GTEMP[QT] - Chapter 2 (Patreon)

At this moment, Gu Wenjing's situation is that he is reading in the study room, with only a servant named Qingyan accompanying him.

He is absent-mindedly looking at the book, but in reality, he is receiving the memories and skills of the original host. Even if Qingyan noticed, he shouldn't feel that anything is amiss. After all, at the time when Gu Wenjing arrived, the original host was just reading.

Gu Wenjing calmly continued reading according to the habits of the original host, occasionally picking up the brush to write a few annotations.

After about half an hour, a gentle female voice came from outside the study door: "Cousin, can Susu come in?"

The man feels weak in his bones upon hearing such a voice. Even though Gu Wenjing didn't see the person, he felt that the owner of such a pleasant voice must be a beauty.

Gu Wenjing really wanted to say that she couldn't come in, but considering that the original host had never prevented Yuan Susu from entering the study, he suddenly changed his mind to avoid disrupting the character he was portraying. So he agreed, "Come in, cousin."

The study door was pushed open, and a beautiful young girl dressed in a plain dress walked in gracefully, holding a bowl of soup.

Gu Wenjing casually glanced at Yuan Susu. He saw her small face, affectionate eyes, and her slender figure resembled a delicate willow swaying in the wind. She was truly a delicate beauty.

This type of innocent and pure beauty easily triggers a man's protective instincts. When other women have conflict with such a delicate beauty, regardless of right or wrong, a man would feel that those women are bullying the delicate beauty and would blindly protect her.

However, Gu Wenjing, who had experienced many encounters with delicate beauties, saw Yuan Susu as less than fourteen years old. In his eyes, she was still an undeveloped child, nothing more than a middle school student who had just entered junior high in the modern era. She was not in the same league as the fully developed delicate beauties he had encountered before.

Yuan Susu placed the soup on the desk and gently and playfully said, "Cousin, Auntie worries for you studying too hard, so I specially prepared your favorite bird's nest soup for you. Eat it while it's hot!"

Gu Wenjing instantly understood the emphasis she was trying to make - that Yuan Susu had specially prepared it for him.

He smiled gently and, adopting the same attitude as the original host, reached out and took the bird's nest soup, saying, "This is a mother's love for her son. As a son, I naturally can't let her down." He quickly and gracefully finished the bird's nest soup.

He placed the empty bowl back and smiled at Yuan Susu, saying, "Cousin is always by my mother's side and represents my good care for her. With the upcoming imperial examination just over a year away, I am busy preparing for it. If I make any mistakes, I hope Mother can understand."

The original host and Lady Yuan, the mother and son, had a good relationship. Otherwise, Lady Yuan wouldn't have shown so much care for Yuan Susu from the beginning. It was all because Lady Yuan loved her niece and wanted her son to take good care of his cousin!

So what Gu Wenjing said was perfectly normal in both emotional and rational aspects.

Yuan Susu's initially disappointed mood, due to Gu Wenjing not noticing that the bird's nest soup was specially prepared by her, turned into happiness. In her view, her cousin's words were like entrusting the responsibility of taking care of and being filial to his mother, similar to how a husband entrusts the care of his mother to his wife.

So she cheerfully said, "Cousin, you're making it sound as if Auntie would blame you. Cousin, you are studying so hard, and Auntie is full of love for you. Why would she blame you?"

Gu Wenjing grew impatient with her playful banter and picked up the book again. Yuan Susu, showing understanding, left the study.

She occasionally brought soup and snacks, which pleased Lady Yuan. However, Lady Yuan would never want Yuan Susu to disturb her son's studies and jeopardize his future.

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During this year, Gu Wenjing truly acted like an ordinary diligent student. He would either stay in the Ningyuan Marquis's mansion studying in seclusion or visit the teachers he had paid respects to.

He rarely set foot in the backyard. In this past year, besides the time for paying respects, he only saw the original host's mother, Lady Yuan. Other than that, he was always studying diligently. Lady Yuan felt sorry for him working so hard  and even exempted him from the morning greetings.

Gu Wenjing rarely saw Lady Yuan, let alone Yuan Susu.

Originally, in this year's time, the original host would have encountered Yuan Susu in various places within the marquis's mansion and had many interactions with her, eventually falling in love with her. However, Gu Wenjing secluded himself to study and rarely visited the backyard, so Yuan Susu had no opportunity to meet him privately, except for occasionally sending snacks and soup to the study in Lady Yuan's name.

Even regarding the matter of sending soup and snacks, Gu Wenjing mentioned it to Lady Yuan privately a couple of times. Since then, Lady Yuan forbade Yuan Susu from disturbing him in the study.

With the Imperial examination approaching, Lady Yuan was busy preparing various items needed for the exams.

Even the Marquis Ningyuan took a rare day off at the mansion.

During lunchtime, the masters of the Ningyuan Marquis's mansion gathered together to have their meal.

The Marquis Ningyuan is a powerful lord, handsome in appearance and imposing in manner. However, when facing his only legitimate son, he is gentle.

"Wenjing, you don't need to stress too much about this imperial examination. You are still young. If you don't succeed this time, there will be another chance. Even if you have to wait another three years, you will still be in your early twenties."

Gu Wenjing knew that the Marquis Ningyuan was trying to reduce his pre-exam pressure. However, the original host, who was busy with love affairs before the exam, could still pass. Gu Wenjing had studied diligently for over a year, so it was only natural that he would achieve better results than the original host.

Confidently, he smiled and said, "Father, rest assured. The teachers have all said that I am well-prepared. As long as nothing unexpected happens, I should not fall into the third tier."

His implication was that he would definitely pass this time and wouldn't fall into the ranks of the third-tier scholars.

The Marquis Ningyuan felt joy in his heart upon hearing this, but he was not the type to show his emotions easily. He said, "That's even better. After you pass the exam with flying colors, I will have your mother go and propose a marriage to the Cheng family. It will be a double celebration!"

Gu Wenjing had no intention of pursuing a free love relationship. He was already engaged to Miss Cheng from the Cheng family. Even in the modern era, breaking off an engagement was not ideal, let alone in this ancient era, which was extremely strict towards women.

Naturally, he nodded with a composed expression and said, "Then I will trouble Mother."

Unless her son insisted on marrying her niece, Lady Yuan didn't even consider asking her son to break off the engagement and marry her niece.

After all, compared to the legitimate eldest daughter of Minister Cheng, Yuan Susu, who relied on Lady Yuan, her aunt, after her parents' death, couldn't really bring much help to Gu Wenjing. Lady Yuan naturally didn't want her son to marry an orphaned girl.

In the original plot development, it was all because Lady Yuan's emotions of pity for her son and niece prevailed that she eventually agreed to their union.

Now that Gu Wenjing showed no sign of wanting to marry his cousin Yuan Susu, Lady Yuan naturally didn't think in that direction. In fact, she had already started thinking about how to find a husband who came from a simple family background and was ambitious for her niece. With the support of the marquis, her niece's life would not be difficult.