Chapter 254: Buying the Ancestral Home
"Su Shuochi, how could you let your health get this bad?" Gu Jiaojiao’s eyes reddened with anger.
"Honey, I haven’t even done any work... How did I let it get bad?" Seeing she was genuinely angry, Su Shuochi was so scared he didn’t know what to do.
Gu Jiaojiao saw her husband’s panicked, anxious expression. He looked utterly helpless and lost, not knowing what he should do.
She realized she had overreacted. Suppressing the rage bubbling inside her, she asked softly, "What day did Divine Doctor Jiang leave?"
"He left nine days ago. Sheng Yueyue berated him so badly he was too ashamed to stay. I didn’t want him to stay either. I did ask you about it that day."
Su Shuochi watched his wife anxiously. He knew she was truly angry this time.
"Your body needs daily acupuncture with silver needles to recuperate. Stopping in the middle of the treatment will have some side effects, but it’s not a huge deal now that I’m here."
"Honey, I’m sorry. I really didn’t know." Su Shuochi knew there must be serious consequences.
She wouldn’t be this angry otherwise. But he also felt wronged; he really had called to ask her about it.
Seeing his pitiful, aggrieved expression, Gu Jiaojiao remembered what he had asked her that day.
It was just that her mind had been completely preoccupied with her paints, so she hadn’t heard him clearly. In any case, she had to report to the Imperial City in ten days.
It would be fine to let him recuperate a bit longer before the surgery. So, she smiled and tried to console him.
"It’s for the best, actually. In this world, the one thing to be wary of is perfection.
Take the moon in the sky, for instance. The moment it becomes full, it immediately begins to wane.
Or the fruit on a tree; once it’s perfectly ripe, it’s about to fall. Things need a little imperfection to last."
"As long as you’re not angry with me, I can relax." Su Shuochi breathed a sigh of relief.
’She was beautiful even when she was angry just now, but I still prefer seeing her smile.’
Gu Jiaojiao patiently gave him a full-body massage before starting the acupuncture. Su Shuochi steeled himself against her "torment."
After inserting the silver needles and setting up his IV drip, the phone in the living room rang.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Jiaojiao? You’re home? I was getting a little worried since you hadn’t called, so I thought I’d call Shuo Ci to check on you."
Gu Jiaojiao felt a pang of guilt. She had been so wrapped up with Su Shuochi since she got back that she’d completely forgotten to call the Gu Family to let them know she had arrived safely.
It was already nine in the evening. She had landed at four-thirty and gotten home a little after five. On the way home, she had even reminded herself to call the Gu Family as soon as she arrived.
"Dad, I’m so sorry. I took a shower as soon as I got back, then had dinner. I was just about to call you."
"It’s all right, Jiaojiao, eating is more important. Your grandpa is still awake, too. We have something important to discuss with you."
Mr. Gu concisely explained that when they returned to the Imperial City, they found their old courtyard home had been divided up between his second brother and third sister.
The relevant authorities came to mediate, ruling that his third sister, as a married daughter, couldn’t live in her family’s ancestral home.
His second brother’s family, however, was allowed to stay. But Grandpa Gu refused to live with that heartless second son of his.
Just seeing him was a reminder of the time he had mercilessly pointed at his father and declared they no longer had a father-son relationship.
So, in a rather domineering move, Grandpa Gu hired masons to come and build a wall, splitting the property into two separate courtyards.
Grandpa Gu and Mr. Gu took two-thirds, leaving Second Uncle Gu with one-third. After the division, their side was still perfectly livable.
But Second Uncle Gu’s portion looked cramped and unpleasant, which he found utterly humiliating.
For more than a decade, living in that large courtyard had been a great source of pride for Second Uncle Gu.
So now he was pestering his father every day, apologizing and insisting they should all live in one courtyard, share a single main gate, and promising he would treat them very well.
