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

After Gu Lin and Zheng Hao returned home, Zheng Hao only stayed at home for a short while before going out again. With nothing to do, Gu Lin took out his box and calculated the remaining money. Today, he spent twenty coins on meat and bones, three hundred coins on soy sauce, vinegar and salt, and nine coins on dried tofu. He still had more than six hundred coins left.

Although it seems like you're not making much money, even though it's all just loose copper coins and no silver, earning over 700 coins a day is a considerable sum, both in ancient and modern times.

After putting the money away, Gu Lin went to the woodshed to retrieve the pork belly he had bought. He sliced ​​it and divided it into two portions, placing each portion into a bowl. One portion was marinated with soy sauce and salt, while the other portion was marinated with garlic and dogwood. After mixing the meat and seasonings evenly, Gu Lin set them aside. Then, he took two large bones from the bamboo basket, washed them, and put them in a pot, along with chunks of lotus root, to start simmering the soup. By this time, the pork belly was marinated, and Gu Lin wanted to roast it, but he discovered that the Zheng family only had the iron pot on the stove; there were no other pots available.

If you want to make barbecue, you have to wait until the soup is cooked. So, Gu Lin turned around and went to the garden to pick vegetables to prepare for tomorrow's cold dishes.

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"Boss, you're finally here." When Gouzi saw his boss coming from afar, he excitedly ran up to him, but stopped abruptly a few steps away.

Zheng Hao looked at Gouzi, his eyes and brows exuding a natural bandit-like aura, and said, "I've been busy lately and haven't had time to come see you. You should know your place and not get into arguments with others."

After hearing this, Gouzi was initially stunned and didn't react, then said angrily, "Boss, did that bastard Gu Lin make things difficult for you, making you stay at home to work and not letting you come out?"

Upon hearing a certain word, Zheng Hao's face darkened. The boy, barely a teenager, possessed a terrifying aura, and Gouzi was immediately too frightened to speak.

Zheng Hao said, "It has nothing to do with him. Don't call him that anymore. No matter what, he is my stepfather. I can't stand by and do nothing if he's being scolded."

Upon hearing Zheng Hao's words, Gouzi was shocked and explained, "Boss, I didn't mean to insult you."

Zheng Hao said with a somber expression, "I know. Who told you that Gu Lin abused me?"

Seeing that his boss hadn't misunderstood him, Gouzi immediately told him what he had overheard: "Besides those old women and men in our village, who else could it be? It's been going on for the past few days. After hearing this, I was worried that you were being beaten or scolded by Uncle Gu... I wanted to go and see what was wrong, but my mother kept stopping me from going, saying that you were fine."

Towards the end, Gouzi felt a little guilty because his mother's original words were that even if Zheng Hao was beaten and scolded by Gu Lin, what could he do? Zheng Hao and Gu Lin were family, and they were outsiders. It was normal for parents to beat and scold their children, so why should they interfere in other people's business?

Gouzi was a little indignant and argued with his mother, saying that Gu Lin not only beat and scolded the eldest son, but also starved him to death. However, his mother was silent for a while and said that every family has its own problems, and we can't interfere. If Zheng Hao is hungry, we can help him out, but no one's food doesn't grow out of thin air, and we can't help him for a long time.

Torn between his boss and his family, the dog couldn't make a decision.

Thinking of this, Gouzi felt extremely ashamed. In the past, if it weren't for the eldest brother leading them to catch rabbits and chickens, how could the family have eaten meat from time to time? Now that the eldest brother is in trouble, he can't even give the eldest brother a bite to eat.

Looking at Zheng Hao's face, he noticed that the other man had become thinner from Gu Lin's torment, so he quickly took out a steamed bun from his pocket and handed it to Zheng Hao, saying, "Boss, eat this quickly, I brought it from home."

Zheng Hao noticed the change in Gouzi's expression and understood his thought process. He wasn't heartbroken, because he never expected anything in return from others; he just wanted them to do things according to his requests.

Zheng Hao said, "I don't need you to keep it for yourself."

