Chapter 23: 23

 

Transmigrated into Substitute Bride Fu Lang

Chapter 23: 书店

Bookstore

When Chen Xing heard Gu Lang ask this, a moment of hesitation appeared on his face. Although he was somewhat interested, he was still worried that he would not be able to bear the sight of a bloody scene like that.

 

While Chen Xing was torn, Gu Lang had already finished eating the three bowls of cakes that Chen Xing had brought to him. He looked at the empty tray with a slightly regretful expression, and then said as if he had no intention to do so, “I am going out tomorrow. I originally thought that I could go with you.”

 

When he heard Gu Lang say it like this, Chen Xing’s attention was immediately drawn to him. He looked at him and hesitantly asked, “What are you going out for?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt that it was improper, after all Gu Lang was free and there was no need to report it to him where he went.

 

Gu Lang looked at the embarrassment on Chen Xing’s face, but he said in a warm voice, “Naturally, I am giving the folk stories book to the bookstore owner after that, getting the manuscript fee back from him.”

 

Chen Xing’s eyes widened slightly, and now he couldn’t care less about being embarrassed. He had originally wondered how Gu Lang and the others managed to make ends meet, but now he seemed to have the answer.

 

Looking at Chen Xing’s startled look, Gu Lang continued to add, “It’s just that although I can earn some money from this book, I am not well, therefore I can’t write much each time, so the money I earn is also limited.”

 

Chen Xing automatically interpreted Gu Lang’s words as his sadness at his inability to make money, and immediately said comfortingly, “You are also like this because you are not in good health. When you get well, you will definitely be able to achieve more. Now that I’m also making money, I’m sure I’ll be able to earn more after a while. When the time comes, I’ll definitely pay you back as soon as possible.”

 

Gu Lang looked at the naive and innocent expression on Chen Xing’s face. The bottom of his eyes darkened slightly. He laughed in a low voice, “There is no rush, there is still enough money to spend around, you should not put too much pressure on yourself.”

 

Chen Xing looked at Gu Lang’s eyes and was somewhat moved even more, obviously Gu Lang was still in such a difficult situation himself, but Gu Lang still thought of him in every way. Sure enough, he is really a good person ah!

 

Gu Lang was a little uncomfortable, stared at by Chen Xing’s shining eyes, slightly averted his gaze, changed the subject and said, “Oh,that’s right, about the question that I just asked you, what is your answer?”

 

Doubt surfaced on Chen Xing’s face.

 

Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing, who had obviously forgotten what he had just asked, his eyes were filled with a little more doting that he himself hadn’t even noticed and said softly, “Are you going out with me tomorrow?”

 

Chen Xing listened to his low, deep, dark and hoarse voice and nodded after a moment of hesitation, thinking that if he was with Gu Lang, he might not be afraid anymore.

 

When Gu Lang saw Chen Xing agree, the corners of his lips lifted slightly, and there was a little more of an unspeakable look in that handsome face: “Since it is so, then we already make an appointment.”

 

Chen Xing felt that something was wrong with himself, obviously Gu Lang had only said a very ordinary sentence, but in his ears, it gave him the illusion that the two of them were not going out to join in the fun but to go on a date, such a thought made him blush, he hurriedly found an excuse to leave the study room.

 

Until Chen Xing’s back disappeared, Gu Lang looked at the empty plate on the table, raised his eyebrows and laughed lightly, “That’s really silly (simple-minded).”

 

Because they were going out, they finished breakfast early the next day. Chen Xing, who had nothing to prepare, changed into clean clothes and waited at the front door for Gu Lang, who had gone back to get his books.

 

While Chen Xing was squatting at the front gate, fiddling with the green foxtail1[狗尾巴草 : Setaria viridis, in chinese word by word or literal meaning of it is ‘dog’s tail grass’ : green foxtail, green bristlegrass, and wild foxtail millet.] that had grown by the door. Suddenly, he noticed that someone was walking towards him, he subconsciously raised his head and was dumbfounded the moment he saw the person.

 

Gu Lang, who usually dresses casually in the house, was wearing a white traditional garment worn by men. His hair was neatly combed up and tied up with a smooth wooden pin, revealing his clean forehead. Although his face was still a little pale, he looked like an elegant young master coming from an ancient painting.

 

Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing, who was crouching on the ground staring at him, extended his hand towards him and said softly, “What are you doing by crouching in here? Get up, it’s time for us to go.”

 

Chen Xing looked at the bony hand in front of his face and suddenly remembered his own current image, his face immediately turned red as he didn’t even let Gu Lang help him. He immediately jumped up from the ground, looked at Gu Lang and said embarrassedly, “I didn’t do anything ah.

Let’s go now.” After saying that, he ran toward the outside.

 

Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing who had run away, regrettably withdrew his empty hand and followed him out of the front door of the Gu Mansion.

 

It was only when he reached the main street that Chen Xing’s agitated emotions, which had been stirred up by the embarrassment just now, calmed down a little. He looked at Gu Lang who was following him, beside him unhurriedly before then he suddenly remembered a very embarrassing (awkward) question and stopped in his tracks.

 

Seeing that Chen Xing had stopped, Gu Lang also stopped, looking at Chen Xing with confusion in his eyes as to why he had suddenly stopped walking.

 

Receiving Gu Lang’s puzzled gaze, Chen Xing looked at him somewhat awkwardly and a bit of embarrassment appeared on his face as he said in a small voice, “I don’t know where the bookstore you are going to is.”

