novelraw Chapter 246 Returning in Concealment
Chapter 246 Returning in Concealment
Chapter 246 Returning in Concealment
Gu Lianshan didn't plan to drink much this time. He just went to show his face and keep him company. He definitely wouldn't drink much.
He reassured Gu Tang, "When Father gets there later, he'll just eat whatever's available and drink no more than ten cups of wine!"
"Ten cups is not enough?" Gu Tang's eyes widened. "Those with a low alcohol tolerance can't handle two or three cups. Even those with a good tolerance will feel dizzy after four or five cups. If you drink ten cups, will you be able to make it home tonight?"
Gu Lianshan paused for a moment, "Ten cups are still too much?"
He looked at Gu Tang: "How about we halve it, five cups?"
"Five cups is fine. This amount should be enough to keep you from getting sick." Gu Tang nodded. Halving the quantity would still be acceptable.
Seeing that his daughter agreed to five bowls, Gu Lianshan breathed a sigh of relief and continued to devour the mutton and drink the mutton soup.
By the time we finished eating, it was already completely dark outside.
Gu Lianshan took out a torch, intending to light it to guide the way.
Seeing this, Gu Tang quickly told him to put it down and called Gu Ping'an over, asking him to go to the empty room in the west wing and bring over a lantern.
"We have lanterns at home. You can carry one over; it's both presentable and convenient, much better than a torch."
Gu Lianshan knew that his family had bought lanterns, but he was reluctant to use them. He was afraid that if he didn't hold the lantern properly, the candle inside might burn the lampshade.
"Father will use a torch. I'm not used to your lantern. What if it catches fire?"
"If it's burning, then it's burning. It's just a lantern. You can take it and use it. It's meant to be used and burned by people."
As the father and daughter were talking, Gu Ping'an had already brought over the lantern.
After removing the lampshade, Gu Tang found a thin white candle, inserted it into the base inside the lantern, lit it, and then put the lampshade back on.
She handed the small stick on top of the lantern to Gu Lianshan: "Hold this and take a look. This lantern is different from those fancy lanterns. It's just a layer of Xuan paper pasted on the lantern frame. There are no other patterns. It's perfect for lighting and guiding the way."
This was the first time Gu Lianshan had carried a lantern. Although he said that a torch would be fine, he still took the lantern with a look of delight when Gu Tang handed it to him, and walked around with the lantern for a couple of rounds.
"How about it? Much more convenient than a torch, right?" Gu Tang asked with a smile.
Gu Lianshan nodded: "Indeed, this is much more practical than a torch."
"Alright, take it with you then. Don't drink too much, remember, no more than five cups of wine, not a single cup more! And after you drink, don't talk too much or say anything out of turn, there are some things in our family that we can't tell outsiders yet."
Gu Tang, still worried, repeatedly reminded him, fearing that after a few drinks and some flattery, he might become arrogant and blurt out some family matters.
Gu Lianshan nodded repeatedly, assuring Gu Tang that he had remembered every word she said.
After comforting Gu Tang, Gu Lianshan happily carried the lantern and walked towards the courtyard gate.
Gu Ping'an followed behind him, carrying an oil lamp, and escorted him to the far gate.
After everyone left, he closed the door again.
Back in the second courtyard, he lit two lanterns under the eaves, hanging one at the entrance of the main hall and the other on the second gate of the second courtyard.
When his father returned later, the person who got up to open the door could easily pick up a lantern for lighting, without having to go through the trouble of lighting it with a flint.
Gu Tang stood under the corridor for a while, watching Gu Ping'an busy with the lanterns, and felt more and more that he was very thoughtful.
"It's cold outside, what are you doing standing outside? Come inside and warm yourself by the fire."
The third uncle inside urged Gu Tang to come inside quickly.
Gu Tang subconsciously responded, turned around, lifted the curtain, and put one foot into the main room.
Just then, Gu Tang suddenly remembered something and hurriedly looked up to ask her third uncle, "Master, where are the two dogs I bought during the day?"
"A dog?" Third Uncle looked bewildered.
"Yes, where's the dog?"
Third Uncle slapped his thigh: "If you hadn't brought it up, I really wouldn't have remembered. Those two dogs were safely taken care of. Why don't you ask him?"
Gu Tang withdrew the foot that had stepped into the house and turned to ask Gu Ping'an.
The two dogs were indeed placed there by Gu Pingan. He pointed to the east wing: "The two puppies are in my room. I saw that they were small and I was afraid they would get cold, so I didn't dare to put them outside."
Did you leave them some food for dinner?
"Huh?" Gu Ping'an was stunned for a moment, then looked annoyed. "I forgot to save some! I'll go cook them right now!"