The dog immediately burst into tears, feeling that even though his boss was in dire straits, he still cared about him, but he couldn't treat his boss with genuine sincerity. The dog felt like he wasn't human.

Zheng Hao handed the bamboo tube he had brought to the other person: "These days, you and the others have been keeping an eye on who in the village is talking about Gu Lin." A fierce look appeared on his face: "Write down whoever it is."

The dog was feeling extremely ashamed, but when he heard that his boss had something for him to do, he immediately perked up and was determined to do his best to make up for it.

Watching the boss's departing figure, Gouzi opened the bamboo tube and was immediately attracted by the fragrance emanating from it.

On the way back, Zheng Hao saw many red fruits growing in the roadside grass. In the past, he would have ignored them and walked away, but for some reason, Gu Lin's bright and sunny smile flashed in his mind. For no reason, Zheng Hao felt that Gu Lin would like to eat these little things.

He pursed his lips and walked towards the bushes.

Holding the red fruit wrapped in leaves, Zheng Hao walked home, but stopped as he passed a house.

Tian Dahua leaned against the door and said to Wang Ge'er in front of her, "I don't know what Lin Ge'er has been doing in the county town these past two days. I haven't seen him sell many vegetables."

"Who knows him? That guy doesn't look like a decent person at all. He said he went to sell vegetables, but who knows what dirty things he did?" Brother Wang said with a sneer.

His face was already long, and when the corners of his mouth turned down, his face looked like a donkey's.

Upon hearing this, Tian Dahua became excited: "That can't be! What would he be doing taking Zheng boy with him if that were the case?"

Wang Ge'er rolled his eyes: "If he's a widow without his child, wouldn't going to the county town every day be blatantly telling everyone that he's having an affair?"

After hearing this, Tian Dahua thought it made a lot of sense, and then said with a look of disdain, "Sure enough, I was right about him before. That foxy face of his doesn't look like a decent young man at all."

Wang Ge'er's eyes darted around as he said, "More than that, I don't think his son Zheng will be a decent person in the future either. He's no match for your Zixiang at all."

Upon hearing the other party mention her son, Tian Dahua, who had been leaning against the door frame, straightened up and raised her chin high like a triumphant rooster, saying, "How can he compare to my Zixiang? My Zixiang is an honest and upright scholar. What is Zheng Hao? He's just a petty scoundrel who is unloved by his parents."

Brother Wang laughed and chimed in, "Isn't that right? Hunter Zheng really thought that having a scholar give his son a nice name would make him smell of scholarly airs. Little did he know that a peasant is still a peasant, unlike your Zixiang, who is a literary star descended to earth. How could he be associated with those unlucky cats and dogs?"

After listening to Wang Ge'er's flattery, Tian Dahua's eyes practically reached for the sky.

Seeing this, Wang Ge'er felt utterly disgusted. If it weren't for the fact that the other party's son was a scholar, who would fawn over her?

Wang Ge'er's eyes flickered a few times before he was about to continue speaking, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Zheng Hao standing not far away. He was startled, and when he met Zheng Hao's dark, cold eyes, Wang Ge'er felt a chill in his heart.

When Tian Dahua saw that Wang Ge'er did not respond for a long time after she finished speaking, she nudged him a few times. Wang Ge'er immediately came to his senses and looked in that direction again, but Zheng Hao had already disappeared.

When Zheng Hao returned, Gu Lin was washing vegetables in the yard. Seeing him come back, she asked as usual, "You're back? Where did you go just now?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Lin felt something was amiss. If it were anyone else, it would be a normal inquiry, but since it was Zheng Hao, his words sounded like he was interrogating him.

Before he could explain, Zheng Hao remained expressionless, seemingly unperturbed: "I had some seasonings left over from the stall, so I made a cold dish and gave it to Gouzi and the others." Then Zheng Hao paused and said, "I..." He had money in his pocket; he could give it to them if they wanted it.

