The Grand Secretary’s Pampered Wife

Chapter 34

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S T E L L A R C L O U D

[Celeste S.] [Azurixa] [Robert K.]

O R A N G E S T A R

[Talia R.] [K.Rom]

Y E L L O W S T A R

[Camille] [Linds] [Esther D.]

G O L D S T A R

[Nem]

With all the money in hand, Gu Jiao wondered what to do.

The next day, Xiao Liulang returned from the academy and a family of three sat in the main room for dinner.

Saying it was a family of three, but in reality, they had nothing to do with each other. Nevertheless, there was some strange harmonious atmosphere between them.

The elderly woman nibbled on a big drumstick, glanced at Gu Jiao and said, "Just spill it out if you’ve got something to say!"

Gu Jiao: This elderly woman has good senses. How can she tell that I have something to say?

"I want to buy a mountain." Gu Jiao said.

"Winter garment or autumn garment?[1]" The elderly woman gave Gu Jiao a speechless look, as if complaining that such a trivial matter wasn’t worth hesitating about.

"I'm not talking about clothes, I'm talking about a mountain, the mountain behind our village." Gu Jiao frequented that mountain to collect wood ears and mushrooms, and found that there were still many other good things there. If she could buy that mountain, not only could she gather mountain goods, but also collect medicinal herbs, as well as fell trees and hunt wild animals... In short, the mountainsides were full of value, and there was simply nothing to lose.

"Buy it then!"

To her surprise, the elderly woman didn't hesitate at all. The elderly woman was actually impeccably generous when it came to spending money.

Replace her with Wu shi instead, the grandmother of the original soul, afraid that she would jump to her feet at once and scold Gu Jiao, "Little star of disaster, prodigal girl! You want to buy a mountain, you say? You think money just comes along with the wind!?"

In the eyes of most villagers, mountains were worthless. At best, they could cut some firewood and pick some wild vegetables. Although there were mountain goods and prey, no one would actually buy the whole mountain for these things.

Gu Jiao was knowledgeable about mountain goods and was capable of dealing with any danger in the mountains, so the mountain would be a huge treasure trove in her hands.

In the past, she had to make her own decisions about things like this, and Xiao Liulang had never interfered in any of her decisions once. However, since the elderly woman came, their mode of getting along seemed to have changed imperceptibly.

"Are you talking about the mountain behind Second Uncle Luo's house?" Xiao Liulang asked.

"En." Gu Jiao nodded her head.

Qingquan Village was surrounded by mountains on three sides. The one she was interested in was the mountain in the middle, which was also the one frequented by the villagers. Second Uncle Luo's house was precisely at the foot of that mountain.

"All right, I'll ask the Village Chief later." Xiao Liulang didn't hesitate about this matter either.

Gu Jiao scratched her little head. It was her own grandfather, so she could ask him herself. She said it not to bother him like this.

After having dinner, Xiao Liulang went to the Gu Family's old residence.

Zhou shi and Liu shi had been flogged thirty times with a heavy stick by the yamen. These days, they were honestly lying in the house to recuperate from their injuries, so the house was quite peaceful.

"Brother-in-law! Why are you here?" Gu Xiaoshun opened the door.

"I'm here to see the Village Chief." Xiao Liulang said.

Although he had married Gu Jiao and became a relative to them, he always addressed Old Mister Gu as Village Chief.

"Oh." Gu Xiaoshun was only surprised at the fact that his brother-in-law came to their door and paid no attention to how he called his grandfather. After all, the Gu Family first had forced his brother-in-law to marry his sister, and then squeezed his brother-in-law's hard-earned money afterwards. Every stroke was simply a debt ah!

"Grandfather, my brother-in-law is here!" Gu Xiaoshun led Xiao Liulang to Old Mister Gu's room.

Old Mister Gu glanced at Xiao Liulang, somewhat not expecting to see him here. If he remembered correctly, it was the first time that Xiao Liulang had come to the Gu Family's old residence after he married Gu Jiao.

"It's so late, what’s the matter?" Old Mister Gu asked.

Xiao Liulang replied neither salty nor light, "I came to inquire about something with the Village Chief. How much is the mountain behind Second Uncle Luo's house?"

