The Ai Cao hid in the bushes and watched them come down from the mountain while talking and laughing. Among the group of people, the most conspicuous were the three girls and two boys. This was because they were different from the village friends in the Ai Cao's memories.
Looking at their appearance, the Ai Cao knew that they were the "elegant and charming" educated youths that were rumored to be celestial beings in the village. However, after seeing the real person, the Ai Cao wasn't interested in them.
Were these the celestial beings in the original Ai Cao's mind? They were only so-so. They couldn't be compared to the young ladies and young masters of the aristocratic families in her previous life. They were far from being elegant and charming.
Compared to the five of them, the other two attracted her attention more.
The shorter one had thick eyebrows, big eyes, dark skin, and looked very sturdy. He also wore better clothes. He was very lively and talkative. He had a big smile on his face like a monkey as he jumped around in front of a girl with two ponytails. It was unknown what he was talking about.
The other one was tall and thin. He had neat short hair and his skin was lighter than the first one. It could be considered a honey color. His facial features were deep, and at a glance, he seemed to be a young general who had just come out of the martial arts arena from far away in the crowd in his previous life. However, he was not as beautiful and full of vigor as the other party. Moreover, from the way he was dressed, he should be the one wearing the most shabby clothes in the group.
But for some reason, at first glance, Mugwort had a feeling that the little brat was him.
In this world, being a landlord wasn't a good status. It was even worse than being an old rascal in the village. Therefore, the little brat of a landlord should be even worse than being a rascal. However, the Ai Cao's intuition told her that the man with the rabbit in his hand should be Old Gu's grandson.
Sure enough, the Ai Cao could faintly hear them talking. The shorter one called him "Dongzi".
Seeing the group of people gradually walk away, the Ai Cao let out a sigh of relief.
Although this person's appearance couldn't compare to the young masters she had seen before and his temperament couldn't compare to those scholars from noble families, at least he was much better than Ai Dabao and Ai Yaozong. In addition, he also looked healthy, unlike the sickly and pale Ai San An.
In fact, to be honest, in the group of people just now, there was only one male educated youth named "Cao Aiguo". He looked a bit like the young scholar from a poor family that she had seen at the imperial court banquet. He looked gentle and fair.
But what was the point of thinking so much? With her current situation, let alone a scholar, she couldn't even marry a normal person in the village.
Forget it, he wasn't that bad. Yes, compared to the Ai family's brothers, he was already very good.
On the way home, the Ai Cao constantly comforted herself like this in her heart. From time to time, she would use the back of her hand to wipe her eyes.
Forcing herself to accept was one thing, but how could she not be sad? In her previous life, she had even been able to marry a prince. A young girl yearned for love. At the age of sixteen, how could she not have imagined her future husband's appearance?
Now that she had fallen to this point, she had to marry a village boy. Even though he had a slightly dignified appearance, she was still faintly happy. Wasn't this a different kind of sorrow?
~~~~~
A piece of half-dried firewood in the stove crackled, pulling the Ai Cao's thoughts out of the bizarre experiences she had experienced in the past three days.
Looking at the flickering flames in front of her, she knew that all of this, no matter how bizarre it was, was not a story. It was reality, and she had to accept it. With all her strength, she threw a handful of firewood into the stove, as if she wanted to burn the delicate and weak Ai Zhi in her memory. The Ai Cao silently said in her heart: Today is different from the past. Right now, I am only an Ai Cao, an Ai Cao who grew up in a small village.
"What are you thinking about?" Ai San 'an's voice sounded from the kitchen door.
The Ai Cao hurriedly adjusted the emotions on her face. She turned around and lowered her head. Imitating the original owner, she timidly called out: "Third Brother."
The Ai family originally wanted to hide this from Ai San 'an. They planned to let the Gu family take the Ai Cao away when he returned to school. However, this morning, Ai Yaozong let it slip. That was why there was an argument before the Ai Cao came back.
"There's no choice. There's no choice, Ai Cao. I don't want you to marry Gu Dong. You want to marry me, but Big Brother and Yaozong are too stupid. They fell into that damned old man's trap. It's all the Gu family's fault. They're too shameless!" Ai San 'an spoke agitatedly. She wanted to pull the Ai Cao's hand, but the Ai Cao felt a wave of disgust in her heart. She discreetly avoided her.
She turned around again and faced the stove to light the fire. She softly said: "I know. It's not Third Brother's fault." It's their fault. "Now, Mugicao only wanted to protect herself before entering the Gu family. None of the Ai family members were normal. She did not want to anger any of them and cause any accidents.
Compared to the Ai Cao who was dealing with Ai San 'an's efforts to break free from the Ai family and enter the Gu family, Gu Dong, on the other hand, looked carefree and relaxed.
"Hey, Dongzi, not bad! I didn't think that Duan Xue would take a liking to you and take the initiative to talk to you! "Fu Jiu patted Gu Dong's shoulder. The two of them chatted as they walked.
"Of course. Don't you know who your brother is? If it wasn't for … "Gu Dong, who was originally happy, suddenly lost most of his joy when he said this.
