Chapter One: Perplexity

  Gao Huaiyuan was a bit stunned, this time it's good, another one is leaving with him, is his charm really that great? It actually made two young men want to follow him.

  But thinking carefully, Zhou Huan's family background is ordinary, and he himself is also considered a son of an official family. If Zhou Huan follows him, his parents will probably be overjoyed, at least he won't let him starve, which might be better than staying in Shaoxing, so it's all right then.

  Moreover, he also appreciated Zhou Huan, this young man, who was steady and down-to-earth. He thought that in the future, he would indeed need someone like him by his side, so he nodded in agreement.

  Zhou Hao heard Gao Huaiyuan agree to let him follow along, and only then did he reveal a smile.

  The crowd had been in an uproar for a while, and it was almost dark when Huang Yan finally ran back, but with a big bump on his head, looking somewhat bruised. As soon as they saw him like this, without asking, everyone knew that he must have been beaten by his old man again.

  But Huang Yan didn't seem to care, with a smile on his face, he rushed in and shouted: "It's done! My old man beat me up, I gave him a show of crying, making a fuss, and threatening to hang myself, annoying him until he finally agreed! Haha! Eldest brother, from now on you have to take care of my meals! I've been kicked out by my dad!"

  Everyone was sweating profusely, and this guy was actually kicked out but still so happy. His father gave birth to such a son, it's really unfortunate!

  On the third day, before dawn broke, a mule cart exited the main gate of the Gao estate. Only Gao Jian and several household slaves came to see off Gao Huaiyuan, while everyone else did not come out, showing just how unwelcome Gao Huaiyuan was in the Gao household.

  However, Gao Huaiyuan didn't mind at all. As the mule cart walked out of the gate, he turned around and bid farewell to Gao Jian: "Dad doesn't need to send me off anymore. With Li Tong accompanying me on the road, nothing will happen. Please don't worry, Dad! I'll definitely take care of the family's property and won't disappoint your high expectations for me! Dad, please go back, I'm leaving!"

  Gao Jian looked at Gao Huaiyuan, who had now grown up and become sensible. He suddenly felt a slight pang of reluctance in his heart. He walked forward, pulled Gao Huaiyuan's collar, and sighed: "This place is far from Daye Road, and there are many refugees on the road these days. Be careful on your way, son. Your father knows he hasn't been good enough to you, don't hold it against him. Take good care of the old house, and in the future, it will be yours! Speaking of my three sons, now it seems that the most filial one is probably you!"

  Gao Jian's words revealed a hint of genuine emotion, and as Gao Hua Yuan looked at the white streaks in Gao Jian's temples, he too felt a slight ripple in his heart. This was probably due to their blood relation. Although Gao Jian was an unqualified father, today he had finally shown a hint of sincere paternal love. Gao Hua Yuan felt slightly moved and after thinking for a moment, he knelt down and kowtowed three times to Gao Jian, as if thanking him on behalf of his flesh and blood.

  Gao Jian stroked his chin whiskers and nodded slightly. Gao Huaiyuan stood up, boarded the mule cart, and Li Tong, a family slave, paid respects to Gao Jian before cracking the whip. The mule cart let out a creaking sound as it slowly headed westward, its wooden wheels rolling on the stone road, sending echoes far away.

  Gao Huaiyan turned his head and looked back from the car window, seeing Gao Jian slowly turning back into the door. He then looked at the wall of Gao's courtyard and thought to himself, "Goodbye, I hope I never have to come back here again."

  In the early morning, there were not many pedestrians on Shaoxing Street, and it looked a bit deserted. However, Liu'er, who was sitting in the carriage, seemed extremely excited. Since she arrived at the Gao's residence, she had hardly ever left the Gao estate again. Other maids or servants would occasionally get the chance to go out onto the streets, but Liu'er rarely had such opportunities. Today, she finally left the Gao estate, and she no longer had to live in constant fear and anxiety.

  Gao Huaiyuan looked at Liu'er's expression and knew what she was thinking. For some reason, he gently pulled over one of Liu'er's hands, held it for a moment, and said softly: "From now on, I will never let you suffer again! You suffered for me, and I will make it up to you bit by bit!"

  Liu'er looked at her hand being held by Gao Huaiyuan, her face slightly red, and felt warm in her heart. She increasingly felt that after Gao Huaiyuan woke up this time, there were many differences between him and others. As a master, Gao Huaiyuan had never regarded himself as inferior, always being considerate of Liu'er, which touched her deeply. So she lowered her head and quickly said: "Liu'er will forever be the young master's servant, as long as the young master doesn't dislike Liu'er, Liu'er is willing to serve the young master for a lifetime!"

  Gao Huaiyuan's heart skipped a beat after hearing Liu'er's words, and he couldn't help but think that this sounded so ambiguous! Could it be that Liu'er...? He was sweating. After all, he was only barely thirteen years old, and Liu'er was about the same age as him. What was going on here?!