"Why are you asking about this? Does anyone in your academy want to buy that mountain?" No matter how imaginative Old Mister Gu was, he would never expect his granddaughter to buy a mountain. He continued, "That mountain costs quite a large sum... Besides, it’s not for anyone who wants to buy it. That mountain is not under the control of our village or the county government. It’s the land that belongs to the temple."

"Temple?" Xiao Liulang frowned slightly. He didn't know there was a temple around here.

Old Mister Gu said, "That’s right, a Buddhist temple. It hasn’t been long since you've arrived here. Maybe you haven't been there yet. Go around the foot of the mountain till you reach the other side, you can then walk up to there in about an hour. If people in your academy want to buy that mountain, they have to go to the temple to discuss this with their abbot."

Recalling something, Old Mister Gu added, "Speaking of which, Jiao girl was born in that temple."

When Xiao Liulang came home, Gu Jiao greeted him and asked, "How did it go? What did the Gu Family say?"

Xiao Liulang relayed Old Mister Gu's original words.

"It's the temple’s land..." The original soul had never been to the temple. No, according to Old Mister Gu, she was born in that temple, so she had technically been there. "Didn't he tell you how much money it would cost?"

"He didn't say it specifically, but maybe one hundred taels is not enough." Xiao Liulang said.

"Oh. In that case, I still have more here." After saying that, Gu Jiao grabbed a handful of silver ovule ingots from her doudou and placed them down on the table.

Silver Ovule Ingots

The elderly woman, who was cracking a melon seed between her teeth, halted her movements.

However, it wasn’t over just yet. Gu Jiao grabbed another handful, then another handful, then another handful, and then another handful again. [T/N: Wait, did they all come from her doudou? Lmao.]

The elderly woman and Xiao Liulang were both shocked at the same time. These ovule ingots were worth at least twenty or thirty taels of silver in total. Where did she get all of these?

After a momentary pause, Xiao Liulang asked, "Did you earn these by selling mountain goods?"

"En!" With great efforts, Gu Jiao made her eyes bigger, making her face look innocent. She said, "They’re certainly not from fights!"

Xiao Liulang,“…”

In ancient times, educational institutions didn’t have that many vacations. Except for the rest day every ten-day period[2], the farming vacation[3] during the busy farming season, and the vacation for making clothes[4] during the ninth month, there were only the New Year holidays during the twelfth month and the first month of the next year.

In the past, the New Year holiday was in the first ten days of the twelfth lunar month, but it had been postponed to the last ten days this year. And because of this quickly approaching New Year holiday, there would be no ten-day vacation in the first half of this month.

Gu Jiao didn't want Xiao Liulang to ask for leave from the academy for this matter, so she decided to go to the temple by herself.

Considering the lessons of last time, instead of leaving some food in the pot for the elderly woman, Gu Jao found Xue Ningxiang and asked her to take care of the elderly woman.

"Your grandaunt…"

"Her disease is no longer serious. It won’t spread to others."

"Ah, that's not what I meant."

How could Gu Jiao not know that Xue Ningxiang helped her to conceal the matter by telling a lie? Naturally, what they could guess, Xue Ningxiang could also guess. However, Xue Ningxiang didn't tell on her nor did she alienate her.

Xue Ningxiang didn't ask Gu Jiao how she cured leprosy. She simply trusted Gu Jiao. She said, "Don't worry, I will take good care of your grandaunt."

1. ↑ — The chinese character for mountain (山) and clothes/garment(衫) have the same pronunciation (shān). So the elderly woman thought Gu Jiao was talking about clothes, not mountains. 2. ↑ — These rest days are observed on the tenth, twentieth and last day of every month. 3. ↑ — A 15-day vacation during the fifth of the month. 4. ↑ — Also 15-day vacation during the ninth of the month.

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Also, please also have a look at our other translations!

Everyone But Me Is Reborn

Her father is a coward and senselessly filial. Her mother is weak and gullible. Her elder brother is a wastrel.

When she married into the Wangfu, she suffered and was coldly treated. And by the time she was in labour, she was fated to die with the unborn child in her belly.

This was supposed to be Ning Nuan's life.

However this time, everyone but her is reborn.

Ning Nuan is at a loss. She felt that her dad has suddenly become the pillar of the family, her mother’s temper became fierce, and even her elder brother, who would only walk the dogs and play with birds all day, has begun picking up books and reading them carefully.

There is also that juvenile that shows up at the wall of her courtyard everyday, calling her “Ah Nuan, Ah Nuan” with an honest face.