Chapter 81: Humility
Old Mrs. Gu looked dazed. She had never expected that she would become so popular.
But she still understood her two sons and knew that they were the kind of people who would not do anything without the benefit of money.
"You all want to support me, but what about your father?" asked Old Mrs. Gu.
Boss Gu pretended to be stupid: "Mom, Dad has always liked my second brother and Niuniu the most, so I can't compete with my second brother for them."
Gu Laosan also echoed.
The old lady looked at her two sons and felt sad.
The old lady understood the reason after just a casual thought. The old man was sick and couldn't help them with the work. Although she was sick once, her body was actually not seriously injured and she could still help them.
More importantly, by raising her, they can receive daily filial piety from the second brother. Even if she gets sick, it doesn't matter, because they can ask the second brother for medical money.
"Mom, it's the eldest son's responsibility to inherit the family business and support his parents. Don't worry, I will definitely be filial to you in the future." Boss Gu promised solemnly.
All he said was "protecting the family business", and he almost said outright that he wanted to take the biggest share when the family was divided.
"Your father and I have been together all our lives. Now that we have separated, we have no plans to separate." After saying this, Mrs. Gu saw that her eldest son's face became visibly ugly.
"Mom, we will just take care of each other separately. Our family only has this one house, so we will naturally live together when the time comes." Boss Gu explained.
The old lady felt that if she continued to argue, it would most likely only result in a sad outcome. She then looked at the clan leader who was waiting on the side and said, "His uncle, my old man is confused now, I will take charge of his affairs."
Patriarch Gu nodded and said, "That should be the case."
In today's family division, Old Lady Gu deliberately sent Old Man Gu out because she didn't want to make the old man sad.
Old Mrs. Gu continued, "I thought about it yesterday. The old man and I will live with the second son from now on."
As soon as these words were spoken, the faces of Gu Lao Da and Gu Lao San changed.
Especially for Boss Gu. Although he doesn't want to support his confused father, if he doesn't even support his mother, then as the eldest son, he will probably be criticized by people in the village.
More importantly, if you don't support your parents, you will probably not get their retirement land, and you won't even get any advantage when the family property is divided.
"Mother, you..."
As soon as Boss Gu opened his mouth, he was interrupted by the old lady.
"I know it's not easy for both of you. You and your wife have three children. The third child and his wife have a big family to support." said Old Mrs. Gu.
Once she made up her mind, she would not change it. At this point, she was very clear-headed and knew clearly which of her three sons was the most filial.
After seeing the farce of the eldest and third sons, the old lady felt sorry that these two useless things would hardly get much care from the second son in the future, but she was also a person of flesh and blood. The second son was willing to give up the family property so that she and her father could enjoy their old age. She couldn't bear to let his efforts go to waste.
"As for all these shabby belongings, land, and cash in the house, divide them equally into four parts. Each of the three branches will get one part, and your father and I will get one part." Old Mrs. Gu made the final decision and stated the plan for dividing the family that she had thought of a long time ago.
Although Gu Mingda said that he didn't want anything, it was impossible for Grandma Gu not to fight for him for anything.
The eldest brother Gu had an extremely ugly expression on his face at this moment. Since his parents were going to live with Gu Mingda in their old age, then after they passed away, this one quarter of the family property would naturally be left to the second brother.
Obviously, he was the eldest son and should have taken the largest share of the family property, but now the person who got half of the property was Gu Mingda.
Gu Mingda had just passed the imperial examination and was at the peak of his career, so Boss Gu could hardly hide his jealousy.
Patriarch Gu didn't pay much attention to the expressions of his two nephews. Instead, he agreed with Old Lady Gu: "My sister-in-law's way of dividing the family property is fair. If everyone has no other ideas, let's divide it this way."
Boss Gu turned around and looked at his wife, and Chen Chunhua hurriedly winked at Uncle Chen.
Liu Erni was also throwing hints to her younger brother Liu Dashan.
The two brothers from her mother's family spoke at the same time.
But before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by a louder voice.
"I have other ideas." Gu Mingda said loudly.
Patriarch Gu was very polite to Gu Mingda. After all, if you counted carefully, there hadn't been a scholar in the Gu family for thirty or forty years.
"Since Mingda has an idea, you speak first." Patriarch Gu said in a gentle voice.
Boss Gu's eyes darkened. He felt that the clan leader's appearance was so flattering that it was almost blinding. He thought that Gu Mingda had objections because he wanted to get more of the family property. At this time, his dissatisfaction with his younger brother had reached its peak.
Gu Mingda seemed to have not noticed the unfriendly looks from his elder and third brothers, and took the initiative to say, "Uncle, mother, I started school when I was six years old, and I have been studying for 27 years now."
"I am ashamed to say that I have been concentrating on studying these years and have hardly ever worked in the fields. Unlike my eldest brother and third brother, they all followed our parents to work in the fields when they were teenagers. They never complained, but I feel very ashamed..."
"When my eldest brother was fifteen, he sprained his ankle but didn't say a word. It was only after we finished harvesting the wheat that we realized he was injured... When my third brother was sixteen..."
Listening to Gu Mingda recounting the contributions that the eldest and third brothers Gu had made to the family and the hardships they had endured for the family over the years, the two brothers' originally restless hearts gradually calmed down.
Gu Mingda sighed and said, "I have taken advantage of you for so many years. Now I have passed the imperial examination and become a scholar. I can't continue to take advantage of you. I don't want any of this property."
As soon as these words were spoken, there was an immediate uproar. Everyone present was surprised, except for Old Lady Gu, who remained calm.
The impression given by people is very different whether the matter of Gu Mingda not wanting the family property was proposed by Old Lady Gu or by Gu Mingda himself.
After all, what he voluntarily gave up were land and property worth real money. The old Gu family had been running the business for many years, and the blue brick and tile house they lived in now alone was worth twenty or thirty taels of silver.
What's more, the Gu family still has twelve acres of land.
One mu of land is worth about eight taels of silver, which is close to one hundred taels of silver.
The Gu family has sixty taels of silver in cash.
With a casual calculation, Gu Mingda apparently gave up forty or fifty taels of silver.
Old Mrs. Gu knew that her second son had made up his mind, but she still pointed it out deliberately:
"Second brother, although you have been studying all these years, you are a capable person. Mother counted the money you gave to the family last night, and there are more than 40 taels of silver. You buy meat every few days, and buy clothes for the whole family during festivals. Even our tofu recipe was brought back by you. Your parents have not raised you in vain."
Gu Mingda could be modest, but Grandma Gu couldn't let other people really think that her second son was a freeloader and therefore looked down on him.
When Patriarch Gu and his two brothers-in-law heard this, they were all shocked. They knew that Gu Mingda was a capable man, but they didn't expect him to be so successful.
No matter how hard and tiring farming is, you can't easily earn forty taels of silver.
The Gu family’s total assets amount to sixty taels of silver, and two-thirds of it was contributed by Gu Mingda!
Buying meat every now and then, and buying clothes during festivals, this is a considerable expense. It is said that Gu Mingda paid for the exam with his own money. At this time, they couldn't help but wonder how good Gu Mingda is at making money!
At this time, Uncle Chen frowned and looked at his sister Chen Chunhua in confusion. His eyes were almost like asking directly: You have a brother who makes money like this, why don't you just cling to him and force the old lady to split up the family?
First update
(End of this chapter)
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