Fourth Son Gu was meeting with someone not far away. Duke Gu had called him out to help with something.
Because there were many people gathered in the eatery, including some of his brothers who knew him, they recognized Gu Fengjian and immediately ran to tell him.
Fourth Son Gu had just left the tavern when he was stopped by a familiar-looking man.
The man grabbed him and said urgently, “Fourth Son Gu! Someone up ahead said they saw your fifth brother, and he’s arguing with someone!”
Fourth Son Gu asked, “Who? I mean, who are they? Could it be that bunch of blind fools led by Ji Yutang again?”
“No! It’s a whole bunch of people! They’re all gathered together, taking turns debating with him! If you ask me who they are, I can’t even name them.”
The man thought for a moment, then clapped his hands and said, “Oh! Your fifth brother is with Third Girl Song. She directly splashed a pot of tea on the other party, and now she’s arguing with them. It looks dangerous, I’m afraid they’ll fight, so I was going to go to the Gu Mansion to find you!”
Fourth Son Gu felt a surge of anger: “Third Girl Song clearly has a good temper, but they’ve pushed her to this point. Those people are truly shameless! Are they bullying our Gu family because we have no one?”
Fourth Son Gu searched around for a moment, then borrowed a stick from a nearby vendor, carried it on his back, and ran quickly forward.
“Fifth brother, hold on, Fourth brother is coming!“ by carpreads.pages.dev
By the time Fourth brother arrived, the drama had already ended.
Everything was cleaned up, and the tables and chairs were rearranged. The scholars gathered again, bitterly lamenting, “How could Third Girl Song be so fierce?”
“Where did she get so many books from the border?”
“Who spread the rumors? They’ve ruined me!” It was all incredibly embarrassing.
Fourth Son Gu quickly searched around, but couldn’t find his fifth brother. He grabbed a nearby person and asked with a murderous look, “Where’s my fifth brother!”
“Fifth, Fifth Young Master Gu?” The unlucky scholar was startled by him and stammered, “He left a while ago.”
Fourth Son Gu questioned, “Did you guys lay a hand on him? Did he get chased away by you?”
The man said angrily, “They insulted everyone and then ran away! We are all scholars, how could we possibly fight?”
Fourth Son Gu was satisfied with the answer, but still said fiercely, “You didn’t fight, but you did bully him with your numbers! Don’t you feel ashamed saying that? Which way did he go?”
The scholar pointed in a direction. Fourth Son Gu released him and was about to chase after him when the shopkeeper ran out from behind, shouting, “Sir, wait! Please hold on!”
“You’re calling me?” Fourth Son Gu turned around and said first, “If anything was broken, make them pay for it, it has nothing to do with me.”
“No! It’s not about the things.” The shopkeeper pointed to a corner and said, “Your fifth brother ordered a whole table of food, but he didn’t pay before he left. Now half the dishes have been served, you should pay for it, right?”
Fourth Son Gu looked over suspiciously and found that the so-called half was already almost overflowing the entire table. He had ordered all the expensive, filling meat dishes, which looked glossy and delicious.
The shopkeeper handed him the bill and reached out for the money.
Fourth Son Gu was stunned when he saw the number.
Fifth brother, how could you do this?
Song Chuzhao ran for a while, breaking into a sweat, but she didn’t feel tired. Instead, the stuffy feeling in her chest dissipated, and she felt an indescribable sense of exhilaration.
She listened to the vendors’ cries around her and subconsciously reached for her purse, only to realize she was still holding Fifth Son Gu’s hand. She quickly let go.
Although Gu Fengjian had been running for a while, his breathing was now steady and smooth. He finally realized, in a straightforward way, that being healthy was a very comfortable thing.
He had indeed been slacking off before, and he should start exercising. Otherwise, when he switched back to his own body, if he ran with Song Chuzhao, she wouldn’t even be warmed up yet, but he would already be lying down. That would be too embarrassing.
Song Chuzhao didn’t notice his serious contemplation and said excitedly, “Fifth Son Gu, you’re amazing! You really made them speechless! I thought they were going to keep pretending to be clueless.”
Song Chuzhao was proud of herself and couldn’t help but criticize those few people: “I can reason with anyone, but I can’t reason with these guys who love to twist concepts. It’s like as long as they quote something the sage said, then they’re always right. But the Sage also said that people are not sages, so how come they have no self-awareness at all!”
Gu Fengjian smiled and said, “Since they pretend not to understand other people’s words, I’ll use words they can understand. It’s all about putting labels on things, who doesn’t know how to do that?”
To deal with those who seek fame and reputation, there were naturally ways to make them shut up.
Song Chuzhao gestured with her hand, praising, “Everyone knows how to put on a hat1, but none of them can do it as straight, as tight, as effortlessly as Fifth Son Gu! How is it that the hats you put on are so good-looking?”
Gu Fengjian enjoyed her unique way of praising, asking, “Anything else?”
Song Chuzhao didn’t hesitate to give him another compliment, “It’s mainly because they’re just not as skilled! While there’s no best in literature, there are definitely better and worse. Compared to them, your superiority is clear! Fifth Son Gu, oh Fifth Son Gu, you truly are my good Fifth Son!”
Gu Fengjian nodded with a gentle smile, “Hmm. Is that so?”
Song Chuzhao pondered for a moment, realizing her last sentence was a bit of a slip-up. Before Gu Fengjian could react, she quickly changed the subject, saying, “But I know you’re not usually someone who likes to compete. This time, you stepped forward purely to stand up for me. Thank you!”
Gu Fengjian said, “You didn’t want to make me uncomfortable, and I naturally couldn’t let you be bullied in front of me.”
