CHAPTER 52: CHAPTER 48: THE GROVE

"Where’s my basket? Where did it go?" As soon as Mr. Gu returned to his room, he started looking for his basket. He searched the entire house but couldn’t find it, and immediately panicked.

"What’s the rush? It was taken to feed the pigs." Mrs. Lv was helping Gu Chengyu lay the bedding.

"What? Didn’t I tell you not to touch it when I left? Oh no, oh no, the treasure is gone." Mr. Gu was so anxious he was about to rush to the pigpen.

"Why are you running around frantically? I took it out for you; am I that foolish?" Mrs. Lv shot Mr. Gu a glance and took out a green coarse cloth package from the cupboard above the kang table.

Gu Chengyu suppressed a smile; his mother was teasing his father! How could this be believed? Ignoring what they said, he climbed onto the kang and entered the space with his mind. He needed to memorize medical books, at least familiarize himself with basic herbs. He also had to study the knowledge related to the imperial examinations since he would likely soon be attending school. As for practicing martial arts, he’d have to wait until his parents fell asleep to train physically. Sigh! It would be more convenient to have a room to himself; once the ginseng is sold, he must persuade his father to rebuild a house. There are so many people, it’s getting cramped.

The next morning, at dawn, Mrs. Lv instructed Mrs. Fang and others to spread out the honeysuckle they picked last night to dry. They used two large flat bamboo winnowing baskets and four bamboo mats to have enough space.

After getting up, Gu Chengyu looked up at the sky, seeing it clear and sunny. Hmm, if it continues to dry like this, three days should be enough.

"Mom, you need to turn the flowers frequently, or those at the bottom won’t dry properly."

"You little kid, you worry so much; isn’t this just like drying vegetables? Doesn’t your mom know?" Mrs. Lv smiled and tapped Gu Chengyu’s head lightly.

Gu Chengyu chuckled foolishly a couple of times.

"Wife, I’m going to Doctor Li’s place." Mr. Gu had returned from the fields and was already entering the courtyard.

"Dad, I want to go too." Only Gu Chengyu had seen whether Doctor Li recognized this honeysuckle; if his father went to ask, the secret would be out. Also, they needed to take the ginseng and let Doctor Li appraise its value to see how much silver it could fetch.

"Alright then, let’s go! Take some of these flowers and let Doctor Li have a look. Oh, and wife, can you come inside for a moment?" Mr. Gu naturally wanted to take the ginseng since Doctor Li probably knew the rough price of ginseng.

Gu Chengyu regretted it immensely; he should have told his father that the honeysuckle was recognized in a dream. Now, it was likely to be exposed. If his father didn’t go to ask, he wouldn’t be at ease. Sigh! Just have to take one step at a time now.

Gu Chengyu stood in the courtyard waiting, guessing that his father was fetching the ginseng. Sure enough, when Mr. Gu came out of the room, his chest was bulging.

Doctor Li’s house was situated at the end of the village, not far from the foot of the mountain. Mr. Gu took a back path through the village with Gu Chengyu, avoiding having to go halfway around the village and meeting fewer people, eliminating the need to stop and greet acquaintances.

Gu Chengyu was keenly observing the surrounding scenery. Perhaps because people rarely passed by, the flowers and plants here were particularly lush. In the grass, unknown wildflowers were scattered, with butterflies fluttering amongst them. About twenty meters off the path was a small pond. Gu Chengyu’s eyes lit up; he wondered if there were any fish in this pond. Mr. Gu could only catch some foot-long crucian carp in the big river and had never tasted a big fish. If he could catch some fish and put them in the space, they would surely grow large.

Just as Gu Chengyu was about to ask Mr. Gu, they heard voices ahead. They were about to pass a small grove, and it seemed the voices were coming from there.

"You rascal, you still know to come find me? I thought you’d forgotten about me." It was a woman’s voice, speaking intermittently, accompanied by rapid breathing.

