freenovelworld Chapter 11 The Black-Hearted Male Lead (Gong)
Chapter 11 The Black-Hearted Male Lead (Gong)
Gu Lin remained expressionless. He picked up the drink in front of him, moistened his throat, and said, "I sincerely want to cooperate with Fu Man Lou."
He looked up at Fang Jiyue, his gaze unwavering, and said, "As for what Young Master Fang is worried about—that Fumanlou's business will be affected—you can rest assured. I run a small business and earn money from ordinary people, while Fumanlou's customers are all wealthy and powerful. Even if I had the will, I wouldn't have the means."
Gu Lin wasn't arrogant; he knew that in business, you had to support people when the time was right.
The flippant look on the man's face slowly faded, and his gaze toward Gu Lin became bright and piercing: "I agree to this deal."
Seeing that the other party had changed from being unyielding to being persuaded and made a decision directly, Gu Lin was surprised. He thought he would have to put in a lot of effort to get the other party to agree.
Seeing the astonishment on the young man's face, Fang Jiyue's smile grew even more unrestrained. He raised his hand, opened his fan, and said, "For us merchants, harmony is paramount when there is no conflict of interest. Since Boss Gu has proposed a win-win solution, why should I be so narrow-minded as to focus on that small amount of profit and waste my time? There are so many benefits in the world; I can't possibly monopolize them all."
Surprised by the other party's open-minded and detached thinking, but knowing that cooperating with such a person was undoubtedly the best option, Gu Lin sincerely smiled and said, "Young Master Fang has a far-sighted vision."
Fang Jiyue was indeed confident in his abilities and vision, but being praised to his face by a handsome young man made the usually carefree and playful young master of the Fang family feel a little embarrassed, and his ears turned red with embarrassment.
Others might not have noticed, but Zheng Hao had been observing the other person closely and naturally sensed the unusual behavior. His gaze turned cold.
"Then let's sign the contract."
Fang Jiyue asked for paper and pen, wrote down the contract, signed his name, and handed it to Gu Lin. Gu Lin took it and looked down at it, his eyes widening as he realized that many of the words on the paper were unfamiliar to him.
However, it wasn't entirely unfamiliar. The characters resembled traditional Chinese characters. With a bit of guesswork, Gu Lin understood the contract's contents. After confirming there were no errors, he signed the original owner's name. He was once again thankful that he had checked the original owner's household registration the day after arriving in this world; otherwise, he really wouldn't know how to sign.
A hint of surprise flashed in Fang Jiyue's eyes. He had intended to have the young man in front of him put his handprint on the document, but he did not expect that the other party could actually read. This was not like a young man from an ordinary family.
Looking at the young man writing with his head down, Zheng Hao's eyes also showed a hint of contemplation.
After the contract was signed, Gu Lin dictated the recipe for the cold dish for Fang Jiyue to write down. A look of understanding crossed Fang Jiyue's face; it turned out that the other party could only write his own name.
After the matter was settled, Gu Lin and Zheng Hao left Fumanlou and walked out of the county town. Sure enough, Uncle Zhang's oxcart had already left, so Gu Lin spent another twelve coins to rent an oxcart to take them back.
Back home, Gu Lin looked at the contract in her hand, her beautiful brows furrowing. Today's contract was just the beginning; there would be many more times in the future when she would need to read, and she couldn't possibly still be completely blind then.
Gu Lin could not accept that he had become completely illiterate.
He longed to learn the language of this world, but in this day and age, women and boys had no opportunity to learn. If a family was wealthy, they could hire a tutor, but Gu Lin could not afford it.
Suddenly, his gaze fell on the boy squatting in the vegetable garden picking vegetables not far away, and his eyes lit up. He couldn't go to the academy to study, but Zheng Hao could!
Gu Lin thought it over and over and it seemed more and more feasible. Who was Zheng Hao? He was the male protagonist in the original book who was almost supernaturally intelligent and had a brilliant mind. Although he had never been to school since childhood, he was very knowledgeable about military and political affairs in the later stages of the story. He must have been educated in secret.
