Chapter 51: Chapter 28 Half a Day of Leisure in a Transient Life
In the deep silence of the night, a few people were sleepless, unbeknownst to Gu Changsheng.
Anyway, she fell asleep as soon her head hit the pillow, and slept especially sweetly, completely undisturbed by the sudden trouble that had arisen.
It was the Hu family father and son who, after returning home, had a discussion in the study.
“Does father truly intend to meet the demands of that shrew, to have all the medical practitioners in Liuzhou City confront her in person?” Hu Tiandong was quite dissatisfied with Gu Changsheng’s haughtiness.
“What else can we do? Your great-uncle has been thinking about that medical book for more than a day or two. Only by selling this favor to him can I ask him to arrange a position for you at the Imperial Medical Bureau,” Hu Yihai sighed.
“Father, I think that woman is difficult to deal with. What if she breaks the agreement when the time comes?”
“I would go all out, ready to lose face, and invite all the doctors from Liuzhou to bear witness. How could I let her break the agreement? Just you wait…” Hu Yihai stroked his goatee, smiling particularly sinisterly.
The next morning, Gu Changsheng got out of bed feeling refreshed and dressed, then went to her son’s room to meditate.
Looking at Little Meat Bun stretching his little hands, struggling to dress, she occasionally teased him, “Son, can you be any clumsier? You’re almost four years old, and you can’t even dress properly.”
Little Meat Bun glanced at her resentfully and continued to fumble…
“My lady, is this how a mother should act? The Young Master is only about to turn four!” Xiao Cui, dissatisfied, protested for the Nth time against her lady’s harsh treatment of her son.
“Oh, Xiao Cui, it’s precisely because of overprotective types like you that so many children end up spoiled. They started off just fine but were taught to go all crooked.”
“Raising kids is like planting trees. All we need to do is water them from time to time and then leave them in the sun to grow on their own.” Gu Changsheng yawned out of boredom, then thought of something else and continued, “Of course, you can’t just leave them to their own devices, you have to be firm when it’s time to tie the branches. Absolutely cannot let them grow into crooked and split melons. The old saying goes, ‘A tree that isn’t bound won’t be straight, bind it poorly, and it’ll be useless.'”
Little Meat Bun looked up at the sky with a sense of grievance, already accustomed to this action.
Gu Changsheng was displeased. What did this mean? Her advanced and perfect parenting views were met with such a face from Xiao Cui?
“Smack…” A slap landed on Xiao Cui’s buttocks, and with a “Ah!” she leapt aside.
“What is that expression for? If you can’t reach that level of thought, that’s your problem, and I can forgive you for it! But you can’t doubt my good intentions as a mother. Let me tell you, I am Little Meat Bun’s mother, his real mother! Stop giving me the look that one would give a stepmother, it hurts my heart.” Gu Changsheng leisurely withdrew her mischief-making hand, patting it. My oh my, this feeling is really not bad; no wonder so many rascals are so particularly fond of women’s buttocks, always wanting to cop a feel whenever they can.
Xiao Cui, now dissatisfied, covered her slapped buttocks and retorted, “My lady, how can you do this? This will set a bad example for the Young Master.”
“Aiya, Xiao Cui, as a responsible mother, I will definitely teach him well. If he learns well, that would be because I educated him properly.”
“And if he doesn’t learn well?” Xiao Cui joined in to ask.
“Then it’s because his intelligence is poor, definitely not because my teaching is flawed!”
Little Meat Bun, who had finally finished dressing, stood by the bed and timidly called out, “Mother…”
He felt that learning well with his mother was indeed very difficult…
Seeing her son dressed, Gu Changsheng ran over, grabbed his little hand, “Come, son, Xiao Leizi hasn’t finished preparing breakfast yet. Let’s quickly go and do some exercises with Auntie Qiu. With such an instructor at hand, it would be a waste not to take advantage.”
Xiao Cui tidied up the bedding with nimble hands after watching her lady take the Young Master to the yard for exercises and followed them out.
She too wanted to get in shape, so next time any trouble arose, she could stand in front of her lady like Han Qiu and protect her lady and the Young Master!
In the backyard were two old locust trees, and the space behind the trees had been claimed by Han Qiu as a martial training ground.
Regarding the planning of the backyard, the six newcomers expressed their own opinions.
Xiao Cui suggested planting grapevines around the martial training ground, then placing two benches underneath so that one could sit and cool off after practicing in the summer heat.
Gu Changsheng gave the idea a grand wave of approval!
Dong Lei said that other empty spaces should be cultivated to grow vegetables, so she could use them to make delicious meals.