Love is More than a Word, Chapter 88: The First Comes First (7)...

Love is More than a Word《识汝不识丁》Shi Nu Bu Shi Ding
Love is More than a Word, Chapter 88: The First Comes First (7)...
The matchmaker went on and on for nearly half an hour but finally Lao Tao was so impressed by the tea that she asked him to leave.

But though she was gone, the echoes lingered on, never ceasing.

Tao Mo cupped his forehead and asked Lao Tao pitifully, “Do you know who Miss Xu is?” When Miss Xu first came to Lao Tao's door, he thought it was just a coincidence and let Lao Tao send her away. But it seems that Miss Xu really knew him and she kept on asking him to do it again and again.

“Miss Xu is the eldest daughter of the Fanxing Village chief.” Master Jin suddenly appeared, smiling, “I heard that although she's from a merchant family, she's knowledgeable, sensible, beautiful and a rare beauty.”

Tao Mo stayed, “Then why does she see in me?”

Master Jin's face calmed and said, “Why are you so presumptuous? At any rate, you are the Seventh Rank Officer and a County Magistrate of the imperial court, in charge of the government of a county and have no wife in the court and no reputation as a flower, originally you are a rare son-in-law.”

Tao Mo's cold sweat is back.

“A fine match for a fine husband. In my opinion, this marriage is a match made in heaven and it will be a good story in the future. Why do you refuse to let him go, in vain?”

If Master Jin wasn't a man, Tao Mo would almost suspect him of being the fourth matchmaker. He looked to Lao Tao for help.

Lao Tao said slowly, “Young Master, you know what the Master was thinking.”

Tao Mo's heart is heavy.

Lao Tao added, “You know what I'm thinking.”

Tao Mo shoulders sank.

“But as it's a matter of your lifelong happiness, you'd better make up your mind.” Lao Tao sighed and walked out.

Master Jin was stunned. He thought that with such a good offer, Lao Tao would be eager to set him up but he was left to his own devices.

Before Lao Tao left, he suddenly turned to Master Jin and said, “Is Master Jin familiar with the Xu family?”

“Of course, “Master Jin snapped back, laughing a few times, “we're from the same hometown.”

Lao Tao laughed, stepped out of the door with his hands in the air and turned towards his room.

It's still light out but the doors and windows of his room are closed tight.

He pushed the door open and entered, a young man in cloth was waiting behind the door. Seeing him enter, he hurriedly saluted, “Elder Lu.”

Lao Tao nodded and said, “You've done a good job with this.”

The young man said imploringly, “I was merely following orders.”

Lao Tao said, “I didn't think you could ask Master Jin to say anything.”

The young man said, “I didn't invite Master Jin, Master Xu did. He said that if we are going to put on a show, we should make it look real.”

Lao Tao then had a smile on his face, “Looks like, your future father-in-law is really open-minded.”

“If it wasn't for the help of our sect, Master Xu wouldn't be where he is today. He remembered, he dared not forget.”

Lao Tao said, “When this is done, I will ask the Young Master to witness the marriage of the two.”

The young man looked embarrassed.

Lao Tao smiled, “Naturally and I.”

The young man said gratefully, “Thank you, Elder Lu.” To them, a marriage witnessed by the Prefectural Magistrate Court was nothing but a marriage witnessed by the Demon Sect elders themselves was decent.

Lao Tao said, “But before that, there are a few more days of aggravation for Miss Xu.”

The youth hesitated and said: “My subordinate has something to say that I do not know whether to say or not.”

“Speaking of.”

“Who does Master Tao like and why is he testing him in such a way? It's not unusual for a man to marry a woman but he could have sent a matchmaker.” What he wondered was why a man like Tao Mo wouldn't dare to come to his door and ask his fiancée to sacrifice his honor for him.

Lao Tao tapped him on the shoulder.

The young man quickly lowered his head: “This subordinate is nosy.”

Lao Tao gave a subtle hint: “If you don't have much to do, get in touch with the help.” Especially the two characters with the Demon Sect ears.

“...” Yes.” Apparently, Lao Tao's hint was too subtle and convoluted for the young man to feel.

An hour to practice writing, an hour to play chess.

With Miss Xu still on his mind, Tao Mo was defeated.

Gu-She attacked the chess board without mercy and in just one incense stick, the mountains and rivers were already settled.

Tao Mo waved his black piece around on the board for a long time, giving up, “I lost.”

