Transmigrated into Substitute Bride ‘Fu Lang’

Transmigrated into Substitute Bride Fu Lang

Chapter 17: 官差 

[Government officials]

Chen Xing hesitated not knowing how to answer, but on the contrary, Gu Lang next to him said without concern, “I am his husband.”

 

Hearing this title, that government official was obviously stunned for a moment, first glancing at the embarrassed (囧) Chen Xing, and then at the calm Gu Lang. He was stammering in his speech under Gu Lang’s cold gaze, “Then, then may you live a long and happy marriage life together!”

 

Gu Lang gently curled his lips and said softly, “Thank you, we will.”

 

It was only when Gu Lang left with the bright red face Chen Xing that the official came back to his senses, staring at Gu Lang’s clean and thin back, muttering to himself, “Why is this man even scarier than the county magistrate?”

 

The official shook his head as if he couldn’t figure it out, then seeing the paperwork on the desk that had been crossed out of the debt, he muttered with some confusion, “If this Ger already has a husband, why did the above specifically instruct us to take care of him?”

 

The official couldn’t understand, so he simply didn’t think about it any further. The thoughts of those noblemen were not something they as ordinary people could understand, putting the completed deed back into the box, he returned to his seat and sat crossed-legs.

 

Ever since he heard Gu Lang say those words, the heat on Chen Xing’s face had never gone down. The last time Qiu Jiu had said something like that, he could take it as a last resort. But when Gu Lang said that, it made his mind start to become restless.

 

Chen Xing felt that something must be wrong with him, otherwise why would he blush so easily when facing Gu Lang.

 

Gu Lang took a look at the blushing Chen Xing and could slightly guess what he was thinking about, so he just stayed quietly by his side and didn’t continue to say anything more.

 

Neither of them spoke, walking down the street in silence, when they suddenly heard a great noise coming from not far away.

 

Chen Xing subconsciously looked over to where the sound appeared, curiously looking up what was going on over there, only to see a group of people gathered at the entrance to Yamen office not far away, most of them were older people and children, with only a few scattered youths.

 

Chen Xing found it a bit strange, so he couldn’t care less about the subtle thoughts that had just risen, his mind was all drawn to the group of people who he did not know what they were doing.

 

Seeing that he was extremely curious, Gu Lang softly whispered in his ear, “Since you are curious, why don’t we go over and take a look?”

 

Chen Xing felt that it was not good to go over and join in the fun like this, but he had really never seen such a scene before, so he hesitated for a moment yet he still nodded his head in the end.

 

Only when the two of them went over did Chen Xing learn from their mere words that these people were all who had been bullied and oppressed by Lai Shiye and after hearing that the county magistrate had cleaned up Master Lai and was also now looking for witnesses and victims, they rushed over. Some of those who lived a little further away even set off on the same night after hearing about this matter.

 

Chen Xing looked at them where most of their clothes were in tatters and some of them didn’t even have a good pair of shoes. But even so, at that time, Private Adviser Lai did not spare them for his own benefit.

 

Chen Xing felt really lucky and thankful that the Lai Family had been punished before Lai Jiu was going to trouble him.

 

Chen Xing could not bear to look at the people who were waiting here and looking for justice. He was about to turn around and leave the place when he saw a man suddenly striding out of the large open Yamen office’s gate. Looking at that official uniform’s pattern, this person should be the county magistrate.

 

That county magistrate came out and looked at the people who were crying bitterly and begging him to do them justice, so he said in a loud voice, “Everyone, don’t be in a hurry, about your demands, this county magistrate is already aware of them. Now, we have prepared ginger soup for you all. You guys drink it first and come in line. We will all have someone to record it.”

 

Chen Xing watched from a distance as the county magistrate gave orders in an orderly manner. He then looked at that face which was at most less than thirty years old, he could not help but sigh, “This county magistrate is really young and promising!”

 

Gu Lang who originally had been watching all of this unconcerned and indifferently, slowly moved his eyes back to Chen Xing after hearing his words, and after seeing him staring at the county magistrate with an admiring face, he suddenly said, “Didn’t you say you were going to show me around the town?”

 

“Oh, that’s right oh.” Chen Xing hurriedly withdrew his gaze, looked at Gu Lang who was standing next to him, and hurriedly said, “Let’s go quickly, otherwise it will be dark later.”

 

As the two turned to leave, the county magistrate over there who was receiving the people’s worship, seemed to sense something and suddenly looked in the direction of the two, finally fixing his eyes on Gu Lang’s back and said with some confusion, “That person’s figure, why does it look so familiar?”

 

Leaving the official range, Chen Xing consulted Gu Lang and led him towards the busiest street here.

 

At first, Chen Xing was thinking that even if Gu Lang hadn’t come back for a long time, he must not be much of a stranger to this place, therefore he felt that he couldn’t introduce anything.

 

It was only after Gu Lang asked him what kind of things some shops were selling during the walk and Chen Xing also gave him a full answer in detail, like this Chen Xing suddenly realized that Gu Lang’s time away from home had really made him unfamiliar with the place.

 

Looking at the change in Chen Xing’s expression, Gu Lang seemed to see his puzzled face and gently laughed, “Are you curious why I don’t know what these shops do even though I obviously grew up here?”

 

Chen Xing looked at Gu Lang with some embarrassment.

 

Gu Lang, however, looked as if he didn’t see the discomfort on his face, looked at the busy street in front of him and said softly, “I was too young when I left here. I’ve been out there for too long, so long that I don’t recognize many places here.”

 

Chen Xing looked at Gu Lang, who was saying this with a calm face, and vaguely sensed that he was now in the same mood as when he looked at the rainy and cloudy sky.

