Chapter 526 - 527: Handling
Catching Gu Kaiyuan’s hinting gaze, Bai Suihe could only take a step back and say, "The children in their bellies belong to you both as well. I believe you also want them to be safe and well."
Zhuang Datou immediately thanked her sincerely. "Thank you for your understanding, Mrs. Gu. We will have to trouble you to look after our Dongmei for now. I’ll pack up her things and send them to the city later. Once I have settled everyone at home, I will bring Dongmei back."
Zhuang Datou also felt it was time to make a decision. Living together in such a chaotic mess, let alone Dongmei being unable to stand it, he was afraid he would also break down sooner or later.
Although Huang Pingguo was still somewhat reluctant, he also agreed. After all, Mrs. Gu was right; the child in Chunxiang’s belly was his. Moreover, they all knew of Nanny Pang’s medical skills, which was something others could not get even if they begged for it.
Only then did Gu Kaiyuan let them stand up. He led them out to the courtyard and asked how the arrangements for the fruit trees on the mountain were going.
Ever since Kai Chun, the three mountains had been gradually cleared and planted with fruit trees. On the mountain where the first fruit trees were planted, they had even raised a flock of chickens and ducks. Zhuang Datou and the others had indeed worked very hard; everyone’s skin had tanned and they had lost weight. Once everything here was running as smoothly as before, Gu Kaiyuan finally asked about their thoughts.
Zhuang Datou had already realized his mistake and promised that he would quickly settle his family members.
Huang Pingguo was still a bit confused. What was wrong with the whole family living together? Wasn’t it always this lively in the past?
Glancing at Mr. Gu’s calm and unreadable expression, Zhuang Datou sighed and said to Huang Pingguo, "With only those few rooms in the house, how do you usually arrange the sleeping situations?"
"We’re all family, so we just squeeze in together," Huang Pingguo replied. "My oldest uncle and my second uncle each have a room, and the rest of our family just splits up by gender." Since space was limited, they could only make do for now.
"Are you saying you gave up your own rooms?" Zhuang Datou truly hadn’t known this. After all, he had at least managed to keep his own bedroom; the others could squeeze together however they wanted.
"There’s no other way. I have a large family. If we don’t live like this, there simply wouldn’t be enough space," Huang Pingguo explained. "Luckily, we built heated brick beds back then, otherwise we really wouldn’t fit."
Gu Kaiyuan looked Huang Pingguo up and down. "I thought you were quite a clever one before. I didn’t expect you to be so blindly devoted to your family. Since your family is so wonderful, you should take your savings, properly set up an estate for them, and live a good life with them."
"Of course," Huang Pingguo said, grinning widely. "I am the most successful son in our family. Naturally, I should take care of them more."
Gu Kaiyuan gave him a thumbs-up and patted him on the shoulder. "In that case, take a good rest at home from now on and properly settle your family. You can just leave the matters on the mountain for Zhuang Datou to handle."
After saying this, Gu Kaiyuan didn’t even look at them again and walked straight toward the backyard.
Zhuang Datou’s expression changed. He looked at Huang Pingguo with exasperation, disappointed in his incompetence. "What is wrong with you? How can you be so foolish?"
Huang Pingguo finally realized what had just happened, his face turning pale with fright. "I just wanted to show some filial piety to my family."
"No one is stopping you from honoring your family," Zhuang Datou said, almost laughing out of sheer anger at his foolish companion. Everything he was suffering right now was brought about by this very man. "When we left our hometown, didn’t we agree to send some Silver back every year to support them? Why did you have to leave our address with them? Now look what you’ve done. We’ll have to empty our savings just to send these people away!"
"Datou, how can you say that? They are our family. Now that we’re living a better life, of course we should lend them a helping hand."
"Right, you are a great, dutiful son. I can’t compare to you." Zhuang Datou felt the man was completely hopeless. "Well, everything is perfect now. Mr. Gu told you to rest well and take care of your family. From now on, you can stay at home and play the dutiful son all you want."
With that, Zhuang Datou strode out. He had to hurry back and deal with those people; it was going to be a tough battle.
Huang Pingguo glanced back at the backyard. Simply lacking the courage to go up and beg for mercy, he hurriedly followed. He had to go back and see how Zhuang Datou was going to handle it. He feared their homes would be thrown into chaos soon.
Seeing Gu Kaiyuan return, Bai Suihe poured him a cup of water and asked, "It seems this matter really isn’t easy to handle. I’m afraid Huang Pingguo is harboring resentment toward Chunxiang."
"Let’s see how that boy handles it. If he can’t even sort out his own family affairs, I wouldn’t feel at ease having him work under me," Gu Kaiyuan said. "Those two girls didn’t say anything, but I’m afraid these two families are expecting to ride their coattails to wealth and status."
Bai Suihe had her own suspicions as well. Otherwise, given Dongmei and Chunxiang’s personalities, they would have endured it even if they had suffered the greatest grievances. The fact that they hadn’t spoken up back then was likely because they wanted to save some face for Zhuang Datou and the others.
"We are giving them a chance now. Let’s just watch," she said. Bai Suihe still kept in mind the gratitude she felt for their escort along the journey. If they could change, she could let bygones be bygones. They were humans, not gods; they couldn’t control what others thought. If those two made up their minds to stick to their foolish ways until the bitter end, then they would have to consider how to arrange for them in the future. After all, with such a large family holding them back, she feared their temperaments would eventually be affected as well.
"Well, I say you and Mother are just too nice to them," Gu Xingyang said, pouting her little mouth. "The two aunties are also too submissive to them. The women should be the ones running the household, and the men should only be responsible for making money to support the family."
Gu Kaiyuan reached out and rubbed her head. He wasn’t against women running the household, but if his daughter’s words ever got out, they would be considered shocking and scandalous. It would likely draw attacks from those pedantic scholars. He would have to teach her slowly in the future.
"You’re only a tiny child, don’t be so aggressive. When there’s a problem, find a way to solve it instead of writing them off completely," Gu Kaiyuan said. "They have only lost their way momentarily. They will figure it out."
"But I want to scold the bad guys," Gu Xingyang said, yawning. The swaying of the carriage was far too comfortable, and she couldn’t fend off the drowsiness.
"Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance," Gu Kaiyuan comforted her. "Seeing as you haven’t slept enough, how about Daddy accompanies you to rest a bit more?"
Gu Xingyang nodded. Since there was no more drama to watch anyway, she might as well continue sleeping. Only when she woke up would she have energy.
Gu Kaiyuan took the child away to coax her to sleep. Nanny Pang and the others were already used to this. Mr. Gu was exceptionally doting on the young miss. As long as he was at home and had the time, he basically did everything for her himself.
Bai Suihe had someone call for Mrs. Li, who was guarding the courtyard. When they weren’t at home, Mrs. Li managed all the affairs in the residence. Knowing what Mrs. Gu wanted to ask, Mrs. Li gave a brief account of what had happened when the two families arrived in the village.
"It’s not that we are biased toward one side, but those two families are not easy to get along with. As soon as they arrived in the village, they started asking around, especially about the Gu Family’s affairs. However, since they were newcomers, it was normal for them to be a bit curious about the village, so we didn’t pay much attention to it. After all, they are Steward Zhuang and the others’ families."
Mrs. Li already knew about Dongmei and the others going into the city. In fact, her support was one of the reasons they had done so.