Chapter 7 is really unlucky! (Two chapters combined)
While eating her chicken leg, Gu Hua instructed, "I'm going outside to help out. You rest inside. If you get bored later, you can sit outside." After saying that, she poured a glass of water on the table and walked outside.
Gu Yin wasn't very hungry. After eating a large bowl of chicken and chicken soup, she was full after finishing a chicken leg and a chicken wing. She drank some water, leaned against the headboard, and looked around the room.
This is her and Gu Hua's room. The room is very simple, with a two-meter-wide wooden bed, a wooden double-door wardrobe, and a two-meter-long square desk, on which are stacked Gu Hua and Gu Yin's books and exercise books from first grade to now. The furniture in the room, no, it should be the furniture of the whole family, was all made by her uncle and grandfather together.
The Gu family has not divided the family property yet. They were originally outsiders in Lijia Village, so dividing the family property would be even worse. Moreover, the land would be difficult to divide. After his two sons got married, the old man decided not to divide the family property with the consent of his daughters-in-law.
The eldest son, Gu Qingming, married Li Xiang, who was from the next village. However, Li Xiang did not have a good relationship with her family. Originally, her younger sister, Li Fen, wanted to marry into the village. Li Fen felt that if she married someone from outside the village, she would be bullied and looked down upon by the villagers. Moreover, she had a younger brother who couldn't do heavy work and only earned 30 yuan a month. It was impossible for them to separate from the family after getting married, otherwise, wouldn't they have to support the family?
So she regretted it. On the day the Gu family set the wedding date, she ran away. But since the bride price had already been accepted, the Li family had no choice but to call out Li Xiang and ask her to marry in her place.
The change of personnel made the Gu family extremely angry. Even though they weren't originally from Lijia Village, they had lived there for so long and their household registration was there. Being bullied like this made the people of Lijia Village unhappy. Led by the old village chief, a group of them went to the neighboring village to demand justice!
Seeing that things had gotten out of hand, Li Xiang's parents declared that they had no money, but all they wanted was Li Xiang!
Seeing how shameless they were, the Gu family couldn't do anything. Fortunately, everyone knew Li Xiang. Both villages were at the foot of the mountain. When they went to the back to cut firewood, they often saw Li Xiang working there. She was very diligent!
After asking Li Xiang and Gu Qingming, and both of them agreed, the marriage was settled!
The Gu family didn't hold a grudge against Li Xiang because of Li Fen's affair. On the contrary, they were somewhat relieved that she ran away before the marriage. If she had run away after the marriage, that would have been really bad. Moreover, Li Mingfang preferred Li Xiang to Li Fen. After all, one was fair-skinned but didn't do any work, while the other was a bit dark-skinned but very hardworking. If the matchmaker hadn't introduced Li Fen, Li Mingfang would have wanted to change partners long ago.
Li Xiang had no complaints about marrying in place of her younger sister. She knew the Gu family were good people. Although they were poor, it was fine. As long as she worked hard, it was much better than staying at her parents' home.
Gu Qingming didn't have any problems either. For him, it didn't matter who he married, as long as the person was of good character, family-oriented, and hardworking. That's how everyone did it, and besides, he was getting old.
Gu Qinglang was in poor health from a young age, but he was quite talented in his studies. However, he was not very lucky. After finishing junior high school, he was admitted to a vocational school. At that time, vocational school graduates were assigned jobs. After graduating from vocational school, he was assigned to a fertilizer factory. However, due to health reasons, he did not stay for long and had to resign and go home.
It just so happened that the village primary school was recruiting teachers. Although he was a teacher, he was a temporary substitute teacher and the salary was not high. At that time, teachers in the town earned 100 yuan a month with various subsidies, while the village primary school only earned 30 yuan. Even so, it was still better than him, a 20-year-old young man, staying at home and not being able to do anything.
Gu Yin's mother, Li Mengxin, is the daughter of the village primary school principal. She is an only child from a single-parent family and also teaches at the village primary school.
A year after his elder brother Gu Qingming got married, Gu Qinglang also married Li Mengxin with the help of the old principal.
