A few women chatting in the distance looked over. One woman even muttered, "What a wasteful girl! She finally earned some money from selling medicine, but she used it to buy meat to honor her mother-in-law. Oh, those two little ones are so pitiful."
Another woman said, "Before they even entered the Gu family, it's still unclear whether they were mother-in-law and daughter-in-law..."
Seeing the old woman's outstretched hand, Xu Lanyin wanted to chop it off with a knife.
Xu Lanyin took two steps back to avoid Mrs. Gu's hand and said loudly, "Auntie Gu, these pig liver and lard are for my mother and younger brother to nourish their bodies. They are both sick and skinny. The doctor said they should eat more pig liver to nourish themselves. Also, if you want to eat the pears from Xu Lizheng's house, why don't you buy them yourself? Why do you have to ask me to do it?"
The word "弄" is emphasized.
Old Lady Gu was so angry that she wanted to curse. Why was this damn girl so annoying? But she thought of her son's instructions before he left, and saw that many people were watching the excitement. She suppressed the urge to curse and asked quietly, "You brought meat to my doorstep. If that's not giving me meat, what is it?"
Xu Lanyin said, "I didn't come to your house on purpose. I was just passing by here on my way home." She added, "Auntie Gu, ever since I listened to you and sold our six acres of land and gave you the money, our family hasn't had a full meal. My younger brother is hungry every day, and my older brother has even dropped out of school. It turns out that every time I collected herbs and sold them, I used the money to buy meat for you and Gu Xiucai, but our family couldn't eat any greasy food. These days, every night I dream that my father is looking at me and crying. He is blaming me. Auntie Gu, when Gu Xiucai passes the imperial examination and becomes a juren, he will have money. Can you return the money to us? We can't survive without land. Auntie Gu, please."
Old Wife was not happy to hear this and continued walking home, "What nonsense are you talking about? Who took the money from your family's land sale? My son is a distinguished scholar and doesn't care about that little money. You, a heartless girl, I don't know which young man you gave that money to, and now you're blackmailing us. Even if you want to break off the engagement with my son, you can't make up such nonsense."
With a "bang", the door closed.
Xu Lan shouted at the gate, "Auntie Gu, you have to speak with conscience. Scholar Gu is about to become a juren, how dare I tell him a lie? The guarantor and Uncle Wang, who bought the land, can testify that I gave him 45 taels of silver as soon as I got it. My family has supported Scholar Gu for eight years. No matter how stupid I am, I can't let that money go to waste. It's not worth breaking off the engagement with Scholar Gu and looking for someone else."
The old woman shouted in the yard, "My son kept those for you because he was afraid you would lose them. He will return them to you when we get home. Go, go. We didn't take your money. Don't tarnish my son's reputation."
Xu Lanyin raised her hand to wipe her tearless eyes and choked up, "I know that Gu Xiucai has already lost interest in me and doesn't want to marry me. He doesn't even want to return the money. He's insulting me like this. It's really bullying."
After saying this, he walked home sadly.
Those onlookers didn't want to offend the Gu family, and the original owner's personality wasn't pleasant, so no one came out to speak a fair word for him. But speaking out those words had temporarily achieved their goal.
The shrewd Gu Wangchen is not around, and Mrs. Gu is greedy and unwilling to admit her mistakes. Xu Lanyin wants to make the purpose of the Gu family mother and son known to everyone and create public opinion.
In the distance, the soft laughter of several women and children could be heard. Someone said, "What a silly girl, and so honest. Her parents are such smart people, how could they give birth to such a fool?"
Someone else said, "At noon, I heard my mother-in-law say that the Gu family no longer wanted to marry that silly girl, and they didn't want to admit it. My father-in-law also said that my mother-in-law was talking nonsense, saying that Gu Xiucai was offered by the second wife of the Xu family, and he asked for so much money, so how could he not marry the girl from the Xu family. Now, listening to what Gu Dasao said, she really doesn't want to admit it."
Another person said, "Mrs. Gu has eyes on her forehead. Now that her son has betrayed her, she looks down on that silly girl. But Mr. Gu is a man who remembers favors and will never listen to his mother."
…
Among the children playing around was the little kid Xu Yuan, who quickly ran back to tell Old Lady Xu that Xu Lanyin and Mrs. Gu had started arguing. When Old Lady Xu came back, Xu Lanyin had already left. She started to complain to the others about how much money her second son's family had spent on Gu Wangchen's education, and how the Gu family didn't want to admit it. She also gritted her teeth and scolded Xu Lanyin for being stupid.
When Xu Lanyin returned home, Xu Lanzhou felt a little distressed when he saw how many things she had brought back. But when he thought about how she had not been cheated by the old woman, he felt that he had made some progress and a smile appeared on his face again.
After going to Qin's house, Xu Lanyin took out the remaining two hundred coins and told her how much the medicine was sold for and how much she spent.
When she said she spent ten cents on a bowl of sweet potato noodles, Xu Lanzhou twitched his lips in pain and muttered softly, "Spendthrift."
Qin smiled gently and said, "Your sister has been tired for so many days, she deserves a bowl of noodles."
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Mom still loves me."
She took out a nine-liang silver ingot, two silver dimes, and several hundred coins from her bosom and placed them on the table.
Qin was surprised and asked, "Where did you get so much money?"
Xu Lanyin said, "I took all the dowry my father gave me to the county town and sold or pawned it. Mother, I will pay back all the money I lost."
Qin's face flushed with anger, and she swayed as she shouted, "That was the dowry your father gave you. Why are you squandering it again..."
Xu Lanyin said, "I'm not a spendthrift. I can't even get married, so why would I need a dowry?"
Qin added, "But you will eventually get married."
Xu Lanyin said, "We'll talk about the future later. What our family needs most right now is money to tide us over. Mother and my younger brother need money for medicine, and they need to eat better. My eldest brother can't do heavy work like logging anymore. He's still a child, and his body can't handle it." She then pulled Qin's arm and said, "Mother, you are the best people in this world to me. I can't let anything happen to you. I was blind and blind in the past..."
Qin was very pleased and patted Xu Lanyin's hand and said, "Good child, you have really grown up..."
Xu Lanyin advised again, "Mom, your illness is mainly due to your heart. Dad is gone, but we still have my brother and I, and my younger brother is still so young. I promise not to ruin the family again, so you should be more open-minded. If you are gone, our family will fall apart, and what will happen to my two younger brothers?"
These words made Qin cry, and even Xu Lanzhou's eyes turned red.
After the three mothers had a private conversation for a while, Xu Lanyin told them about the quarrel she had just had with Mrs. Gu.
After hearing that Mrs. Gu clearly denied her mistake, Qin and Xu Lanzhou were still very angry.
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "It's a good thing she doesn't admit it. Everyone in the village knows everything, so their intentions are clear as day."
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