Chapter 167 The date of returning is distant
She was truly too tired and sleepy. After she apologized and thanked doctor Ji and Du Qiu, she couldn’t support herself anymore. When she returned to the room, she fell asleep the moment she touched the bed.
The biological clock had been developed. Although, she was very tired, after the break, Shu Huan still woke up early in the morning. She lay half-awake in bed. She heard deliberately lowered voice talking in the yard. It was Du Qiu and Liangchen. Although, she couldn’t hear clearly what was being said, but the vague and low-pitched voice had an inexplicable power, making people feel calm and peaceful. At least, at this moment when she opened her eyes, she had forgotten the experience of last night. She only felt that there was a calm happiness and her whole body felt relaxed.
After she lay for a while, last night’s incident poured into her mind again. She didn’t feel fear or anxiety. She also didn’t care about the current situation of those two thieves. She only sighed why Gu Xiran hadn’t returned after he left for so many days.
When she sat up, Meijing caught a glimpse of it and smiled, “Miss has woken up?”
As Shu Huan wore her outer clothing, she asked, “Did doctor Ji left already? What is master Du doing outside?”
In fact, Meijing didn’t have to answer. When Shu Huan walked out, she saw that Ji Danqing was sitting in the courtyard and drinking tea. She saw that Liangchen and Shang Xin were cleaning up the greasy ground and Du Qiu was kneeling at the door to clean up the needles in the mud.
“I’m sorry,” Shu Huan was very apologetic. “I troubled you to come in the middle of the night and caused that you didn’t rest.
Hearing this, Ji Danqing turned around to look at her. He nodded and smiled, “It’s alright as long as nothing had happened.”
No one mentioned those two thieves. What mattered wasn’t themselves but that they (thieves) had brought a sense of a crisis.
Du Qiu stood up while holding the needles. He rubbed his finger on a needle and said, “This needle is too thin. Most of it had been gone into the mud because of being stepped on and some had been bended. Fortunately, you also prepared hot oil and water, otherwise, it would’ve been a disaster.
It would’ve been a disaster. Those two thieves wore black clothes and had their faces covered. They also brought daggers. It was already not stealing ordinarily. They came to rob forcefully.
At this moment, Meijing came with a bowl of eggs. When she heard this, she pouted, “Truly don’t know where we got infected with this bad luck to be marked by thieves and wasted a lot of firewood and oil. And these needles are also a pity.”
“It’s not something bad,” Ji Danqing smiled. “When I went to treat the two thieves last night, I heard the neighbors talk quietly that you are not easy to bully. As the rumors spread, probably ordinary thieves would be afraid to come here.”
Shu Huan couldn’t hold in and laughed, “We got the reputation of being fierce.”
“It’s still necessary to be cautious,” Du Qiu put those needles together. “You had probably bought many things yesterday and caught their eyes. There is also no man in this home, making here the best place for them to rob.”
Shu Huan said, “Master Du, help us get a dog to watch over the house.”
“A dog must be taken care for,” Du Qiu nodded. “I will try to get some self-defense weapons for you. This yard should also be equipped with traps. Also, it’s better for you not to go out when it’s dark.”
“Right,” Ji Danqing said. “This humble one can make some knockout drops for you to keep as self-protection.”
Traps and the knockout drops from the legends sounded very mysterious. Since they were so enthusiastic, Shu Huan naturally wouldn’t reject it. After she thanked them, she put this matter in their care. She took Meijing out and bought all kinds of pastries at a pastry shop and went to visit the neighbors one by one. Like that, if something happens, she could ask someone for help.
At home, everything must be handled by themselves. When you were busy, time would past fast. In a blink of an eye, a few days had gone by.
Previously, Shu Huan had asked Ji Danqing to tell Gu Xihe where she stayed now when he went to examine old madam and while he was at it also inquire when Gu Xiran would be back.
