She danced on a large drum, the bells jingling, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Huo Duan glanced at it briefly, then looked away and clapped listlessly, saying, "What's so great about this? I've seen much prettier ones."
He thought to himself, "If Gu Fengyan wore this dress, he would look ten times more beautiful."
Gu Feng cheered from the eaves and asked, "Where?"
Huo Duan blushed crimson at the images flashing through his mind, and coughed softly, "I was just talking nonsense..."
How could he have imagined such a scene!
"Really?" Gu Fengyan lowered his eyes and smiled, a smile that was not good-looking. "Didn't you say that the person is not good-looking? Then why are you blushing... President Huo, everyone has a love for beauty. The way you hide it is a bit sleazy."
Gu Fengyan thought he was blushing because of the dancer.
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Huo Duan was speechless. "Am I that kind of person?"
Although he had just imagined what Gu Fengyan would look like in those clothes.
Gu Fengyan's smile was rather perfunctory, "Yes, yes, I was just making it up..."
After the dancers finished their performance, they began to pluck the flowers they wore one by one, and with a seductive smile, they threw them off the stage.
Most of the people watching the dance were single men. They were so eager to please the dancers that before the flowers even fell, more than a dozen hands reached out to grab them, causing chaos in the audience.
Before Gu Fengyan could finish his sentence, he was jostled about, and Huo Duan tried to pull him back but failed, watching helplessly as he bumped into someone.
"Who the hell dared to step on my shoes?! It's you, you little bitch!" The person who was bumped into shoved Gu Fengyan aside, speaking in extremely vulgar language.
Huo Duan caught Gu Fengyan, pulled him behind him protectively, and faced the man with a cold expression.
But he was fat and bloated, looking like a nouveau riche. He was none other than Wang Er, Gu Fengyan's fiancé who had caused trouble at the Huo family last time.
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Chapter Twenty-Seven
Wang Ernie squinted and scoffed, "I ran into a funeral procession on my way out, what damn bad luck!"
"So what?" He stretched out his toes and squinted at Gu Fengyan behind Huo Duan.
After a few months apart, he felt that the young man had become even more handsome, and he began to regret that he had been rebuffed by that village headman and had simply taken the money and left.
Otherwise, this guy would have been his man long ago.
Looking at Wang Er's ugly face, Gu Fengyan, who was obsessed with appearances, suddenly felt a headache coming on.
Not only is he ugly, but he's also stupid and dumb.
"What do you want?" He released Huo Duan, stood beside him, and his eyes were already very displeased.
Gu Fengyan felt incredibly unlucky that his perfectly good day had been ruined by this person. Not only was he unlucky, but it was also strange that out of so many people, he had to run into Wang Er.
Wang Er's eyes swept around, and he grinned lewdly. "Hehe, that's easy enough. Why don't you come back with me... I'll not only forgive you for what you did, but I'll also make you my second concubine. How about that?"
He then realized that this young man was truly handsome. Although he was dressed in a plain cotton blue robe without any adornment, his snow-white, slender neck, pure-looking face, and shy, timid eyes were enough to make one's bones melt.
Just based on her appearance alone, she's even better than the most beautiful courtesan in the Mianchun Pavilion.
Wang Er's eyes, the way he looked at people, were like a pair of lewd hands, roaming around.
Huo Duan's patience had reached its limit. Amidst the commotion of the crowd, he covered Gu Fengyan's eyes with one hand and pulled him into his arms... He was so tall that when he put his arms around Gu Fengyan, others could only see Gu Fengyan's slightly tiptoeing feet and the top of his head.
"Does Young Master Wang really think I'm dead?!" Huo Duan's voice was icy cold. He only glanced at Wang Er, yet it sent chills down his spine. "She is my lawfully wedded wife, and you want her to be a concubine... You really dare to think that?!"
Wang Er hadn't noticed before, but now he realized that this kid didn't seem stupid at all. Having grown up among spoiled brats, he'd seen all sorts of people... but he'd never seen anyone who could make someone tremble with just a glance.