Song Chuzhao waved her hand, saying, “I wasn’t bullied. I just felt there was no need to argue with them. People like them, you can’t reason with them, and there are countless more. Just treat them like annoying weeds by the roadside. I can’t possibly step on every weed I see.”
Gu Fengjian asked, “Are you happy now?”
Song Chuzhao laughed heartily, “Happy! I’m laughing so hard my face is going to crack!”
Gu Fengjian nodded, “That means you still want to scold them.”
Song Chuzhao paused, then chuckled in agreement, “That’s true! It’s the only use they have.”
The two walked along the side of the road, aimlessly.
Song Chuzhao still couldn’t calm down. After a while, she turned to the person beside her with renewed enthusiasm, “To be honest, I never expected that Fifth Son Gu would also get into a heated argument with those people over some idle gossip. I thought nothing could faze you, that you were a person of boundless openness, carefree and unrestrained!”
Gu Fengjian raised an eyebrow, “Disappointed? Don’t you think I’m good now?”
“Where!” Song Chuzhao tiptoed, reaching her hand above her head, gesturing, “Before, I thought you were like a celestial being, now I think you’re tall and mighty!”
Gu Fengjian had always been too composed, even in the face of the bizarre situation of exchanging bodies with Song Chuzhao, he didn’t seem to be flustered. He remained calm in the face of all the injustices in the Song family. Song Chuzhao had once thought that even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of him, Gu Fengjian wouldn’t even bat an eyelid.
Gu Fengjian said, “I’m just an ordinary person.”
If Mount Tai collapsed in front of him, he probably wouldn’t even frown, after all, what does Mount Tai have to do with him?
Gu Fengjian said, “Seeing you bullied, slandered, and having your mood ruined, I would be unhappy. Since I’m unhappy, I naturally have to get angry. My temper isn’t as good as you think.”
Gu Fengjian thought Song Chuzhao would ask “why” next, but Song Chuzhao stared at him intently for a moment, her expression shifting, going through a complex emotional transformation in her heart before finally condensing into a single sentence, “Fifth Son Gu, you truly are a good person!”
Gu Fengjian: “…” He was truly tired of hearing that sentence.
Song Chuzhao’s stomach let out a timely growl.
Gu Fengjian seemed helpless, “You’re hungry.”
Song Chuzhao remembered her table full of dishes, sighing regretfully, “Sigh, I said I’d treat you to a meal, but we ended up not eating.”
The aroma of sesame oil noodles from the roadside, mixed with the smell of pork fat, wafted over, making Song Chuzhao even more hungry. She felt like she hadn’t eaten anything good in a long time.
Gu Fengjian said, “If you just want to treat me to food, it doesn’t matter what we eat, as long as no one bothers us, I’ll happily sit with you and have a quiet meal.”
When Fourth Son Gu found them, the two were already sitting at a street stall.
They each had an oil cake in their hands, a bowl of hot soup, and a plate of glistening roast goose in between. They ate and drank, having a good time.
Fourth Son Gu took a seat in the empty space, arms crossed, expression serious, waiting for them to explain.
But Song Chuzhao just glanced at him, didn’t even bother to greet him, and continued eating.
Gu Fengjian pretended not to hear, silently tearing the last goose leg from the roast goose rack and placing it in Song Chuzhao’s bowl.
Fourth Son Gu: “…”
You two are something else. It’s as if I’m going to snatch it away. But I’m your fourth brother, am I not? What’s wrong with snatching? Are you two not giving me any face?
Fourth Son Gu said angrily, “Fifth brother, at least acknowledge me, will you? I’m a big guy, you can’t pretend not to see me?”
Song Chuzhao said honestly, “Of course I can’t pretend not to see you, didn’t I just call you out?”
Fourth Son Gu: “Do you know where I went just now?”
Song Chuzhao: “How would I know? You didn’t tell me.”
“I heard you were fighting with someone, so I rushed over to save you!” Fourth Son Gu slammed his fist on the table, “You ordered a whole table of food, and I had to paid for it!”
Song Chuzhao finally stopped eating, her eyes filled with anticipation as she asked, “Where’s the food then?”
Fourth Son Gu: “I sent it back home!”
Song Chuzhao was disappointed.
Sent back home, Madam Gu would definitely not let her eat those greasy meats.
Fourth Son Gu felt deeply wounded. He could see that he wasn’t even as valuable as that bit of meat.
After a hasty lunch, Song Chuzhao prepared to send Fifth Son Gu back. If it got any later, she was afraid Master He would tear her apart. Even now, the Imperial Insignia Guards around them had already taken notice of them.
After a detour to Master He’s mansion, Song Chuzhao returned home with Fourth Son Gu. Along the way, Fourth Son Gu kept asking her about the argument with the scholar, but Song Chuzhao couldn’t remember all the words Gu Fengjian had said, so she was embarrassed to repeat them and could only give him vague answers.
Fourth Son Gu felt that she was rejecting him, and an indescribable sadness filled his heart.
By the time the two of them arrived at the Duke Gu’s mansion, the half-table of food from the restaurant had also been delivered.
Madam Gu saw Fourth Son Gu and immediately grabbed him, asking, “Fourth Son, why did you buy so much food to bring back? Are the cooks in our Gu mansion not as good as those outside? And all this greasy stuff, I’ve told you so many times to eat less!”
Fourth Son Gu said, “Fifth brother bought it!”
“This is all meat, and your fifth brother doesn’t like meat, how could he buy these things?” Madam Gu said with a stern face, “Fourth Son , this is not right! You lie, and you even blame your fifth brother!
Fourth Son Gu was so angry that his head ached.
How was he so wronged?
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to tag someone with an unfair label ↩︎