Besides, Gu Linmo calculated the other person's age; he was about eleven years old and it was time for him to start school.
"Xiao Hao".
Gu Lin left his seat and went to the edge of the vegetable garden. His voice was gentle, but his expression was unusually like a weasel paying respects to a chicken. Zheng Hao put down the vegetables in his hand, looked at Gu Lin with his dark eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"
Gu Lin smiled and asked, "Xiao Hao, would you like to study at the academy?"
It's unclear what sensitive point was touched, but Zheng Hao's calm expression instantly turned fierce.
Upon seeing this, Gu Lin's heart sank.
Is the child disliking school?
Many thoughts flashed through his mind, and then, seemingly unaware of the other person's changed expression, he casually asked, "Xiao Hao, what do you want to do in the future?"
Seeing the other person staring straight at him, Gu Lin thought he hadn't explained himself clearly enough, so he added, "So, when you grow up, do you want to go into business, farm, or do something else?"
The fierce look on Zheng Hao's face gradually faded. He pursed his lips and then lowered his eyes slightly as if he was thinking.
"Traveling dart."
Gu Lin: "Hmm?"
Zheng Hao said again, "I want to be a bodyguard in the future."
Gu Lin was somewhat surprised when he heard this, but after thinking about it carefully, he didn't find it strange.
After all, in the original book, Zheng Hao rose through the ranks and earned his title through his own martial prowess.
Gu Lin twirled his fingers, a slight worry on his face. He did have his own reasons for wanting to send Zheng Hao to school, but after realizing the other's talent, Gu Lin couldn't just watch him waste his talent: "Even escorts need to be literate."
Seeing that the other party did not refute him, Gu Lin pressed on: "Look at those head镖师 (bodyguards/escorts), which one of them is illiterate? When an employer entrusts you with a task, both parties sign a contract. If you are illiterate, you are easily deceived by the other party. Of course, if you are a bodyguard for your whole life, then it doesn't matter."
That's right, Gu Lin used reverse psychology. He believed that no young person could accept being told they were not good enough, not even the male protagonist.
He looked at Zheng Hao in front of him, who first seemed to be deep in thought, then narrowed his eyes and looked up at him: "You want me to go to school, and then come back to teach you to read."
Upon hearing this, Gu Lin was speechless, once again feeling a chill run down his spine at Zheng Hao's keen insight.
But he didn't lie and told the truth: "There is a reason for that, but you should be in school by now. You may not feel anything now that you can't read, but you will find that you will have difficulty going anywhere in the future. Even if you are very good at something, you will still be greatly limited if you can't read."
"However, don't put too much pressure on yourself. I sent you to school not so that you would take the imperial examinations, but simply so that you could learn to distinguish right from wrong and good from evil."
This is Gu Lin's true thought.
In fact, given Zheng Hao's exceptional talent, it would have been best to let him take the imperial examination route, which was the most promising path. However, Gu Lin, having been through it all, knew the principle that what is poison to one is honey to another. He didn't want to pressure him too much. Moreover, not taking the imperial examination didn't mean there was no way out. Some people are just as good as others in any field, and Zheng Hao was one of them.
“Studying costs a lot of money,” Zheng Hao pointed out incisively.
He stared intently at Gu Lin, not missing a single expression, wanting to see if the person in front of him would show even the slightest hint of reluctance.
Seeing that Zheng Hao was relenting, Gu Lin waved his hand happily and said, "It's alright. We can earn one or two taels of silver a day selling cold dishes. If we keep selling for a few more days, we'll have enough money for your school fees. Besides, the dividends from Fu Man Lou will come in a few days, so you can go to school without worry."
Zheng Hao withdrew his sharp, wolf-like gaze: "Okay."
At first, he didn't want to study because he despised those so-called scholars, who were hypocritical and pretentious. But Gu Lin's words made sense. He would have to study in many things in the future. Although he wanted to be a bodyguard, he didn't want to be a bodyguard for the rest of his life.