"You, who do you think you are! How dare you point fingers at me? Do you believe I can kill you all without a burial place with just a flick of my finger!" Wang Er was furious and embarrassed to be frightened by such a peasant.
Gu Fengyan stirred in his arms, a deep smile playing on his lips as he said in a muffled voice, "Ah, President Huo..."
"Don't speak." Huo Duan pressed him back down.
The surrounding crowd was all focused on the acrobatic performance on stage, so they didn't attract too much attention. Gu Fengyan then stayed still and obediently huddled in Huo Duan's arms.
Neither of them took Wang Er seriously.
Wang Er was so angry he jumped up and down, his fat body trembling. "You wait, I'll go back and tell my father to punish you ungrateful country bumpkins!"
Huo Duan couldn't help but laugh out loud, "How old is Young Master Wang? Why is he still like a baby, unable to leave his parents?"
"You, you..." Wang Er trembled with anger, his face turning red and white in turns. He pointed at Huo Duan, but couldn't utter a single word for a long time.
In the end, he could only stomp his feet and leave, uttering harsh words as he went, telling Huo Duan to wait.
...
"What were you trying to say?" Huo Duan released Gu Fengyan before lowering his eyes to ask.
Gu Fengyan smiled and said, "President Huo has offended Wang Er so much that this feud is likely to continue."
Huo Duan glanced at Gu Fengyan, "You want to be his concubine? Or is Young Master Gu afraid he might actually do something?"
Asking Gu Fengyan to be his concubine? He's incredibly audacious! Gu Fengyan is someone he treats like a precious gem, and Wang Er dares to ask him to be his concubine… This scoundrel is even dreaming of a celestial goose!
Huo Duan's eyes grew colder and colder as he thought about it, and he exuded a murderous aura.
Gu Fengyan was quite happy, as if he had secretly eaten honey. "How could I? Why would I give up a perfectly good wife to become a concubine? Besides, he's not as handsome as you. I'm not blind."
If Huo Duan hadn't been there, he would have broken one of Wang Er's legs.
"Let's go home, Mr. Huo." After patting Huo's head, he took Huo Duan's hand and led him forward.
Huo Duan's anger subsided considerably after hearing what he said.
"If you see him again, stay away... no, you have to take me with you wherever you go." He instructed Gu Fengyan.
Deep down, he was still quite afraid. Not of Wang Er, but of a weak young man like Gu Fengyan. What would happen if he encountered Wang Er while Gu Fengyan was away?
Just thinking about it made Huo Duan furious.
"Yes, yes, yes." Gu Fengyan smiled and simply agreed.
Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan did not go straight home. Instead, they got off the oxcart at the village entrance and went to Liu Zhengshan's house to pay back the eight strings of cash they owed.
After returning home, Huo Xiuling and Jiang Xuerui came to help, and Gu Fengyan took out two strings of cash to pay back the money he owed the Ye family.
I've finally paid off all my debts... Including the money I spent on holiday goods, I still have more than nine strings of cash left out of the twenty strings.
The money wasn't much, but it was better than when the two of them were penniless.
After lunch, the whole family began preparing for the afternoon's work. Jiang Xuerui and Huo Xiuling were in charge of collecting and recording the medicinal herbs in the yard, while Huo A'di tidied up the herbs, which were then processed and dried by Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan.
Gu Fengyan sorted the cleaned medicinal herbs into categories and then handed them to Huo Duan to slice and cut into sections. The two of them then set up their tools in the main room.
Villagers came and went outside the courtyard, carrying large and small baskets. Seeing this, Gu Fengyan had a sudden thought and realized a big problem.
He paused his work, leaned closer to Huo Duan, and said, "Hey, Mr. Huo, I suddenly remembered something..."
Huo Duan glanced at him. "Go on."
Gu Fengyan said, "We've signed contracts with pharmacies and restaurants in the county. Once our reputation spreads, we expect even more people to want to cooperate... The demand for medicinal herbs will only increase."
