After transmigrating, I became a stepmother.

"Sister-in-law, you may not know, but Ziheng was a household name back then!" Master He said, clearly about to launch into a long and detailed explanation.

Gu Liu cleared his throat lightly. Master He glanced at him and teased, "Ziheng, that's not right of you. Why did you have to interfere when I was talking to my sister-in-law?"

"Exactly, I want to hear it too!" Lin Hao gave him a reproachful look. Besides, this was the first time he'd known Gu Liunian's courtesy name was Ziheng!

Gu Liunian had no choice but to watch the two of them discuss their past. Not to mention Lin Hao, even the old lady didn't fully understand what happened back then, but she was listening with great interest!

"Sister-in-law, you have no idea. Back then, Ziheng became famous at a young age, making us students from those years pale in comparison!"

When this was mentioned, he was clearly one of the victims as well, and his tone was quite reproachful.

"Oh, was he that famous back then?" Lin Hao asked curiously, scrutinizing Gu Liunian's face. Unfortunately, the man's face remained expressionless.

Lin Hao turned her head and asked, "And then?"

"Then, all the teachers would say, 'Look at Ziheng.' Every time we handed in our homework, we would try our best to ask Ziheng to be a little late, because no one wanted to be behind him."

When Master He mentioned this, he couldn't help but recall how many times Gu Liunian had tricked him over this matter back then. Thinking of this, he turned back and gave someone a resentful look. Unfortunately, that person was too thick-skinned and didn't change his expression.

Lin Hao could already imagine that Gu Liunian at that time was definitely a top student and a popular figure, a role model in the eyes of teachers, but a nightmare in the eyes of students.

"So how did you two become friends?" Looking at the two of them, their relationship was definitely more than just that of ordinary classmates.

“In the academy, two people share a room, and Ziheng and I were assigned to be together.” Master He glanced at Gu Liunian.

What he didn't say was that because he was with Gu Liunian, this prodigy, the teacher paid extra attention to him every time he checked his homework, which put him under great pressure and forced him to spend more energy studying. In a way, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

"Oh, so you're roommates? No wonder you're so close!" Lin Hao exclaimed.

"Yes, to be honest, Ziheng was actually quite easy to get along with back then. Unfortunately, most of his classmates didn't want to get too close to him because of their resentment, and I was the only one who really had no choice!"

Master He made a very unwilling and aggrieved expression.

Lin Hao found it amusing and couldn't help but ask, "Is he easy to get along with?"

“I must set the record straight for Ziheng. Brother Gu back then wasn’t like this. He could still smile back then, just not often.”

At this point, he leaned slightly closer to Lin Hao and lowered his voice: "Besides, Brother Gu was quite mischievous back then! It's just that he was good at hiding it and did his homework well, so the teachers didn't know!"

Lin Hao became interested and moved closer, asking, "Tell me about it!"

Gu Liunian's face darkened as he looked at the two people who seemed oblivious to everyone else. He wanted to interrupt, but seeing that everyone else was curious, he could only drink his tea out of the way.

“Back in the day, our professor, Master Wu, always wore a blue long gown, just like the one I’m wearing. Brother Gu was curious about whether he changed his clothes or not, so he suggested to me that he would ask Master Wu questions while I secretly dripped ink on the corner of his robe when he wasn’t looking.”

"and then?"

"Then the next day, we discovered that the drop of ink was gone. Obviously, the Master had changed his clothes. Later we learned that Master Wu's wife was always frugal. She bought a lot of the blue fabric when it was cheap, and because Master Wu loved that style the most, she made several identical garments."

As Master He recalled this, a look of melancholy appeared on his face.

Lin Hao found it hard to believe that Gu Liunian, whom she always thought was calm and composed, would do such a mischievous thing when he was young. She glanced at him, but his face showed no change, as if he wasn't the one whose embarrassing story had just been exposed.

Lin Hao was about to look away when she noticed a red mark on Gu Liunian's earlobe. "Oh, I see," Lin Hao's gaze suddenly became somewhat amused.

She turned around, not intending to expose his little secret, and then asked Master He, "How old were you back then?"

This question also pulled Master He's thoughts away from his melancholy. He looked at Lin Hao and replied, "At that time, Brother Gu was only seven years old, while I was a year older than him."

Lin Hao realized, seven or eight-year-olds are always annoying! The ancients were right!

Lin Hao and Master He chatted for a long time, mostly about interesting things Gu Liunian did during his time at the academy. Later, seeing that the old lady was getting tired, they ended their conversation. It was getting late, so they said goodbye to the old lady.

Gu Liunian went to settle Master He's affairs, while Lin Hao took the little bun back to sleep.

Over here, Gu Liunian and Master He chatted as they walked.

"Ziheng, after our conversation today, I find your young wife to be quite interesting! She is very different from other young ladies."

"Yes." Gu Liunian herself also agreed with this point.

“Moreover, I think Yu-ge’er likes her very much, so she must be a good person. You really got lucky!” Master He looked at Gu Liunian. Although he didn’t show any expression on his face, Master He, who knew his temperament well, could still tell that he was happy at this moment.

"I'm really lucky!"

"You're not as cute as you were when you were little!" Master He shook his head and sighed.

Gu Liunian glanced at him but did not say anything.

After settling Master He into his residence, Gu Liunian returned to Qiyuan and found Lin Hao waiting for him.

"Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Go wash up first, hurry up!" Lin Hao didn't answer his question, but only urged him to wash up.

When Gu Liunian finished washing up and came out, he saw Lin Hao waiting for him expectantly.

"Speak, what is it?" Gu Liunian sat on the bed and pulled the covers over himself.

"Master He is your classmate!"

"Yes."

"Your scholarship is also excellent!"

"Ah."

"Then why isn't he taking the imperial examination?" Lin Hao was very curious. Master He was also handsome and learned, so why wasn't he preparing for the exam and instead came to the Gu family to be a teacher?

“Brother He’s father passed away less than a year ago,” Gu Liunian explained.

Lin Hao was taken aback before realizing the connection between the imperial examination and her father's death. It must be that she had to observe a period of mourning! People in ancient times valued filial piety, and it seemed that close relatives like parents were required to observe a three-year mourning period.

"That's a real pity!" She felt sorry for Master He. Although it was right to observe mourning for his father, the ancient imperial examination system didn't wait for anyone.

"So he hasn't participated before?"