Gu Jun stood up.
The woman introduced herself as the wife of Feng Laotou, and everyone called her Madam Feng. She smiled and ordered someone to bring out snacks and tea to entertain him.
Before long, Feng Laotou came out, looking relaxed. He greeted Madam Feng and hurried off to the yamen for his duties. The county office had roll call every morning.
Lin Yue and Gu Jun bid farewell to Madam Feng and headed to the construction site.
When Lin Yue arrived, he was late, but fortunately, the old craftsman didn’t hold it against him.
Gu Jun spent the day honestly waiting under the tree at the alley entrance for Lin Yue. As the sun set, Lin Yue finished work, and Gu Jun went to meet him.
The sun was quite strong today, and Lin Yue was drenched in sweat. As Gu Jun approached, the smell of sweat made him take a few steps back.
He covered his nose.
Lin Yue glanced at him and said, “What do you want to eat? The issue with Feng Laotou can be resolved, so you don’t have to worry about money. Eat whatever you want.”
Gu Jun hesitated for a few moments and said, “My clothes…”
“They’ll be redeemed before it gets cold. Until then, take good care of your health,” Lin Yue said. “We don’t have enough money to see a doctor, but we can still afford to eat well and take care of your health.”
Gu Jun looked at him in surprise.
Lin Yue actually cared about his health.
This person was too kind, and Gu Jun rarely felt a slight urge to tell him the truth, but he quickly suppressed it. His survival instincts wouldn’t allow him to have such impulses, not even a little.
Gu Jun focused on thinking about what he wanted to eat. He remembered the delicious mixed soup from yesterday. “Let’s go eat…” The words “mixed soup” almost slipped out, but he touched the money in his pocket, hesitated with himself for a while, and couldn’t bear to say it. He swallowed the words back and said, “I don’t really want anything.”
Lin Yue asked, “Is the mixed soup good?”
Gu Jun replied without thinking, “It’s just okay.”
Lin Yue turned his head to look at him and said, “Got it.”
Got it? Got what?
Gu Jun followed his steps forward and saw him heading towards a restaurant. He peeked at the prices of the dishes inside and was shocked.
Ignoring the sweat smell, he grabbed Lin Yue’s hand.
“Husband, did you go to the wrong place?” he asked rather tactfully.
Lin Yue replied, “No.”
Are you secretly a disabled person?
Gu Jun couldn’t hold him back, so he wrapped his arms around Lin Yue’s neck, hanging onto him to stop him. This move finally worked, and Lin Yue stopped walking towards the restaurant. He looked at Gu Jun helplessly and asked, “Do you really not want to go?”
“What would I do inside?” Gu Jun gritted his teeth and said.
Lin Yue said, “You said the mixed soup was just okay. I think only the food in the restaurant could be better than that.”
Gu Jun almost jumped up. “If we eat at the restaurant, we’d have to sell ourselves as slaves to pay the bill! Do you think being a slave is easy? With our looks, we’d be played to death without even knowing how it happened!” Gu Jun said, clinging tightly to Lin Yue. If he dared to keep walking, Gu Jun would bite him.
Lin Yue remained unaffected, calm as ever, and asked, “Is the mixed soup good?”
Gu Jun: “It’s good!” Even if Gu Jun was foolish, he now understood Lin Yue’s intention.
“Do you want to eat it?”
“Yes!”
Lin Yue’s lips curled slightly. He pinched Gu Jun’s chin, turning his face a few degrees left and right, and asked, “What do you see?”
Gu Jun looked around blankly, then seriously replied, “I see people, a lot of them, watching us.”
Lin Yue stared at him and said, “So you want me to take you to eat like this?”
Gu Jun: “…”
Gu Jun suddenly let go, jumped to the ground, and took a few steps back. Lin Yue lifted his foot to leave, and Gu Jun quickly followed.
One bowl of mixed soup, one bowl of plain noodles, plus two sorghum pancakes.
The mixed soup was for Gu Jun, while the plain noodles and two sorghum pancakes were for Lin Yue. Gu Jun initially wanted to share half with Lin Yue, but he refused. Only then did Gu Jun realize that Lin Yue didn’t like mixed soup, finding it too gamey. But Gu Jun couldn’t taste it; it was clearly delicious, with every piece full of flavor.
Gu Jun hadn’t done anything exhausting in the morning, so one bowl of mixed soup, with both meat and broth, was just right for him.