a handful of people could compare to him. Upon arriving in the small Wuqing County, he felt even more that he was second only to the heavens. Who would have thought…

Thus, at noon that day, when Gu Siyuan bought hot soup as usual and was about to eat his flatbread for lunch.

A certain youth surnamed Wang walked over with a delicate food box, acting very familiar as he sat down, and said casually: “Brother Gu, my family’s servants sent too much food. How about we eat together?”

Gu Siyuan glanced at him; truly a communication style characteristic of people of this era—building friendships over the dining table.

However, he still nodded. In the plan he had just formulated, the person before him was an extremely crucial link.

On the other hand, the path of the imperial examinations was never one that could be walked alone.

Starting from the County Exam, candidates needed to form mutual guarantee groups. The requirements became stricter as one progressed. By the Academy Exam, five candidates needed to mutually guarantee each other, implementing a system of collective punishment—if just one of the five committed fraud, the other four would be equally guilty.

In this way, being honest oneself wasn’t enough; one also had to consider the character of the other peers. Being able to make acquaintances in advance was naturally a great thing.

Moreover, judging by his performance in class just now, this youth indeed possessed some scholarship and capability. Coupled with the support of a powerful background, he was bound to achieve something in the future.

Even if not for his current plans, when he stood in the imperial court in the future, such fellow students, classmates, fellow townsmen, and graduates of the same year would all be extremely precious political resources.

However, despite thinking this much and finding several benefits to associating with this person.

Soon, Gu Siyuan felt a bit of regret.

This guy Wang Xu looked unruly and untamed, but once familiar, he had a tendency to become a maddening chatterbox.

Finally, just as spit was about to fly into his bowl.

For the first time, Gu Siyuan repeated the words of the ancients: “Do not speak while eating.”

Wang Xu blinked: “Then after we finish eating, I shall discuss the length and breadth of matters with Brother Gu.”

“…” Gu Siyuan.

Did he really have that much to say?

By the time classes were dismissed in the evening, Wang Xu was still talking to him as they walked out of the academy gates together.

Even when Gu Siyuan went to the bookstore to hand in the volume of the Complete Compendium of the Book of Documents he had just finished copying today, he followed along the whole way.

When Shopkeeper Song received the book, he was still somewhat in disbelief: “Young Master is this fast?”

“…” Gu Siyuan.

Shopkeeper, mind your phrasing.

However, after Shopkeeper Song finished checking the copied contents, he happily paid the money immediately and handed him another three volumes to copy at once, without even asking for a deposit.

Crossing the Qingxi Bridge toward the corner of Anding Avenue, many people were gathered around a stall.

Standing on the bridge, Gu Siyuan saw that it was a merchant setting up a stall selling watermelons.

Watermelons had been introduced to the Central Plains from the Western Regions a thousand years ago. Initially, they were only popular in the households of high-ranking officials and nobles. By the previous dynasty, frequent trade by foreign tribes in the Jiangnan region brought the technology for cultivating watermelons, which gradually introduced them to common households, though they were still not common.

However, Tongzhou was under the jurisdiction of the Shuntian Prefecture, so there were quite a few merchants traveling to the capital to sell goods who would make a trip over here on the way.

Gu Siyuan said: “I’ll go take a look.”

Wang Xu clearly saw the stall too and exclaimed: “Oh, foreign melons! I love eating them too. Let’s go together; I’ll have him send a few to my house later.”

At the stall, Gu Siyuan carefully selected a perfectly round, bulging melon; it looked just like the curve of Xie Changyue’s puffed-out cheeks when he was unhappy.

He asked the stall owner the price and found out that a single watermelon cost several hundred copper coins. He couldn’t help but pat his coin purse and sigh. Fortunately, he had just delivered the copied book and earned two taels of silver; otherwise, he’d have to eat and run right now.

Wang Xu looked at him: “Why buy only one? How is that enough to eat? It’s my treat, Brother Gu, take a few more.”

Gu Siyuan shook his head: “This item is quite cooling. Bringing one back for my husband to try something fresh is enough.”

Wang Xu frowned in shock: “Brother Gu has already started a family?”

This person clearly looked to be about the same age as him.

Gu Siyuan nodded.

Wang Xu couldn’t help but sigh heavily: “Sigh, I originally wanted to tell Brother Gu that I have quite a few younger sisters at home…”

Gu Siyuan immediately cut him off: “Brother Wang, do not joke around. My husband and I are deeply in love.”

Wang Xu, who was always tactful, changed his tune and asked with a smile: “Then your husband must surely be a Ger from a prominent family, graceful, generous, and of outstanding virtue? To be able to earn such devotion from Brother Gu.”

