Gu Lin kept his expression completely neutral. He picked up the drink in front of him to moisten his throat and said, “I am sincere in wanting to cooperate with Fortune Tower.”
Lifting his gaze to meet Fang Jiyue’s, his eyes unflinching, he continued, “As for Young Master Fang’s concern that Fortune Tower’s business might be affected, you can rest easy. I am running a small-scale business that earns money from ordinary commoners, while Fortune Tower’s customers are either wealthy or noble. Even if I had the heart for it, I lack the capacity.”
Gu Lin was not blindly arrogant; he knew that in the business world, when someone needed to be flattered, they should be flattered.
The flirtatious look on the young man’s face slowly faded, and the gaze he fixed on Gu Lin became sharp and focused. “I agree to this business venture.”
Seeing that the other person had completely discarded his previous hard-line attitude and made a decision on the spot, a surge of astonishment rose in Gu Lin’s heart. He had thought he would need to expend quite a bit of effort to make the other agree.
Noticing the surprise on the young ge’er’s face, Fang Jiyue’s smile grew even more unbridled. He flicked his fan open with a wave of his hand and said, “For merchants like us, when interests do not conflict, harmony is naturally prized above all. Since Boss Gu has proposed a win-win method, why should I be narrow-minded and fuss over that tiny bit of profit? With so many benefits to be reaped in this world, I certainly cannot expect to monopolize them all.”
Astonished that the other possessed such a broad-minded and transcendent perspective, Gu Lin knew cooperating with someone like this was undoubtedly the best choice. Speaking from the heart, he smiled and said, “Young Master Fang’s vision is far-reaching.”
While Fang Jiyue was indeed confident in his own ability and discernment, being praised to his face by a strikingly handsome ge’er caused the usually roguish Young Master Fang, who drifted through life in leisure, to feel a bit embarrassed as his earlobes flushed red.
Others might not have noticed, but Zheng Hao had been observing the man the entire time and naturally caught this abnormality, causing his gaze to turn icy.
“Then let us sign the contract.”
Fang Jiyue had someone bring out paper and brush, briskly wrote out the contract, signed his name, and handed it over to Gu Lin. When Gu Lin took it and looked down, his gaze paused for a moment as he realized many characters on the paper were unfamiliar to him.
Yet they were not entirely alien either. These characters strongly resembled traditional Chinese characters, and through wild guessing, Gu Lin managed to decipher the contents of the contract. Confirming there were no errors, he signed the original owner’s name. He silently rejoiced once more that he had checked the original owner’s household registration on the very next day after arriving in this world, otherwise he truly wouldn’t have known how to sign his name.
A trace of surprise flickered across Fang Jiyue’s eyes. He had originally intended to let the ge’er before him simply press his thumbprint, but he hadn’t expected the other to actually be literate. This certainly didn’t look like a ge’er from an ordinary background.
Watching the young ge’er with his head lowered as he wrote, Zheng Hao’s eyes also flashed with a hint of deep contemplation.
Once the contract was signed, Gu Lin dictated the cold dish recipe so Fang Jiyue could write it down. A look of realization crossed Fang Jiyue’s face. It turned out the other could only write his own name after all.
With the matters settled, Gu Lin and Zheng Hao left Fortune Tower. Upon stepping out of the county town, as expected, Uncle Zhang’s ox cart had already departed. Consequently, Gu Lin spent an extra twelve copper coins to rent an ox cart to take them back.
Upon returning home, Gu Lin looked at the contract in his hands, his delicate brows furrowing together. Today’s contract was merely the beginning. There would be many times in the future when he would need to read text, and he couldn’t possibly remain completely blind to characters forever.
Gu Lin could not accept completely transforming into an illiterate person.
He had a strong desire to learn the script of this world, but in the current era, women and ge’ers had zero opportunity for education. If one came from a wealthy family, they could hire a private tutor, but Gu Lin could not afford one.
Suddenly, his gaze landed on the young boy squatting in the vegetable patch not far away picking greens, and his eyes lit up. He couldn’t go to a school academy to study, but Zheng Hao could!
The more Gu Lin thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Who was Zheng Hao? That was the male protagonist from the original book, towering in intelligence and infallible in planning. Although he had never studied books in his childhood, in the middle and later stages, whether dealing with military affairs or state politics, he handled everything with effortless ease. Presumably, he must have studied in secret.
Furthermore, Gu Lin mentally calculated the boy’s age at around eleven years old. It was precisely time for him to attend school.
“Hao’er.”