Gu-She said, “It's a beautiful thing to lose a game and win a woman.”

Tao Mo's hand shook and the black pieces fell on the board, upsetting the layout and the unsettled spring water in his mind, “You heard that too?”

Gu-She leaned back, sipped his tea slowly and deliberately.



Tao Mo whispered, “I don't know what to do.”

“Is it that you don't know how to hire?” Gu-She did.

Tao Mo frantically waved his hand and said, “Of course not. How could I, how could I marry his.” He was born with gay men and marrying a woman would be a disservice to his.

Gu-She said, “So what's the problem? Just refuse.”

“But she is a woman and such a thing would be injurious to her honour.” It's hard for a woman to ask for his hand in marriage, when she's been rejected so many times.

Gu-She looked at him silently.

Tao Mo said: “Put yourself in my shoes, if I were her, I'd be sad.”

Gu-She looked at the tea sinking in the bottom of the cup, shook the tealight, watched the water ripple and then put it down again.”

Tao Mo was embarrassed: “I didn't mean.”

“Have you ever heard the saying, ‘If you're interested in anything, you're a thief’?”

Tao Mo's brow furrowed imperceptibly, “And you can't say that.”

Gu-She swept a cold eye.

Tao Mo forced himself to say, “It's fine for you to talk about me but she's a woman and that's too harsh.” The rest of his words came more and more softly but they still reached Gu-She's ears, word for word.

“Meaning?” He pursed his lips.

Tao Mo waved his hand, “I didn't mean that. I just thought that was, like, a little, a little, inappropriate.”

Gu-She looked at him steadily for a long time, then got up and walked out. After recuperating for so many days, the wound is almost completely healed, although sometimes it still hurts a bit but as long as he walks slowly, he will be fine.

As soon as he stood up, Tao Mo stood up with him.

Gu-She got his feet up and crossed the threshold, walking without looking back, “see the guest off.”

Tao Mo chased after him to the threshold, stopped and watched his figure getting further and further away, his heart overflowing with pain. He doesn't regret his retort, he only regrets that he didn't read a book, that he didn't speak tactfully enough, that he made him angry when he knew Gu-She was doing him a favor.

He didn't know how he got back to the courthouse but he just lay down on the bed and didn't want to move. In the evening, Hao Guozi brought him dinner, so he curled up under the covers and didn't come out.

Hao Guozi asked several times to no avail and then Lao Tao came again.

Lao Tao didn't come in, he just stared at him silently from the doorway. He set this up because he wanted to cut the Gordian knot. Love is a thing that harms more than it hurts and it only gets deeper and deeper. It's better to separate everything now than to wait until later when Tao Mo can't get out of his own way and face all these hardships. If Gu-She has a heart, then he has nothing to say to them, so be it. If not, even if it took a sword or silver, he'll cut them both clean off!

The moonlight is gentle, the courtyard is full of shadows and the ground is clear and bright.

Gu-She sat alone on a soft seat with several layers of cotton, a jug of sake beside his and drank to himself.

“Young Master Gu is so elegant.” Lao Tao jumped down from the eaves, “and raised his glass to the moon alone.”

Gu-She said, “So did Mr. Tao, stepping on the moon at midnight in search of fragrances but it seems he was looking in the wrong place.”

Lao Tao coughed, “I'm here to find Young Master Gu.”

Gu-She drained his glass of wine.

“I'd like to ask Young Master Gu for a favor.” Lao Tao said, “Recently, Miss Xu has asked a matchmaker to marry his and the Young Master. I've asked around and I've found out that she's young, beautiful, well-informed and has a silk weaving villa in her family, so she's a rare match. But my family Young Master is shy and has never thought about men and women, so he's not sure what to do. I would like to ask Young Master Gu to consider my friendship with the Young Master and persuade him.”

Gu-She put down his glass, “You didn't come here to ask me to talk to her.”

Lao Tao was stunned.

Gu-She said slowly, “If you really wanted Tao Mo to agree to this marriage, you wouldn't have come to me.”

Lao Tao's face didn't change: “How can you tell?”

Gu-She said, “You know very well I would never do it.”

Lao Tao innocently said, “I don't know.”

Gu-She said calmly, “Well now you know.”

Lao Tao said, “May I ask the reason.”

“No reason.” Gu-She said.

Lao Tao looked at him, his eyes full of inquiry.

Gu-She looked at ease and said a moment later: “Because I haven't figured it out yet either.”


~ Love is More than A Word ~
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