Chapter 525 - 526: Discussion
Zhuang Datou shook his head frantically in fright. "Mrs. Gu, I am entirely to blame for whatever mistakes were made. Dongmei has already suffered enough grievances.
"This matter was entirely my own idea; it has absolutely nothing to do with Dongmei. I will explain everything to everyone else."
Gu Kaiyuan looked at Huang Pingguo. A flash of pleasant surprise actually crossed this guy’s eyes—he clearly wanted to agree with what Bai Suihe had just said.
"Huang Pingguo, what do you think?"
Huang Pingguo stammered, "As the saying goes, harmony in the family brings prosperity. My family hasn’t had it easy all these years, and it doesn’t make sense for a junior to run the household anyway. Honestly, handing our things over to my parents is just for temporary safekeeping. They’ll eventually give it all back to us."
Zhuang Datou closed his eyes. He didn’t even know how to persuade this brother who had shared both his joys and sorrows since childhood. After being away from home for so many years, had he really not realized that their families had long since changed?
Or perhaps they hadn’t changed at all and had always been this way. It was just that while wandering far from home, they had inevitably replayed only the best memories of their families in their minds, forgetting their true nature.
In fact, both of their families were quite similar. With many brothers in the household, the two of them were stuck right in the middle—neither the oldest nor the youngest—making them the ones with the least presence at home.
Back when they were fleeing the famine, because they were so undervalued, they were given the smallest rations. That was why the two of them had sneaked off together to see if they could scavenge some food, which was exactly how they ended up getting lost. Since everyone was fleeing for their lives at the time and no one knew where they would finally settle down, they completely lost contact with their families.
Yet, for all these years, only the two of them had been single-mindedly trying to find their way back. Their families had probably never even thought of looking for them. They might have even rejoiced at the thought of them dying out there, saving the family a few mouths to feed.
Whenever Zhuang Datou calmed down to think about it, he didn’t dare delve too deeply into the thought.
However, finding their families had become an obsession for both of them. That was why, when Nanny Wu was selecting people, they had volunteered, willing to take a gamble by accompanying the Eldest Young Lady.
But the moment he found his family, Zhuang Datou saw shock in their eyes, yet not a single trace of joy. Because of that, his guard had gone up early on, and he had been unwilling to tell them where he currently lived.
Unfortunately, Huang Pingguo was completely blinded by it all. He spilled everything and gave his family their exact address, which resulted in both families tracking them down together.
If someone said their families truly couldn’t survive back in their hometown, he wouldn’t believe a word of it.
He remembered that when they went back, they had asked the villagers about it. Both families had many mouths to feed, but they also owned several acres of fertile land and even rented fields from the local landlords. Though life was tough, it certainly wasn’t unlivable.
For them to uproot their entire households and move over here, Huang Pingguo must have been coaxed into revealing too much. Once their families found out who their masters were, they probably sold off all their farmland, burned their bridges, and decided to latch onto them directly.
Huang Pingguo was truly blinded by familial affection. Mrs. Gu had made it glaringly obvious that she was going to back Dongmei and the others up, yet he still couldn’t hear the implication.
Bai Suihe knew that he *had* understood. He was merely relying on the fact that Chunxiang was already married to him, figuring that no matter how fiercely they fought now, she would ultimately have to return to the family. That was why he had emboldened himself to make such a demand.
Bai Suihe brushed the dust off the hem of her clothes. "If I remember correctly, Nanny Wu hired a teacher to teach you all how to read back then. For fear that you might cause trouble outside, she didn’t skimp on having you study the laws, did she?"
Gratitude appeared on both Huang Pingguo’s and Zhuang Datou’s faces. If it hadn’t been for Nanny Wu all those years ago, they wouldn’t have experienced everything they had today.
"We’ve studied them," Huang Pingguo replied.
"Then tell me, how does the law stipulate the clause regarding a woman’s dowry?"
Zhuang Datou shot a glance at Huang Pingguo before stating clearly, "A dowry obtained from the wife’s family is not within the scope of the husband’s family’s property division. The woman has independent control over it, and in the event of an amicable divorce or the husband’s death, the dowry must be returned..."
"But we’re all one family..."
Zhuang Datou couldn’t hold back anymore. Completely ignoring the gazes of Mr. and Mrs. Gu, he reached out and yanked him. "Don’t talk nonsense. Even within a family, there must be a distinction between close and distant relations. Your parents don’t just have you as a son. You have so many other brothers, and even uncles. Are you willing to divide all your assets with them?"
"It’s just that we haven’t divided the household yet. When the time comes to split up the family, Chunxiang’s dowry will naturally be set aside separately..."
Huang Pingguo’s voice grew lower and lower. He wasn’t an idiot; by now, he knew that his reasoning was flawed.
Gu Kaiyuan sighed. "You two are truly foolish. Fingers are of varying lengths, and parents’ hearts can be just as biased. You’ve been wandering outside for years; how can you compare to the children and grandchildren who have constantly been by their sides serving them?
"I myself have suffered from the bitterness of biased parents. It’s not like you haven’t seen it along the way.
"No one is telling you to be unfilial. As children, you should do your part.
"But you also have to consider your own capabilities. Do you have the ability to take on everything and support such a massive family all on your own?
"They all have working hands and feet. How long have they been here? Have they even thought about looking for work?
"So many people living together noisily—can those few small cabins you built even accommodate them all?
"Your children are going to be born soon. In such an environment, how do you expect them to grow up well?"
Zhuang Datou lowered his head in shame. It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen through his family’s motives; he had merely been deceiving himself these past few days, telling himself that things would get better after a while. He had just wanted to give them a good transition period to enjoy a few days of leisure.
However, he had forgotten that while he was up on the mountain every day, Dongmei was the one spending morning to night with his family, bearing the brunt of it all.
Aside from going up the mountain these past few days, Huang Pingguo would be greeted with his family’s utmost care and concern the moment he returned home. Momentarily lost in the warm embrace of family affection, he had, of course, noticed that his wife’s complexion was worsening by the day, but he just felt she was being petty.
His family had come to seek refuge with him. For her to pull a long face just because they had eaten a few free meals for a couple of days seemed truly unvirtuous.
That was why, when his parents brought up taking charge of the finances—claiming that this way, they wouldn’t feel like they were living under someone else’s roof—he had agreed on the spot.
Now that Mr. and Mrs. Gu had laid it all out in the open, he realized he had made a mistake.
If his parents wanted to manage the household finances, they should be managing his earnings. There was no justification for them to touch Chunxiang’s dowry.
Deep down, however, he still felt that Chunxiang shouldn’t have reported this matter to Mrs. Gu. Having their domestic affairs spread outside made him, the head of the household, lose face.
How could Bai Suihe not see that Huang Pingguo was still somewhat dissatisfied? She sighed and said, "I know you care deeply for your families, but my heart aches for my senior maids as well.
"Seeing that they are about to give birth, it is indeed inappropriate for so many people to live together so noisily; it isn’t good for the babies in their wombs, either.
"For the coming days, they will stay in the county town. There are highly skilled midwives in the town, and with Nanny Pang helping to keep an eye on things, it will be much safer.
"As for your family matters, the two of you figure out how to handle them yourselves first.
"No one is allowed to let Dongmei and Chunxiang continue to worry at such a critical time. What do you think of this arrangement?"