There were many small stories noted down in The Saint Divine Anecdotes. Gu Chaoyan picked one common story that told the experience of a Mr.Beggar.
Before Mr. Beggar became a beggar, he used to be the extraordinary Mr. Number One Scholar.
The story about Mr. Beggar was quite long, but Gu Chaoyan read each line calmly as Madame Jiang, who was seated on the chair, smiled every now and then, and drank some tea. Gu Chaoyan was very devoted to reading the story there under the ginkgo tree.
Even the maids next to them were attracted to the story.
Those maids could not read, and they never got the chance to read such books. Normally, their masters and ladies were all reading the academic classicals and none of them would tell small stories like this. For one moment, they got rather curious.
No one even noticed that Zhou Huaijin had arrived.
It was not until he took a seat and got noticed by the maids who intended to greet him, that he waved his hands, telling them not to do so. Instead, he listened to the story together with them.
As the story came to the end, Madame Jiang still could not get enough of it.
However, the maid next to Madame Jiang, who seemed to have understood a little of the story, could not help but ask. “Elder Miss, did Mr. Beggar find that girl called Lang’er?”
The maid had a crispy, dubious voice.
That made Madame Jiang burst into laughter. She turned to the maid next to him. “Oh you...”
That made the maid flush. She got even more confused – she had no idea what Madame Jiang meant by saying that.
“When did you arrive here?” Gu Chaoyan got slightly surprised, when she put down the book and spotted Zhou Huaijin who was already next to her.
Zhou Huaijin smiled. “I have been here a while, but I did not interrupt you, since you seemed quite devoted.”
Then he turned to the maid who asked the question and showed an unusually happy face, as he explained with a gentle tone. “It did not matter if Mr. Beggar found that girl in the end.”
That made the maid even more confused.
And then Zhou Huaijin picked up the book Gu Chaoyan had just placed down, flipped through it and then said with an interested look on his face. “We always read the academic books, and never knew that those side stories are interesting too.”
“You can say that it is Chaoyan who is interesting.” Madame Jiang looked at Zhou Huaijin with a “I-get-it” look.
Zhou Huaijin did not deny the words, but Gu Chaoyan flushed a little, not sure what to say. So she took a sip of the tea with an absent mind and almost choked on it.
Madame Jiang was worried that the girl would flush, so she changed the subject and said, “Chaoyan, if you have time, please get some more books like this for me, so I can read them when I am bored.”
“Sure.” Gu Chaoyan agreed.
Madame Jiang was not that young any more, so they talked for a while and she went to bed.
Only Zhou Huaijin and Gu Chaoyan were left in the yard.
***
Time passed as she stayed at the Jiang Mansion.
On the Mid-Autumn Day, Zhou Huaijin and Gu Chaoyan decided to celebrate the festival with Madame Jiang. However, Madame Jiang liked to have a peaceful time, so even on the festivals, she did not get the mansion fully-decorated with lanterns or ribbons. Instead, she requested a relatively rich dinner for everyone to enjoy.
After dinner, Madame Jiang insisted that Zhou Huaijin and Gu Chaoyan should visit the night market together.