Chapter 28: As Clever As I Am

Gu Yuzhu thought her cousin was taking her somewhere special, but in the end, they just went to pick wild fruits near the riverbank at the foot of the mountain.

Then again, it made sense. She was just a little village girl in ancient times, being led around by two bratty little brothers and a cousin—what else could they do?

Because Gu Yuzhu had always been weak since childhood, she hadn’t had many playmates at home. Yan Fengru kept her confined and didn’t let her go out. By the time she was finally old enough for her mother to worry less, that incident happened…

But when her children were going out with her two nephews from her maiden family, Yan Fengru was perfectly at ease.

The reason was simple—children in the village had all kinds of personalities. Some were poorly raised by careless parents, making them bratty and hard to get along with. Both her own children were born prematurely—especially her little girl, who was soft and delicate like a ball of dough…

In Yan Fengru’s eyes, every other kid looked like they were just waiting to bully her daughter.

But her nephews weren’t like that. Those children had been brought up well. Even the two-year-old little nephew was obedient and well-behaved. He listened to adults and, even when throwing a tantrum, never acted unreasonable.

That was ideal. So Yan Fengru felt completely reassured when her nephew Yan Meihua took her two kids out to play. She even gave them a final reminder to be careful and not run around recklessly.

Gu Yuzhu was a bit interested in going to play near the riverbank. According to her classmate Yan Meihua, there were wild ducks over there. Sometimes, villagers who raised ducks would drive them to the river to catch fish, and if you were lucky, you might find duck eggs on the vast riverbank.

Gu Yuzhu had heard Gu Changwen and Han Hui talk about it before. Han Hui had even found a duck egg once—a wild one, no less.

But clearly, Yan Meihua didn’t have that kind of luck. He had never seen one of those so-called duck eggs himself. Still, it didn’t affect his good mood. Leading his little cousin who looked like a porcelain doll, his expression was like that of a landowner surveying his estate—it made Gu Yuzhu burst out laughing.

“Cousin, let’s walk this way. It’s drier over here. If your shoes get muddy, be careful—my aunt might hit you with a broom.”

Sure enough, Yan Meihua was startled and let out a yelp, then obediently walked toward the drier path.

Aside from the four of them, other village children were also playing by the riverbank. Gu Yuzhu saw many kinds of wildflowers she hadn’t seen before—yellow, white, blooming beautifully—but no one paid them any attention.

When she looked at Yan Meihua with his head almost buried in the rocks, she immediately understood. Kids this age were mostly greedy for snacks. Flowers held no appeal for them—sour and sweet wild fruits were far more tempting.

Suddenly, Yan Meihua tugged her sleeve. “Look quickly! I see a thorny raspberry bush!”

Yan Meihua was visibly delighted.

From afar, Gu Yuzhu spotted Han Hui and Gu Changwen along with a few other village kids. Han Hui didn’t like Gu Yuzhu at all. It was her own fault she fell from the tree, yet she didn’t die, and her mother got scolded by their grandmother because of it.

Gu Caihe often cursed Gu Yuzhu at home, and Han Hui had overheard it all. So her hostility toward Gu Yuzhu was almost instinctive. As soon as she saw her, Han Hui quickly called her friends to go play somewhere else.

She had orders from her mother Gu Caihe to never play with her little aunt Gu Yuzhu again. As for her cousin Gu Changwen, it was said he’d be going to school soon. What was so great about studying? Today, Han Hui had specifically asked her friends out to pick fruit for her cousin.

Soon, her cousin would be going off to study and probably wouldn’t be able to come out and pick fruit with them anymore.

Gu Yuzhu didn’t care when she saw Han Hui deliberately move away. Hmph. If she didn’t want to play with her, then fine—like she wanted to play with those bratty kids anyway. Still, it was the first time she’d been shunned by a child like this. It felt strangely novel, and Gu Yuzhu unconsciously took two steps back.

This season, the river wasn’t very full, and most of the riverbank was dry. When the water rose, the whole area would be submerged. Because of that, the overgrown parts were sometimes home to snails, tadpoles, and small fish. That was the main reason villagers liked to bring ducks here to forage.

Gu Yuzhu found a clean rock to sit on, and when she reached down, her hand touched something smooth and round. Instinctively, she grabbed it—and then Yan Meihua let out a shriek. Before the sound even came out, he immediately slapped his hand over his mouth.

Gu Yuzhu: “…”

A duck egg! A real duck egg from the riverbank! She had picked one up just like that. She really was a lucky person! At that moment, Gu Yuzhu completely believed what the old Taoist priest used to say about her being blessed. Yes, from now on, please call her Blessed Little Girl!

Sure, in novels, the lucky female lead just had to stand still and wild boars, pheasants, and rabbits would come lie at her feet, waiting to be caught. All she had done was casually pick up a duck egg—but still! Gu Yuzhu firmly believed that she now counted as a half-lucky female lead!

However, before the warmth of the duck egg even seeped into her hand, Han Hui came bustling over with a group of children, loudly exclaiming, “That duck egg was mine! I saw it first! Brother Changwen, I was going to pick that duck egg for you, but she took it!”

Gu Yuzhu: “???”

Gu Yuzhu was almost laughing from how shameless Han Hui was.

Yan Meihua and Gu Qingbai immediately stepped in to shield Gu Yuzhu. “What nonsense are you talking about? That duck egg was clearly picked up by Zhuzhu’er. What does it have to do with you?”

Gu Qingbai, though still a little boy, stood there with a cold expression, silent but imposing. Little Tie Tou, just four years old, didn’t quite understand what was happening but stood next to his cousin Gu Qingbai with his chest puffed out too, looking like a clueless little follower.

“That’s right! Do you have no shame? I’m the one who picked it up. It’s already in my hand, and now you say you saw it first?” Gu Yuzhu was upset. She had been confused at first but wasn’t about to let Han Hui get away with it.

But then that little white lotus Han Hui actually started crying shamelessly.

The other kids immediately wavered. “Aren’t you Han Hui’s little aunt? Look, she’s crying. Why don’t you just give her the duck egg? Gu Changwen is going to study soon and won’t be able to play with us anymore. Han Hui just wanted to find him something nice to make him happy.”

Gu Yuzhu: “…” She didn’t expect ancient kids to be this good at emotional blackmail.

So what if Gu Changwen was going to study? What did that have to do with her? Why should her duck egg be sacrificed to please Gu Changwen?

Gu Yuzhu looked over and saw Gu Changwen pressing his lips together, looking just as stubborn.

Gu Yuzhu: “…”

Fu Chang’an actually didn’t want to get involved, but when he saw the two kids from Aunt Yan’s family standing there so stubbornly, he felt bad. His mother had told him that Aunt Yan was a great benefactor to their family, so he couldn’t just stand by.

So Fu Chang’an walked over.

“I’m going to the academy in town tomorrow.”

The young boy’s voice was clear and crisp. Gu Yuzhu blinked, then immediately caught on.

“Brother Fu, you’re going to study? Then… then we won’t get to see you anymore. I’ll give you the duck egg!”

Gu Yuzhu gave herself a mental thumbs up. She was just too clever!