If it wasn't for his grandfather being a landlord, he would be the "little son of a landlord". There were not many boys in the village who could compare to him.
Although he did not finish his sentence, Fu Jiu understood half of what he said. Among the boys in the village, this brother of his was really one of the best in terms of ability. However, because of his family background, everyone lowered their heads when they looked at the Gu family. They were trampled on everywhere they went.
"Aiya, alright. Don't think too much. If Duan Xue took the initiative to talk to you, it means that she doesn't care about your background. Hey, to be honest, they know. What if they're really different from the people in our village? Hehe. " Fu Jiu giggled and hit Gu Dong twice, "Maybe you'll be able to marry an educated youth in the future. Tsk tsk, they're really prettier than the girls in the village."
"Come on, what are you thinking about? Background doesn't matter where you are now. I don't believe it!" Gu Dong said that he didn't believe it, but in his heart, he secretly thought of Xiaocao.
What if there really was a chance?
"Why can't you think about it? Didn't you see how happy she was when she talked to you earlier? Her eyes are curved like crescents. City girls are really handsome. There's also that girl named Fu Fang next to her. Her braids are swinging back and forth. Sigh, after seeing them, I feel that the girls in our village are even more rustic. "
Gu Dong didn't say anything, but he nodded his head in agreement. Not to mention the village, he had never seen a girl as beautiful as Duan Xue in the surrounding area.
They were all seventeen or eighteen years old and were at the prime of their lives. When looking for a wife, how could they not look at her appearance?
Fu Jiu glanced at the fat rabbit in Gu Dong's right hand and tilted his head to ask him, "Oh right, when we separated earlier, why didn't you give the rabbit you caught to Duan Xue and the others?"
"Give them what? We only caught one. If we gave it to them, we wouldn't have any left. "Gu Dong shook his arm and weighed the rabbit. He was very satisfied with the weight of this rabbit. It was fat enough!
"Are you stupid? If you want to woo her, how can you not show her goodwill? You might be able to get closer to her if you gave her the rabbit." Fu Jiu shook his head. He felt that his little friend was stupid, really stupid! He didn't even know how to curry favor with girls.
"She's not mine right now. If I let her eat it and she doesn't marry me in the future, then my rabbit will be at a loss." Gu Dong said with a matter-of-fact expression. He completely ignored Fu Jiu, who was so angry that he was gritting his teeth and stomping his feet.
"No, why didn't I realize that you were so stupid in the past!" Fu Jiu pointed at his head, exasperated at his failure to live up to his expectations.
"Stop it." Gu Dong was almost poked in the eye. He pulled Fu Jiu's arm and stopped in his tracks. He lowered his head and paused for a moment before looking at Fu Jiu and saying, "She's beautiful, but I know what kind of person I am. Marrying her, I can only dream about it for the rest of my life. Since I won't be able to marry her, why should I waste my time on a rabbit? Someone like me, if I can marry a country bumpkin from the village, I should be thanking the gods! "He said the last sentence with a slight smile and a hint of self-mockery.
Last night, his grandfather had chatted with him. He meant that he was going to have a wife soon, and nothing unexpected would happen. It was the little girl from the Ai family in the southern part of the village.
Who wouldn't be happy to be able to marry a wife? But when he heard that it was the adopted daughter of the Ai family, his enthusiasm for marrying a wife was immediately extinguished.
It wasn't that he disliked her, but in his impression, that girl was really ugly. She was usually like the servants of the Ai family. She didn't make a sound and only knew how to work. When she saw people in the village, she didn't even greet them. What was even more unacceptable was that she looked dirty. He didn't even know if she took a bath once a month. Also, he hadn't seen her change out of the clothes she wore.
She couldn't even compare to the other girls in the village, not to mention the Duan Xue and the others from the city. But even though he disliked her, Gu Dong still had a plan in his heart.
"You can't give the rabbit away." If the marriage was really successful, he would rather give the rabbit to the Ai family than to the Duan Xue. After all, that was his family. Usually, he wouldn't be able to see the meat for half a year. Now that he had it, he wasn't that stupid to give it to an outsider.
"Yes, yes, you're still the cleverest." Fu Jiu was indeed too excited just now.
He was so excited to see the female educated youth in the city. In addition, when he saw the Duan Xue taking the initiative to talk to Gu Dong just now, he was a little boastful. He blurted out the brainless words of asking Gu Dong to marry the Duan Xue. Realistically speaking, with Gu Dong's status, not to mention marrying a girl from the city, it wasn't easy for him to find a normal girl in the village.
"Forget it, forget it. You're right. Let's just eat this rabbit ourselves. Sigh, let's just skin it and stew it later."
"What's there to eat? It's useful!" Gu Dong kicked him sideways. He raised his eyebrows and looked at the road under his feet before continuing to walk forward. At the same time, he turned his head and scolded him with a smile, "Glutton! Don't worry, you'll get your share. "But as for what it was useful for, he didn't say much to Fu Jiu.
In the afternoon, he had originally planned to take care of the sheep for his grandfather, but his grandfather urged him to walk around the mountains to see if he could find anything.
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