Gu Fengyan was a diligent learner; farming and even mundane family matters were considered subjects of study for him.
Yes, it's worth learning from scratch... arguing and making money by farming are both examples.
While Gu Shao was engrossed in his studies, President Huo was distracted by other things.
He grasped the key point of Gu Fengyan's words—Gu Fengyan wanted to do something "big" that required two people to do!
It was still at night.
Well... it's a very subtle thing.
He had absolutely no expectations. President Huo solemnly denied it in his heart, but then, with a smile playing on his lips and as if injected with adrenaline, he dashed ten meters away.
In the evening, Huo Duan washed up early, put on his cleanest and softest nightgown, and obediently made his bed like a kindergarten child, waiting for Gu Fengyan to come in.
I've stroked the blanket eight hundred times, and there isn't a single wrinkle.
Gu Fengyan took a bath in another room.
The sound of water can be heard.
Huo Duan listened to the sound of water and straightened the quilt again.
Finally, he heard Gu Fengyan pouring water and rustling as she got dressed... The moment she pushed open the bedroom door, he quickly burrowed under the covers, smiling as he looked at the doorway.
Gu Fengyan pushed open the door and entered, startled.
"Mr. Huo? What's with that weird smile of yours? It's the middle of the night, and it's kind of scary." He said hesitantly.
Before Huo Duan could speak, he added, "Also, why are you wearing pajamas?"
Gu Fengyan was dressed properly and was holding a lantern in his hand.
Huo Duan was taken aback. "Didn't you say you were going to do something big tonight?"
Gu Fengyan was completely baffled. "Yes, we're about to do something big!"
Huo Duan asked, puzzled, "Then why are you wearing clothes?"
Gu Fengyan was completely bewildered. "Then why did you take off your clothes?"
A note from the author:
Young Master Gu: His head is full of knowledge.
Mr. Huo: My mind is full of lewd nonsense. (Is this something I can say?)
Young Master Gu is single-mindedly focused on his studies, while President Huo is single-mindedly focused on pursuing Young Master Gu. (A vulgar expression)
Chapter Twenty-One
The air was quiet for a few seconds, then the lights flickered and danced... Across the river, someone's rooster crowed loudly, confusing day and night, and was immediately scolded by the owner of the bedroom.
"President Huo, you wouldn't be..." Gu Fengyan's expression was strange.
Huo Duan jumped off the bed and covered his mouth, "No! Don't talk nonsense!"
Gu Fengyan's voice was muffled, "I haven't even said anything yet, why are you in such a hurry?"
"You wouldn't be... feeling guilty, would you?" He smiled maliciously, turning to observe Huo Duan's expression.
“Who, who’s feeling guilty?” Huo Duan blushed unnaturally and let go of her hand as if he had been electrocuted. “What do I have to feel guilty about?”
Both of them were breathing heavily, and when they weren't speaking, all they could do was gasp for breath, and the atmosphere became tense...
Gu Fengyan knew when to stop and turned the matter over, saying, "It's my fault for not explaining things clearly. It's only natural that President Huo misunderstood."
Huo Duan followed up, "Ahem... So what did you mean at noon?"
“Since we’ve already found people for the medicinal herb harvesting, we can put it aside for now. But Mr. Huo, as I said before… I only have a superficial understanding of medicinal herb processing. For more complex cases, we still need professionals.” Gu Fengyan cleared his throat, put down the lantern, and looked for clothes for Huo Duan in the cabinet.
Huo Duan was silent for a moment, then asked, "Is this the big deal you were talking about?"
Gu Fengyan tossed his coat and undershirt to him, "Isn't this a big deal? Don't you want to go back?"
He thought the important matter Gu Fengyan was referring to was...
"Go on, I'm listening." Huo Duan looked flustered and deliberately avoided looking at Gu Fengyan.
He actually thought of that kind of place... Fortunately, Gu Fengyan didn't investigate further.
