To put it nicely, he's simple-minded; to put it bluntly, he lacks tact and doesn't know how to behave properly.
He suffered losses many times because of this.
However, Gu Jue wasn't doing it on purpose; he genuinely couldn't tell.
For example, he didn't understand why Huo Duan's face darkened. Shouldn't he be happy when others praised his wife for being beautiful?
Gu Jue scratched his head, not delving into the matter, and simply smiled, "So the two of you are actually husband and wife. I really couldn't tell at all."
As soon as he finished speaking, Huo Duan felt his blood rushing to his head, and he almost wanted to punch him.
Is this person stupid?
Gu Fengyan sighed, wondering how this child had grown so big...
"Gu Lizheng, Huo Duan and I are here mainly because we want to discuss some business matters with you." Seeing that the situation was not going well, Gu Fengyan quickly changed the subject.
Gu Jue brought out stools and asked the two to sit down. "I heard from Uncle Jiang that you two are in the medicinal herb business? Is that why you've come?"
Gu Fengyan nudged Huo Duan, who was sulking beside him, with his elbow. "Mr. Huo said..."
Huo Duan was so angry with Gu Jue that he almost died, and he refused to say a word to him with a long face.
Gu Jue really doesn't know how to read the room. Seeing Huo Duan's unfriendly expression, she asked with great concern, "It's so hot today, could it be that Boss Huo has suffered from heatstroke?"
Huo Duan's face darkened even more.
"No, nothing of the sort, village head, don't worry. Let me say a few words to him." Gu Fengyan quickly laughed it off and pulled Huo Duan away.
He thought to himself, "This won't do."
Although Gu Jue, that unlucky kid, isn't very good at reading the room, he'll be cooperating with them in the future, so how can they ruin the harmony? For the sake of money, they should be more tolerant.
Gu Fengyan genuinely felt that Huo Duan was sometimes even more petty than a pinhole... His sour face was only because Gu Jue had praised his good looks in front of his husband.
They even said the two didn't seem like a married couple.
To put it simply, it's just jealousy... which is actually quite cute.
Since they say they don't seem like a couple, then he should just try to appease them.
Gu Fengyan had an idea. She softened her voice and whispered in Huo Duan's ear, "My dear husband, don't be angry anymore."
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Gu Fengyan's voice wasn't loud, but as he spoke close to Huo Duan, his warm, intimate breath tickled Huo Duan's ear, sending shivers down his spine.
However, that soft "husband" brought more than just a tremor... Huo Duan's heart pounded wildly, and a huge roar drowned out everything.
His pupils dilated. "What did you just call me?"
Gu Fengyan curled his lips into a malicious smile, "President Huo likes it? I never expected you to have such a fetish..."
Huo Duan's ears were so red they looked like they were about to bleed.
Gu Fengyan got playful and whispered around him, "Husband? Husband?"
"Don't yell like that," Huo Duan covered his eyes with her hands, her heart pounding. "There are other people here."
Gu Fengyan was in a great mood, only to realize that Huo Duan was really thin-skinned, easy to tease, and easy to coax.
"Mr. Huo, you're not angry anymore. How about I try to coax you again?" He pulled Huo Duan's hand down, his eyes shining with a smile as he looked directly at him.
Huo Duan was afraid of his eyes; when he glanced at him, it always seemed like he was teasing him… He had never realized before that this man was full of wicked thoughts.
“Don’t talk nonsense.” He just turned his face away and repeated.
Gu Fengyan laughed so hard he could hardly stop. After a long while, he pulled Huo Duan aside and analyzed, "This kid is a bit dim-witted... We still have to do business with him, so we should be more tolerant."
Huo Duan wasn't really angry. Gu Jue's words had just made him realize that he and Gu Fengyan were indeed not husband and wife... Apart from the title of husband and wife, they were essentially no different from business partners.
He always understood, but he still felt an indescribable pain.