"Alright, stop busy." Gu Tang called out to him and offered a suggestion: "There's still plenty of mutton soup in the pot. Go and ladle out a bowl, then take two pieces of flatbread from the jar, break them into pieces, and soak them in the soup bowl. Let them soak for a while, and then you can serve it to the puppy."
Feeding dogs with flatbread soaked in mutton soup is quite extravagant!
It's important to understand that even something as simple as mutton soup with flatbread is something many ordinary people can't afford.
If it were up to Gu Pingan, he would never have been willing to feed the puppies anything like mutton soup with flatbread.
Unfortunately, it was Gu Tang who brought this up, so he couldn't object to it.
Gu Ping'an handed the oil lamp to Gu Tang and obediently went to the kitchen to serve soup as Gu Tang had instructed.
Gu Tang didn't follow, but stayed in the east wing. She pushed open the door to the room where Gu Ping'an lived and made a "sucking" sound into the dark room.
Soon, the soft whimpers of puppies could be heard from inside the house.
Gu Tang's eyes lit up, and she continued to call out, "Suckling..."
A short while later, the two dogs came out of the house one after the other.
Placing the oil lamp on the ground, Gu Tang took advantage of the two dogs' unpreparedness, grabbed one in each hand, and held them tightly in her arms.
He picked up the oil lamp and led the dogs directly into the main room.
Third Uncle was surprised that Gu Tang would bring the puppy in, so he quickly got up, stepped forward, took the oil lamp from her hand, and placed it on the table.
"Why did you bring them into the main room? I just heard Ping An say outside that these two dogs have been staying in his room. I think we should hand them over to Ping An tonight."
"That's what I think too, but we need to feed them first." Gu Tang placed the two next to the stove, where it was warm.
In another unfamiliar place, the two puppies huddled together, whimpering timidly at their surroundings, too afraid to move.
Fortunately, at that moment, Gu Ping'an came in carrying a bowl of mutton soup with flatbread.
The two puppies, who had been hungry for half a day, became restless as soon as they smelled the aroma, sniffing around and soon came to Gu Ping'an's feet.
"Don't rush, don't rush, here's some for you to eat." Gu Ping'an said with a doting expression, placing the bowl in front of them.
The two puppies immediately went crazy, plunging their heads into the bowl and devouring the flatbread soaked in mutton soup.
The third uncle went over and took a look. Hmm... mutton soup with flatbread. Now there's no need to worry. These two dogs will definitely survive.
"You watch over them, and once they've finished eating, let them go to your room to sleep. I'm going back to my room now."
Gu Tang said goodbye to Gu Ping'an and then to her third uncle before leaving.
"There's a lantern hanging at the door. It's already dark outside. Second sister, take the lantern to the backyard. I'll light another one later."
Gu Pingan helped her lift the curtain at the door so she could see the lanterns under the eaves.
Gu Tang responded, and after leaving the house, she took down the lantern hanging on the wall, picked it up, and walked towards the backyard.
As soon as I stepped into the backyard, a small stone suddenly fell from the sky not far ahead, hitting the ground with a loud thud.
Gu Tang paused, then immediately stopped in her tracks. This is… Ah Gou?
Pebbles don't fall from the sky; they must be man-made.
As for who this person is?
Gu Tang's first thought was Ah Gou.
They continued walking forward without making a sound, and soon another pebble fell in front of them.
Gu Tang rolled her eyes.
She glanced around; it was pitch black, and she couldn't see anything. But she knew without a doubt that Ah Gou was watching her from the shadows.
Gu Tang threatened in a low voice, "That's enough. If you really scare me this late at night, you'll regret it!"
As soon as he said that, there was a moment of deathly silence.
Not long after, Ah Gou's voice rang out from ahead: "I didn't scare you. I threw the stones to prepare you. Otherwise, I might have startled you if I suddenly appeared."
As he spoke, Ah Gou emerged from the darkness and quickly came to Gu Tang's side.
By candlelight, Gu Tang carefully examined him and, seeing that he was in good spirits, asked him if his trip had gone smoothly.
Her father only reported good news and never bad news. When asked if things went smoothly, she would immediately reply "smoothly" without even thinking.
Gu Tang didn't really believe it.
Fortunately, Ah Gou was still following them in the shadows.
"The trip went extremely smoothly, both ways went without any mishaps." Ah Gou's tone was normal, without hesitation or concealment.
"That's good." It seems things really went smoothly.
Gu Tang breathed a sigh of relief and led the people back into the house.
Once inside, Gu Tang asked him about the courtyard.
"Has the courtyard you looked at earlier been reserved yet?"