Gu Fengyan sat on the edge of the bed, watching Huo Duan change his clothes. "There's another person in the village who knows how to process herbs. He collects and processes all the herbs himself from the mountains. Why don't we ask him for help?"
"You mean Doctor Liang at the village entrance?" Huo Duan unbuttoned his nightgown.
He knew that when Gu Fengyan first had a fever, the medicine was prescribed by him.
Moreover, Dr. Liang is a kind-hearted person. When villagers have any illnesses, they go to him for treatment. He only charges them enough to cover their costs, and if a family is so poor that they can't even afford to eat, he is happy to treat them for free.
Gu Fengyan stared at Huo Duan's broad back. "There are many things to do tomorrow, and I'm afraid I won't be able to handle them. Let's go there now before they go to sleep."
Huo Duan nodded and put on his undershirt. "Young Master Gu is very thoughtful."
"Hurry up and change it." Gu Fengyan chuckled.
Huo Duan finished fastening the last button of his inner garment, then suddenly turned to look at Gu Fengyan, "If you don't leave... I'm going to have to take my pants off."
Gu Fengyan crossed his arms and looked Huo Duan up and down, his gaze landing on a certain unspeakable place. His tone was quite disdainful. "Tch... how big is it? As if no one has one. If we really compare, we might not be able to beat each other."
Huo Duan's face immediately turned red, "Gu Fengyan, you..."
"Okay, okay, I'm leaving." Gu Fengyan, having gotten the better deal, quickly made his escape, his face still radiating an infuriating smile.
The door opened and then closed again.
Huo Duan clutched his outer robe, feeling increasingly aggrieved, wishing he could drag Gu Fengyan in and make him see things clearly.
He reflected on himself... and he wasn't exactly young either!
Dr. Liang's full name is Liang Chengze. He was born and raised in Heqing Village. In his early years, he learned some skills from a local doctor and worked as a helper in the county pharmacy. He had better places to go, but he felt that Heqing Village had raised him and he could not leave his "roots" no matter what, so he stayed.
As the hour of Xu (7-9 PM) drew to a close, Doctor Liang perused medical books by the dim light, while his husband, Shen Yao, mended clothes beside him. When the candles burned down to their lowest point, the two, seeing that it was getting late, prepared to go to sleep.
But then they heard a knock on the courtyard gate.
Shen Yao listened for a while, then put down her needlework. "It sounds like someone is knocking on the door. Who could it be so late?"
"I guess someone's sick. You go to sleep, I'll go take a look." Doctor Liang put on his clothes and hurried off.
Outside the courtyard, Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan waited for a while before finally seeing someone come to open the door with a lamp.
Liang Cheng called out from inside the door, "Wait outside for a moment, I'll go get a medicine box."
Seeing that Huo Duan was treating them like patients, he quickly said, "Mr. Liang, it's me, Huo Erdan from the other side of the river. There's no need for a doctor's visit. We're not sick; we just have something to tell you."
Upon hearing this, Dr. Liang turned to the door and ushered them in, saying, "Please come in quickly."
The Liang family's courtyard was filled with drying medicinal herbs. Large and small drying racks and winnowing baskets were scattered everywhere, leaving almost no room to step.
Gu Fengyan clicked his tongue in amazement. "Mr. Liang, you have such a wide variety of medicinal herbs here. You must have put in a lot of effort, right?"
Liang Chengze knew a little about Gu Fengyan. He was the one who went to see her when she had a fever the first time. Although he didn't know the details of the second farce, he had heard some gossip while visiting doctors everywhere.
Most of the time, it's said that Yan Ge'er is indecent.
Unfortunately, Liang Chengze never judged people based on what others said.
“Alas, everyone gets sick sometimes. Medicinal herbs are expensive, and the cost is high. The villagers only earn a few dollars a year. If I don’t gather some medicinal herbs myself, I’m afraid I won’t be able to afford medical care in the future.” Liang Cheng offered the two of them stools and looked at Huo Duan. “I heard that you and Yan Ge’er are in the medicinal herb business, is that true?”
