Gu Fengyan's voice was not loud, and he spoke close to Huo Duan. The warm and lingering breath whispered in his ears, causing him to tremble.

However, that soft word of "husband" brought more than just trembling... Huo Duan's heart was pounding, and the huge roar drowned out everything.

His pupils dilated, "What did you call me just now?"

Gu Fengyan curled his lips and smiled maliciously, "Mr. Huo likes it? I didn't expect that you have such a hobby..."

The tips of Huo Duan's ears were red as if dripping blood.

Gu Fengyan had a playful mood and whispered to him, "Husband? Husband?"

"Don't yell," Huo Duan covered his eyes with his hands, his heart beating wildly, "There are people here."

Gu Fengyan was in a very good mood, only to find that Huo Duan was really thin-skinned, easy to tease, and of course easy to coax.

"Mr. Huo, you're not angry anymore. How about I coax you again?" He pulled Huo Duan's hand down, looking straight at him with a pair of bright eyes and a smile.

Huo Duan was afraid of his eyes, because whenever he glanced at him, it was as if he was teasing him... He had never realized that this man was full of evil intentions.

"Don't talk nonsense." He just turned his head away and repeated.

Gu Fengyan could hardly stop laughing, and it took him a long time to stop laughing. He pulled Huo Duan aside and analyzed, "This kid is stupid... We still have to negotiate business with him, so just be patient."

Huo Duan was not really angry, he was just enlightened by Gu Jue's words. He and Gu Fengyan were indeed not husband and wife... Apart from being husband and wife in name, they were actually no different from business partners.

He had always understood it, but he still felt indescribable pain.

After seeing Gu Fengyan's smile, his eyes, and his gentleness, Huo Duan could no longer treat him as just an ordinary partner.

He greedily wanted to own Gu Fengyan for himself, and it would be best if he could stamp him with his own name on it.

And yet... Huo Duan's heart suddenly turned cold and he fell to the bottom.

"Mr. Gu is right. I was wrong." He said seriously, with a hint of sadness between his brows.

She was fine a moment ago, why is she suddenly praising me again... She's as hard to please as a grown girl on her period.

Gu Fengyan was so worried that his heart was twisted into a knot. He wanted to comfort her again, but he saw that Huo Duan had already gone to find Gu Jue.

The unfortunate child saw the two of them talking and laughing and whispering in each other's ears, so he simply took some fish food and used it to tease the fish in his ceramic tank.

Seeing the two people coming back, he threw a handful of fish food into the tank, clapped his hands, and said with a smile: "Are you done chatting? What's the matter? Why are you so mysterious?"

There were two small fish in the tank as long as finger joints. If they were given such a large amount of food, they would surely be stuffed to death. What an unlucky child... Huo Duan frowned and simply turned a blind eye.

He told Gu Jue about the recruitment matter he had discussed with Gu Fengyan.

Gu Jue frowned and thought seriously, and after a while he said, "There are some medicinal herbs growing around the village. It would be fine if we asked the villagers to pick them and sell them to you. However, although the two villages are not far apart, there is still some distance between them. I'm afraid the villagers won't be happy about it."

Although they pay for harvesting medicinal herbs, for most villagers it is just a side job to supplement their family income. It is done during the slack season, but during the busy farming season, the men go to the fields to harvest the crops, while the wives stay at home to cook and sort the crops, and even half-grown children have to carry rattan baskets to the fields to pick up wheat ears.

Who has the time to run to the next village to deliver medicinal herbs?

Gu Jue said this because he was afraid of disrupting Gu Fengyan and his team's business.

"Don't worry about that, we've already discussed it," Gu Fengyan said with a smile, "The villagers just need to collect the herbs, and we will find someone to get the herbs every two days."

After listening, Gu Jue pondered for a moment and felt that it would be a good idea to cooperate with Gu Fengyan and the others. It would provide the village with another way to make money and life would not be so difficult.

"Then do as you say. I'll arrange it right away." Gu Jue said.

Since the matter was discussed and Gu Jue had made arrangements, Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan did not stay long and returned to the Jiang family as usual.

He also asked Jiang's parents to help with the purchase of medicinal materials and accounting, and to pay Jiang Xuerui and Huo Xiuling the wages according to the price.