But Old Sir Gu absolutely refused to believe him. Unable to sway his father’s heart,
Second Uncle Gu settled for the next best thing: a buyout. Either Mr. Gu could pay him for his share, or he would pay them for theirs.
After graduating from college, Second Uncle Gu hadn’t followed his father and older brother into teaching, choosing instead to pursue a career in politics.
The political tides had turned, and most of the opportunistic people like him had fallen from grace. But his father and older brother’s fortunes had been restored, and he had ridden their coattails back to prominence.
While others were being demoted, Second Uncle Gu had actually been promoted. So it wasn’t about the money; he was more interested in currying favor with Old Sir Gu.
Scholars, by nature, value moral integrity, and Old Sir Gu was a man of immense principle. He valued his good name, loyalty, righteousness, benevolence, passion, and courage.
His personality was completely at odds with his second son’s. He saw the younger man’s humor and wit as a facade, just another tool for his social climbing.
His second son possessed none of the classic scholarly virtues: romantic imagination, deep sentiment, unwavering righteousness, and an indomitable spirit.
Then again, Old Sir Gu also lacked the other, less practical scholarly traits: the tendency to meddle in everything, being dirt poor while harboring delusions of saving the world.
That’s why he was determined not to let his second son ride his coattails—not for the house, not for his reputation. He wanted to keep his distance.
The main issue was that his second son was not a good man. Once he latched onto you, he was like a sticky plaster, impossible to peel off.
His granddaughter Jiaojiao and grandson-in-law Su Shuochi were no ordinary people; their future accomplishments would be immense.
If his second son managed to ingratiate himself with them, the consequences would be disastrous. That’s why Grandpa Gu wanted to hear what Su Shuochi and Gu Jiaojiao thought.
Because they didn’t have the money themselves, they were leaning toward accepting Second Uncle Gu’s buyout offer and finding a smaller courtyard to live in.
They were calling to ask if Gu Jiaojiao’s parents-in-law would be moving to the Imperial City as well, so they could figure out what size house to buy.
Gu Jiaojiao was deeply moved after hearing the whole story from Mr. Gu.
She blurted out, "Dad, of course you should buy out the Gu Family’s ancestral home! That’s the only respectable thing to do!"
When the other end of the line went silent, Gu Jiaojiao realized that Grandpa Gu and Mr. Gu didn’t have the money.
"Dad, let me lend you the money."
"Jiaojiao, wouldn’t that be too much of a burden on you? Buying out that large courtyard will cost a fortune. Where would you get that kind of money?"
Grandpa Gu asked anxiously. The phone was on speaker, so everyone in the Gu Family could hear Gu Jiaojiao.
"Hah! Don’t worry, Grandpa. Your granddaughter worked so hard on the front lines, so of course there were some... perks."
Before Gu Jiaojiao could finish, Su Shuochi snatched the phone. "Grandpa, Father-in-law, I’ll call Geng Haoyi right away. Just tell him how much you need, and he’ll deliver it to you."
Gu Jiaojiao: ...
’This husband of mine... he’s really something else.’ That was the money they had saved up to buy their third truck.
Su Shuochi and Geng Haoyi had partnered up to buy two large trucks. They had earned quite a bit of money in the last two months and were just about to buy a third.
"Shuo Ci, that’s Geng Haoyi’s money... How could we possibly borrow it?" Mr. Gu asked, sounding troubled.
"Dad, it’s your son-in-law’s money too. They’re business partners in the transport business; whoever needs the funds can borrow from the pot first."
"Then thank you, Shuo Ci and Jiaojiao. I’ll renovate a small courtyard on the property for you two, so you can live with us."
"Dad, just prepare a room for us. That will be enough. We won’t be living with you when we move to the Imperial City. We’ve already bought our own house."
The Gu Family: ... All of them shot a fierce glare at Eldest Brother Gu.
’Jiaojiao already bought a house, and this time she didn’t even ask us to live with her!’