Chapter 371: Story
Chapter 371: Chapter 371: Story
Gu Kaiyuan lightly tapped Gu Xingyang’s little forehead. "You just love tormenting your own father. Wait until you’re a bit older, let’s see if I don’t deal with you then!"
Gu Xingyang gave him a shameless smile. "Let’s talk about that when I grow up."
She thought, "When I grow up, I’ll know how to run away. I won’t just stand there foolishly. Besides, I still have a powerful backer."
Gu Kaiyuan went to the cabinet and took out a book. The opening lines read, "The Way of the Great Learning lies in illustrating illustrious virtue, in loving the people..."
"Daddy, change the book, change the book..."
"This one is quite good. When you were still in your mother’s belly, I read it to you a lot."
"I can memorize it already!" Gu Xingyang waved her little hands. "I want to hear a story..."
"Be good. Do you not want to sleep? How about you recite it for me once?"
Gu Xingyang turned her head away. "Daddy, are you trying to get me to coax you to sleep?"
She thought, "How could anyone fall asleep reciting a book? I bet Daddy wants me to coax him to sleep. This father of mine is too cunning."
Gu Kaiyuan rubbed his nose and set the book aside. "Alright, then Daddy will tell you a story."
Gu Xingyang turned her head back and perked up her ears to listen.
"Once upon a time, there was a mountain. On the mountain, there was a temple. In the temple, there was an old monk. The old monk was telling a story to a little monk. The story went: Once upon a time, there was a mountain. On the mountain, there was a temple. In the temple, there was an..."
Gu Xingyang, who had been listening with great interest at first, instantly protested. "Daddy, you’re treating me like a toddler! Are you just going to loop this infinitely?"
Gu Kaiyuan chuckled. "You figured it out that fast?
"If I keep looping it, eventually you’ll get sleepy..."
Feeling that she had been tricked by her bad father, Gu Xingyang blinked her eyes, opened her mouth, and immediately started to wail. This instantly drew Nanny Pang over.
Nanny Pang took her little master with heartache. "Miss, what’s wrong? Are you hungry?"
Gu Xingyang was speechless. She thought, "Can I say that I was bullied by my unscrupulous father?"
Gu Kaiyuan stood to the side, watching the show. He thought, "She wants to tattle, but doesn’t she know she can’t even speak yet?"
Gu Xingyang’s aggrieved voice echoed in his mind. "Daddy, you’re mean..."
Seeing that he had teased her enough, Gu Kaiyuan finally took Gu Xingyang back from Nanny Pang’s hands. "I might have been a bit too heavy-handed when I put her down just now and startled her awake. Nanny, go ahead and do your work. I can watch her here."
Wailing without tears took quite a bit of effort. Gu Xingyang pouted. If she hadn’t been toothless, she really would have taken a bite out of her own father to punish him for bullying her.
Nanny Pang made sure Gu Xingyang had stopped crying before fully handing her over to Gu Kaiyuan. She knew that the master and madam liked to handle matters concerning the young miss themselves. "Alright then. The child is delicate, so be gentle."
She did not rush to leave, watching from the side for a short while to ensure there were no major issues with Gu Kaiyuan’s handling of the baby before finally departing.
"You little tattletale, you didn’t succeed, did you?"
Gu Xingyang huffed. "Bad daddy. Wait until I can speak, I will definitely tell Nanny how you bullied me..."
Seeing that he had teased her enough, Gu Kaiyuan carried her to the cabinet and picked out a travelogue to read. Upon hearing that it was her favorite travelogue, Gu Xingyang lay obediently on the bed. As she listened, she quickly drifted off to sleep. Once Gu Kaiyuan was certain she had fallen asleep, he gently tucked her in and quietly slipped out of the room.
Once outside, he couldn’t help but shake his head. This child was becoming more and more of a handful, especially when it came to tormenting her old father.
He went out to take a look and saw Bai Suihe still studying there. In front of the master and servant lay a spread of various bottles and jars. Gu Kaiyuan didn’t know what they were, but he knew better than to touch them carelessly. Although he carried Antidote Pills personally formulated by Nanny Pang, there was no need to ask for trouble.
Now that they lived in the city, he couldn’t just wander up the mountain to kill time when he was bored, like he used to do while conveniently hunting for the family’s meat supply. After informing the gatekeeper, Zhou Pingkang, he headed to the County Magistrate’s office not far away.
Before he even got close, he saw Xu Zitian rushing out of the office with his men. They boarded a carriage and quickly disappeared.
"What is Lord Xu in such a hurry for?" muttered a nosy bystander nearby. "Lord Xu has never acted like this before. Could something have happened?"
"You old man, you really don’t know how to speak. What could possibly happen to Lord Xu?"
"You guys must not have visited the county town recently, right?
"Lord Xu suffered quite a bit a few days ago."
"Really? We indeed haven’t been to the county town for a while. Tell us, what kind of hardship did Lord Xu suffer?"
"Well, it’s a long story..."
"Don’t you know how to make a long story short?"
"That won’t do. If I shorten it, it won’t be clear."
"Look over there. That alley is sheltered from the wind. Let’s go chat there..."
"Forget it, go ask someone else. I need to head back." Even if it was sheltered, it was still cold. There was no need to put in so much effort for a bunch of strangers.
"If you want to know, go to the teahouse ahead. The storyteller there tells it brilliantly."
Gu Kaiyuan stopped in his tracks. Could matters involving the County Magistrate really be discussed and judged by a storyteller in a teahouse? He was a little curious himself. He had visited the teahouse before when discussing business with others, but he didn’t know if it was storytelling time right now.
Just as he was about to go check out the commotion, Tian Zhuang happened to return. Seeing Gu Kaiyuan was like seeing a shiny gold nugget. "Boss Gu! What brings you here today?"
Gu Kaiyuan replied, "Seeing as the weather is nice, I just came out for a walk. Constable Tian, are you all very busy? I haven’t seen you around in a few days."
"Sigh, it can’t be helped. We must deal with the mess left behind from before." Tian Zhuang was also in a bad mood. Previously, the Third Prince had thrown the entire county town into a state of panic. Whenever there were disputes, everyone simply endured them. Once people heard that he had left, the county office became bustling again. A massive backlog of issues piled up, keeping them so busy lately that their feet barely touched the ground. They didn’t even have the time to complain.
Since he happened to run into Gu Kaiyuan, Tian Zhuang took advantage of this free moment to quickly vent about his hardships.
Ever since Gu Kaiyuan started acquiring properties in the county town, the government officers in their office had received quite a few benefits. Thanks to these perks, everyone’s lives had become much easier. Even though they were government officers, they were stationed in this impoverished place. The county office was dirt poor, and their wages were rarely distributed on time. Although with Lord Xu’s character, he would never shortchange them, it still made life very inconvenient for everyone. As soon as Gu Kaiyuan arrived, he began buying land and houses, which finally brought some income to the office. Whether it was for the public accounts or private pockets, this man was practically their God of Wealth.
"That truly sounds exhausting for you all," Gu Kaiyuan said, offering sympathetic but empty words. "Are you heading back to the office now, or do you still have matters to attend to?"
"I saw you standing here, so I just came over to say hello. I still have to deliver an official document to the neighboring county in a bit." Remembering his errand, Tian Zhuang knew he couldn’t keep chatting. "Let’s talk again when we have the chance."
He took a few steps forward, then turned back to ask, "Did you come over here for a specific reason?"