 

Chen Xing had no reason to dislike such Gu Lang, he hastily changed the topic, pointing to a restaurant where people were coming and going, pulling his sleeve, “I heard that the desserts here are very good, let’s go wrap some up and go back home!”

 

Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing’s undisguised desire to change the subject, and then looked at the lively restaurant not far away, slightly hooked his lips as he said softly, “Sure.”

 

Seeing that Gu Lang had agreed to his request, Chen Xing hurriedly pulled Gu Lang towards that restaurant.

 

As soon as the two arrived at the entrance, the shop’s waiter greeted them. When he saw Chen Xing who was dressed in rough cloth, the warm smile on his face freeze for a moment, and his tone was not so polite as he said, “Are you two going to…?”

 

Chen Xing did not angry at his attitude. He was just about to say to the waiter that he want to order some dessert and take it away but suddenly he heard Gu Lang’s cold and clear voice from behind him, “We are going to eat.”

 

Only then did the waiter realize that there was someone else standing behind Chen Xing and when he looked over following the voice, he saw Gu Lang, standing behind Chen Xing in entire black outfit and indifferent expression. When he met Gu Lang’s cold gaze, the waiter did not know why he instinctively scared a little.

 

The moment Gu Lang opened his mouth, Chen Xing froze. He pulled Gu Lang’s sleeve, wanting to say that they were only here to take away some desserts, not to eat here ah!

 

Who knew that Gu Lang would pat his hand and after he soothed him, he turned his head to look at the waiter standing next to him and politely said, “Please trouble you to take us to a seat by the window.”

 

“Yes, yes.” Meeting Gu Lang’s gaze, the waiter hastily hide the expression on his face and respectfully invited them to their seats. Beside that, he also eagerly handed over the menu to them.

 

Chen Xing looked at the price of the food, which was at least fifteen wen and thought it was a bit expensive, but looking at Gu Lang’s kind and gentle face who was staring at him, he could not say that he would not eat it anymore.

 

Looking at his hesitant face, Gu Lang reached out and took the menu in his hand, and quickly ordered the braised pork with plum, stir-fried pork with (shiitake) mushrooms and egg drop soup with nori, after that he returned the menu to the waiter.

 

Only after the waiter assured him that they would served the meals quickly, did Chen Xing remember that the food Gu Lang had ordered just now was all the things that he liked to eat. His gaze became a little complicated for a moment.

 

Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing and said soothingly, “Don’t worry, I only received my official’s salary as a jǔrén yesterday, and I also settled the money for the ‘folk talk stories book1[话本: Song and Yuan literary form based on vernacular folk stories or printed versions of the prompt-books used by popular storytellers in Song and Yuan times (salient features of huaben stories: use of the vernacular larded with the stock expressions of professional storytellers; liberal admixture of colloquialisms and archaisms; frequent inclusion of rhymed passages, idioms, or poems for narrative or descriptive purposes; a routine preamble before the feature story)]‘ two days ago, so I still have enough money for this one meal.”

 

Chen Xing didn’t know how much salary a scholar (Juren) could receive in this era, but hearing Gu Lang say this, he was a little relieved yet at the same time also still a little distressed, “But, if we buy the ingredients back and cook it, we will not even spend one third of the money.”

 

Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing’s money-obsessed look, but a few doting smiles appeared on his face as he smile, “Aren’t you going to open a restaurant in the future too? This restaurant is the biggest one here, the food should be unique too, you should try the food here first now. It will also be beneficial for you when you open a restaurant in the future. ‘It’s better to choose today than to especially come here later’, 2[择日不如撞日: carefully setting an auspicious date does not beat seizing an opportunity, fig. for seize the occasion] since today we have a free time, it’s not a bad idea to try it, hence you also will not be at disadvantage.”

 

Chen Xing did not expect Gu Lang to think this way and looking at the light smile on Gu Lang’s handsome face, he actually felt a little warmth in his heart. He also was not an unreasonable person, so he nodded towards Gu Lang and said in a bold tone, “I will definitely open a restaurant bigger than this one and invite you to eat every day!”

 

Gu Lang looked into his shining eyes and nodded gently after him, “I believe you.”

 

This restaurant was very fast in serving their cooking, and after Gu Lang and Chen Xing just talked about it, the waiter served their ordered dishes.

 

Looking at the meals that sold reasonably well, the two did not continue to talk about the topic they had just discussed, but instead ate quietly, occasionally exchanging a few words.

 

When both of them had finished eating, Chen Xing looked at the fifty wens that Gu Lang had handed over and still felt a bit of pain.

 

Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing who was trying hard to conceal his distress appearance, because of this, he suddenly found him a little cute, reached out to touch his head as he said softly in a comforting voice, “It’s okay, just treat it as the cost of the preliminary food tasting.”

 

“Hn.” Feeling the force on his head and meeting with Gu Lang’s gentle face, Chen Xing’s face couldn’t help but blush as he softly replied.

 

After the two left together and stepped out of the restaurant’s door, there was a red dressed figure on the second floor of the restaurant but her gaze followed those two closely before eventually landed on Gu Lang’s side.

 

“Miss (Xiao Jie), what are you looking at?”

 

 

1[话本: Song and Yuan literary form based on vernacular folk stories or printed versions of the prompt-books used by popular storytellers in Song and Yuan times (salient features of huaben stories: use of the vernacular larded with the stock expressions of professional storytellers; liberal admixture of colloquialisms and archaisms; frequent inclusion of rhymed passages, idioms, or poems for narrative or descriptive purposes; a routine preamble before the feature story)]2[择日不如撞日: carefully setting an auspicious date does not beat seizing an opportunity, fig. for seize the occasion]