Putting on shoes was not a problem, but then the man unexpectedly lowered her pants, letting the pant legs only reach her ankles.
...? Could they still have a pleasant time?
"You might catch a cold," the man said before she could say anything.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the two little ones, leaving them utterly bewildered.
Luo Ge: "......"
This was maddening.
"You go catch some fish, we can catch some shrimp on our own here."
Seeming to sense the dismissive tone in her voice, Gu Jinchen rubbed his nose.
"Then I'll come back in a bit."
Listening to the sullen Luo Ge: "......"
She turned to see the two little ones already happily catching shrimp, and her heart settled down as she quickly joined in.
After taking a couple of steps and looking at her feet... hmm, indeed not pleasant, uncomfortable.
But when she turned her head, she found her husband staring at her.
"......" Alright, she obeyed.
Fortunately, the joy of catching shrimp soon made her forget about the discomfort.
This outing yielded quite a few shrimp, enough for two meals, and there were eight or nine fish too.
One sour fish soup, one braised fish, and they could figure out the remaining fish for the next meal.
Since they caught so many, they could send some to the village chief's family as well as the Wang and Li Qiao families with whom they had good relations.
"Why are so many people leaving our area today?"
As they were returning from the mountain, Luo Ge noticed several villagers leaving from the end of the village and was a bit puzzled.
When the family arrived home, they found many people still standing at their doorstep.
"Ah, the Gu family is back!"
"Who were those people that came by carriage today? I saw they unloaded several carts of stuff for you!"
"Could it be that you two have struck it rich?"
"That's not very righteous of you, we're all from the same village, seeing each other every day, how could you not include us?"
"I think the one who came was the shopkeeper of the Fuxin Shop in town, right?"
"Yes, it was him. I remember he came to ask me how to get to the Gu family last time, and I gave him directions."
"Most of the villagers with the Gu surname are related to us. I thought he was looking for someone else, but it turns out he was looking for the second Gu family!"
"Second Gu family, tell us, what fortune have you come into? I saw several carts of goods!"
"If possible, you should include us too, right?"
"We're all from the same village, don't forget the kindness owed to fellow villagers."
As they approached the house, a group of people started clamoring and asking questions.
"......"
The village was small, just a tiny area, and from the moment she started doing business with Li Shopkeeper, Luo Ge had anticipated this kind of situation might occur.
But now that it had actually happened, she was still speechless.
She didn't remember wrong - this was only the second time Li Shopkeeper had come, right?
However, given the gossipy nature of the village, it was understandable.
But the way those people saw they had prospered and immediately accused them of striking it rich, unwilling to include the villagers?
Were they trying to guilt-trip them? Like they had to make money and include the villagers, or else it wasn't acceptable?
A bunch of nonsensical chatter.
Most of the women who came clamoring were unfamiliar to her. Nowadays, she could generally recognize the relatives of the Gu clan.
As for the Wang clan... apart from Wang Sister-In-Law's family, she really didn't recognize many others.
Judging by the unfamiliar faces of these women, they were probably of the Wang surname, rarely interacting with the Gu family.
"What fortune? How could we have struck it rich? Aren't you all aware of our family's situation?" Luo Ge responded with a smile, her voice clear, though the smile didn't reach her eyes.
"Li Shopkeeper happened to take a liking to our family's inherited skills and asked me to lend a hand."
She stated it plainly - the inherited skills were, as everyone knew, each family's closely guarded secrets.
You want a share? I'm afraid that's not possible.
Upon hearing Luo Ge's words, the group of women fell silent.
At that moment, another commotion came from behind - it was the village chief, Auntie Luo, and some other Gu clan villagers. Wang Sister-In-Law was also following behind.
"What are you Wang folks doing, crowding around the doorstep and not letting them into their own home?" the village chief said with a frown when he saw the group.
He had been working in the fields when he heard that a bunch of Wang folks had swarmed the second Gu family's home.
The village appeared peaceful on the surface, but there were still some frictions between the two clans.
They had gone to work early and hadn't noticed Li Shopkeeper's visit.
Fearing the Wang folks were looking for trouble, he quickly brought people over to check it out.
He didn't expect to see this scene as soon as they arrived.
A group of people stood at the Gu family's doorstep, completely blocking Luo Ge and her family's way inside. The two little ones hid behind the couple, looking frightened.
It really seemed like those people were trying to make trouble.
"No, no, we just saw the shopkeeper from the Fuxin Shop in town bringing several horse-drawn carriages to look for the second Gu family this morning, so we came over to see what was going on out of curiosity," one of the women said with a smile.
"What's there to be curious about? Didn't the second son's wife just say that it was the family's inherited skills that Li Shopkeeper took a liking to, so he brought some things for her to help out?" Auntie Luo, who had already stood beside Luo Ge's family, interjected.
"What kind of inherited skills would make someone send over several carts of goods?" a mutter arose from the group of Wang folks, not too loud but still audible to everyone present.
As soon as those words were spoken, everyone's gaze fell upon Luo Ge.
Gu Jinchen frowned and stepped forward, shielding Luo Ge from those prying eyes with a cold glance at Li Zhaodi, who was standing in the group of Wang folks.
Yes, it was Li Zhaodi who had uttered those words.
But they were huddled in a group, and if one didn't listen carefully, it was hard to tell who had spoken. However, Gu Jinchen's observation skills had always been excellent, so he could naturally discern it was her.