"what!"
Just as Gu Lin was beaming with joy and Zheng Hao was deep in thought, a sharp, piercing sound rang out from outside.
Gu Lin rubbed his stinging ears, stood up and walked outside, unaware of Zheng Hao's deep gaze following behind him.
As soon as he stepped outside, Gu Lin saw an unidentified object dart past him.
The unidentified object ran while wailing and howling, "Which thief has wronged me?!"
Gu Lin couldn't see what the unidentified object was at first. When the other party approached, a stench hit him. Gu Lin's eyes widened. He couldn't believe that a person covered in excrement ran past him, followed by a group of four- or five-year-old children clapping and shouting, "Shame on you! The girl and her brother were kissing when she accidentally fell into a cesspool!"
Gu Lin felt that this sentence contained a great deal of information, and he couldn't figure out the relationship between them for a while.
Just then, Sister-in-law Zhao came over, and Gu Lin hurriedly asked, "Sister-in-law, what's going on with that person?"
Sister Zhao clapped her hands and said, "That's Chen Erye's daughter-in-law, Tian Dahua. I don't know how, but she and Brother Wang fell into the cesspool. They stayed in there for a long time before they were pulled out. When they were rescued, their mouths were stuffed with... I won't say anymore, or you won't be able to eat."
Although Zhao's wife stopped talking, Gu Lin guessed what she meant. Thinking back to what he had just seen, his face twisted slightly, and he realized that he might not be able to eat later.
At the same time, his eyes were somewhat subtle. Zhao's wife was always kind to people, and in theory, she would sympathize with and pity others when they encountered such a thing. But looking at the undisguised schadenfreude on her face, it seemed that Tian Dahua was no better than Brother Wang.
However, Gu Lin was still very curious about how the two of them fell into the cesspool together, so he asked.
Sister Zhao's expression immediately turned strange. She looked around and said, "After Tian Dahua was rescued, she kept crying and saying that she was pushed into the latrine by a thief. But where would a thief come from in Xiahe Village? If a stranger entered the village, the old people at the village entrance would have already reported it. I would believe it if it was done by someone from the village, but they fell into Wang Ge'er's outhouse. Who would dare to break into someone else's house and do such a thing?"
Then, she moved closer to Gu Lin and lowered her voice, saying, "I don't know who spread the word that Tian Dahua and Wang Ge'er fell into the cesspool because they were secretly making out in the outhouse and accidentally fell in."
Upon hearing such explosive gossip, Gu Lin's mouth gaped open as he said, "This can't be... right?"
As far as he knew, in this world, men and women all went down the same path of marriage; he had never seen a man with a woman.
Sister-in-law Zhao hesitated, lowering her voice even further: "It's not like the young man doesn't have that thing."
Gu Lin felt a rush of heat to his face. He was a young man himself, so he naturally understood what Zhao's wife meant. However, being a man at heart, he was too embarrassed to continue the conversation, so he made an excuse and hurriedly ran home.
Back in his own yard, Gu Lin breathed a sigh of relief. Then, he couldn't help but turn to Zheng Hao and say, "You must be careful when you go to the outhouse in the future, and don't fall in."
Gu Lin could hardly compliment the state of the outhouses these days. The environment was not only appalling but also extremely dangerous. A wooden plank was laid over the latrine, and if someone accidentally stepped on it, they would fall in. Tian Dahua and Wang Ge'er were lucky enough to be rescued, but many people who fell in were choked to death by the contents of the latrine.
"I see."
The teenager remained calm, appearing completely detached from the situation, making it impossible for anyone to imagine that he was the one who orchestrated today's events.
As expected, Gu Lin had no appetite at lunchtime. He watched as Zheng Hao across from him was completely unaffected, eating meat piece after piece with great appetite, and he couldn't help but show admiration on his face.
As expected of the male lead, he has the composure to face even the most formidable challenges at such a young age.