He looked at the villagers' baskets and hampers in the courtyard, which were all full, and continued, "But the medicinal herbs in the mountains are probably limited in quantity. These people only care about money and don't know about resource recycling. They only know how to eradicate the root of the problem... This can't go on."
Huo Duan followed his gaze and saw that the villagers in the courtyard had taken the money, their eyes burning with a fierce desire, all of them yearning for money.
Once desire arises, it becomes like a bottomless pit, endless and inexhaustible.
Huo Duan understood this principle well.
"What does Young Master Gu mean?" He stopped what he was doing and asked, turning his head to the side.
Gu Fengyan put his hand on Huo Duan's shoulder and said, "Since Heqing Village has medicinal herbs, the surrounding villages probably do too. Why don't we expand our business to the neighboring villages?"
Huo Duan thought about it and felt it made sense. He nodded and said, "Young Master Gu is right. Moreover, I see that there are many vacant lots in the village. Perhaps we can provide medicinal herb seeds for the villagers to plant and harvest later."
Huo Duan discovered this last time he went up the mountain: the land near the back of the mountain was basically uncultivated, and that place was also very suitable for the growth of medicinal herbs.
Gu Fengyan nodded, straightened up and patted his shoulder, "Yes, but these will cost a lot. We need to buy a house first and get Father's medical treatment. These are more urgent."
Although the house was still habitable, it wasn't right for him and Huo Duan to always be crammed into one bed... He was quite comfortable, having someone to hold him every night, but Huo Duan might not be so willing.
Gu Fengyan had already planned it all out. Buying a courtyard in the county would cost about 100 guan, which wasn't expensive, and it would make Uncle Huo's living conditions more comfortable. He would also buy an oxcart or horse-drawn carriage, and the old house could then be used exclusively for processing and purchasing medicinal herbs.
Huo Duan paused, taken aback by what he said.
Buying a house meant he would have to sleep in a separate room from Gu Fengyan... Huo Duan felt quite disappointed.
"Buying a house isn't urgent. It's inconvenient to travel back and forth between the village and the county. We can talk about it later when we can hand over the processing of medicinal herbs to someone else... We'll go to a few neighboring villages to inquire about medicinal herbs another day." Huo Duan's eyes darted around, but he spoke with a straight face.
Gu Fengyan thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "President Huo is indeed very thoughtful."
If he doesn't buy a house, he can continue sleeping with Huo Duan, which means he can continue to snuggle comfortably in someone's arms.
Gu Fengyan was naturally delighted.
"Ahem... It's so-so." Huo Duan kept his eyes down, but inside he was overjoyed.
Yes, the goal has been achieved.
...
Since recruiting workers in Heqing Village, we have been able to purchase two to three hundred catties of wet medicinal herbs every day.
The Huo family, along with Jiang Xuerui, spent the entire afternoon preparing the medicinal herbs. Liang Chengze came over in the evening, and they didn't finish until it was almost dark.
Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan were exhausted. After taking a shower, they collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.
It rained last night, and when I woke up in the morning, the mountains were shrouded in mist, the air was fresh, and raindrops were falling from the peach tree leaves.
When Huo Adie entered the courtyard carrying a bundle of mugwort and calamus, Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan were washing their faces.
Exhausted, Gu Fengyan forgot everything, but when he saw the bundle of mugwort covered in dew in Huo's hand, he remembered that today was the Dragon Boat Festival.
Father Huo placed the mugwort and calamus on the ground, took a stool, sat down, cleaned away the sand and dirt, bundled them into small bunches, and was ready to hang them on the door.
Gu Fengyan wiped his hands and went over to help tidy up. "Father is so thoughtful. I forgot that we were supposed to hang mugwort and calamus today."
“You were just too busy to remember. I can’t really help much anyway, but I remember these little things.” Uncle Huo smiled. “By the way, I ran into your aunt on the edge of the field this morning. She was picking mugwort and said she’d be here soon. You and Erdan don’t need to worry about that. Go and make breakfast first.”
Gu Fengyan agreed and went with Huo Duan to make breakfast.