Gu Lin left his seat and walked over to the edge of the vegetable garden. His voice was warm and gentle, but his expression looked remarkably like a weasel wishing a chicken a happy new year. Zheng Hao put down the vegetables in his hands, fixed his pitch-black eyes on Gu Lin, and asked, “What is it?”
The corners of Gu Lin’s lips curved into a smile. “Hao’er, would you like to go to a school academy to study?”
Unwittingly touching upon some sensitive point of the boy’s, Zheng Hao’s calm expression turned fierce in a fraction of a second.
Seeing this, Gu Lin’s heart sank.
Was the child averse to studying?
A flurry of thoughts flashed through his mind. Then, acting as though he hadn’t noticed the boy’s shifting expression, he casually asked, “Hao’er, what do you want to do in the future?”
Noticing the boy’s eyes staring straight at him, Gu Lin figured he hadn’t made himself clear enough and added, “I mean, when you grow up, do you want to do business, farm the land, or do something else?”
The fierceness on Zheng Hao’s face gradually receded. He pressed his lips together, lowered his gaze slightly, and seemed to ponder.
“Be an escort guard.”
Gu Lin: “Huh?”
Zheng Hao repeated, “I want to be an escort guard in the future.”
Hearing this, Gu Lin was somewhat surprised, but upon careful thought, it didn’t seem strange at all.
After all, in the original book, Zheng Hao rose through official ranks and noble titles entirely relying on his own martial prowess.
Gu Lin twiddled his fingers, his expression showing a trace of worry. While he did have self-serving reasons for wanting to send Zheng Hao to school, once he recognized the boy’s extraordinary talent, Gu Lin couldn’t bear to watch him waste such natural gifts either. “Escort guards need to be literate, too.”
Seeing that the boy didn’t refute him, Gu Lin pressed his advantage. “Look at those head escorts, which of them is illiterate? When a client entrusts you with a task, both parties sign a contract. If you cannot read, you will easily be cheated by others. Of course, if you plan to remain a basic escort guard your entire life, then it does not matter.”
That is right, Gu Lin was using reverse psychology. He believed no young person could accept someone telling them they wouldn’t amount to much, not even the male protagonist.
He looked at Zheng Hao before him. The boy first looked thoughtful, then narrowed his eyes and raised his head to look straight at him. “You want me to go study, and then come back and teach you how to read.”
At these words, Gu Lin was left speechless, once again feeling his scalp tingle at Zheng Hao’s sharp intuition.
Yet he didn’t lie and admitted the truth straightforwardly. “That is part of the reason, but given your age, it is about time you started schooling. You might not feel literacy is important right now, but later on, you will find yourself running into walls everywhere you go. Even if you are exceptionally talented in certain areas, remaining completely illiterate will still severely limit you.”
“However, do not put too much pressure on yourself. When I send you to school, I never intended for you to take the imperial examinations. I simply want you to learn how to distinguish right from wrong, and to tell good from evil.”
These were Gu Lin’s genuine thoughts.
In truth, given Zheng Hao’s exceptional intelligence, the best path for him would be the bright avenue of imperial examinations. But Gu Lin was someone who had lived through it all and deeply understood the principle that one man’s meat is another man’s poison. He didn’t want to pressure the boy too much. Besides, skipping the imperial examinations didn’t mean there was no way out. Some people would shine brilliantly regardless of the field they entered, and Zheng Hao was certainly one of them.
“Studying costs a lot of money.” Zheng Hao pointed out, hitting the nail on the head.
He kept his eyes fixed tightly on Gu Lin, refusing to miss even the slightest flicker of expression, wanting to see whether the person before him would show a shred of reluctance to part with money.
Seeing Zheng Hao soften, Gu Lin happily waved a hand. “No worries. Right now, selling cold dishes earns over a tael of silver every day. After selling for just a few more days, we will have saved up enough money for your schooling. Besides, the dividend payout from Fortune Tower will arrive in a few days too, so you can just go to school with peace of mind.”
Zheng Hao’s sharp, wolf-like gaze receded. “Alright.”
Initially, he hadn’t wanted to study because he despised those so-called scholars, every single one of them hypocritical and affected despite their polished appearance. But Gu Lin’s words made sense. Many things in the future would inevitably involve literacy. While he wanted to be an escort guard, he didn’t want to remain a low-level escort for the rest of his life.
“Ah!”
Just as Gu Lin was beaming with joy and Zheng Hao was deep in thought, a sharp, piercing shriek rang out from outside.