He Chaolin was literate and had no problem keeping accounts. Jiang Ze'an was busy with the family's several plots of land, and Jiang Yue was also very free, so the two agreed without much thought.

There was still a lot to do when they returned, so Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan returned to Heqing Village with the money they had left to buy medicinal herbs. He Chaolin couldn't bear to leave Jiang Xuerui, so he asked them to take a letter and ask Shen Zhuo to pick her up the next day, leaving Jiang Xuerui behind...

Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan walked to the entrance of Heqing Village and went to Xue's house again. They wanted to tell Xue Dayi about collecting medicinal materials from the neighboring village every two days and pay him the wages as usual.

However, when I entered the yard, I found that there were a lot of people in the Xue family today. Several aunts and Mrs. Xue were sitting in the yard picking vegetables and chatting about gossip.

Xue Da and a few other men were repairing the roof.

Huo Duan called out first, "Mrs. Xue."

Mrs. Xue looked up and saw Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan. She wiped her hands and called them, "Young man from the Huo family, come quickly and bring your husband to sit down. Have you eaten yet?"

She brought a bench for the two of them to sit on. Several aunties around kept looking at Gu Fengyan, making him feel like a thorn in his back.

"Why didn't my sister-in-law tell me that she was doing work today so that Huo Duan could come and help?" Gu Fengyan took the bench and sat down, and said with a stiff face amid everyone's inquiring gazes.

It was the first time that Mr. Xue spoke to Gu Fengyan, but he found that he was very nice. Although he came from the county, he was not arrogant at all and was quite friendly.

"We just need to repair the roof to prevent the boat from leaking in the house when it rains. It's a small job, so your brother Xue can find someone nearby. Since you are doing business, I don't want to disturb you... I don't understand either, is your business going well?" Xue asked with concern.

When the wives around heard the mention of the medicinal materials business, they pricked up their ears and listened carefully.

Huo Duan smiled and said, "All is well. Thank you for your concern, sister-in-law. Yan'er and I came here to talk to Brother Xue about the medicinal materials. Since he is busy, we will go back and come back tomorrow."

"No need." Xue Dajia waved his hand, "He's handing over the rafters in the backyard. Just go over and tell him, so you don't have to run back... Be careful not to let the tiles fall off the roof."

Huo Duan thought so, so he said goodbye to Gu Fengyan and went to the backyard. Gu Fengyan was a boy, so he didn't want to be surrounded by men, so he stayed to help pick vegetables.

After Huo Duan told Xue Da, the two of them had to rush home to do some work, so they told Xue Da's story before leaving.

As soon as he left the house, a group of wives in the yard could not help but start to make a scene.

A daughter-in-law hurriedly asked the Xue family, "Hey, sister-in-law, what is the purpose of the Huo family kid coming here?"

Xue Dajia smiled and said, "I don't know if he came to see the child's father about the medicinal materials business."

After hearing this, the wives immediately started gossiping.

"Hey, I heard that Erdan's business is doing very well. He can easily make hundreds of coins in a few days..."

Another daughter-in-law chimed in, "That's right. Last Dragon Boat Festival, I passed by their door and saw Erdan carrying a large piece of fresh pork to give to his aunt... Then I looked at his husband, his father. The clothes he wore were all made of fine fabrics, and even his face looked rosier."

"Where does the Huo family get the money to buy meat?"

"It's not earned from selling medicinal herbs..."

"I said Erdan is definitely not stupid. I'm afraid he was sick last time and now he's all well again. He's really capable!"

Several people were talking to each other, and no one took it to heart after they had talked about it. However, Yu, who had been silent in the corner, took it to heart.

Could it be that Erdan has really become rich? But how much can a few pieces of grass be worth?

Yu had been brooding over the last recruitment incident and had cursed Huo Duan and Gu Fengyan from the bottom of her heart that their business would fail. But now she saw that they were doing very well and she couldn't help feeling resentful.

It's just a few pieces of medicinal herbs. She will go to the second wife's house to interrogate them someday. Maybe she can do some business there.

Yu thought about it and clenched her fists...the vegetable leaves in her hands turned into mud.