  Li Tong drove the carriage all the way to the east gate, feeling unhappy in his heart. This time, following Gao Huaiyuan back to the old mansion in Danye, was not something he wanted to do himself. Why would anyone want to go back to that broken and barren old house in Danye? But he had no choice in this matter, who made him offend the official Gao Fu? Gao Jian let Gao Fu choose someone to send Gao Huaiyuan back to Danye, and Gao Fu pointed to him first. Who could he reason with about this?

  Li Tong slapped the black mule's buttocks, and it immediately quickened its pace. Li Tong felt more and more stifled, thinking to himself how unlucky he was to be following a foolish young man with incredible strength who didn't even treat him well. This life is finished! Da Ye is thousands of miles away, and on the road, they still have to cross mountains and rivers, and the ground is not flat either. If something happens, who can he cry to? From the moment Li Tong found out about this matter, he had a belly full of complaints but nowhere to vent them, so he could only take it out on the black mule!

  The mule cart rattled and creaked as it rolled over the stone road, all the way out of the east gate. By this time, the sky had already brightened up quite a bit. From afar, one could see a group of young men standing by the side of the official road, gazing at Gao Huaiyuan's mule cart. As soon as they saw Gao Huaiyuan poke his head out from the cart, they immediately rushed over.

  "Shoo! Shoo! Get out of the way!" Li Tong, who was already in a bad mood about his own situation, impatiently waved his whip, as if shooing away flies, trying to chase these youngsters away.

  "Li Tong, stop! Don't be rude, these are all my friends!" came a voice from behind.

  Friends? When did this silly kid still have a group of friends? Li Tong was a bit dizzy, but he could only stop the mule cart and lean against the side of the road.

  "Thank you all for coming to see me off!" Gao Huaiyuan jumped down from the car, patted Zhao Yu's shoulder and said to everyone. He looked around but didn't see Huang Yan and Zhou Huan, thinking to himself "Where is this guy? Could it be that he was tied up by his old man and not allowed out?" If so, wouldn't he have to go get those precious things himself?

  Zhao and Ju handed a pair of Quan's new writings to Gao Huaiyuan, with tears in their eyes, saying: "Brother Gao must remember to come back and visit us!"

  Several other kids, from wealthy families, stuffed food and drink or small trinkets into Gao Huaiyuan's hands, each with a reluctant expression. During this time, Gao Huaiyuan had taught them many things and earned their respect. Now that he really was leaving, they truly couldn't bear to part with him.

  "Alright! Stop fussing, it's not like we're parting for life and death. Who knows, maybe in a while Brother Gao will bring us back again!" Just as they were speaking, Huang Yan came running over from the south of the city, leading a small donkey with a pack on its back, followed by Zhou Huan carrying a bundle of things, with some packages and a long cloth bundle on the donkey's back. As soon as he saw Gao Huaiyuan had already arrived, he shouted out.

  "You two are really going to follow Gao Ge together! We thought you two had changed your minds and weren't coming, we were just scolding you!" A mischievous little kid laughed.

  "Get out! A real man can't go back on his word and get fat, right? I said I'd go with Gao, so I'll definitely go! It's just because mom was holding me back and crying for half a day that I'm late! That Zhou Hao is stronger than me, no one controls him!" Huang Yan kicked the guy who was mocking him and laughed.

  Zhou Huan still had the same old expression, smiled at everyone, didn't say a word, but proactively started unloading things from the mule's back into the cart. He carefully placed the long bundle of cloth on one side of the cart. Only then did everyone see that there was actually a pretty little maid sitting inside the cart. Liu'er got off the cart with a blush and greeted everyone. She didn't expect Gao Huan to have made so many friends during this time, and she was very happy for him.

  Everyone sees the strange as not strange, Gao Huaiyuan although in the Gao family is not valued, but after all still a young master of an official family, having a small maid serving him on the road is not a big deal, no one paid much attention to Liu'er.

  Li Tong sat impatiently in the front of the car, watching Gao Huaiyuan and those young men chatting and saying goodbye. He couldn't help but lazily call out: "Young master, hurry up and get on the road! If not, we won't make it to lunch by noon!"

  Huang Yan saw that this fellow was not very respectful to Gao Huaiyuan, so he jumped over to teach him a lesson: "Is there such a servant who speaks to the master like this? Are you asking for a beating? No discipline, wait aside! Be careful or Young Master will beat you up!"

  Li Tong was already annoyed, and he didn't expect to be lectured by a young boy. He jumped down from the carriage, rolled up his sleeves, pointed at Huang Yan and scolded: "Which family's whelp are you? How dare you speak to me like that? I am called Young Master of my household, what business do you have with me? Are you looking for a fight?" He didn't dare to mess with Gao Huaiyuan, but as an official's servant, he looked down on ordinary people.

  Gao Huairen saw that this guy dared to be so rude to his younger brother, and knew that he didn't take himself seriously. This one was far away, if this guy didn't listen, I don't know what kind of trouble would arise. So he snorted in anger: "How dare you! Li Tong, don't forget your identity! This is my friend, you can't be rude to them in front of me! Get out of the way and wait, if you dare to speak again, get out of here!"