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

After lunch, Zheng Hao went back to his room to rest for a while before getting up to go to the academy.

During the period from noon to afternoon, many people were taking a nap. Seeing that there wasn't much business at the shop, Gu Lin didn't open it early. He went back to his room and slept for half an hour before getting up and leaving his bedroom.

Looking at the young man sleeping soundly in front of her, his fair face flushed pink from the warmth of the blankets, Sister Zhao said with loving eyes, "Why are you up so early? It's still early to leave the shop. Go back and sleep a little longer."

Gu Lin's eyes were slightly narrowed, and he looked sleepy, but he still shook his head at Sister Zhao, showing no intention of going back to sleep.

A nap is just a way to relax your brain. If you sleep for too long, it will affect your sleep at night and disrupt your routine.

Besides, customers will be coming to buy braised food and cold dishes soon. If I go to sleep and leave everything in the shop to Aunt Zhao, even if she has three heads and six arms, she won't be able to handle it all.

Walking over to Sister Zhao, Gu Lin sat on the empty wooden stool, rolled up his sleeves, and washed vegetables with her, saying, "Sister Zhao, you should take a nap at noon too."

Although Gu Lin went back to his room for a nap, he could still hear the noises coming from the courtyard in his sleep.

Therefore, he knew that Sister Zhao had been busy all afternoon, hardly taking a break.

Sister Zhao raised her hand to shake the water off the dried melons and vegetables, and said to Gu Lin, "I'm already this old, unlike you young people who need to sleep a lot. If I take a nap at noon, I won't need to sleep at night."

Gu Lin shook his head slightly and explained to Sister Zhao, "Sister-in-law, you don't necessarily have to fall asleep during a nap. Just squinting and resting your mind is good too. The doctor said that a nap can relieve mental fatigue and is good for the body, especially for older people. If you can stick to napping for a long time, it can even prolong your life."

"Really?" Sister Zhao looked at Gu Lin with a doubtful expression.

Gu Lin said, "Sister-in-law, how can you not believe me? I read all of this in medical books."

Upon hearing that Gu Lin's words came from a medical book, Zhao's sister-in-law's initial skepticism immediately turned into complete conviction.

Then, she asked Gu Lin with some concern, "Brother Lin, your elder brother, nephew, and I don't have the habit of taking a nap. We've been doing this for decades. Will it cause any harm to our health?"

Gu Lin advised Zhao's wife to take a nap so that she wouldn't overwork herself, but his good intentions backfired. Gu Lin quickly said, "It's alright, as long as you start taking a nap now, it's not too late."

Sister-in-law Zhao said, "Okay, when your brother Zhao comes to deliver the melons and vegetables tomorrow, I will tell them not to work in the fields all day long, and to rest properly when they need to."

After washing the vegetables, Gu Lin and Sister Zhao took them to the shop to blanch them and pack them into containers.

As Gu Lin estimated, the number of customers in the store began to increase around 3 PM.

Because they had sold a lot of braised food and cold dishes in the morning, Gu Lin understood the principle of not oversupplying. So, he and Sister Zhao only prepared one hundred tubes of cold dishes and two pots of braised food in the afternoon.

As dusk fell, the shop's braised dishes and cold dishes were sold out.

Fortunately, Gu Lin and the others are now living in the county town. Otherwise, if they were to return to Xiahe Village now, the thought of a wild beast or bandits suddenly jumping out on the dark road would be terrifying.

After tidying up the shop and returning home, Sister-in-law Zhao asked Gu Lin, "Brother Lin, what do you want to eat tonight?"

After hearing Zhao's question, Gu Lin thought for a moment and realized that he had been eating rice, steamed buns, noodles and dumplings every day for the past few days.

He thought for a moment and said, "Sister-in-law, I want to eat dumplings with pork and scallion filling."

That's right, Gu Lin was craving some fresh meat dumplings with thin skins and lots of filling.

