After a male student transmigrated into the body of a widow,

Chapter 187

"Zheng Hao".

Gu Lin suddenly spoke.

Zheng Hao had experienced being called by his full name before. When he was young and studying at the academy, because of his poor background, the students looked down on him and either called him by his full name or called him a poor scumbag. Gu Lin rarely called him that.

Zheng Hao looked up at the other person.

Gu Lin pursed his lips, his light brown eyes fixed on the young man beside him. Whether it was from exhaustion or something else, his tone was slightly heavy: "You don't need to keep testing me."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Hao's heart tightened slightly. So, all along, Uncle Gu had known that he was testing him. How did Uncle Gu view him? Did he think he was cunning and treacherous?

Because he insisted on bringing Uncle Gu to Jibei Prefecture, Uncle Gu had already been enduring it for a long time. After the danger last night, Uncle Gu was no longer willing to tolerate him and wanted to escape from his side, right?

A dark emotion flickered in his eyes, but the veil obscuring his gaze made it impossible to discern his thoughts. Zheng Hao's dark eyelashes trembled slightly. If Uncle Gu really intended to escape from his side, he...

Looking at the young man in front of him, who was a head and a half taller than him even when sitting, Gu Lin felt that although the other man was imposing in public, he always bowed his head slightly in front of him. His dark eyes were filled with deep tolerance. However, Gu Lin was not deceived by the harmless appearance of the other man. He knew the nature of the young man well. Considering everything that the other man had done to him before, Gu Lin had every reason to be wary of Zheng Hao.

but……

Gu Lin closed his eyes, his heart, which he had been trying so hard to ignore, could no longer remain calm.

You can fool yourself for a while, but you can't fool yourself forever. He opened his eyes slightly, a hint of confusion flashing in them. Was his feeling for Zheng Hao really just that of an elder taking care of a younger generation?

Before they had a relationship, Gu Lin treated Zheng Hao like an older brother to a younger brother or an uncle to a nephew. But as the young man grew older and pressed closer, Gu Lin wondered if he really hadn't noticed anything amiss with the young man.

Gu Lin knew everything about the nighttime hair-wiping, the all-night care for him in case of a cold, and the placement of people around him. But whenever a hint of doubt arose in his heart, looking at the young man he had raised in front of him, Gu Lin couldn't help but despise himself.

Therefore, Gu Lin made up excuses for all the young man's strange behavior, using the fact that he lost his parents at a young age as an excuse. He was Zheng Hao's only family, so it was normal for him to want to be closer to him.

Correspondingly, he neglected his status as a stepson and failed to realize that no stepson, once grown up, would wipe his stepfather's wet hair late at night.

One wrong step leads to another. The night Zheng Hao confessed his feelings, Gu Lin was both shocked and furious. For several days, he tried to figure out how to get Zheng Hao back on track. However, as the young man refused to let go, he used both force and gentle persuasion to keep Gu Lin in the capital. As the days passed and they spent time together, Gu Lin slowly became confused and began to question his own heart, wondering if he had made a mistake. Gradually, looking into the young man's eyes, which were filled with deep affection, Gu Lin felt a burning sensation and dared not face him. As time went on, he couldn't help but ask himself, did he really have no feelings for Zheng Hao at all?

The problem that had troubled him for days was solved last night. The sounds of fighting outside the manor last night, the bloody smell on the young man's body when he returned this morning—Gu Lin admitted he was frightened, especially after Da Zhuo returned yesterday to deliver the urn; he had thought Zheng Hao was injured or…

Gu Lin lowered his eyes slightly: "I promised you, and I won't go back on my word."

Zheng Hao's gaze froze, and he suddenly looked up. For the first time since he came of age, he lost his composure, his dark eyes fixed on the young man as he repeated, "Uncle Gu, what were you saying just now?"

His voice was deep and slightly hoarse, and Zheng Hao was afraid that he had misheard.

Seeing the other person looking at him in disbelief, Gu Lin paused for a moment before speaking again: "I will not break my promise to you."

His body suddenly tensed as the young man was pulled close by the young man. Before he could react, a cool touch pressed against his lips. Gu Lin's hands tightened slightly, instinctively gripping the young man's clothes, but he still couldn't push the young man away.

Light brown eyes met dark eyes, and the other person was like a wolf that had been starving for a long time. Once it caught its prey, it was unwilling to let go of the fresh meat that was right in front of its mouth, and kept invading and biting. It was biting, but it was afraid of hurting the prey under its mouth, so it only dared to use a little more force.

After a long while, the hand gripping his waist loosened slightly, allowing Gu Lin to step back and catch his breath. But the young man didn't give him enough time to rest, lifting him up while still holding him. The young man felt a lightness in his body and knew what the other wanted to do. His eyelashes fluttered, and he gasped, "Hangover soup..."

