Chapter 3: 3

Transmigrated into Substitute Bride ‘Fu Lang’

Chapter 3 : 家贫

(The Family is poor) 

The moment Chen Xing heard Gu Lang ask like this, he subconsciously shook his head, expressing that he didn’t know.

 

Looking at Chen Xing’s silly appearance, the corner of Gu Lang’s lips curled up, his thin lips gently opened as he slowly said, “Back then, that bride price was what my father decided to give, in order to show his sincerity. Our Gu family gave the Chen family two shops in East Street, ten acres of good land in the West District and two hundred taels of silver.”

 

Chen Xing had only been transmigrated into this place for a few days and was not very clear about the prices here, however from what he heard, he felt that these things were quite a lot; he just didn’t know how much they were worth.

 

Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing’s slightly confused expression and continued, “If you don’t believe me, I still have the list of presents from back then, do you want to take a look?”

 

Hearing Gu Lang said it this way, Chen Xing hurriedly shook his head, Gu Lang had already said so, thus there was no reason for him not to believe it, after all, it was unnecessary to lie to him either.

 

Gu Lang coughed, his already pale face became more and more bloodless, only after the coughing subsided did he continue to say, “Do you know for what purpose did I go to the Chen family some time ago?”

 

Chen Xing took a look at him and carefully guessed, “To make the Chen family honour the marriage contract back then?”

 

Gu Lang stared at those clean eyes of Chen Xing and smiled, “The Gu family is in this kind of state now, even if I overrate my own abilities, I know that the Chen family would absolutely never send their daughter here to suffer, therefore the last time I went there was only to break off the engagement and get back my Gu family’s things, but who knew that…”

 

The unfinished meaning of Gu Lang’s words, Chen Xing instantly understood, who knew that the Chen family actually found him, an impostor, to take the place of the bride in order not to return those bride prices.

 

Being stared at by those amber eyes of Gu Lang, Chen Xing didn’t know why he felt a little guilty yet at the same time, he also cursed that really despicable Chen family in his heart.

 

After a very short time of having quilty conscience, Chen Xing quickly remembered his purpose, plucked up his courage, looked at Gu Lang’s direction and continued, “Umm, I will try to find a way to earn money to pay you back. Can you promise to return my slave contract to me later when I have earned money?”

 

Gu Lang did not expect Chen Xing would still react like this after all he had said to him. He stared at Chen Xing’s clear eyes for a while and suddenly felt that he was somewhat cute in his simplicity. He hooked the corners of his lips and answered him in a low voice, “Fine.”

 

Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing’s suddenly bright eyes, giving him the feeling that this person that had been sent to him was not completely useless or without a single redeeming feature, at least he was somewhat cute in his simple-mindedness.

 

Gu Lang coughed a few more times and looked at the ‘filled with joy Chen Xing’, “Until you finish paying back the money, you will stay in this mansion. This will be your room from now on.”

 

“Hn, many thanks.” Chen Xing looked at him and nodded desperately, thinking that Gu Lang was simply such a good person. Not only did he not blame him and vent his anger at him, he even let him stay here.

 

Gu Lang took a deep look at Chen Xing before he turned around and left the room.

 

Until the door of the room closed again, Chen Xing sat down on the bed and let out a long breath of relief. He had originally thought that it would not be easy to pass Gu Lang, this key factor, but he did not expect that the young master of the Gu family would be unexpectedly so nice and open to persuasion.

 

However, Chen Xing still felt that no matter what, he had to find out the price of goods here as soon as possible, so that he knew how to earn money and return it to Gu Lang as soon as possible. Waiting until the time he would be able to take his deed of sale back, he would find a place to open a small restaurant and he believed that with his skills, he would not starve to death.

 

Chen Xing had made up his mind and was ready to go to bed. The bedding under his buttocks was so soft that it was comparable to the Simmons1 bed he had slept on in his previous life.

 

Chen Xing tilted his head and wondered, ‘Is the craftsmanship in ancient times better than even the one in modern times?’ However, this thought only flashed through his mind for a moment before he left it behind. ‘After all, there were even men here who could give birth to children, so what was wrong with having more advanced craftsmanship?’

 

The next day, as soon as Chen Xing opened his eyes, he realized that it was almost dawn outside. He woke up with a jolt of fright, rushing to get out of bed.

 

It wasn’t until Chen Xing put on his shoes and saw the decorations around him, only then did he remember that he was no longer in Chen’s family residence, but in the Gu family’s residence. He let out a sigh of relief and slowed down his dressing speed.

 

When he finished tidying himself well and got things ready, he opened the door of his room and went out. He was again taken aback by the scenery outside. He didn’t know whether the courtyard had been unoccupied for years or neglected, but the rest of the courtyard was covered with weeds of varying heights except for the pathway for passage. If one were to see it at night, one would definitely think that this was the haunted mansion of an abandoned village.

 

Chen Xing observed his surroundings and found that not only, no one there, but there was not even an extra sound. At this moment, he felt even more frightened. Just then, he saw smoke fluttering not far away, so he hesitated for a moment and went over to that direction.

 

When he found the place that looked like a kitchen, he saw a man crouching in front of a gurgling pot of medicine carefully fan the fire.

 

Chen Xing hesitated for a long time, standing in front of the door, but when he saw that the man was solely preoccupied and concentrating his attention on boiling the medicine, as if he didn’t have the slightest intention to divert his attention, he could not help but speak out, “Umm..that, hello.”

 

That man’s response was really quick, he turned his head back in instant, only then Chen Xing could see that the person squatting there looked quite young, he was only about 17 or 18 years old.

 

A short moment of confusion appeared in that man’s eyes when he first saw Chen Xing, then as if he thought of something, his eyes suddenly lit up and he said excitedly, “You are the young master’s newly married wife!”