Ji Danqing brought a message quickly to her, saying that Gu household was now having internal trouble and outside aggression. No need to mention the internal trouble because Shu Huan knew about it. As for the outside aggression, that was something about the business. It seemed that several businesses got to know that Gu household had no one in charge now and they all joined hands to deal with Gu household, making Gu household somewhat unable to meet the turnover of cash. Some businesses of the shops had declined and it looked like the great mansion is on the verge of collapse.
Internal trouble and outside aggression: in a mess both on the inside and outside.
The great mansion is on the verge of collapse: in a hopeless situation.
Of course, whether Gu household was fine or not had no relationship with Shu Huan now. However, in this case, old madam waited for the relatives to help. It happened that they had offended Fang household and they couldn’t rely much on them. Old madam was more eager to form a marriage alliance with Zhang household and become double related (cousin marrying cousin). To put it bluntly, it was to make the relationship between the two sides better and more consolidate. Like that, Zhang household would be more willing to put some more effort on this matter.
Under the compulsion of various situation, old madam could care less that Gu Xiran was unable to marry because he was still in the mourning period. The moment Shu Huan had been divorced, she began to raise money for the bridal gift and pick a date. Naturally, the wedding had to wait until the mourning period is over. However, it was an old custom that as long as the engagement was set, no matter if they had married or not, the two families would be considered in-laws. If there was no major reason, the wedding wouldn’t be easily cancelled. If it was cancelled, that meant that the two families would’ve an acrimonious falling-out. From in-laws, they would become enemies.
All the above was the reason why Gu Xiran had still not returned.
Since this marriage was so important, naturally, old madam wouldn’t allow any mistakes. According to Gu Xihe, two days ago, old madam sent a letter to Gu Xiran to send him to another place to take care of matters. It was estimated that he would be able to return in ten days or half a month. Even if he returned, the raw rice had already been cooked. He wouldn’t be able to back out.
Raw rice become cooked: the matter is settled.
Gu Xihe was also alert and wanted to let the one who went to send the letter pass a message to tell Gu Xiran that Shu Huan had been divorced, but old madam seemed to be preventive of him leaking the secret. Before, the messenger went away, she didn’t let him leave her side for a moment. He also couldn’t find out from others the exact place that Gu Xiran was at the moment.
Ji Danqing said, “Fourth young master felt very apologetic for this and asked this humble one to apologize in his stead. He said that he would continue to pay attention and will send a letter to second young master the moment he gets the opportunity.”
When Shu Huan listened to this, naturally, she felt sad. The desire to see Gu Xiran as soon as possible was lost, but she didn’t show anything on her face and only shook her head, “This is not his fault. Why should he apologize? When you go again, thank him for me.”
Ji Danqing nodded silently, looked at her and also sighed in his heart.
If old madam insisted on breaking them apart, what could Gu Xiran do even if he returns? Marrying would be a wife, eloping would be a concubine. Unless she didn’t care about reputation and elope with Gu Xiran or being taken in Gu household as a concubine, otherwise, it would be difficult for them to be reunited again.
Shu Huan naturally didn’t know what Ji Danqing was thinking about. She only thought that ten days or half a month wasn’t long. She would wait! She had gone yesterday to the silver shop to pick up the silver hairpins and bracelets. She hid the two most valuable banknote and deeds inside them and wore it on her. After she had paid for the clothes, there were not many remaining pieces of silver anymore.
It wouldn’t do to just sit and use up the savings. Just sitting and eating, one can deplete even a mountain of wealth!
Just sitting and eating, one can deplete even a mountain of wealth: to spend one’s money without generating any income
Fortunately, when she went to pick up the clothes, the shopkeeper of the tailor shop told her that the worker hasn’t found any job yet and was waiting for her at the shop. When she saw that the other party had a loyal face and after she asked some question, she felt that he was a sincere person. She hired him for a string of 100 copper coins per month. She planned to establish the small shop first and just sell trivial things to earn money and wait with a peaceful mind for Gu Xiran to come back.
