Chapter 183: Chapter 17: Encountering Senior Brother Huang Again
Gu Chengyu heard someone calling him. When he turned around, he found that it was Senior Brother Huang who was planning to host today.
"Senior Brother Huang? What a coincidence!" Gu Chengyu was a bit surprised to run into him.
"I thought I saw Junior Brother Gu just now. Didn’t expect it was really you! Are you buying jewelry for the ladies at home?" Actually, Huang Ming had already been watching from the side for a while. The shopkeeper had initially attended to him, but Gu Chengyu was too focused on choosing jewelry to notice.
The counter here where Huang Ming stood sold only regular jewelry; the side where Gu Chengyu was had some expensive pieces. Huang Ming noticed Gu bought a lot at once, which gave him a clue that Gu’s family is probably well-off; otherwise, how could they afford to stay at the East Ascending Inn, right?
Moreover, Gu Chengyu stayed in the superior room, while Huang Ming and Qian Gui only stayed at the inn because no other accommodations near the exam venue were available. They had to reluctantly choose this inn and shared a room in the lower section.
"Yes! It’s rare to come to the county, I have to bring some jewelry home for the ladies." Gu Chengyu took the ten taels of silver the shopkeeper handed him along with the jewelry boxes. The shopkeeper even wrapped all the jewelry boxes together so that from the outside, it looked like gift boxes rather than jewelry.
"Is Senior Brother Huang also buying for the ladies at home?" Gu Chengyu casually responded.
"Junior Brother Gu seems to have many sisters at home!" Huang Ming had observed that most of the jewelry Gu Chengyu chose was for unmarried ladies, including pearl flowers and silk flowers for adolescent girls, and hairpins for young girls. So it’s likely that there are many girls in the Gu family.
Gu Chengyu was so willing to spend on jewelry for the girls in his family, which meant the Gu family surely wasn’t short of money. Thinking about this, Huang Ming had a certain idea in mind.
Gu Chengyu found the question odd. They weren’t familiar with each other, and asking about his family’s ladies was rather presumptive, so he chose not to answer.
"The hour is getting late; Senior Brother Huang, take your time choosing. I must take my leave as I need to set off shortly."
"Suit yourself, Junior Brother! I’m just buying a hairpin for my mother." In fact, Huang Ming had already chosen a hairpin and seeing Gu Chengyu glance at it, he intentionally covered it slightly with his sleeve.
"Then I’ll take my leave!" Gu Chengyu, carrying his purchase, smiled and bid farewell to Huang Ming.
After exiting the shop, he turned back for a glance at Huang Ming before walking away. The hairpin in Huang Ming’s hand was clearly used by young married women, so how could it be a gift for his mother? But why would Huang Ming lie?
Suddenly, he thought of something, looked at the jewelry box in his hand, chuckled, shook his head, and returned the way he came.
In the shop, Huang Ming watched as Gu Chengyu gradually walked away and observed him purchasing trinkets at a small stall, only then did he withdraw his gaze.
"Scholar, do you still want this hairpin?" The shopkeeper noticed that this young scholar was holding a hairpin but appeared lost in thought, not handing over any silver.
"Oh. How much silver?" Huang Ming looked at the hairpin in his hand. The joy he felt when picking it out had vanished, and now the silver hairpin seemed glaringly conspicuous.
"Counting it as two taels of silver for you!" The shopkeeper had just made a big sale and was in a good mood.
Huang Ming frowned, "Can’t it be cheaper?"
"Oh dear, this hairpin isn’t expensive at all, there’s barely any profit on it." The shopkeeper pouted. This was a large shop that usually didn’t haggle; only larger purchases could have a discount. Something worth two taels of silver couldn’t possibly be discounted, unlike the shoddy goods on outside stalls.
"Actually, the hairpin you picked is for a newlywed young woman. If it’s for your mother, these would be more appropriate." The shopkeeper had been listening to Gu Chengyu’s and his conversation earlier, which prompted this suggestion.
Huang Ming looked over at the other jewelry, noticing their outdated styles, generally used by older women. The colors were few, mostly flat or oblong, with no engravings or patterns on the tips. These hairpins were indeed cheaper.
"It’s just two taels of silver, wrap it up for me!"
Huang Ming took two taels of broken silver from his pouch and handed them to the shopkeeper, who wrapped the hairpin with a piece of silk. This side of the counter had no jewelry boxes for the items.
Seeing that there wasn’t even a box with it, Huang Ming’s face immediately looked displeased.
When Gu Chengyu returned to the inn with his purchases, Sun Xian and the others had already come back.
"Junior Brother! What did you buy? Such a big package?" He Shunian was about to head upstairs when he noticed Gu Chengyu had already entered.
"Just some trinkets for my nieces. Girls love such small things." In the Dayan Dynasty, women’s jewelry was considered part of a woman’s private collection, so as an elder there was no issue with Gu Chengyu bringing them. But He Shunian, being an outsider, naturally couldn’t see them.
"Junior Brother, you’re really good to your nieces. I often see you bringing them things." He Shunian found Gu Chengyu a bit odd. No matter how prosperous the Gu family was, they were still farmers, and the daughters of farm families usually helped with the farm work every day. But here Gu was, treating his nieces quite well.
What was more curious was, Gu himself was still just a young boy! He Shunian could only classify Gu Chengyu as someone who cherished beauty. Some men were inherently tender to women and generally couldn’t refuse their requests.
He Shunian glanced up and down at Gu Chengyu. Perhaps the Gu family had good food these three years, as Gu Chengyu had grown taller and the exposed skin was jade-like white, with those captivating peach blossom eyes. One could imagine, when he grew up, he’d be a handsome and graceful gentleman.
If not for his integrity, those eyes could be...
He shook his head, cutting off his reverie.
"Why is Senior Brother looking at me like that? Is your luggage all packed?" Gu Chengyu felt uncomfortable being stared at by He Shunian and awkwardly walked past him.
"Ah! Almost done! You guys should hurry too!" He Shunian came to his senses and replied.
"Xiao Bao! Why buy so many things?" Mr. Gu was resting in the room, hearing the door open he guessed it was Gu Chengyu returning.
"Father! Let’s return after lunch. We don’t need to settle the bill at the inn; Manager Liu has already paid. I’ll find a chance to repay him later."
Gu Chengyu had considered that refunding the silver through Manager Jiang might harm Manager Liu’s face too much. Perhaps he would study at the county school in the future and would find a chance to repay later.
"Well... as long as you know what you’re doing. Let’s not take advantage of others. Staying here these days must’ve cost quite a bit, right? And the meals, probably several tens of taels?"
Mr. Gu was still talking when Sun Xian and the others entered the room, Ye Zhiqiu was with them.
"Brother Gu! We don’t know how much the rent is for staying here. Let’s put all the money together and pay it!" As they were about to leave, they must settle the rent. Mr. He planned to give the silver to the Gu family before leaving, as they couldn’t take advantage of others! They had asked downstairs and were told the silver was already paid, so they came to ask the Gu family.