I heard this from the neighbor next door. He went to the next village to make house calls today, and his husband went to the county to buy daily necessities. Neither of them was there.
Huo Duan nodded with a smile, "There is such a saying... Before Yan Ge'er got married, his family ran a pharmacy, so he knew a little about medicine. We originally planned to dig up some medicinal herbs to try and sell them, but we didn't expect it to turn into a business."
Having practiced medicine regularly, Liang Cheng knew how scarce and expensive medicinal herbs were. If someone could provide them in large quantities, lowering prices and increasing the variety, it would undoubtedly benefit the people.
He was very happy. "This is a good thing. You must do a good job. If you need any help, just let me know."
Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan did not expect things to go so smoothly.
"We are bothering you so late at night because we really have something we would like to ask Mr. Liang for help with," Gu Fengyan said cautiously.
Liang Cheng was not surprised and laughed heartily, "I guessed it as soon as you came in. But please speak freely. I will definitely not refuse within my ability."
Hearing this, Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan relaxed a little.
"Nothing can escape Mr. Liang's eyes." Huo Duan joked before getting straight to the point, "Since you already know that Yan Ge'er and I are doing business, I won't beat around the bush... Yan Ge'er and I mainly want to hire Mr. Liang to process medicinal herbs."
Upon hearing this, Liang Cheng pondered for a moment, "Processing medicinal herbs? Why is that? And who processes the medicinal herbs sold to the pharmacy?"
“I used to be in charge of the processing, but Mr. Liang knows that processing medicinal herbs is a skill, and if something goes wrong, it can be a matter of life and death.” Gu Fengyan took over the conversation. “But unfortunately, I only know a little bit about it. If the business grows bigger in the future and I see more kinds of medicinal herbs, I’m afraid I won’t be able to control it. So we discussed and decided that hiring Mr. Liang is the most suitable option.”
Liang Zecheng pondered for a moment and said, "This matter is not difficult, but I have to go out to see patients all day long, I'm afraid I won't be able to manage it."
Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan had already thought of this.
"Please rest assured, Mr. Liang, Yan Ge'er and I have already discussed it. Mr. Liang only needs to focus on the preparation. We will oversee the harvesting and preliminary processing. You only need to come for two hours each day," Huo Duan said.
Liang Cheng was about to nod, but then he noticed the brightly lit bedroom and hurriedly said, "I can't make the decision on this. Let me discuss it with my wife and give you an answer as soon as possible."
Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan almost burst out laughing when they saw his sudden change in expression... This Liang Chengze is also afraid of his wife.
"Heqing Village is a strange place; all the men there are afraid of their wives and husbands," Gu Fengyan sighed.
Huo Duan glanced at Gu Fengyan and said, "Mr. Liang, there's no rush. Just tell us when you've made your decision."
Liang Cheng then agreed and saw the two of them out the door.
Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan went home and went to sleep, and nothing happened that night.
The next morning, Gu Fengyan woke up to the sound of Huo Adie chopping vegetables to prepare breakfast in the kitchen.
Huo Duan was exhausted; his breathing was heavy, and he was still asleep.
Gu Fengyan got out of bed, carefully closed the door behind him, and went out. He washed his face first before entering the kitchen.
Millet porridge was cooking in a pot, and Uncle Huo was chopping vegetables.
“Father,” Gu Fengyan walked to the chopping board and saw the tender shepherd’s purse in the bamboo basket, “You went to dig shepherd’s purse so early in the morning?”
After chopping the vegetables, Uncle Huo put down the knife. "My leg is too weak. These were brought by your aunt this morning. She said they were the last batch, so we should eat them while they're fresh."
Uncle Huo chopped wild onions, intending to use them to make a cold salad with shepherd's purse to go with rice.
"I'll thank Auntie another day. You should go and rest. I haven't cooked in so long." Gu Fengyan washed his hands and carefully cleaned the shepherd's purse.