Chapter 43

Shu Huan moved intuitively to a side, trying to stay away from Gu Xiran, but who would’ve known that in the next moment, the carriage suddenly shook and she landed naturally back into his arms.

The carriage was very narrow. It was very packed with five people in it. Even if she wanted to stay far away from him, she had nowhere to escape to. She had no choice but to sit down peacefully, but when she raised her head, she saw that the young man’s lips were curved in an unnatural angle as he looked at them. Only now did she remember that she was dressed as a study companion now. That she was so close to Gu Xiran, in other people’s eyes, it was nothing more than thinking that she was a kept man...

Her face suddenly burned red. To cover up, she just talked about something, "Why did you give the shopkeeper your pendant? What if they found out?"

Gu Xiran smiled faintly, "I am afraid that they wouldn’t go investigate. There is no mark on the pendant and the carving is also not good. If they investigate following that path, they would obtain nothing."

While talking, he turned his head and reminded Gu Xihe and Ranmo, "If you don’t want to be punished, don’t say a word when we are back home!"

Ranmo nodded.

Gu Xihe muttered dissatisfied, "I’m not that stupid..."

This person’s zodiac animal really should be a fox!

Shu Huan reached into the bag in her sleeve to touch that waist pendant carved from the Wonderful Redwood of Yingge. She felt that now was a good moment to give him the gift. It was just that there were too many people on this carriage. There was also an outsider here. While thinking, she retrieved her hand.

She didn’t expect that Gu Xiran’s eyes were so sharp. He already discovered her small movement. He reached out to touch her sleeve. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing!" Shu Huan quickly dodged her hand.

The carriage once again jolted. Their faces almost glued to one another.

Gu Xihe was dumbfounded and scolded them, "Hey you two. Don’t go overboard!"

"Don’t look at things that aren’t consistent with propriety. Why are your eyes so big?" Gu Xiran didn’t mind and retorted him. However, his hand already got into Shu Huan’s sleeve. He pulled out a silk string. A waist pendant fell into his palm.

"This is..." A familiar scent came to the surface, but he obviously didn’t pay attention to it. He was at loss staring at that chubby rogue rabbit.

Gu Xihe also leaned over, "Eh, what kind of thing is this? Is it a cat or a dog? Why is it fat like this?!"

Shu Huan wanted to cry, "This is a rabbit!"

After Gu Xihe heard that, he showed a regretful look, "Great, great. You used a piece of top-quality Wonderful Redwood of Yingge to carve a rabbit..."

Shu Huan was dejected, "Is it really so ugly?"

Gu Xihe didn’t even raise his head and said with confidence, "So ugly! Have you seen someone use such a waist pendant? If you wanted to carve, you should’ve carved a dragon, a phoenix, a unicorn or something like that."

"..."

Shu Huan suffered a big blow. She reached out and grabbed that silk string with the rogue rabbit pendant. "Return it back to me! Originally, I wanted to give this to you as your birthday gift, but it’s too ugly. I will give you something else another day."

Who would’ve thought that Gu Xiran tightened his fist and held that waist pendant tightly in his hand? He smiled slightly and asked, "You carved it yourself?"

Shu Huan nodded and didn’t hide Gu Xihe’s merits. She said honestly, "Little fourth helped me find the redwood."

"Very good." Gu Xiran tied the waist pendant on his waist. "I like it."

The chubby rogue rabbit bumped along the carriage on his waist. That rabbit with squinted eyes looked very much like a jerk who deserved a good spanking. Shu Huan regretted it deeply. If she had known, she wouldn’t have carved this. Regardless of his personality, from his outer appearance, Gu Xiran was such a handsome man. With this rogue rabbit on his waist, it felt a bit out of place.

While she was thinking about how she could get that waist pendant back, suddenly her hand was grasped by Gu Xiran.

She struggled for a short while but couldn’t take her hand away. When she raised her head to look at him, his face was calm as if nothing was the matter. She sighed and no longer struggled. Anyway, no matter how she perceived the relationship between them, they were husband and wife in the eyes of others. Moreover, before she left Gu household, the intimacy he inadvertently showed to her was her best protection.

—

When the carriage went a bit further, they arrived at the closest village near Jingtian city. When they went out of the carriage, they paid the driver and let him drive one more round with an empty carriage. After confirming that no one followed them, they advanced to the village. They found a house to change into other clothes that Ranmo had bought and also bought some food.

This time, Shu Huan changed back into women’s clothes. However, it was the clothes of a maid. She asked a young wife to help her do the simple hairstyle of two buns. She didn’t expect that when the young man returned from hiring a carriage inside the village, he looked strangely at her.

Naturally, this kind of strangeness wasn’t admiration but a mixture of disgust and dislike. It could be seen that he already restrained himself very much to not let such a disgust show on his face, but he still inevitably showed some abnormality.

Gu Xiran saw this situation. He called the young man to a quiet place and asked him, "I was also physically weak and was ill since a young age. I’ve always wanted to hire a martial artist to learn some Kungfu to strengthen my body. I wonder if knight is willing to teach me?"

The young man didn’t answer. Suddenly he asked an irrelevant question, "Is you study companion a boy or a girl?"

Gu Xiran didn’t hide it from him and said, "A girl."

The expression of the young man didn’t change, but he seemed relieved. He asked, "What is the wage? Can you pay me first?"

The moment he opened his mouth, he asked about the wage. Others would consider this very rude, but Gu Xiran liked his straightforwardness because it’s always worry-free to communicate with those who say things directly.

Gu Xiran smiled slightly, "Knight is very short of money?"

The young man hesitated a little and then nodded. "I came here with my mother to find a relative. However, the relative had long moved away. I couldn’t find his whereabouts. The travel money had been exhausted. Now, mother is seriously ill and is staying for a long period in the inn. We have no money to see a doctor."

Before, when they heard him spoke, he didn’t speak as roughly as an average idler. He was wondering why with such good skills he fell to the point of being an idler who helped others carry things. After hearing his explanation, he got to know the reason. Gu Xiran got curious about his identity and background. They just met for the first time and weren’t close with each other. It wasn’t right for him to ask too much. He smiled, "This is easy. I know a famous doctor in Jingtian city. When we go back to the city, I will ask him to go see aunt, alright? Knight doesn’t have to worry about the medical expenses."

Who would’ve thought that the young man would shake his head? "The medical expenses should be deducted from my wage."

Gu Xiran laughed, "Then, knight accepted?"

That young man nodded, hesitated a bit and said, "You don’t have to call me knight. My name is Du Qiu."

Gu Xiran bowed with his hand held in front, "What about I call you master Du?"

Du Qiu seemed to only have concerns when talking about his identity. He didn’t care much about other things. He said, "Do what you like. You can also call me by my name, but you don’t have to be so polite. You spend money, I take the money. You can order me to do anything."

The two talked at this side, at that other side, Gu Xihe had long become impatient. He made Ranmo come over to call them to get in the carriage.

This time, it wasn’t because Gu Xihe was impatient. It was that they still needed an hour to get back into the city. It was beginning to get dark now. If they don’t go back soon, he didn’t know what would happen if old madam couldn’t find him. If he implicated Shu Huan and leaked that she went outside the residence with them, then things would get troublesome.