Having seen Gu Fengyan's smile, his eyes and brows, and his gentleness, Huo Duan could no longer treat him as just an ordinary business partner.
He greedily wanted to possess Gu Fengyan, and ideally, to stamp his name on it.
However... Huo Duanxin suddenly felt a chill and plummeted to the bottom.
"Young Master Gu is right, I was wrong." He said solemnly, a faint sadness between his brows.
She was perfectly fine just a moment ago, how come she's suddenly praising her face again... She's just as difficult to please as a young woman on her period.
Gu Fengyan's heart was twisted with worry. He wanted to try to comfort her again, but he saw that Huo Duan had already gone to find Gu Jue.
The unfortunate boy watched the two of them whispering and laughing, so he took some fish food and started teasing his ceramic jar of fish.
Seeing the two return, he scattered a handful of fish food into the tank, clapped his hands, and laughed, "Finished chatting? What's going on? Why are you being so mysterious?"
There were two tiny fish, no bigger than a finger joint, in the tank. If such a large handful of food were thrown in, they would surely die from overeating. What an unlucky child... Huo Duan frowned and decided to turn a blind eye.
He told Gu Jue about the recruitment he had discussed with Gu Fengyan.
Gu Jue frowned and pondered for a while before saying, "There are some medicinal herbs growing around the village. It wouldn't be a problem if the villagers harvested them and sold them to you. However... although the two villages are not far apart, they are still quite far apart. I'm afraid the villagers might not be willing."
Although they pay for harvesting medicinal herbs, for most villagers it is just a side job to supplement their household income. During the off-season, it is fine, but during the busy season, the men go to the fields to harvest crops, the wives stay at home to cook and clean up the crops, and even the children have to carry wicker baskets to the fields to pick up ears of wheat.
Who has the time to go to the next village to deliver medicinal herbs?
Gu Jue said this because he was afraid of ruining Gu Fengyan's business.
"Don't worry about that, we've already discussed it," Gu Fengyan said with a smile. "The villagers just need to harvest the herbs, and we'll send someone to collect them every two days."
After listening, Gu Jue pondered for a moment and felt that cooperating with Gu Fengyan and the others was a good idea. It would give the village another way to make money, and life wouldn't be so difficult.
"Then let's do it your way. I'll make the arrangements right away," Gu Jue said.
Now that the matter was settled and Gu Jue had made arrangements, Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan did not linger and returned to the Jiang family as usual.
He then asked Jiang's parents to help manage the purchase of medicinal herbs and bookkeeping, and to pay Jiang Xuerui and Huo Xiuling the prices they would have given them.
He Chaolin was literate and had no problem keeping accounts. Jiang Ze'an was busy managing the family's several plots of land, and Jiang Yue was extremely free. The two of them agreed without much consideration.
Having much to do back home, Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan returned to Heqing Village with the capital they had left to purchase medicinal herbs. He Chaolin, reluctant to part with Jiang Xuerui, sent a message to Shen Zhuo to come and pick her up the next day, leaving Jiang Xuerui behind…
Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan went to the entrance of Heqing Village and visited Xue Dajia again, wanting to tell Xue Dayi about the matter of collecting medicinal herbs from the neighboring village every two days, and to get paid as usual.
However, once inside the courtyard, it was discovered that the Xue family was unusually large today. Several aunties and Sister-in-law Xue were sitting in the yard picking vegetables and gossiping.
Xue Da and several other men were repairing the roof.
Huo Duanxian called out, "Sister-in-law Xue."
Sister-in-law Xue looked up and saw Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan. She quickly wiped her hands and greeted them, "Young man Huo, come quickly and bring your husband to sit down. Have you eaten?"
She brought out stools for the two of them to sit on, while several aunties around them kept glancing at Gu Fengyan, making him feel like he had thorns in his back.
"Why didn't you tell me you were doing chores today, so Huo Duan could have come and help?" Gu Fengyan said, taking a stool and sitting down amidst the curious gazes of the crowd.
