Chapter 79

The matchmaker waved her hand. "That's incomparable. Shopkeeper Song from Songzhuang... is just a nobody, with a little money at best. Shopkeeper He is different. Eight out of ten kilograms of pickles in our county are made by the He family. They are considered one of the most prominent families in the county."

Pickles are very popular in the local area. Winter is quite long, three months, and we can't go without vegetables, so we either make pickles at home or buy them.

Moreover, pickles can be eaten with rice in spring, summer and autumn. It is convenient to carry with you when you go out. When you don’t want to cook, you can have some pickles. This thing is more important than snacks.

After all, dim sum can't be eaten as a meal, and you can even go a lifetime without dim sum. But pickles can't be eaten. Without pickles in winter, you simply can't eat three meals a day.

The He family's pickles almost occupy the entire county's market share, so naturally the He family earns a lot of money. There is nothing wrong with saying that they are the richest people in the county.

"Mr. He's sister married the eldest son of the Zeng family in the prefectural capital as a concubine and gave birth to a son." The matchmaker continued, "I'm afraid you haven't heard of the Zeng family. They're considered a top-tier family in our prefectural capital, involved in all kinds of business. They have so much wealth that I heard the ground is covered with gold bricks."

Gu Xinxin burst out laughing: "Gold bricks? Have you seen them?"

"Although I haven't been there, everyone who has said that the Zeng family is so wealthy that they eat the finest food and drink the finest wine," the matchmaker said, turning the topic to the He family. "The He family's young master is a handsome man, and the He young mistress is gentle and virtuous. If you go to the He family, as long as you are able to bear a son, he will be the He family's eldest son..."

Gu Xinxin stood up and said, "I swear I won't be a concubine. I would rather die than be anyone's concubine. Please go in."

She held out her hand, but the matchmaker sat still and held out her hand: "The He family is willing to give you two hundred taels of silver as a betrothal gift."

Before Gu Xinxin could say anything, Gu Chen exclaimed in the kitchen: "Two hundred taels!"

My God, she had never seen even twenty taels of silver in her life, let alone two hundred taels. That was enough to buy a house in the county town.

The matchmaker glanced at Gu Chen and said, "When you get married, the He family is willing to give you a courtyard. I heard your brother is studying. That courtyard can be used as a residence, and your brother can go to the school in the county town. Miss Gu is also a smart person. You should be able to compare the school in town with the school in the county town, which one is better, right? When the time comes, the storekeeper He will be able to help you go to school."

She laughed and said, "You can't go to the school in the county town just by paying a tuition fee. You have to take an exam and only if you pass can you go."

Gu Xinxin waved her hand: "If I sacrifice my marriage for my brother's studies, then it doesn't matter if he doesn't read this book. Studying can't support me, and it requires me to make sacrifices..."

A hint of sarcasm appeared on her face: "What's the point of studying for such an incompetent and shameless person?"

The matchmaker was stunned. She hadn't expected Gu Xinxin to react like this. Isn't it normal for a girl to sacrifice her marriage for the future of the boy in her family? Why did it sound so strange when it came out of Miss Gu's mouth?

"A man cannot succeed by stepping on the corpses of his sisters or even daughters. Otherwise, he would be unworthy of being a human being." Gu Xinxin said firmly.

In the evening, when Gu Xiangrong and Gu Wenshu came back, Gu Xinxin specially called them to the yard and told them about the matchmaker's visit today: "I just thought that I need to tell you something. No matter what you do in the future, whether you study to become an official, do business to make money, or just farm at home, you need to rely on your own abilities. If you have the ability, do it. If you don't, don't. Anyone who wants to sell their sisters and daughters as a stepping stone for themselves is unworthy of being a human being. If I were still here, I would definitely not forgive you. If I were not here... our family also needs to establish a rule that people like this should be kicked out."

This last sentence was said to Gu Daniu, who hesitated a little: "Every household is like this..."

"I don't care what other families are like, but ours can't be like that." Gu Xinxin said directly and decisively: "Isn't it me who earns the Gu family's money now? Since I earn this money, it means that I support the Gu family. So, if I set the rules for the Gu family, shouldn't you also abide by them?"

Without waiting for Gu Daniu to say anything else, Gu Xiangrong nodded repeatedly, "I'll listen to you, elder sister. Besides, what you said is right. If a man has to sell his sisters in exchange for his future, what's the difference between him and an animal? A man should protect his sisters. Anyone who sells his sisters is unworthy of being a man. The Gu family should really set some rules. I heard that wealthy families all have their own family rules. If our Gu family wants to grow and prosper in the future, we should also have our own rules."

Gu Wenshu hesitated for a moment and looked at Gu Chen first. Gu Chen had her eyelids drooping and didn't say anything. She wanted to object, but if she said a word of objection, she was afraid that Gu Xinxin would immediately kick her out.

All the things Gu Xinxin said were useless to Gu Chenshi. But there was one thing Gu Xinxin said that Gu Chenshi still needed to listen to - the money of the Gu family was indeed earned by Gu Xinxin, and it was only with Gu Xinxin that they could use it.

Gu Xinxin looked at Gu Xiangrong and was very pleased. "It's great that you thought of this. I'll leave the matter of formulating the family rules to you. Think about it carefully and write a complete set of family rules for me. Then we can discuss it in detail."

After a pause, he added, "No woman in the Gu family shall be a concubine. This rule must be written in it. The second rule is that the Gu family is not allowed to sell off their children or grandchildren at any time."

Gu Daniu muttered something, and Gu Xinxin looked at him: "Dad, what did you say?"

Before Gu Daniu could say anything, Gu Xinxin said, "Dad was always very good. He was the only one in the family who hunted to support the family. He never thought of selling any of us brothers and sisters. He did the right thing."

Gu Daniu's mouth twitched: "Do you think your father is a child?"

And it's the right thing to do...it's disgusting.

Gu Daniu changed the subject: "Have we offended the He family? If we have offended the He family, can we still do the spicy noodle business?" Nowadays, most of the spicy noodle business is done with the He family. Of the 50 kilograms produced every day, 35 kilograms are given to the He family.

Gu Xinxin pondered for a moment and said, "If the He family doesn't want to do it, then we won't do it with them. We can just set up a stall every day and see who in the village is free. We can sell it to the villagers at a lower price and let them sell it everywhere."

She thought for a moment and said, "Just spicy noodles is too simple. I'm thinking about what else I can sell with it. How about this, Dad, you go to my uncle's house in Huaishu Town and ask them how their fish and fish balls are doing. I'll try to sell them on a stall later."