Upon hearing this, Sister Zhao immediately went to the kitchen, scooped out several bowls of flour, added water and kneaded it into dough. Then she went to the well, took out the fresh meat she had bought that morning, chopped it into minced meat, added chopped green onions and salt, and mixed it evenly.

After the meat filling was prepared, Sister Zhao pinched off small pieces of dough and rolled them into thin, round wrappers.

In the blink of an eye, Gu Lin saw the dough sheets turn into plump little pouches in Zhao's hands.

Seeing this, Gu Lin felt a little itchy and couldn't resist picking up a piece of dough and wrapping it up.

With a fold and a pinch of both hands, a round, plump silver ingot appeared on the table.

Zhao's sister-in-law was delighted to see the dumplings Gu Lin had made and praised them, saying, "They look so beautiful, and their shape is auspicious."

Gu Lin puffed out his chest and said, "Of course, look who wrapped it."

Back when he worked part-time at a dumpling shop, he was a famous dumpling killer. He could not only make dumplings quickly, but each one was also uniform in size and looked beautiful.

Looking at the arrogant young man beside her, Sister-in-law Zhao smiled helplessly.

However, compared to Gu Lin, who had to support his family at the age of eighteen and pretend to be mature and steady, Zhao's sister-in-law preferred the vibrant Gu Lin in front of her, because the mature Gu Lin made her feel sorry for him.

Gu Lin and Zhao's wife chatted and laughed as they made dumplings. Soon, the dumplings were all made, each one standing upright on the wooden board with its round, white body.

Aunt Zhao carried the wrapped dumplings into the kitchen. Gu Lin wanted to follow her in, but as expected, Aunt Zhao kicked him out again, telling him to find somewhere else to play.

Gu Lin idly kicked stones and plucked leaves in the yard.

Just as he was about to strip the leaves off one of the tree's branches, Zheng Hao returned.

"Uncle Gu."

As soon as Zheng Hao entered, he saw a figure standing next to a large tree in the courtyard, playing with the branches and leaves under the rising moonlight.

Gu Lin had his back to the door, so he didn't notice Zheng Hao's return immediately.

When Zheng Hao called him, Gu Lin immediately turned around and looked at Zheng Hao at the door, saying, "Xiao Hao is back. Are you hungry?"

Because he had been terrified of hunger in school since he was a child, Gu Lin was always worried that Zheng Hao would go hungry in the academy.

Zheng Hao shook his head slightly: "I'm not hungry."

Fearing that his statement was too simplistic and blunt, he added, "I ate a lot at home, so I didn't feel hungry in the afternoon."

Hearing the other party's reply, Gu Lin felt slightly relieved. He suggested to Zheng Hao, "How about I prepare a box of snacks for you to take to the academy tomorrow? You can eat them if you get hungry then."

Zheng Hao wanted to say that eating in the classroom was not allowed, but when he saw Gu Lin looking at him with a loving expression, he couldn't bring himself to refuse: "Then I'll have to trouble Uncle Gu."

"What's so troublesome about it?" Gu Lin said with a smile.

Seeing that the other person's eyes were no longer filled with worry but with joy, Zheng Hao thought, "Although the teacher said that we can't eat snacks in the school, he didn't say that we can't eat them in the private school outside the school."

After figuring it out, Zheng Hao's last doubts disappeared.

Sister-in-law Zhao poked her head out of the kitchen and called out, "Brother Lin, boy Zheng, dinner's ready!"

"Let's go!"

Gu Lin stepped forward and patted Zheng Hao on the shoulder, saying, "Sister-in-law made pork and scallion dumplings tonight. Let's hurry over. The freshly cooked dumplings are so delicious that they'll make you swoon if you dip them in sauce."

“Okay,” Zheng Hao replied.

He first went back to his study to put down the book box he was carrying, and then went out of the house to the kitchen with Gu Lin.