This was the first time Xue Dajia had spoken to Gu Fengyan, but he found him to be quite handsome and, despite being from the county, not arrogant at all, which made him feel somewhat friendly.
"It's just a roof renovation to prevent the house from leaking when it rains. It's a small job, so your brother Xue found someone nearby. You two aren't in business, so I didn't want to bother you... Sister-in-law doesn't know much about this either. Is business going well?" Xue Dajia asked with concern.
Several women nearby perked up their ears and listened intently when the topic of medicinal herb business came up.
Huo Duan smiled and said, "It's all good, thank you for your concern, sister-in-law. Yan Ge'er and I came here to see Brother Xue about the medicinal herbs. Since he's busy, we'll go back first and come back tomorrow."
"No need," Xue Dajia waved her hand. "He's just handing out rafters in the backyard. You can just go over and tell him so you don't have to run back twice... But be careful that the roof tiles don't fall off."
Huo Duan thought it made sense, so he told Gu Fengyan he was going to the backyard. Gu Fengyan, being a young man, didn't want to join the group of men, so he stayed behind to help pick vegetables.
After Huo Duan told Xue Da, the two of them had to hurry home to get things done, so they told Xue Da before leaving.
No sooner had he stepped out the door than a bunch of wives in the yard erupted in a commotion.
One of the women hurriedly asked Xue Dajia, "Hey, sister-in-law, what brings that Huo boy here?"
Xue Dajia smiled and said, "I don't know anything about the child's father, who said he came to see me about the medicinal herb business."
After listening to the wives' stories, they immediately started gossiping.
"Hey, I've heard that Erdan's business is doing really well; he can easily make several hundred strings of cash in just a few days..."
Another daughter-in-law chimed in, "That's right. Just last Dragon Boat Festival, I passed by their house and saw Erdan carrying a huge piece of fresh pork to give to his aunt... And look at his husband, he was wearing fine clothes, and even his face looked much rosier."
"Where did the Huo family get the money to buy meat?"
"It wasn't earned from selling medicinal herbs..."
"I knew Erdan wasn't stupid. He must have recovered completely after his last illness. He's really capable!"
The group chatted amongst themselves, each saying their piece and moving on, none of them taking it to heart. However, Yu, who had remained silent in the corner, took it to heart.
Could it be that Erdan has really struck it rich? But how much can a few tattered blades of grass be worth?
Yu had been holding a grudge about the previous recruitment incident and cursed Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan's business to fail. Now that she saw that the other party was doing well, she couldn't help but feel resentful.
It's just a few worthless medicinal herbs. She'll go find the second wife's family and interrogate them another day. Maybe she can even start a business with them.
As Yu thought about it, she clenched her fists... and the vegetable leaves in her hands turned to mush.
A note from the author:
This is a short update; tomorrow's will definitely be longer and more substantial! (Clenches fist)
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter Thirty
Jiang Xuerui stayed at her parents' house for a day. After Gu Fengyan and the others returned, they sent a message to Shen Zhuo. The next day, before noon, Shen Zhuo went to his parents-in-law's house early to pick her up.
That day, Shen Zhuo still had to go to work in the county. After getting up early and having breakfast, he dawdled and repeatedly reminded Jiang Xuerui to "lock the door properly at night," "be careful when you're alone," and "go to Gu Fengyan if you're scared" before leaving.
Just like an old lady's foot-binding cloth, Jiang Xuerui never liked to listen to it, but she always nodded obediently.
After seeing Shen Zhuo off, it was still early, so Jiang Xuerui decided to write down a recipe for floral water that she had obtained from Gu Fengyan's stepfather.
The man closed the courtyard gate, and before he could turn around, he heard footsteps coming from below the courtyard threshold. He saw his sister-in-law, Madam Yu, walking up the threshold with a beaming smile.
"Why is Rui-ge'er up so early? Why not sleep a little longer?" Madam Yu entered the courtyard with practiced ease, glanced around, and asked again, "Did Shen Zhuo go to the county again?"