Capítulo 1304: Chapter 1304: Wishful Thinking

Old Granny Zhang, seeing that Wang Yongzhu seemed to have a plan in mind, didn’t say much more.

Although she suggested that Old Doctor Du was Wang Yongzhu’s mentor and had indeed been very good to their family, so what if they had the big grandson stay with them for a few days?

What was so difficult about it? With a child of that age, the most they could do was to pamper him a bit and take care of him properly.

Now wasn’t like the old times when money was tight, it was just a matter of spending a little extra silver, treating him well and sending him back in one piece was only right.

But listening to her daughter’s words, at best, it was treating Brother Jun not as an outsider, at worst, it was not treating him as a person at all, not welcoming him at all, but looking for ways to refuse him.

The surprising part was that Old Doctor Du didn’t mind in the least, and seemed particularly happy, handing the child over with a wave of his hand and leaving just like that.

Isn’t it said that the youngest, the big grandson, was the old man’s lifeblood?

From the looks of it, this wasn’t the treatment of a lifeblood?

However, Old Granny Zhang thought for a moment; if it were her who was told to send Jindou to someone else’s house for a few months, she also wouldn’t be reluctant, it would save on the household’s food expenses.

The big grandson is not valuable! The big daughter is the real treasure!

Thinking like this, Old Granny Zhang no longer cared what Wang Yongzhu did and acted as if she hadn’t seen anything.

After lunch, when they started their journey, they did not stop again, as they needed to reach Shiqiao Town before dark.

The carriages were all rented, and the drivers were all skilled personal soldiers, who with a crack of the whip, shouted: “Hang on tight—” and the speed increased significantly.

The people inside the carriage perked up at the sound, grabbing onto whatever they could for support.

Only Lord Du, who didn’t react in time, by the time he realized, had rolled around the carriage and struggled to grab onto something for leverage, trying hard to sit up.

Only to be slapped away by a hand, and as he looked up, Jinhoo looked back with a face of frustration and defensiveness: “If you’re getting up, get up, why are you grabbing my pants?”

If it weren’t for his quick reflexes, his pants would’ve been torn today.

Lord Du awkwardly let go of his grip, trying his best to get up, but with the jostling carriage, it was an achievement to simply stabilize himself, never mind getting up, his handsome little face turned red, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed.

As Jinhoo saw his red face and bulging neck, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, thinking how this well-off young master must’ve offended his grandfather to be brought to the countryside to suffer like this.

Feeling a bit compassionate, he reached out and pulled Lord Du up, then taught him: “Here, hold onto this for stability!”

Lord Du hurriedly grabbed it, then looked at Jinhoo expectantly.

Jinhoo sighed, “Just bear with it for a bit, can’t you get out and walk for a while? Or have those uncles carry you for a bit? Endure until dark, you’ll be there by then.”

Lord Du looked outside at the sky, the sun was still hanging high.

Then he looked at those men riding rented horses, looking every bit like cavalry ready to charge, and quickly dismissed the thought.

For a moment, he felt nothing but despair.

Finally, as the sun began to set slowly and more people appeared on the road, Jinhoo looked at the pale-faced Lord Du and sympathetically said, “Just hold on a little longer, we’re almost at the town. Once there, you’ll get to rest, soak your feet, sleep, and when you wake up—”

Lord Du couldn’t help but ask: “When I wake up, will we be there?”

Jinhoo shook his head: “What are you dreaming about? When you wake up and then sit for another half a day in the carriage, that’s when we’ll be there!”

Lord Du saw black spots in front of his eyes and promptly fainted.

When he came to, he found himself lying on a kang, the room was pitch black and empty, suddenly giving rise to a feeling of dread.

Fortunately, he soon heard familiar voices from outside, and a bit of lamp light shone through the window, allowing him to relax.

Trying hard to get up, he realized his whole body ached and his stomach was unbearably hungry, feeling completely out of strength.

After much effort, he turned over and got off the kang, shuffling step by step to the door, and when he opened it, he saw a group of men in the courtyard sitting around with their clothes open, chatting away.

Some were in the corner of the courtyard, with their upper bodies bare, splashing buckets of water over themselves, complaining about how refreshing it was.

Jinhoo was among them, not knowing what he was discussing with them.

Seeing the door open, they all looked over.

Where had Lord Du ever witnessed such a scene? Thinking it was all too vulgar, he couldn’t help but frown a little.

He opened his mouth to say something.

The moment he opened it, Jinhoo knew he was about to say something unpleasant that would offend people.

Immediately, he stepped up, covered Lord Du’s hand, and pushed him back into the room: “Ah, you’re awake. Are you hungry? There’s still food left for you on the stove, do you want some?”

Lord Du, already weak, couldn’t resist, and at the mention of food, his stomach rumbled loudly, making him involuntarily feel embarrassed, though thankfully the room was dimly lit, and no one could see.

Jinhoo naturally heard it too and worried that Lord Du would be too embarrassed, quickly said: “You sit down, I’ll bring it over to you.”

He lit the oil lamp in the room, then ran outside to get the food.

Outside, those men, considering themselves as rough men, inherently disliked those scholarly types who were good for nothing and always thought they were right. Their own Princely Heir was fine since he was the master and, fortunately, not one of those scholars who couldn’t even kill a chicken, having quite a bit of good skills, they could deal with him.

This entire trip, Lord Du was clearly a soft-faced scholar, showing a scholarly type of pedantic air despite his age, unused to eating this, unstable in sitting that, more coddled than their own Wife of the Heir-Apparent, made them look down on him.

When Lord Du showed up with that look of disdain, none of the people in the yard were fools, they saw it all, and although they weren’t about to pick on a half-grown child, they definitely didn’t like him.

Seeing Jinhoo come out to get food for Lord Du, one of the straightforward ones spoke up directly: “I say, Jinhoo young master, you’re at least the dear nephew of our Wife of the Heir-Apparent, who has the gall to have you personally serve food? He’s not without hands or feet. A grown man, acting like a woman, rides in a carriage all day, yet our Wife of the Heir-Apparent and the madame and a few maids are just fine, and he is special?”

The man didn’t lower his voice, so the whole courtyard heard it.

Lord Du heard it in the room, and felt both annoyed and a bit embarrassed.

After all, though Jinhoo was born in a rural family, he was indeed the legitimate nephew of his little master aunt, and he was now going to his house. Having him serve food was indeed improper.

He then heard Jinhoo’s cheerful voice outside: “Ha, it’s just a convenient thing. I was born a country boy, hardy body, traveling a whole day is nothing, and the Lord Du is a guest, I’m at least half a host, I can’t watch a guest starve!”

“You all chat among yourselves, I’ll be right back.” He said and then jogged away.