The Gu family members were stunned.
No one had expected Mi Guo to make such a noble gesture.
"It's fine, the situation is unclear. I'll go see," Gu Chaobei resolutely went to open the door.
He refused to believe that a man named Huo would dare to challenge Prince Xia's bottom line.
None of them expected that Deputy Commander Huo would personally come to apologize.
After being severely reprimanded by Prince Xia yesterday, Deputy Commander Huo could already see Gu Chaobei's importance in Prince Xia's heart.
As long as Gu Chaobei did not rebel, no matter how many mistakes he made, Prince Xia would forgive him.
Deputy Commander Huo himself had almost died from his illness, and it was thanks to Gu Chaobei that he was saved. By putting himself in Gu Chaobei's shoes, he knew that Prince Xia valued his life above all else, and Gu Chaobei was Prince Xia's trump card for survival. How could Prince Xia not favor him?
Thinking of this, Deputy Commander Huo felt a cold sweat break out on his back.
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. The next morning, he hurried to the Gu family's home to mend their fractured relationship.
As soon as Gu Chaobei opened the door, he saw heavily armored soldiers, and Deputy Commander Huo was also in military attire. Gu Chaobei tensed, about to question the visitor's intentions.
Unexpectedly, Deputy Commander Huo "swish"ed off his outer garment, revealing his inner tunic in the icy cold. Tied to his back was a bundle of thorns. He knelt on one knee, his face full of sincerity.
"Huo is incompetent in raising my son and has disturbed the family of Divine Physician Gu. I should bear the thorns and beg for forgiveness. I beg Divine Physician Gu for your understanding!"
"Ah? This?"
The ancient people's methods of restoring friendship were truly bold!
Seeing his demeanor, Gu Chaobei was certain that the other party would not seek revenge. His heart finally settled. He quickly helped him up and said,
"Deputy Commander Huo is too kind. There's no need to beg for forgiveness. I've already forgotten about this matter and consider it bygones, haha!"
You come to beg for forgiveness, so of course I will "forget" about it.
Gu Chaobei grumbled inwardly.
He calmly accepted Deputy Commander Huo's kneeling, received his gifts of apology, and then politely served tea and saw him out, not inviting him for a meal.
Such people are best kept at a superficial acquaintance.
Gu Chaobei was still angry when he thought of Young Master Huo brazenly trying to snatch his little cabbage. How could he show any more goodwill to the Huo family?
Moreover, with Prince Xia as his backer, there was no need to be too accommodating.
If his attitude was too soft, it would make the other party look down on him.
Besides, if he didn't have his excellent medical skills or Prince Xia as his backer, even if he knelt on the ground and begged the man surnamed Huo, the other party wouldn't give him a second glance.
Therefore, now was the time for him to be imperious and look down on others.
The more Gu Chaobei put on airs and remained distant, the more polite Deputy Commander Huo became.
People are so realistic, so servile!
After seeing Deputy Commander Huo off, Gu Qingcheng opened the large chests he had sent, which were filled with gold, silver, jewelry, and food.
Gu Qingcheng was not polite and put everything into the storage cabinet.
Now that she had enough provisions for the family, she was no longer as anxious about supplies.
A storm had subsided into nothingness, and the family could finally return to a peaceful life.
The unexpected crisis of Young Master Huo's proposal was successfully averted through the family's collective efforts.
However, after much thought, Gu Chaobei felt a pang of coldness.
Young Master Huo was a critically ill patient he had painstakingly saved. In fact, if their family hadn't intervened, Young Master Huo would have surely died.
Yet, the person he had saved had almost become a thankless wretch who threatened his family.
Gu Chaobei was filled with regret and reminded himself that in the future, he needed to consider whether a person was worth saving with the powerful medicine before intervening.
Fortunately, his daughter and wife did not blame him for misjudging the person.
Actually, Young Master Huo appeared righteous, but who knew he would have ulterior motives concerning Qingcheng.
What angered Gu Chaobei the most was that Huo Yu was such an overconfident man, wanting to marry his daughter as a concubine. It was truly infuriating.
If he saw that young man again, he would definitely give him a good beating.
Hu Lanfang felt the same way. With a daughter in demand, it was not surprising for suitors to appear. Marriage ages were early these days, but what made her angry was that Huo Yu only offered their daughter the status of an equal wife, which was rather condescending!
Moreover, before anything was even settled, he spoke of taking a principal wife in the future, making their daughter share a husband with another woman?
This was normal in those times, with men having multiple wives and concubines, but for the Gu family, with their modern mindset, this was absolutely unacceptable.
Fortunately, Prince Xia had backed them up, or their entire family would have had to flee.
Regardless, their daughter would never marry anyone and be in a subordinate position.
After this incident, the family took several days to adjust their mindset and gradually calm down.
However, they were unaware that after returning home, Young Master Huo not only knelt in the ancestral hall but was also severely injured internally. The thought of Gu Qingcheng rejecting his proposal in person made him too distressed to sleep.
To appease everyone, Mi Guo had put a lot of effort into meals these past few days.
He had even learned to make Western dishes like cakes, bread, and pizza.
With his divine chef talent, Mi Guo's Western pastries were met with rave reviews, with everyone feeling they were no different from the Western pastries they had eaten before.
Gu Qingcheng, however, quickly put the strange incident behind her. At her young age, she wasn't interested in romance. Apart from finding Huo Yu's actions nonsensical, she was not moved by his "deep affection" at all.
To be honest, Gu Qingcheng was disgusted.
Mainly by those theories about the principal wife and how her servants dared not bully the one she favored.
Did Huo Yu believe her value was simply being doted on by him?
It was hilariously absurd!
Gu Qingcheng had often heard her classmates discuss overconfident men. She had never seen one in person until now, and she had finally caught a live specimen.
Huo, the overconfident man, was a living, breathing example!
The temperature began to rise again.
In just a few short days, it had increased by two degrees Celsius, now standing at minus 18 degrees, though the air outside was still freezing.
Gu Qingcheng took out a dozen white pears from the storage cabinet and placed them in a bamboo basket on the open courtyard.
Mi Guo looked on, puzzled, and asked, "Sister, why are you leaving the fruit outside? Won't it freeze and spoil?"
Gu Qingcheng chuckled and replied, "This is a Northern way of eating fruit called frozen pears. I suddenly thought of it, so I'm freezing a few. I'll thaw them for you to eat once they're frozen."
When pears freeze, their skin turns black.
Mi Guo thought it was some novel trick. Seeing the dark pears, he didn't think they looked particularly appetizing and shook his head before leaving.
As night fell, after dinner, the family gathered in the side room. Gu Chaobei was drinking tea, Hu Lanfang was playing with Xue Sheng, and Aunt Qian was putting away the dried clothes.
Before dinner, Gu Qingcheng had already placed the basket of frozen pears, whose skin had turned black, in cold water.
Seeing everyone present, Gu Qingcheng reached into the cold water bucket, felt the pears, and declared that the frozen pears had thawed.
"Come, everyone, let's eat frozen pears."
Gu Chaobei and Hu Lanfang had eaten frozen pears during their past travels to the north and were familiar with the process. They each picked one and began to eat with practiced ease.