Gu Lin rubbed his aching ear, stood up, and walked outward, failing to notice the deep, murky look in Zheng Hao’s eyes following right behind him.
As soon as he stepped outside, Gu Lin saw an unidentified flying object dart past his eyes.
That unidentified object ran while howling miserably, “Which bastard framed me?!”
Gu Lin hadn’t clearly made out what the object was at first, but as it ran closer, a foul stench washed over him. Gu Lin’s eyes widened in disbelief as a person covered entirely in feces sprinted past him, followed by a pack of four- or five-year-old children clapping their hands and chanting, “Shame, shame, a ge’er and a woman kissing each other and accidentally falling into a big nightsoil pit!”
Gu Lin felt the amount of information in that single sentence was overwhelmingly massive, leaving him momentarily unable to untangle the relationships involved.
At that moment, Sister-in-law Zhao walked over. Gu Lin hurriedly asked, “Sister-in-law, what happened to that person?”
Sister-in-law Zhao smacked her thigh and said, “That is Tian Dahua, the daughter-in-law of Old Second Chen’s household. For some reason, she and Wang Ge’er inexplicably fell right into the nightsoil pit and stayed in there for ages before someone fished them out. When the two of them were pulled up, their mouths were stuffed full of… I will not say anymore, I will not say anymore, otherwise you will not be able to keep your meal down.”
Even though Sister-in-law Zhao cut herself off at the end, Gu Lin could easily guess the details. Associating it with the scene he had just witnessed, his expression twisted slightly, thinking that he probably wouldn’t be able to eat anything later.
At the same time, a subtle look crept into his eyes. Sister-in-law Zhao was always kind to others. Logically speaking, if someone encountered such a disaster, she would show sympathy and pity. But looking at the unmasked gloating on her face, it was clear that this Tian Dahua and Wang Ge’er were cut from the exact same bad cloth.
Still, Gu Lin remained quite curious about how those two ended up falling into a nightsoil pit together, so he voiced the question.
Sister-in-law Zhao’s expression instantly turned rather peculiar. She glanced around her surroundings before lowering her voice. “After Tian Dahua was pulled out, she kept crying and wailing that she was pushed into the nightsoil pit by a thief. But where would a thief suddenly come from in Lower River Village? If a stranger had entered the village, the elders at the village entrance would have sounded the alarm long ago. If you told me someone from the village did it, I might believe it, but the pit they fell into was the outhouse belonging to Wang Ge’er’s family. Who would have the guts to sneak into someone else’s yard to pull a stunt like that?”
Then, leaning closer to Gu Lin, she dropped her voice even lower. “Word is, though goodness knows who started the rumor, that the reason Tian Dahua and Wang Ge’er fell into the nightsoil pit was because the two of them were fooling around together in the outhouse and accidentally slipped in.”
Hearing such an explosive piece of gossip, Gu Lin’s mouth dropped open in shock. “That cannot be.”
Based on his understanding, ge’ers and women in this world walked the path of marrying men. He had never heard of a ge’er getting involved with a woman.
Sister-in-law Zhao, however, wore a hesitant expression, her voice dropping lower still. “A ge’er is not entirely without those equipment after all.”
A wave of heat rushed up to Gu Lin’s face. Since he was a ge’er himself, he naturally understood what Sister-in-law Zhao meant. However, being male at his core, he felt too embarrassed to continue discussing the topic with her, so he hastily found an excuse and hurried back home.
Once inside his own courtyard, Gu Lin let out a breath of relief. Then, unable to help himself, he turned to Zheng Hao and instructed solemnly, “You must be very careful whenever you go to the outhouse from now on. Make sure you do not fall in.”
Gu Lin could hardly bring himself to praise the outhouses of the current era. The environment was not only deplorable but also extremely dangerous. A single wooden board was laid across the pit, and one wrong step meant plunging right down. Tian Dahua and Wang Ge’er were fortunate to be pulled out, but plenty of people who fell in ended up suffocated by the contents of the pit.
“I understand.”
The half-grown teenager maintained a calm, serene demeanor, looking completely detached from the situation, making it impossible to imagine that today’s events had been entirely orchestrated by his own hand.
When noon arrived, Gu Lin predictably had no appetite. Watching Zheng Hao opposite him remain completely unaffected, eating meat piece after piece with great relish, a sense of deep admiration bloomed on Gu Lin’s face.
As expected of the male protagonist, capable of keeping a steady composure even if Mount Tai collapsed right before him at such a young age.