Raising his head from the soft, sweet fragrance, Zheng Hao's thin lips were unusually red, and his face, as cold as white jade, revealed a blush: "No rush."

After saying this, Zheng Hao, holding the slender young man, lifted his leg, walked around the screen, and passed through the curtains to the bed.

Gu Lin gripped Zheng Hao's clothes tightly with both hands, wrinkling them, but still didn't let go.

······

As evening fell and the sunset faded, a slender figure inside the bed curtains stirred slightly. A wave of weakness washed over Gu Lin, who had been in a daze. He lifted his eyes and saw the dark ceiling above him.

He sat up, and his mind immediately recalled the absurdity of the day, from dawn to afternoon storms, which Zheng Hao barely managed to stop near dusk.

A tall figure entered from outside, lit the candles in the room, and then, carrying a faint scent of mint, lifted the curtain. Gu Lin snapped out of his daze, raised his eyes slightly to look at the young man, his throat hoarse and unable to speak.

Zheng Hao sat down next to him and handed him a cup of tea: "Have some tea to soothe your throat."

Unlike before, the two had now broken through the barriers and were speaking frankly. Gu Lin didn't hesitate, took the tea and drank it. After his throat was soothed, he heard the young man say, "I've found an open space in the city that's perfect for firing white porcelain. Uncle Gu can go and take a look once he's feeling better."

Upon hearing this, Gu Lin put down his teacup and looked over. Zheng Hao lowered his eyes and explained, "Uncle Gu, don't worry. I had Da Zhuo buy it through proper channels. It didn't involve any officials or merchants."

Only after hearing that the land for the shop had a legitimate origin did Gu Lin dare to accept the deal.

As for the fact that the young man offered to spend money to build him a white porcelain factory and buy him a shop, would Gu Lin feel uneasy or unworthy of it?

Of course, none of this applies, because Zheng Hao has a share in these things, and it's only right that he contributes money and effort. However, Gu Lin does feel something is off about the young man's actions.

Because Gu Lin has always been used to taking care of others and protecting them from the wind and rain, suddenly, Zheng Hao, whom he has always protected, solves the problem for him without him having to run around. Gu Lin felt a little strange, but he is the kind of person who truly resists something when he resists it, and accepts it quickly when he accepts it.

Since he has decided to be with Zheng Hao, there's no need to calculate things too clearly.

Then, Zheng Hao took out a token from his pocket. Gu Lin felt a coolness in his hand and looked down to see that the other party had placed a bronze token in his palm.

As he turned his wrist, he brought the character "昊" (Hao) to the front, where it was clearly engraved. He looked up at the young man.

Zheng Hao said, "The Dragon Tiger Escort Agency that Niu Qiang mentioned to Uncle Gu was not established by me and him. I established the Dragon Tiger Escort Agency myself, and the escorts are all Niu Qiang's brothers and highly skilled wandering knights of the Jianghu."

Zheng Hao raised his eyes and looked at the young man in front of him, saying, "Apart from that, I have nothing else to hide from Uncle Gu."

Gu Lin tightened his grip on the bronze medal and asked, "You..."

With his eyes half-closed, Zheng Hao noticed the bronze token in the young man's fair hand. He said, "There are two tokens. The one in Uncle Gu's hand is the secondary token. It can be used to command everyone in the Dragon Tiger Escort Agency."

Before leaving the capital, Gu Lin learned from Niu Qiang that the Dragon Tiger Escort Agency had a total of more than 500 people. Since Zheng Hao had taken them in, they must have a very important use. He returned the token: "I know your intentions. This token is too important. You can take it back."

Zheng Hao reached out his arm, but instead of taking back the token, he grasped Gu Lin's hand, feeling the slight coolness on the back of his hand. Gu Lin looked up at him.

Zheng Hao looked at Gu Lin earnestly with his dark eyes: "Just as Uncle Gu understands my feelings, I also know how Uncle Gu feels about me. I cannot give Uncle Gu the best things in the world right now, so I can only give him the most important ones."

The two men clasped hands, the cold bronze plaques warming to the touch. Neither of them let go. Zheng Hao said in a low voice, "Uncle Gu, please wait for me for a few more years."

Without giving any specific guarantee, Gu Lin seemed to understand what the young man was trying to say.

Wait a few more years, and he will give you the best of everything in the world.

Gu Lin had no doubt about the young man's abilities, but the other party was unaware of this and the young man's trust in him.

Under Zheng Hao's hopeful gaze, Gu Lin did not continue to refuse, accepted the token, and then saw the young man's previously fixed gaze relax slightly.

·

After the Red Army's night raid failed, they did not continue their attack on Jibei Prefecture; instead, they stationed themselves several dozen miles outside the prefectural city.