"Hey! How could I forget about you? I missed you so much these days; let me hold you lightly. These days, my family has been watching closely, I couldn’t find a chance to come out." This was a man’s voice, just even heavier with panting.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Don’t tear my clothes, be gentle. If you tear them, will you buy me new ones?"

Gu Chengyu felt a thunderous sensation; were these two engaged in a romantic tryst? How could they be so reckless?

Even though it was a small path, one could never be sure if someone might come by! They sure were bold. He’d heard that if such behavior was caught in ancient times, they could be drowned in a pig cage!

While thinking this, he didn’t stop walking. If he should stop, his dad would naturally stop; he was just a kid, supposedly unable to understand any of this!

Sure enough, Mr. Gu walking beside him seemed to have guessed what these two people were doing.

Mr. Gu came to a halt, made a "shhh" gesture at Gu Chengyu, then cupped his hand over Gu Chengyu’s mouth, dragging him behind a large tree. The smaller saplings in front provided a cover for both of them.

Mr. Gu also felt extremely embarrassed. He glanced at Gu Chengyu, seeing that he was behaving obediently and didn’t ask why they needed to hide. Could it be that the kid understood? Mr. Gu looked at Gu Chengyu suspiciously.

Gu Chengyu knew that for a child, this behavior was quite abnormal. He blinked innocently at Mr. Gu, gesturing with one hand to cover his mouth and pointing with the other towards the road outside. Mr. Gu breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly shook his hand, and drew Gu Chengyu into his arms, covering his ears again.

The pair seemed to be in quite a hurry, and they had coincidently arrived just as things had started, so they would probably be there for a while. The problem was, if his little brother Xiao Bao were to see something, what would happen then?

Luckily, Xiao Bao didn’t understand anything, but he worried that such obscene language would taint his little brother’s ears.

Nonetheless, he was curious to see who in the village dared to sneak around for an affair.

However, to consider catching them in the act would be foolish; what concern of his was this?

Better to avoid trouble if possible; if they did catch them, they might seek revenge later.

In truth, ever since practicing inner strength, Gu Chengyu’s hearing had become extremely keen, and even with this level of covering, it was useless!

"You weren’t in such a hurry the other day when you lingered outside my courtyard. Did you think I wouldn’t notice? What? Isn’t your man enough and now you miss me?"

The man seemed to think the woman truly missed him, and his tone was quite smug.

"Wasn’t it because you promised me that matter last time and haven’t handled it yet? Such a scoundrel, you’d forget about me once you put your pants on? If you don’t help me, I’ll expose what’s between us; I have nothing to lose compared to those who do." The woman seemed anxious, her voice sharp.

"Keep it down, aren’t I figuring it out now? Don’t I have to get my dad’s approval first? You know your family can’t provide the money, and my dad is hard to deal with." The man’s tone was slightly irritated.

"Then why don’t you just give it to me? You’re just reluctant to part with some money, hmph!" The woman, seeing the man was losing patience, softened her tone.

"It’s just that I don’t have any silver on me! All my money was handed into the public purse; even if I wanted to give you some, I don’t have it! Don’t worry, I’ll think of another way."

"Who are you kidding! I don’t believe you don’t have any private stash. You’re not really thinking of me. Are you trying to trick me? Boo hoo..." The woman started to cry.

"Hey~ Stop crying, sweetheart, your crying breaks my heart. If I didn’t care about you, would I have bought this for you? Look, what is this?"

"Oh! You really bought it for me? This isn’t cheap! You’re so good to me." The woman was overjoyed and said some flattery.

Gu Chengyu rolled his eyes; she switched her face pretty fast!

"Didn’t you say you liked this style? It cost me over thirty wen! I hid a bit from the last job and bought this hairpin for you."

Then the two of them started whispering sweet nothings, which Gu Chengyu found uninteresting to listen to. He found a clean spot nearby to sit down and pretended to nap, letting his consciousness drift into the space to read.

At the same time, he left a part of his consciousness outside in case anything suddenly happened.