Gu Qingcheng's arrangements impressed Gu Zhaobei and his wife.
Gu Zhaobei put on a teary-eyed gesture and said, "Daughter, your father can finally rest easy. You've grown up, you know how to arrange your life and take care of yourself."
"Yes, I was worried you were too naive. Oh, thinking about changing your diapers still feels like yesterday, how did you get so big?" Hu Lanfang recalled.
Gu Qingcheng chuckled. As long as it wasn't mentioned in front of outsiders, she wouldn't feel embarrassed.
Wangcai was also eating. Gu Qingcheng fed it raw beef and two large bones. It crunched them with a "g-g-g" sound, ate its fill contentedly, and then lay down in its dog bed, taking a comfortable nap. This kind of happy life was something Wangcai had never imagined before.
At Gu Qingcheng's home, even a dog could eat meat and enjoy the heating, but the troublesome Old Gu, hiding in the back door of a house, wearing a thin cotton coat, was shivering and almost freezing to death.
He entered the city and found the Yuelai Inn, only to discover that Old Gu Liu and the others had already checked out and left. The innkeeper didn't know where they had gone. Due to the ban on refugees entering the city, Old Gu Da hadn't been able to enter the city for several days.
Old Gu Er, through an elder who often chatted by the village well in Pukou Village, contacted the butler of Master Gu. He mentioned that their family had a young girl to sell. Master Gu, who was eagerly awaiting the young girl, gave them a deposit of five taels, asking them to deliver the person within three days.
Only then did the Gu family have money to bribe the guards at the gate, allowing Old Gu Da to sneak into the city to find people.
Who would have thought that Old Gu Liu, after leaving the Yuelai Inn, had vanished as if in Jinsha City? Old Gu Da scurried around the city like a headless fly.
Master Gu had given them a deposit, and if they didn't get the person, he kept pressuring them, even threatening to hand them over to the authorities if they failed to deliver the girl, accusing them of defrauding money.
The Gu family was terrified, urging Old Gu Da to find Old Gu Liu's family in the city at all costs. Old Gu Da dared not leave the city again; it was too expensive to bribe his way back in. Thus, to avoid the curfew, he slept in the doorways of houses in deep alleys at night. The temperature had dropped suddenly these past few days. Fortunately, he had insisted on taking two cotton coats from home, otherwise, he would have frozen to death.
Gu Zhaobei's family, in their warm new house, were blissfully enjoying the finest stir-fried dishes delivered from the restaurant, piping hot and fragrant. Even their dog, Wangcai, was eating meat. How could they imagine Old Gu Da freezing like a dog in a doorway? If they knew, they would only mock him, saying he deserved it.
In the evening, Gu Qingcheng drew well water from her own well and took a luxurious hot bath in the bathroom that had been specially fitted with an underfloor heating system, washing away her fatigue. She slept comfortably all night in the room heated by the underfloor system, wearing her close-fitting sleepwear. Gu Zhaobei and his wife were the same.
The three of them woke up early in the morning with excellent complexions. To Gu Qingcheng's surprise, the solar panels, which had been charging all day yesterday, now had electricity. She bought an air fryer, plugged it in, and made Saint Farmer's roasted chicken wings and a pizza from Happy Cake House. By the time Gu Zhaobei and his wife got up, they could enjoy hot milk, fried chicken wings, and pizza for breakfast. The fragrant smell of food filled the house, bringing a sense of peace.
After breakfast and a short rest, everyone began their first day of training. Gu Zhaobei and his wife practiced crossbows, while Gu Qingcheng practiced archery. They trained for an hour. After an hour, they ran around the house for half an hour, then started their strength training with dumbbells and barbells. To live well, they could not be slack.
Gu Qingcheng found a set of sports training materials from the Wildcat Supermarket's sporting goods store. It contained sword techniques, all accompanied by exquisite and accurate illustrations. She pondered practicing swordsmanship. No matter what, they needed the ability to protect themselves, defend, and fight. When Hu Lanfang thought of being kidnapped by those bandits right after she transmigrated, she still felt a lingering fear. She tried hard to overcome the inertia of a middle-aged woman, cheered up, and exercised with her family, not wanting to be a burden. The fitness equipment was placed in the backyard to avoid being seen by outsiders. They locked the backyard when they came out, so it wasn't easily accessible to just anyone.
Just as the morning training was about to end, they suddenly heard Wangcai barking, "Woof, woof," indicating something was happening. Gu Zhaobei opened the back door and entered the living room, seeing Wangcai barking furiously at the door.
"Mr. Gu, it's me, Old Zhang." Boss Zhang knocked on the door from outside.
Gu Zhaobei stepped forward and opened the door, smiling, "Oh, it's Boss Zhang, please come in."
"Oh, you should have used the underfloor heating yesterday, right? It's freezing. I figured you might have, so I came to see how the underfloor heating is working. If it's not warm enough, I'll help you improve it." It turned out Boss Zhang was here for after-sales service, which explained why his business was so good. But it made sense; Gu Qingcheng's family was his major client. With winter arriving so early and the weather so cold, his family would use a lot of coal, so it was natural to ensure after-sales service.
"The underfloor heating you installed is excellent. We used it yesterday, and the room was very warm. We slept so comfortably," Gu Zhaobei praised, inviting him in for tea.
"Oh, that's good. Anyway, observe for a few more days. If anything is wrong, just find me, and I'll definitely fix it for you. Here, this basket of persimmons was sent by my wife's family from the countryside. We didn't have much to give you for your housewarming, so just try these persimmons for freshness!" Boss Zhang was quite polite, taking out a straw bag containing a basket of fresh persimmons, weighing over 10 catties. Gu Zhaobei thanked him and exchanged pleasantries.
They sat and drank tea. Boss Zhang casually said, "The city hasn't been very peaceful lately. It's best for you to live in seclusion at the foot of Ya Mountain."
"Oh? What's going on? I'd love to hear more," Gu Zhaobei quickly asked.
"Didn't Prince Xia go on a patrol recently? He encountered a landslide and was reportedly injured. Fortunately, he didn't die on the spot. After being sent home for treatment, his condition has been fluctuating. He's been running a fever recently, and the entire Prince Xia's mansion is very anxious."
"I see." Gu Zhaobei received this information but didn't take it too seriously at first. A prince was too far removed from an ordinary commoner like him; he wouldn't worry about the lives of these powerful people. It was like what online keyboard warriors often say, "Does it affect my 3200 salary?" He was far from that circle of wealth and power, so he just treated it as gossip. However, he never imagined that Prince Xia's illness would eventually involve their family.
Boss Zhang sat for half an hour. Seeing that the underfloor heating was indeed fine, he left. Another half an hour later, the restaurants at the foot of the mountain began sending dishes up the mountain one after another. Although the delivery workers were tired from climbing the stairs, Gu Zhaobei always gave them a small tip of three to five copper coins each time. With the extra income, they were happy to deliver food here.