 

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Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing’s face, which was flushed with embarrassment, he resisted the urge to pinch it and said with a gentle smile, “It’s alright, you’re going the right way. Look, there’s that bookstore not far away from here.”

 

Chen Xing’s tense body slowly relaxed under Gu Lang’s gentle reassurance, so when he followed the direction that Gu Lang had pointed and saw that the shop was really not far away from them, his nervous mood was completely relaxed.

 

Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing and said gently, “Let’s go, the shop owner should be waiting there.”

 

Chen Xing nodded and followed Gu Lang towards the other side. Only when they were closer did he realize that the bookstore was even more stylish than he had imagined.

 

It was a two-storey building, with the first floor selling writing brush, ink, paper and inkstones (ink slab) while the second floor contained books and folk stories books. At the moment, there are many scholars going in and out of the building, and it seems to be a thriving scene.

 

Chen Xing was a bit surprised, he did not expect that a bookstore in this era could be so bustling. He had the impression that in ancient times, it was not advisable for students to study because the cost of studying was so high that ordinary people could not afford it. Since not everyone could afford it, it was only natural that not so many people would come to buy it, but he wondered why this bookstore was so crowded.

 

With this kind of question in mind, Chen Xing followed Gu Lang and stepped into the bookstore.

 

As soon as they entered, the shop attendant who had been introducing papers to the scholar immediately came over to them and said politely, “Gu Gongzi”

 

Gu Lang nodded his head, considered as a response.

 

The waiter was about to say something else, but when he saw Chen Xing who was looking around behind Gu Lang and seemed to be interested in everything here, he swallowed what he was about to say. He looked at them and continued, “The shop manager is waiting for you on the second floor.”

 

“Many thanks.” Gu Lang said thank you to the shop attendant and led a curious Chen Xing to the upper floor.

 

The waiter looked at the two people’s backs as they walked away together and muttered, “Is this the Ger who Xiao Jiu (Qiu Jiu) was talking about?”

 

Chen Xing originally thought that the decoration of the first floor was already beyond his expectation, but who knew that going up to the second floor would be an eye-opener for him. The layout was similar to that of a modern bookstore, except that the shelves were all made of wood.

 

At first glance, they saw the bookstore shop manager standing at the counter on the first floor. The shopkeeper was about forty years old, dressed as a scholar, upon seeing Gu Luang, his face immediately showed an expression of delight, before then, he saw Chen Xing behind him. The smile on his face froze for a moment, but he quickly adjusted himself as he looked at Gu Lang and asked politely, “Who is this?”

 

Gu Lang looked in the direction where the shop manager pointed at and when he saw Chen Xing, who was slightly uncomfortable, the corner of his lips hooked slightly as he said it very naturally, “This is the Fu Lang I married.”

 

When Gu Lang’s words came out, the other two people present were dumbfounded. The shop manager, in particular, looked as if he hadn’t expected Gu Lang to answer in this way. He looked at Gu Lang for quite a while and couldn’t come back to his senses, staring at Chen Xing with a look of shock that he couldn’t hide.

 

Looking at his shocked expression, Gu Lang handed over the box he had been carrying in his hand and said in a deep voice: “This is the book I have written for the past few days.”

 

Gu Lang’s words immediately reminded the shop manager, who raised his eyes and met Gu Lang’s cold eyes. He shivered, hurriedly took over the box and said hurriedly, “Wait for me, I’ll go and bring your reward (pay).”

 

Gu Lang revealed a smile and his aura became gentle again.

 

After taking the box to the counter, the shop manager immediately took out another box of similar size from the counter and handed it to Gu Lang, “Here is the author’s remuneration as well as the paper you need.”

 

“Many thanks.”

 

When he saw Gu Lang take the box, the shop manager’s lips moved, obviously wanting to ask something, but when he saw the gentle gaze of Gu Lang toward Chen Xing, in the end he didn’t say anything at all.

 

Only after the two of them had left the bookstore under the watchful eyes of the shop manager, did Chen Xing say quietly to Gu Lang next to him, “I think the shop manager and the shop attendant were looking at me in a strange way, although there was no malice, but I always felt that something was not quite right, as if they were looking at something that especially strange.”

 

When Gu Lang heard Chen Xing say it like this, he smiled gently and said soothingly, “Perhaps they were just curious about what my Fu Lang was like.”

 

Chen Xing didn’t expect Gu Lang to answer him like this, so he looked up in dismay and met Gu Lang’s gentle gaze, slightly stunned for a while. Thinking of what Gu Lang had just said in the shop, he muttered with some dissatisfaction, “Just now, how could you say it like that?”

 

But Gu Lang was looking at him with a soft gaze, “I was just telling the truth.”

 

Chen Xing’s heart all of a sudden skipped a beat, his heartbeat involuntarily sped up. He wanted to ask Gu Lang if he had a deeper meaning by saying that, or if he himself had over thought it. If Gu Lang didn’t have any intention, then he still hoped that Gu Lang would not do so in the future.

 

But before Chen Xing could open his mouth and ask, he heard all kinds of noisy sounds coming towards them from a distance.

 

 

1[狗尾巴草 : Setaria viridis, in chinese word by word or literal meaning of it is ‘dog’s tail grass’ : green foxtail, green bristlegrass, and wild foxtail millet.]

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