Amidst Zhao's cheerful shouts and laughter, Gu Lin and Zheng Hao each brought out a large bowl of dumplings.

In the dim candlelight, the three sat down around a wooden table.

The young man and the middle-aged woman ate dumplings while chatting and laughing. Although Zheng Hao didn't say much, he smiled slightly as he looked at Gu Lin, who was laughing and joking across from him.

Although Aunt Zhao had cooked dumplings for dinner, she was worried that Gu Lin and Zheng Hao, being teenagers, would get hungry if they only ate dumplings. So, in addition to dumplings, she also stir-fried two meat dishes for them.

The meat and vegetables weren't just extras; there were two large, substantial bowls filled with scallions and garlic sprouts. However, in such a large bowl of meat, the scallions and garlic were like needles in a haystack—present but hard to find.

It's no wonder that after cooking a big pot of dumplings, Zhao's wife also stir-fried two large bowls of meat and vegetables. She was truly shocked by Zheng Hao's appetite and Gu Lin's gluttony.

On the first night after moving to the county town, when Sister Zhao was about to fall asleep, she suddenly heard a noise coming from the woodshed not far away. She thought it was a rat, but remembering that there was still some grain that hadn't been properly stored in the kitchen, Sister Zhao quickly got up and ran over.

Unexpectedly, when Zhao's wife arrived outside the kitchen, she didn't see the mice stealing food, but rather two figures, one big and one small, gathered around the stove. The big one was kneading dough, while the small one was chopping meat and vegetables.

Just an hour and a half after dinner, seeing the scene before her, Zhao's wife was a little confused.

Just then, Gu Lin turned around and saw Sister Zhao. Sister Zhao asked, "Brother Lin, boy Zheng, did you not eat enough tonight?"

When the young man saw Sister Zhao, who should have been sleeping, come over, his face flushed as he heard her question. He replied, "Sister-in-law, we just have a sweet tooth. No matter how hungry we are, we have to eat something before going to bed at night."

Gu Lin said that's what he meant, but Sister Zhao didn't dare to be stingy when cooking afterwards.

They eat rice, noodles, and oil for three meals a day without spending any money. Even for breakfast, Sister Zhao will cook one or two dishes of meat, for fear that the two little ones will get hungry again soon after eating.

Therefore, Gu Lin was unaware that Zhao's sister-in-law's culinary skills had improved so rapidly in such a short time, largely thanks to him and Zheng Hao.

After finishing his meal, Gu Lin went to the woodshed to boil water for a bath.

Because a lot of water was needed, Zheng Hao went with Gu Lin to fetch water.

After pouring the last bucket of water into the large iron pot, Gu Lin turned to Zheng Hao and asked, "Do you want to wash up first?"

Heating bathwater takes a long time, and Gu Lin was worried that it would interfere with Zheng Hao's studies.

Zheng Hao shook his head and said, "No need, Uncle Gu, you go first."

"Okay." Gu Lin did not refuse.

Suddenly, his gaze swept across and lingered on Zheng Hao's left sleeve.

He subconsciously reached out and tugged at Zheng Hao's sleeve, only to see a palm-sized stain on the once-clean blue fabric. Gu Lin frowned slightly and asked, "How did this happen?"

Logically speaking, such a large stain should be very noticeable on a blue robe, but the stain on the sleeve is light, indicating that Zheng Hao had already cleaned the original stain.

In addition, the lighting was dim at night, and if I hadn't happened to see it just now, I might not have noticed it at all.

Gu Lin looked at the stains in front of him, then scanned Zheng Hao's entire body from head to toe, and found that apart from the stains on his sleeves, there were no other tears or stains on his body.

Zheng Hao explained without changing his expression: "I tripped over a stone while walking in the school and fell. I braced myself with my hands, and that's when my sleeves got muddy."

“There were no clothes to change into at the time, and the teacher required the students to keep their clothes clean in the classroom, so I washed the stains with water,” Zheng Hao said.