Gu Siyuan nodded: “My husband is indeed outstanding, but he doesn’t hail from a major clan; he’s merely someone from my village.”

“Ah… oh.”

Wang Xu opened his mouth, feeling it was a pity. Someone with Gu Siyuan’s character, appearance, and great talent was destined to go very far in the imperial exams. At that time, there would be no shortage of major figures from above taking a liking to him. If he were unmarried, they might have betrothed a beloved daughter to him, making his future official career much easier.

But now…

Gu Siyuan didn’t anticipate what this person was thinking. Holding the perfectly round watermelon, he thought of how Xie Changyue might be waiting at the village entrance with his round, puffed-up cheeks, and impatiently bid farewell: “Brother Wang, see you tomorrow (mingzhao).”

Wang Xu nodded: “See you tomorrow!”

Huangyang Village. Xie Changyue dropped the small hoe in his hand and ran outside the courtyard gate.

Today, because several of the flower seeds his husband had given him previously had actually sprouted, he got too excited and delayed for a while in the backyard. When he finally looked up, he realized the evening sun had already slanted westward.

Watching his son-in-law run off right on time, Mu Xia also felt quite helpless. Did his son really have that much charm?

With an extra melon in the back basket today, running was a bit inconvenient, so Gu Siyuan’s speed was slower than yesterday’s.

He had just walked a short distance near the village entrance when he saw a familiar, slender figure also running quickly out of the village.

Upon seeing him, Xie Changyue’s eyes instantly lit up. He ran straight forward, hugged his arm, and called out delicately: “Husband.”

Gu Siyuan rubbed his head and said flatly: “I bought a foreign melon today, so I walked a bit slower. Good thing you didn’t come to wait early.”

Xie Changyue shook his head, saying quite excitedly: “The flower seeds sprouted today, I came late too.”

Seeing him running and covered in sweat, Gu Siyuan felt a bit of heartache and softly coaxed: “It’s fine now during the summer, but in two months when autumn arrives and it gets dark early, you’re not allowed to come wait for me at the village entrance anymore.”

Xie Changyue puffed out his cheeks and didn’t respond.

Gu Siyuan pinched those round cheeks he longed for day and night: “After autumn arrives, I’ll take the ox cart back every day; I’ll definitely be earlier than usual. It’s dangerous at the village entrance when it’s dark and there’s no one around. You’re not allowed to make me worry.”

Hearing that he would worry, a smile reappeared on Xie Changyue’s face: “I’ll listen to Husband, but you must make sure to come back early then.”

Gu Siyuan nodded: “Mm, I won’t lie to you.”

After returning home, Gu Siyuan took out the foreign melon and gave it to Xie Changyue, letting him cut it up to eat for fun.

Although Xie Changyue really wanted to keep what his husband bought all to himself, this foreign melon was a rarity, and the Gu family members hadn’t eaten it much. He decided to take it to the courtyard, thinking of cutting it up later so the whole family could try something fresh.

Naturally, Gu Siyuan had no objections to this.

Li Xiangtao happened to come out of the kitchen. She saw him washing the foreign melon at first glance and immediately glared: “Oh my, I say there’s no one who dotes on their husband more than our A’Yang. Just yesterday he bought pastries from Baoxiang Zhai, and today he bought this foreign melon. Hmph, he’s still studying and spending the family’s silver, yet he’s so willing to buy these precious, expensive things.”

Xie Changyue stopped his washing movements, slowly raised his head, and narrowed his eyes at the person before him.

He had beautiful eyes—slender and elegant, with slightly upturned outer corners. They looked especially cute when he smiled normally, but right now, half-narrowed like this, they appeared somewhat eerie and bewitching.

Li Xiangtao felt a twinge of guilt: “What are you looking at? Am I wrong? Truly squandering money.”

Xie Changyue gave a cold laugh, his voice faint: “When Eldest Aunt grabbed three or four pieces of pastry from me at once yesterday, you didn’t seem to think it was squandering money, did you?”

Li Xiangtao was left speechless. A long while later, she muttered softly: “Since it was already bought, what’s wrong with me taking some? Isn’t it still the family’s silver?”

Hearing this, Xie Changyue’s eyes grew even colder, and he was just about to say something.

Right at that moment, an extremely cold and sharp male voice drifted over.

“Buying pastries and buying the foreign melon were all bought with the silver I earned from copying books. As for the brush and ink money given by the public fund every year, Eldest Cousin and I have the exact same allowance. I have never overstepped it, nor have I ever been secretly subsidized.”

Gu Siyuan’s tall figure walked out from the room.

