Chapter 16: Talking about Family Matters
"Mom, let me cook!" the third daughter-in-law Liu Erni took the initiative to say.
Old Lady Gu glared at her and said, "I don't know what you are planning yet, don't even think about it, I want to cook the meat that the second son brings back myself!"
Old Mrs. Gu didn't give her any chance to touch the meat, so Liu Erni had to give up, but her eyes were still wandering around the kitchen, as if she was looking for something valuable.
"Go, go, go. You don't even need to start a fire. You just stare at the things in the house and take them out!" Old Mrs. Gu drove the man out directly.
Liu Erni took another walk around the chicken coop in the backyard and saw her sister-in-law had just finished feeding the chickens, so she immediately stayed to chat with her.
"These old couple are so biased. They can only see the ones from the second wife. I feel sorry for my sister-in-law. Let's not talk about me and the third child, but my eldest brother is the eldest son!" Liu Erni said casually.
Chen Chunhua became angry as she wished: "Over the years, our first wife has been working like an ox in the field, working day and night, but in the end, all the benefits go to the second wife! Why!"
Liu Erni nodded and said, "It's strange to say. Second brother is a scholar, but I don't know where he got the money to show off? Did our parents give it to him? Or did our father pass on all his skills to him?"
When Chen Chunhua heard this, her heart moved and she hurried back to her room to discuss it with Boss Gu.
After her sister-in-law left, Liu Erni quickly searched the chicken coop and saw an egg hidden in a corner. She quickly stuffed it into her sleeve and then left as if nothing had happened.
"Big brother, our eldest branch can't suffer losses like this anymore. Mom and Dad are too partial to the second branch. How can my second brother have the ability to earn so much money? Did we pass on all our skills to him?" Chen Chunhua thought of the previous bullying by her mother-in-law, and she became angrier and angrier.
Old Man Gu is not an ordinary farmer. He has a family recipe for making rice wine, which has a unique flavor. In the past, winemakers would come to buy wine regularly every year.
But ever since he got the disease, he never brewed glutinous rice wine again. Others couldn't brew the same flavor because they didn't know the recipe, so the Gu family lost this business.
"Where did he get so much money? He must have earned it by selling wine recipes!" Chen Chunhua said with certainty.
"It shouldn't happen. My second brother is a scholar. Why would dad teach him how to make wine when he has nothing to do?" Boss Gu comforted himself.
"Why not? He is your father's favorite!" said Chen Chunhua.
Boss Gu shook his head and said, "Dad actually likes Nannan the most. He once said that he would save the best yellow rice wine for Nannan to drink when she gets married."
When talking about his sister who passed away young, Boss Gu felt a moment of sadness in his heart.
"After all, my daughter will get married. No matter how much I love her, I will not give the recipe to her. The same can't be said for my son. You are the eldest son in the family, so why don't I teach you such an important wine recipe?" Chen Chunhua asked.
Boss Gu said, "Who could have predicted that Dad would become confused so quickly? He didn't even have time to pass on the recipe."
"Who knows if he told your second brother behind your back?" Chen Chunhua still felt that there was something fishy going on.
Boss Gu shook his head: "If Dad passed the wine recipe to my second brother, Mom would definitely know and she would never allow the recipe to be sold. My second brother can make money because of his own ability and it has nothing to do with the wine recipe."
"I don't believe he is so good at making money. This recipe should have been given to our first wife!" Chen Chunhua said indignantly.
Boss Gu was getting impatient and said, "Who doesn't want the wine recipe? Do we have to ask Daddy now? He's confused and doesn't remember anything! It's not like Mom hasn't asked him before, but it's useless! Can you please stop making trouble!"
Chen Chunhua stamped her feet: "Gu Mingshu, who am I doing this for? It's for you and the two children! Why don't you appreciate it at all!"
Boss Gu said, "Okay, okay, you are doing this for our own good! Then I will go to my parents to divide the family property now?"
Chen Chunhua quickly pulled him back and said, "That's not what I meant!"
"So what do you want to do?" asked Boss Gu.
Chen Chunhua said: "Now the family property must be divided equally. We, even if we are the eldest wife, will not get any advantage. Tell mother that we are willing to give all the private property to her and ask the other two wives to do the same!"
Her idea was very simple. She wanted to use her small amount of savings to share the second wife's generous private property.
Gu Laoda said, "You should give up this idea. Mother will not agree. The money earned by the second branch will be used to help my second brother take the exam. It may seem like a lot now, but it will all be spent in the end."
"Then don't let him take the exam! Everyone praises him as a potential juren, but after so many years of taking the exam, he is still a tongsheng. Is there any need for him to take the exam? It's a waste of money!" Chen Chunhua said.
Upon hearing this, Boss Gu suddenly fell silent.
Gu Mingda is indeed well-educated, but he always encounters unexpected situations in every exam. If he is destined to fail, it seems that there is really no need to waste money.
Chen Chunhua saw her husband's expression and knew something was going to happen, so she said, "I'm not stopping my second brother from taking the exam, but look at our family. The children are getting older every day. My son needs money to get a wife, and my daughter needs a dowry. Everything costs money. The money my second brother saves by not taking the exam once will be enough for Gu Yun and Gu Jin to marry a wife."
Boss Gu looked torn. On one side was his younger brother, and on the other were his two sons. After a long while, he finally said, "I'll find a way to talk to Mom about this."
Although the couple in the eldest wife had a lot of things on their mind, the fact that there was meat for dinner did not stop them from scrambling for it. Not only did they grab it themselves, they also helped the children to grab it.
"Xiao Ya!" Liu Erni suddenly scolded Xiao Ya.
Gu Xiaoya immediately quickened her pace and stuffed the meat on the chopsticks into her mouth, fearing that if she was a step late, her mother would force her to give the meat to her younger brother.
Liu Erni glared at her daughter.
After dinner, the women cleared the table. Gu Lao Da hesitantly approached his mother and glanced at Gu Mingda who was standing beside him.
"If you have something to say, say it. If you have to fart, fart!" said Mrs. Gu unhappily.
Gu Laoda asked, "Second brother, how many times have you participated in the examination for the title of Scholar?"
Gu Mingda remembered it clearly: "Five times."
Gu Laoda said, "Mom, my second brother is about to go to the city to take the exam. The last time I accompanied him to the city, he was vomiting and having diarrhea. The last time he suddenly caught a cold the night before he entered the exam room. The time before that, he fell on the way before he even reached the city. He couldn't lift one of his arms for several days. It hurt me so much to see him like that."
"Second brother, I know you are a capable person. If you had taken the exam normally, you would have passed the exam long ago. But something goes wrong before every exam. I am not worried about the exam fee, but I am worried about you. Otherwise, you should not take the exam this time."
(End of this chapter)
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