Gu Yundong began to believe what Nie Cheng said; his aunt was indeed quite talkative.

Nie Cheng’s aunt was surnamed Ke. Her husband had been his childhood sweetheart, but unfortunately, he passed away due to illness less than a year after they got married. Aunt Ke didn’t have any children and didn’t remarry. She just lived in the house they had shared, living her life alone.

Perhaps because she felt too lonely, she particularly liked talking to children. When others suggested she adopt a child, she refused, saying she preferred to be alone.

The house they were in wasn’t large either. Aunt Ke lived in one room, and she gave them the west wing to stay temporarily. The main hall in the middle was quite spacious, with a kitchen next to the west wing and an outhouse behind the storage room. There was also a small well in the yard, which was convenient.

At the moment, Aunt Ke was pointing to the well, instructing Yang Shi, “Fetch water yourself, be careful not to flood the yard. The kitchen is over there, the buckets are inside. What are you standing around for? Go quickly.”

Yang Shi couldn’t help but step back, pulling the two children with her. She didn’t know Aunt Ke and found her speech too rapid. It was hard for her to understand, so how could she act accordingly?

Feeling at a loss about whether to run away quickly, she saw Gu Yundong come in.

Yang Shi hurriedly ran behind her and pointed to Aunt Ke. “Dongdong, she talks a lot.”

Gu Yundong comfortingly squeezed her hand and whispered, “Mom, she’s Aunt Ke. We’re staying at her house temporarily. She won’t harm us. You go fetch water first, help Ashu and Kekel clean up. Once they’re clean, we can sleep on a soft bed and no longer rush on the road.”

“No more rushing?” Yang Shi couldn’t help but feel happy.

Gu Yundong nodded to her, watching Yang Shi excitedly run to fetch water before walking up to Aunt Ke, who had been sizing her up.

“Aunt Ke, I’m Gu Yundong. Here’s three taels of silver. We might need to trouble you for a while. My mom has special circumstances. If you overwhelm her with too much information at once, she’ll panic. Please don’t mind.”

Aunt Ke was somewhat surprised. She didn’t expect Gu Yundong to speak and act so confidently, not like a timid village girl at all. She took the silver and nodded slightly. “You seem to be quite reasonable. Your mother just needs to take care of you. You don’t need me to do anything. As for you…”

Nie Cheng was a bit anxious and couldn’t help interrupting her. “Aunt, I have something to ask Miss Gu for help with. Please take care of her family first. I’ll buy you some Ji’s lotus cakes later.”

“You brat, hurry up and leave.” She must have disliked Gu Yundong’s talkativeness.

Nie Cheng smiled and, seeing that Gu Yundong had finished talking to Gu Yunshu, quickly took her away.

He took Gu Yundong to a teahouse first. Gu Yundong was still wearing the same clothes she had worn on the road, and her face was dirty. Without him accompanying her, the teahouse wouldn’t even let her in.

He asked her to wait in a private room and went to the yamen himself, bringing back a soldier who had seen the bandit.

When he returned, he also brought a set of writing materials.

However, Gu Yundong only took a piece of paper and asked for a charcoal pencil from the teahouse waiter.

Nie Cheng was puzzled and asked tactfully, “Are you not used to writing with a brush?” How could he forget that a village girl surely hadn’t been educated?

Gu Yundong couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Forget it. Let’s just talk about what the bandit looks like. His eyes, nose, mouth, face shape, as detailed as possible.”