Chapter 59 The meaning of executing with the firing squad
Shu Huan didn’t like to take advantage of people and also didn’t like to owe people. Hence, she had a rather weird problem. She wasn’t afraid that people treated her badly. She was afraid that people treated her too well.
If someone didn’t treat her well, she naturally didn’t have to show warm feelings to meet with cold rebuke. She would only put that person on the blacklist in her heart and completely ignore that person. However, she would be helpless against those who were good to her. She would keep thinking about how to return the generous treatment. If she couldn’t return it, she would feel guilty.
She had this kind of feeling towards Gu Xiran, but it was also mixed with other emotions she couldn’t explain. The feeling towards mother Du was a lot simpler. She purely felt that giving shelter to Du Qiu and asking doctor Ji to treat mother Du were all done by Gu Xiran. Hence, when she ate and drink without having done much and enjoyed mother Du’s care, she felt very apologetic.
It was very difficult to pay Gu Xiran back. She was still hesitating in her heart. In comparison, it was relatively simple to repay mother Du. For the long-term harmony, the proper behavior was based on reciprocity. So, while she chatted with mother Du, she took out a magnolia flower hairpin carved out of redwood from a box of agarwood and inserted it in mother Du’s hair.
“This…,” Mother Du was a little flustered and reached out to pull the hairpin, but was stopped by Shu Huan.
She said laughingly, “I had nothing to do and carved a hairpin. It isn’t worth much. It’s just to show my feelings. Please, accept it. Moreover, I still have to trouble you. If you don’t accept it, I would be too embarrassed to ask.”
Naturally, mother Du didn’t know about the value of redwood. She thought that it was an ordinary wood and liked the exquisite carving of the flower. Moreover, a wooden hairpin looked humble and not eye-catching. It matched with her status as a widow. Therefore, she didn’t insist on refusing it and smilingly accepted it. While she praised Shu Huan for being skilled, she asked what the matter was.
Shu Huan smiled, “I want to ask mama Du to teach me needlework. You do not have to teach me the difficult steps. Or perhaps, I can just watch when you are doing it.”
“This is easy. Just ask me what you don’t know.” Mother Du accepted, but she wondered, “You don’t know how to do needlework?”
Shu Huan didn’t answer and just nodded.
It was because she didn’t know that she wanted to learn. After all, the original owner knew how to do needlework. She couldn’t be sure that one day, old madam or another person wouldn’t get the sudden impulse to ask her to make something. It would be troublesome by then when she couldn’t do it. Moreover, needlework was a skill that ancient women must learn. If she had learned it, then she could embroider anything herself if she wanted something.
Mother Du thought that she was shy. She looked more affectionate at Shu Huan. She explained while laughing, “It’s no big deal that you don’t know. It’s easy to learn. You have no use to learn weaving and you also don’t need to hurry to learn sewing. I will teach you embroidery first. The first step is to embroider flowers…
The two were chatting lively when Gu Xiran suddenly returned. The maids naturally went to made tea and bring water. Even concubine Yun followed him inside. Mother Du felt that it was inconvenient for her to stay here. So, she went back to her place.
Gu Xiran took over the cold towel that concubine Yun prepared. He rubbed his face and smiled at Shu Huan, “It seemed that mama Du and you hit off pretty well. When she made something delicious, she would think of you first.”
“Such words without conscience,” Shu Huan handed a pot of herbal tea that was resting in the water of the well to him. “It is as if you didn’t eat anything.”
“I ate,” Gu Xiran laughed. “What can I do when my wife loves me so much and sent it to me first?”
Usually, she was teased a lot by him. However, in front of the maids and concubine Yun, Shu Huan still felt a bit embarrassed. She felt that this person was truly corny, but when she lowered her head and thought about his words, he seemed to be right. mother Du was indeed better to her than him and Ji Danqing…
“Don’t ponder,” Gu Xiran knew her very well. When he saw her lower her eyes, he knew what she was thinking about. He drank two mouthfuls of the herbal tea. “Du Qiu said that his mother had a girl before, but she was abducted before she turned three. They don’t know where she is or whether she was still alive. They came here this time saying that they came to look for a relative, but in fact, it was Du Qiu who had found some clues. That was why they sold all their belongings and came to look for her full of hope. They didn’t think that when they found the clue, it was a dead end. Mama Du doesn’t want to give up. They had been searching for two months and had spent all their money. Broken-hearted and in despair, she got seriously ill.”
Shu Huan raised an eyebrow, “So, she pampered me like a daughter?”
“Presumably,” Gu Xiran smiled. “You are almost the same age. Her daughter is only two or three years older than you.”
Then, mother Du’s age should be around Shu couple’s age. Perhaps, it was because she missed her daughter and overworked, she got wrinkles all over her face and even her hair had turned gray. She looked more than twenty years older than Shu couple.
Shu Huan was a bit affected and sighed. She didn’t know whether changing souls meant that the body had died. It would be better if it was like that. Although, it would let people be in despair and grieve, but this piercing pain of losing a daughter will be eased one day. It was better than being counted as a missing person and let her parents search for her day and night and making them unable to get peace for a long time.
Concubine Yun suddenly said faintly, “In fact, that girl is also blessed. At least, there was someone who always had her on her mind. It was better than when no cares whether you are alive or dead…”
Regardless whether concubine Yun had another meaning with these words, but they sounded very sad. Shu Huan couldn’t help but slam the table and said, “Those who abduct children are the most hateful. They should be dragged out and executed by the firing squad a hundred of times.”
Meijing was curious and asked, “What does executed by the firing squad mean?”
Uh…
She accidentally had a slip of tongue while being too excited.
“Executed by the firing squad is…dragging out…and poke a hundred holes with the gun until he is dead….,”Shu Huan was very distressed. While she incoherently tried to disguise, she sneaked a peak at the reaction of the others.
Concubine Yun had her head lowered and she (SH) didn’t know what she (Y) was thinking. Gu Xiran had an inscrutable expression. She naturally couldn’t see anything from that expression. She had to comfort herself secretly that if she occasionally let slip of some words, they wouldn’t understand it.
Who would’ve thought that when she just relaxed, Gu Xiran nodded and said with a straight face, “It turned out that executed by the firing squad is dragging him out and poke a hundred holes with the gun…mm, this expression is really fresh.”
The so-called black belly was that no matter what he said with any kind of expression, you would doubt whether there was a hidden meaning behind those words and whether he was pointing at another thing.
Shu Huan felt that she had become too suspicious. She looked seriously twice again at Gu Xiran, but she still couldn’t see his real thoughts from his face.
Gu Xiran faced her eyes and raised his lips slightly, “Isn’t that right?”
Shu Huan braced herself and answered, “Right…”
Gu Xiran looked away from her, lifted his robe and sat down, “It turned out that wife is so bloody and violent.”
“…”
After being defeated, Shu Huan turned and left. She had decided that after she learned needlework, the first thing she would do is to make a voodoo doll and put Gu Xiran’s birth data on it and beat the doll every day with the soles of her shoe…
However, she didn’t take two steps yet when she decided to change her mind after hearing another sentence from Gu Xiran. She decided to burn incense every day for him to protect him from illnesses and calamities and to let him live a long life.
He said, “Pack up. Go with me to the mountain early in the morning tomorrow. Bring a few pieces of clothing to keep warm. Perhaps, we have to spend a night in the mountains.