Hearing Zheng Hao's explanation, which confirmed that it wasn't what he had thought, Gu Lin felt slightly relieved.

Zheng Hao lowered his eyes slightly; the truth was not at all as he had said.

The stains on Zheng Hao's sleeves were completely inconsistent with the cause and effect he described. The real reason was that Zheng Hao had been in the beginner class at Wuliu Academy for more than a month before being promoted to the junior class, which made many people in the junior class dissatisfied.

Among them, a student who was about the same age as Zheng Hao was the most hostile towards him.

Because Zheng Hao was the youngest student in the Tongsheng class before he entered the class, Xu Xiucai was more lenient with him.

But ever since Zheng Hao arrived, Xu Xiucai has visibly become much stricter with him.

Especially in today's class, Zhou Wan was thinking about how to teach Zheng Hao a lesson after class, but Xu Xiucai suddenly asked him a question, and Zhou Wan happened to have not been listening to Xu Xiucai's lecture. So, facing the serious and rigid Xu Xiucai, Zhou Wan stood up and stammered, and was finally scolded and beaten three times by Xu Xiucai on the spot.

Then, Scholar Xu called on Zheng Hao to answer a question that Zhou Wan had been unable to answer.

Zheng Hao answered fluently, and although Xu Xiucai did not praise him, he nodded in satisfaction.

Zhou Wan glared at Zheng Hao with resentment, but because he dared not blame Xu Xiucai, he shifted all his dissatisfaction onto Zheng Hao.

Zheng Hao sensed it, but he didn't even glance at the other person.

After school, Zheng Hao carried his book box out of the classroom, but before he could leave the school, Zhou Wan and several others surrounded him menacingly.

Although Zheng Hao has toned down his violent temper recently, it doesn't mean he has become weak and easily bullied.

Faced with the crowd surrounding him, he calmly put the book box aside, then raised his leg and punched back at the five people opposite him.

In the end, Zhou Wan and his four companions were beaten to the ground by Zheng Hao.

Zheng Hao pressed Zhou Wan down with his foot, leaned down and whispered a few words in Zhou Wan's ear. Zhou Wan's arrogant expression and incessant threats vanished instantly.

He looked at Zheng Hao with a grim expression, his eyes filled with fear and disbelief. Finally, he gritted his teeth and left with his men.

Although Zheng Hao said that the dirt on his sleeve was from an accidental fall, Gu Lin was thinking about school bullying. He earnestly instructed Zheng Hao, "Xiao Hao, if anyone bullies you at the academy, you must tell me."

“Okay.” Zheng Hao nodded in agreement, but in his heart he thought that he was just an insignificant person and there was no need for Uncle Gu to go to such trouble.

After taking a hot shower, Gu Lin felt completely relaxed and slept soundly on the bed all night.

morning.

While Gu Lin was still lying in bed asleep, he vaguely heard voices coming from outside.

He gradually regained consciousness. Although he couldn't hear what was being said outside, he could sense that the speaker was very emotional and was deliberately lowering their voice.

After Gu Lin got up and washed up, he went out of the room and saw Sister-in-law Zhao and Brother Zhao talking in the yard.

Sister-in-law Zhao looked furious and gritted her teeth, while Brother Zhao looked helpless and worried.

Considering that the two might be discussing private matters, he refrained from approaching rashly.

So Gu Lin called out from afar, "Sister-in-law, Brother Zhao."

"Brother Lin." Sister-in-law Zhao turned around after hearing his voice.

Then, Gu Lin saw Zhao's wife tug at Zhao's brother's sleeve, as if she were giving him some instructions. Zhao's brother nodded repeatedly, but subconsciously looked up at him.

Seeing this, Gu Lin stroked his chin, looking thoughtful. Could it be that what Sister-in-law Zhao and Brother Zhao were talking about earlier was related to him?