Gu Jiao asked earnestly, "Is this enough? If not, I can ask someone to fetch more."
Before she left this morning, An Guogong had Steward Zheng give this to her. She hadn’t used it and didn’t know exactly how much silver she could withdraw.
Zhao Dengfeng choked, asking incredulously, "The master token of Minghe Bank... you... what is your relationship with Minghe Bank?"
Gu Jiao thought for a moment and said, "Uh, young master?"
— My family doesn’t own a mine, but we have a bank.
Gu Jiao said to Hu Yang, "Master Hu, you stay here to handle the paperwork, I’ll go find Li Shen."
Master Hu was still in shock from this turn of events. Is this what people mean by absurdly wealthy?
He: "Ah, this..."
Zhao Dengfeng said coldly, "I won’t sell it!"
Gu Jiao replied, "You personally told me I could be the boss, you can’t go back on your word."
Zhao Dengfeng clenched his fist and sneered, "What if I do?"
Gu Jiao said very seriously, "I’ll beat you up."
Zhao Dengfeng: "..."
-
Li Shen was not at the pier today.
Gu Jiao asked a nearby foreman and found out he probably went to buy medicine for his mother.
"Where does he live?" Gu Jiao asked.
"He lives over there. Officer, just keep walking straight, turn east at the fork, and you’ll see his house. Everyone in that alley has moved out except for him and his mother, it’s easy to find."
"Thank you."
Following the directions given by the foreman, Gu Jiao smoothly found a dilapidated little courtyard.
The courtyard door was ajar, and Gu Jiao raised her hand and knocked: "Hello, anyone home?"
There was no response.
Gu Jiao thought for a moment, then pushed the door open and walked in.
The items in the courtyard were very old, but they were neatly arranged—water tanks, hoes, chicken cages... The clothes hanging on the line were also neatly dried, although they had been washed so many times they had turned yellow and were patched all over, they were very clean.
"Niuwazi, you’re back?"
An old voice came from inside the house.
Niuwazi?
Li Shen’s childhood nickname?
Gu Jiao walked into the main room and headed towards the room on the right.
"Niuwazi."
An old blind woman was sitting on the ground, apparently having fallen down and unable to get up.
Gu Jiao also went to the kitchen. The cupboard was empty, with no leftover food. There were a few dried corn cobs on the ground and half a pumpkin that had started rotting.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Prime Minister's Darling