Chapter 146 - 147: Gaoling Village
Gaoling Village
Li Cuicui looked at her daughter’s family, her head aching. "I gave you money to settle down. Didn’t you use it to build a house?"
Gu Yuanfeng glanced at He Tiping, then carefully cradled her belly. "Mother, what’s the use of talking about that now? Even if we wanted to build a house, we can’t get any adobe bricks.
Look at you, living in a brick-and-tile house. Just let us stay for the winter. When spring comes, we’ll definitely go back to our village and build our own place."
"What about your mother-in-law and the others? How come they have a place to live?" Li Cuicui stared at He Tiping. "Don’t tell me they just kicked your little family out again, did they?"
Seeing the three of them standing there in silence, Li Cuicui threw up her hands. "What about food, then? You didn’t just show up with three empty mouths to freeload off us two old folks, did you?"
"..."
Gu Dashishi spoke up. "Isn’t it obvious? Let me tell you, your mother and I barely have enough food for ourselves. You should go back to where you came from.
Look around our village. Which married daughter comes dragging her whole family back to live off her old man?
And to show up at your maiden home empty-handed, of all things. The nerve of you two."
Gu Yuanfeng clutched her belly and looked pleadingly at Li Cuicui. "Mother, look how cold it is outside. We have nowhere to shelter from the winter. And I’m carrying your future grandchild in my belly. You can’t just leave us without a place to stay."
A bitter taste filled Gu Yuanfeng’s mouth. The He family had indeed built a three-room house, but a few days ago, her eldest brother-in-law and the others had been too lazy to clear the snow off the roof, and the main beam had collapsed under the weight.
Old Mrs. He had always played favorites. She’d said that since Gu Yuanfeng had her own family here to take care of her, she could just go to them. And with that, she kicked the family of three out.
’What else could she do to survive? She had no choice but to swallow her pride and bring her family to her parents’ doorstep.’
"We don’t have a spare room for you. The firewood your brothers worked so hard to chop is only enough for us to get through the winter." Though they did have two spare rooms, with fuel and food already being tight, Li Cuicui didn’t dare offer to let them stay.
Gu Yuanfeng scanned the courtyard. Her parents lived in one room, and another had been converted into a kitchen. But there were two empty rooms, one on each side. ’How can she say there are no rooms?’
She pointed to the two empty rooms. "Mother, isn’t the youngest son still away? One room is enough for our family."
Gu Dashishi snorted. "That’s not happening. What will you eat? Are we supposed to eat every meal while you just stand there and watch?"
He Tiping said, "Father-in-law, we’ll go back as soon as spring arrives. My wife is heavily pregnant right now; she can’t handle any more hardship."
"If you knew she couldn’t handle hardship, then your family has some nerve! Kicking a pregnant woman out in this cold weather—what exactly are you trying to do?" Having heard the commotion, Gu Yuanjin stormed in, followed by several of his brothers.
Seeing his brothers-in-law, He Tiping immediately shrank behind Gu Yuanfeng.
"Let’s go! We’re all going to the He Family to ask them just what they think they’re doing.
And while we’re at it, we’ll find their He Clan Leader. Are they planning to have He Tiping marry into our family or something?
Why else would he show up empty-handed with his wife and child to live with her family?" Gu Yuanshui stared at He Tiping, his eyes filled with growing contempt.
Gu Yuanhuo had long since run out of patience for this bullshit. He looked at Gu Yuanfeng irritably. "If you can make it work, then make it work. If not, just get a divorce. In your situation, you’d probably be better off finding another family than wasting away with the Hes."
"Third Brother-in-law, they say it’s better to tear down a temple than to break up a marriage. Your words are a bit too harsh," He Tiping said weakly. ’My wife is carrying my child. How could he even think of such a thing?’
Who would have thought that Li Cuicui’s eyes would light up at the suggestion? It wasn’t as if there was no precedent for it in the village. Besides, the He Family’s actions had been so disgraceful that if they brought Gu Yuanfeng back, there likely wouldn’t be much gossip.
The most troublesome part now was the child in Old Six’s belly. ’If I’d known his family would never change their ways, I should have insisted on a clean break back then.’
"I think that’s a fine idea. Didn’t your Aunt Zhi get a divorce and remarry? She has a whole flock of children and grandchildren now." Seeing the fear in his son-in-law’s eyes, Gu Dashishi decided to add fuel to the fire.
He Tiping was speechless. ’I just brought my wife to her parents’ house for a little while. How did this turn into talk of divorce?’
Gu Yuanfeng silently stroked her belly. She didn’t want to live like this anymore, despised by everyone wherever she went.
’But the child in my belly has come at the wrong time. How can I possibly choose?’
He Chuncao nervously tugged at her sleeves, her eyes darting back and forth between the adults.
"It’s still early. Let’s go. We’re all going over there now." Gu Yuanjin grabbed He Tiping by the collar and started to drag him outside.
"Let go of me!" He Tiping struggled. "If we can’t stay at my father-in-law’s, that’s fine! Isn’t Seventh’s house at the village entrance empty? We can stay there."
"Ha! So you came with a backup plan," Li Cuicui nearly spat in his face. "You think you have any right to my Seventh’s house? Even if it’s sitting there empty, you are not qualified to live in it.
With the kind of feng shui your He Family has, don’t you dare pollute that place."
At this, Li Cuicui slapped her thigh. "Aha! So that was your plan all along! Let me tell you, forget about you lot—I wouldn’t even let his own brothers stay there and leech off the good fortune! My Seventh still has more exams to take. He’s going to come back a proper scholar!"
For some time now, rumors had been spreading through the village that the plot of land at the entrance was a place of excellent feng shui. Hadn’t everyone seen that not long after Lao Gouqi moved in, he passed the exam to become a Scholar?
Many people regretted not getting that piece of land for themselves, or at least building a house right next to it.
The Gu brothers fell silent. They had their own ideas about the house, of course, but did they dare voice them?
They all glared at He Tiping. ’His scheme was a clever one, trying to usurp the Gu family’s good feng shui.’
"But Seventh isn’t even living there, is he? If we stay, we can help him clear the snow and look after the yard." Gu Yuanfeng thought of what her mother-in-law had said and hugged her belly even tighter.
’If I can just live in Seventh’s house, maybe my child can absorb the good fortune from that land. Then this child could win me a noble title in the future.’
"How very considerate of you," Gu Yuanjin said, his eyes turning cold as he stared at Gu Yuanfeng. "Since you’re already married out, you should worry less about the affairs of your maiden family. Even if Seventh isn’t living there, we brothers are here to watch over it. And if that’s not enough, we have the entire Gu family. It’s not the place for an outsider to meddle."
His words were undeniably harsh. Gu Yuanfeng, who had never experienced her eldest brother’s severity, felt her eyes turn red. "Big Brother, no matter what, I’m still your blood sister, aren’t I? Can’t you just lend a hand?"
"This isn’t ’lending a hand’," Gu Yuanhuo sneered. "This is you, ready to sacrifice your own family to get what you want."