Looking at the young boy in front of him, Gu Lin thought about how the future Regent, who would have immense power and even the young emperor had to respectfully address him as "Father," was now taking cold dishes out to share with his friends. Gu Lin found it amusing and said with a smile, "Sharing with good friends is the right thing to do; that's how friendship lasts."

Zheng Hao paused for a moment, unsure of what to say. He didn't consider Gouzi and the others as friends; he only spent time with them and took them hunting because they were useful to him.

Unaware of Zheng Hao's precocious and ruthless thoughts, Gu Lin finished tidying up the vegetables and said to Zheng Hao while holding a basket of leafy greens, "Come on, let's get ready to eat. Today there's something you'd never expect that's so delicious!"

Gu Lin placed the vegetable leaves and freshly cooked rice on the table, then went into the woodshed, poured a large jar of oil into the pot, and then picked up chopsticks to put the two plates of marinated meat into the pot one by one to fry. Looking at the iron pot with a concave surface that could not fry too much meat at once, Gu Lin felt that he really needed to find a blacksmith to make a new frying pan.

However, the fire on the stove was very strong, and Gu Lin finished grilling the meat and took it out in no time.

Zheng Hao was already sitting at the table.

Seeing the extra bowl of red berries on the table, Gu Linsheng looked up at Zheng Hao and smiled slightly, "Try the roast meat I made. I specially washed some vegetable leaves so you can wrap the meat in them, so it won't be too greasy."

After hearing this, Zheng Hao looked at Gu Lin with a strange and thoughtful expression.

Although he was born into a hunter's family and didn't lack meat like others, the game he hunted still had to be sold for food, so even though he ate meat a few more times a year than others.

How could the other party think that ordinary people would find eating meat greasy?

Picking up a leaf of lettuce, Gu Lin wrapped two pieces of roasted meat inside and handed it to Zheng Hao, saying, "Try it."

Similar to yesterday's meat-giving incident, Zheng Hao looked at the smiling, gentle-looking young man in front of him, took the meat from him, and began to eat.

The roasted meat is charred and juicy, while the vegetables are crisp and refreshing. The combination perfectly balances the greasiness of the meat, making it incredibly delicious.

Gu Lin also ate a few pieces of roasted meat. He had to admit that the black pork from ancient times was really delicious. The meat was full of aroma and had no porky smell at all. Gu Lin ate several servings before he felt a bit greasy and stopped. He picked up a red berry and put it in his mouth.

Immediately, Zheng Hao slowed down his eating, observing Gu Lin's reaction discreetly.

"So sweet!" Gu Lin exclaimed in delight as the sweet and sour juice burst in his mouth.

He took one and continued eating, then pointed to the berries and said to Zheng Hao, "Xiao Hao, eat some fruit, don't just eat meat, it's easy to get tired of it if you eat too much."

Upon hearing the way the other person addressed him, Zheng Hao's pupils contracted, and he stopped chewing.

His deceased parents always referred to him as Hao'er, while the other elders called him Zheng Xiaozi. Zheng Hao had not heard such affectionate terms from the mouths of his deceased brothers for a long time.

He looked at Gu Lin with a complex expression beyond his years, and a fleeting glint of tears in his eyes that was hard to catch.

He picked up a berry, put it in his mouth, and took a bite. It was both sour and sweet. The many emotions he had been suppressing were suddenly stimulated and became difficult to control. Zheng Hao's face was stiff and contorted. Gu Lin thought he was upset by the sourness of the berry and quickly said, "I didn't know you couldn't handle sourness. Eat some meat to calm down."

Zheng Hao swallowed the sweet and sour berries and said in a low voice, "It's okay, it's not sour."

Seeing this, Gu Lin smiled and said, "It's good that it's not sour. This fruit is delicious. I'll pick some in a few days and we'll juice it."

"it is good."

Although Zheng Hao didn't like sweet things and didn't know what berry juice tasted like, he inexplicably wanted to agree to the young man's request.

He looked at Gu Lin in front of him, who was eating berries with his cheeks full, and in a daze, he felt as if his long-lost home had returned at this moment.