 

Chen Xing felt this form of address was too embarrassing so he awkwardly said, “Don’t call me that, just call me Chen Xing. Oh yeah, by the way, what is your name?”

 

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The youngster looked at him for a moment and nodded, “My name is Qiu Jiu.”

 

Seeing how good-natured the young man was, Chen Xing slowly walked over to him and asked him about the affairs of the mansion, “What are you doing here? Is there anyone else in this mansion?”

 

“I am helping my young master, boiling the medicine for him. The young master is not in good health and has to drink the medicine first after he wakes up in the morning.” Qiu Jiu paused for a moment and continued, “There were only two of us in this house, me and my young master and now, with you here, there are three of us. By the way, I have to make breakfast after I finish with the medicine. Do you have anything you can’t eat?”

 

Chen Xing was a little curious, “What do you cook every day?”

 

Qiu Jiu scratched his head, showing a silly smile and said with some embarrassment, “I can only boil some noodles and then put some toppings on top.”

 

The topping2 was some kind of salted vegetable, moreover it tasted very odd.

澆頭:

   

Chen Xing looked at the squatting teenager and asked confusedly. “Isn’t your young master in poor health? Is it okay to eat like this every day?”

 

Upon hearing this, Qiu Jiu sighed very melancholy, sighed like an old man and then said, “It’s something that can’t be helped~ since my family’s young master is very poor ah! I don’t have any talent for cooking either, so I can only make do with what I have. Originally, I thought that if the young master succeeded in breaking off the engagement and getting the bride price back this time, we would be able to improve the family’s condition, but who knows that…”

 

Qiu Jiu seemed to have suddenly realized something and immediately stopped talking, looking at Chen Xing awkwardly.

 

However, in his heart, Chen Xing did not mind as much as Qiu Jiu thought he would be, after all, what Qiu Jiu said was the truth.

 

Looking at the embarrassed young man, Chen Xing smiled at him, “If you don’t mind, leave the breakfast to me,ba! Does your young master have anything that he avoids or abstains from certain food?”

 

Qiu Jiu looked at his clean and neat face and asked with some doubt, “Can you cook?”

 

The corners of Chen Xing’s lips curled up and his entire person brightened up a little more, “I still have some knowledge and experience in cooking.”

 

Qiu Jiu looked at him with suspicion, only half believing what he said, but recalling his young master’s instructions therefore he did not stop him. He even told him that he could use whatever ingredients he wanted from the kitchen.

 

Chen Xing answered him and began to be busy with the cooking, to his surprise, this Gu family’s stove, not knowing whether the kitchen’s stove was less used or because Qiu Jiu was quite diligent, it was unexpectedly and particularly clean. What made him even happier was that the kitchen had everything he needed, even fresh ingredients.

 

Next to him, Qiu Jiu was boiling medicine while he saw Chen Xing was puzzled only for a moment before he then happily started cooking. He only felt that the newly married wife was a bit silly.

 

At first, Chen Xing was not familiar with ancient cooking utensils. He was a bit clumsy in cutting vegetables with a knife

Qiu Jiu next to him was sweating for him as he watched his hands. He was afraid that Chen Xing would cut his own hand, but it was only when he gradually changed from clumsy to skilled, only by then did he feel that this recently married ‘wife’ still had some merit.

 

Soon, a strong smell of meat porridge wafted out of the kitchen.

 

Qiu Jiu, who was boiling the medicine next to him, could not stop swallowing his own saliva as he smelled the aroma and even when he was pouring the medicine, he almost accidentally dropped and knocked the bowl over. Luckily, he was quick enough to catch the falling bowl, only then did he manage to save the result of his achievement. After doing so, he glanced at Chen Xing and was relieved to see that he did not pay attention to him.

 

Chen Xing served three bowls of the cooked congee, looked at Qiu Jiu who had already poured the medicine so he asked, “Do you need me to help you carry the congee together with the medicine over to your family’s young master?”

 

Qiu Jiu took the meat congee that belonged to him, shook his head and said straightforwardly, “No need, the young master can’t eat anything too hot. Let’s eat first, I’ll bring it over to the young master when we finish eating, the temperature will be just right by then.”

 

Hearing what he said, Chen Xing also did not force it, nodded his head, picked up his own bowl and ate.

 

Gu Lang got up as usual, when he had finished washing up and came outside, he saw that in addition to the bowl of medicine that he usually drank, there was also a bowl of lean meat porridge on the table that looked really delicious.

 

Gu Lang raised his eyes to look at Qiu Jiu who was standing next to him and said in confusion, “Did you go out to buy this?”

 

Qiu Jiu heard his family’s young master ask about this congee. He said with dancing eyebrows and radiant face, “Gong Zi, this congee was made by Chen Xing. I think it’s worth it even if you spend all that money to buy back someone who can cook like this.”

 

Gu Lang glanced at him and Qiu Jiu immediately stopped talking.

 

Until Gu Lang finished his medicine and ate a few mouthfuls of porridge, he suddenly agreed with Qiu Jiu’s words. He finished the bowl of porridge unhurriedly, which was more than the portion he usually ate. Before then, he raised his eyes to look at Qiu Jiu who was impatient to say something. He asked indifferently, “Where is he?”

 

“Chen Xing said he was going out to see what business was profitable and would be back in time to cook at noon. Gong Zi, do you think we should prepare the ingredients for noon in advance?”

 

1

[席梦思: innerspring mattress/ spring mattress (loanword from “Simmons” bedding company name)]

2

[澆頭 (read Jiāotou) or the topping here is actually : gravy with meat or vegetables that was usually eaten by pouring it over on the rice or noodles. But from the text, it seems like the vegetable version of toppings since they are poor (?), while the pics I gave for examples, mostly put a lot of meat]

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