"It's settled. I've given ten taels of silver as a deposit. The rest will be paid tomorrow or the day after when the contract is finalized."
Gu Tang yawned and took out a box from his system backpack, inside which were five hundred taels of silver.
"Here are five hundred taels. Take them and buy a courtyard."
Ah Gou paused for a moment, then quickly said, "It won't cost that much. That courtyard is probably only a little over two hundred taels."
"Besides buying a courtyard, you'll also need to purchase food, firewood, bedding, clothing, and other necessities. These items combined won't be cheaper than the courtyard itself. If you run out of money, then you can ask me for more."
It's not a bad thing to have extra supplies. If there really is a snow disaster, even more people will become beggars. If the charity wants to help people then, they'll need food, clothing, and blankets.
"Okay, I'll take care of it the day after tomorrow."
"The day after tomorrow?" Gu Tang looked puzzled. "Why the day after tomorrow? Tomorrow is fine too."
"Have you forgotten? I made a promise with you beforehand that I would come to thank you tomorrow as a rich young master whom you rescued. We agreed on this beforehand."
I almost forgot about this.
Gu Tang slapped his forehead. Ah Gou had indeed come to express his gratitude as a rich young master, something that had been mentioned in advance.
But she hadn't anticipated that so many things would happen.
She tried to discuss it with Ah Gou and reschedule the visit.
"This involves kidnapping and rescuing people, and my father is already in a bad mood. If you come to our house tomorrow, we might not be able to discuss anything. I think it would be better to wait a few days before visiting."
"Wait a few more days?" Ah Gou asked reluctantly. "If we wait any longer, you'll have to go back to the village."
Gu Tang glanced at him, quite surprised: "You knew we were going back to the village?"
Ah Gou's eyes widened: "I'm not stupid. You and your father have always lived in a village outside the city. You're only temporarily living in Beian City now."
Besides, there are reports of snow disasters outside. For the safety of your family, you will definitely need to return to the village.
"Don't worry, I promise I won't let my father go back to the village before you come to visit," Gu Tang said confidently.
But Ah Gou didn't quite believe what he was hearing.
"Can you control your father?"
"That's true, my dad listens to me the most!"
Upon hearing this, Ah Gou completely gave up; this person was determined to postpone his visit.
Okay, let's postpone it then.
“You are the master and I am the servant. Since you have said so, I should obey.”
Gu Tang breathed a sigh of relief; as long as he didn't argue, that was fine.
“In that case, you should go back to Pear Blossom Alley for now. Tomorrow, we’ll buy a courtyard house and settle those little beggars in there first. Then we’ll get the necessary things.”
Ah Gou nodded repeatedly, taking notes of everything Gu Tang said. Before long, he left the house and the courtyard.
After seeing the person off, Gu Tang closed the door, washed up with the hot water on the stove, and then slipped into bed.
Go to bed early and get some rest; she still has questions for her father to ask tomorrow.
Not long after lying down on the bed, Gu Tang fell asleep.
Meanwhile, at the Wei family's banquet, the people were still drinking and chatting, praising each other and making small talk, creating a lively atmosphere.
Following his promise to his daughter, Gu Lianshan sat silently in his seat and ate his food after finishing the fifth cup of wine, refusing to eat any more wine no matter who offered it to him.
As time passed, the food on the table grew cold.
Judging by the time, this meal has been going on for almost an hour.
You can accept it now.
Everyone agreed that it was acceptable, since they had to get up early to return to the village tomorrow, and even if they indulged in drinking tonight, they couldn't get completely drunk.
After everyone had left the table and gone back to their rooms to sleep, Madam Wei took her son and daughter to see Gu Lianshan off.
Gu Lianshan carried a lantern and strode out of the inn.
Just as he was about to leave, Madam Wei suddenly called out to him, "Second Brother!"
"What's wrong?" Gu Lianshan turned to look at her, puzzled.
Wei pursed her lips and pleaded, "When you lead your people back to the village tomorrow, could you tell them not to announce my return for the time being?"
Just tell the clan elders that I have returned safely. Don't tell anyone else for now, especially the Gu family..."
Gu Lianshan didn't understand why Madam Wei made such a request, but it wasn't a big deal, so he readily agreed.
"I will come over first thing tomorrow morning, and I will explain it to the clansmen then."
Madam Wei looked delighted and bowed to Gu Lianshan.
Gu Lianshan waved his hand, telling the mother and her two children to go back: "I'm leaving. It's late and cold outside. You should go back inside too."
After saying that, the man strode away.
Wei led her son and daughter to watch the lanterns go for a while at the entrance of the inn, and only returned to the inn when the lanterns were out of sight.