Li Xiangtao’s face looked ugly. Gu Yang’s first few sentences were one thing, but the last sentence was pointing at the mulberry to curse the locust tree. Gu Yang had never been secretly subsidized by the public fund, but her Zhen-er was frequently subsidized by the Old Madam.

The coldness surrounding Xie Changyue was swept away in an instant. Hugging the foreign melon, he ran a few thump-thump-thump steps to Gu Siyuan’s side, puffing his cheeks and looking at him pitifully: “Husband…”

The trailing note of his voice dragged out long, full of twists and turns, as if he had just been bullied terribly.

“…” Li Xiangtao.

You weren’t like this when you were talking to me just now.

Gu Siyuan raised his hand and caressed Xie Changyue’s chubby cheeks, instantly feeling an unparalleled surge of tenderness.

He shot a cold glance at Li Xiangtao: “Since Eldest Aunt finds it so offensive, just take this foreign melon back to our room. We can cut it later and send some to Grandfather and Grandmother. It’s just… Eldest Aunt needs to have some bounds when conducting herself. How a nephew treats his husband is a private matter within his own quarters. Eldest Aunt spying and observing so carefully is perhaps quite inappropriate.”

“…You, Gu Yang, you little bastard…” Li Xiangtao’s face was entirely red, who knew whether from anger or shame.

How dare Gu Yang spout such nonsense?

What did he mean she was spying on her nephew’s private quarters? If word of this got out, how could she face anyone?

“Enough, the whole family arguing over a foreign melon,” Old Madam Gu walked out of the house upon hearing the commotion.

She usually never scolded her daughter-in-law in front of the grandchildren, but this time she spoke with rare severity to Li Xiangtao: “Since you don’t like eating it, go back to your room. It’s not your silver being spent anyway.”

Li Xiangtao didn’t dare talk back to the Old Madam and stormed off in a huff.

Only, before leaving, she didn’t forget to shoot a disdainful glance at Gu Yang, thinking: Very good, very good. I’ll just wait and see what kind of garbage someone who thinks about his husband all day can produce in the imperial exams next year!

Gu Siyuan just pretended not to see.

Old Madam Gu also turned to look at Gu Siyuan, saying coldly: “You are a scholar, you should still pay attention to your words. How can you say just anything out loud to family?”

Xie Changyue immediately puffed out his cheeks in dissatisfaction.

Hmph, it was clearly Eldest Aunt who had a problem, loving to meddle in other people’s business every day.

Gu Siyuan had no intention of talking back to the Old Madam. He nodded, dealing with her cursorily, and then led his husband back to their room.

Old Madam Gu watched the backs of the two, furrowing her brows.

Originally, her eldest daughter-in-law was also fierce and loved to haggle over every detail, but the Second Branch never took it seriously, so there were never any arguments.

Now that Yang-er was married, his temperament had changed quite a bit, and conflicts were breeding.

Just now, both husband and wife of the Second Branch were in the room, yet neither came out to mediate, which represented their attitude.

Originally, the Old Master had planned to wait until Zhen-er was married before splitting the household, but now they might have to do it early. If they dragged it on like this, it would be bad if the brothers turned against each other.

Following Gu Siyuan back into the room, Xie Changyue looked at him with eyes full of adoration: “Husband, you were amazing just now! Not only did you make annoying Eldest Aunt stomp her feet in anger, but we don’t have to share the foreign melon with her anymore.”

Gu Siyuan pinched his cheek: “If you like it, I’ll bring it for you again tomorrow.”

Hugging his husband’s neck, Xie Changyue clung to him with sweet affection: “Whatever Husband gives me, I like. But no more foreign melons; Husband works very hard copying books, I can’t bear it.”

“…” Gu Siyuan.

How could there be such a lovable little sweetheart in this world?

He turned around and pushed him down onto the bed; he wanted to taste whether Xie Changyue was as sweet everywhere as his mouth was.

The following days were fairly peaceful.

Gu Siyuan continued reading and practicing calligraphy, while Xie Changyue continued planting flowers and waiting for his return.

Time slipped by day by day. The tips of the leaves began to tinge with a bit of golden yellow, and the various flower buds slowly turned into fruit.

In early September, the Winter Clothing Break began, lasting about ten days in total. Students would use this opportunity to go home and prepare their winter clothes.

The academy was considerate of the difficulties out-of-town students faced traveling home, so, just like the previous farming break, classes were dismissed right at noon.

When Gu Siyuan returned home, his little husband, who usually ran out early to welcome him, was currently in the backyard, standing in front of plant stalks taller than himself, sighing heavily.

“I’m really sorry, Husband. It looks like I won’t be able to grow any beautiful flowers. I wonder if there’s a problem with my planting method?”

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