The reason why the entire army did not move was that during the night raid on Jibei Prefecture, an important general of the Red Army was wounded by a hidden arrow. It is unknown who shot the arrow, but it was extremely powerful and pierced through the general's bone. It is said that when the general returned to the camp, he lay in his tent unable to move. As a result, the morale of the Red Army was greatly reduced, and they did not move for a long time.

Although the Red Army was watching them from the outside, and the city gates remained tightly closed, the people inside still needed to make a living. So, seeing that there was nothing happening outside, they resumed their previous lives.

Zheng Hao bought the land and shops and handed them over to Gu Lin. Gu Lin then led Yu Ercheng and Ning Fangshi to rebuild the white porcelain factory. They worked for several days before the newly fired white porcelain was delivered to the shop.

The white porcelain from the outskirts was smashed by Yu Ercheng and his men because they couldn't bring it back in time.

Baiyu Shop is officially open!

After the unrest in the city gradually subsided, many young ladies and gentlemen of officials, as well as their wives and husbands, dared to go out. They were tired of seeing so many jewelry shops and cosmetic shops along the street. Suddenly, as the carriage was moving, they saw a new shop that was quite different from the others through the curtain.

All the ladies and husbands' eyes fell on the entrance of the new store, on the two tall, wide vases, each as tall as a hand and as white as snow, as white as jade, and as white as porcelain.

Under the golden sunlight, the surface of the bottle did not show any dullness or roughness; instead, it had a slightly smooth and delicate sheen, which made the couples want to reach out and touch the bottle.

Of course, what attracted the attention of the officials' wives and husbands the most was not the two white porcelain vases at the shop entrance, but the hairpins that came out of the shop, which were as white as jade, but even whiter than jade.

The wife of Prefect Ren stepped down from the carriage and said to her husband and wife who were traveling with her, "Let's go inside and take a look."

When the group of ladies and their husbands entered the White Jade Tower, they realized from the scene before them that what they had seen outside was just the tip of the iceberg.

In the lobby, all kinds of jade-white porcelain bottles, bowls and cups are arranged in a neat and orderly manner, and exquisitely crafted jewelry is placed under the glass tabletops.

Several well-dressed maids stepped forward to serve, and a lady standing behind Prefect Ren asked, "Your shop is called Baiyulou, are all these white jade jewelry pieces? Where did your owner get so much white jade?"

A maid stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, white jade is rare. My master cannot obtain so much white jade either. These are all made of white porcelain."

"what?!"

Compared to their assumption that everything sold at Baiyulou was made of white jade, it was clear that the maid's revelation that these items were made of white porcelain was far more shocking to the couple.

One of the wives, whose husband held a minor official position, couldn't contain herself and said, "How could that be?! You Baiyulou are not trying to fool us. We've all seen what Baici looks like!"

If everything sold in this shop were made of white porcelain, even just the two porcelain vases outside the door would be priceless.

The maid said, "Baiyulou treats its guests with sincerity. You ladies and husbands can see for yourselves."

The lady who had just raised her questions was about to speak again when the wife of Prefect Ren, who was in charge, said, "Why is the white porcelain of your Baiyulou different from that of other shops?"

When the wife of Prefect Ren personally admitted that the white porcelain from Baiyulou was genuine, the other wives and husbands remained silent.

The maid replied, "The reason why Baiyulou's white porcelain is different from other white porcelain is because our master specially asked craftsmen to study it, which resulted in this silvery and snowy white porcelain."

"Our Baiyulou not only sells decorative items such as porcelain vases, but also jewelry such as bracelets and hairpins made of white porcelain. Because it is rare to find a perfect piece of white porcelain after it comes out of the kiln, these pieces of jewelry are made after dozens of firings."

Upon hearing this, the couple's already restless hearts burned even hotter, for the more precious the item, the more it would reveal their status.

They immediately asked the maids to wrap up the jewelry they had their eyes on. The Prefect's wife also spoke up, pointing to several pieces of jewelry she liked and asking the maids to wrap them up.

Within days of its opening, Baiyulou had caused a huge stir in Jibei Prefecture. Among the wealthy ladies, officials, and doctors, anyone who didn't wear one or two pieces of white porcelain jewelry would be ridiculed and considered poor. After all, Baiyulou's white porcelain jewelry was expensive, several times more expensive than white jade jewelry. However, such a high price didn't deter many people. The wealthy ladies and officials considered white porcelain jewelry a symbol of status. If Baiyulou hadn't limited each person to buying only two pieces, they would have loved to collect the entire set.

At the residence of Prefect Ren.

As Madam Ren was reviewing the accounts, General Yu's wife burst in. The maid who followed her wanted to apologize to Madam Ren, but Madam Ren raised her hand and said, "You may leave now."

Seeing that the lady did not blame her, the servant immediately withdrew.

Madam Ren, the prefect's wife, turned to look at the newcomer and asked, "Who has offended you this time?"

General Yu's wife said, "It's all because of Gu Lin!"