In the early 1990s, even without young children at home, the family members were not lazy. The four adults did farm work, and with two people earning wages, they managed to make a good living. They even built a two-story red brick and cement house.
Because of this, Li Xiang's younger sister, Li Fen, even came to their house to cause trouble and spread rumors about Li Xiang. Her maternal family also sided with Li Fen, causing Li Xiang to turn against her maternal family. This led to the fact that after Li Xiang died in a car accident, Gu Shu's maternal family didn't make a sound or show up at all. They even closed the door and refused to see Gu Shu and Gu Hua when they came to visit.
Gu Shu was born in 1990, Gu Hua in 1991, and Gu Yin in 1992. When Gu Yin was in elementary school, Gu Qinglang and Li Mengxin's salaries had both increased to over 100 yuan. So even though the tuition for the three children was about 1,300 yuan per semester, and even though Gu Qinglang needed to take medicine from time to time, their family could afford it.
Gu Le was born in 1999. In 2003, Gu Qinglang and Li Mengxin were laid off at the same time because they did not have teacher qualification certificates. The town primary school was going to merge all the village primary schools, and temporary teachers like them who graduated from secondary vocational schools and high schools without taking the exam would all be laid off. All the teachers in the town primary school would be teachers who graduated from regular colleges and universities.
The village school announced its closure in 2003, and Gu Yin's maternal grandfather also passed away from depression that year.
With the loss of two sources of income and the children transferring to a local primary school, the family's finances suddenly became strained.
Li Mengxin and Gu Qinglang had no choice but to try to find work in the city, but most of the jobs were temporary. They also considered starting their own business, but after years of teaching and educating people, and being honest people, they never knew there were so many scammers. They lost all their money after going out once, and if it weren't for the help of their fellow villagers, the couple would never have come back.
Just like that, the two of them gave up their idea of going to sea and started working in the fields.
Surprisingly, Gu Qinglang's health has improved a lot in the past two years of working in the fields. He can now carry small bags of rice without any problems, which has put everyone's minds at ease.
Gu Yin and Gu Hua have lived together since they were little, while Gu Shu and Gu Le share a room. It's not that their family doesn't have a house; there are empty rooms on the second floor. It's just that they are close friends (no, it's that they are all timid and afraid of ghosts!), so they have always slept in the same bed.
In her previous life, Gu Yin returned to live there a month before she passed away. At that time, the house was still the same, with all the books she had read since childhood still there. Apart from occasionally adding some daily necessities, everything else was basically the same as it is now.
Recalling this, Gu Yin got up and walked to the desk, touching the uneven scratches on it. These were all the marks she made with a pencil sharpener when she was sharpening pencils, and she was scolded by her mother for a long time at the time.
"Sister~"
Gu Yin turned around and saw Gu Le peeking out of the doorway, calling out to her cautiously.
Gu Yin beckoned him over.
Gu Le came running in, glanced up at Gu Yin, and seeing that she was alright, she sat down in a chair and softly called out, "Sister~"
Looking at her younger brother, who was alive and well in front of her, Gu Yin thought that in her previous life, he might have already been sent out of the province by now, and her heart softened instantly.
"Are you full?"
Gu Le nodded: "We're full. Grandpa and Uncle are drinking with the old village chief and Uncle Li. Mom and the others are still eating. Sister, what are you doing?"
Gu Yin patted his head: "You'll be starting elementary school in half a month. Are you looking forward to it?"
Gu Le lay on the table, tilting her head to look at Gu Yin: "Sister, is school fun? Is class fun? Are the textbooks interesting? Where are your classmates?"
Gu Yin's eyes glazed over for a moment. In her past life, if Gu Le had been adopted by a good family, she might have been able to go to school. If...
She smiled and said, "It's fun. There are many classmates at school. We go to class together, play together, go to the toilet together, and go to the convenience store together. The teachers are also very nice. They are gentle in class and will tell many stories that even your parents don't know. You can also learn sports such as basketball, table tennis, running, etc. There are also many different kinds of competitions. If you win a prize, you will receive a reward."
Gu Le straightened up, her eyes lighting up with anticipation, and asked, "Like the notebooks, water bottles, pens, and pencil cases that my older brother and sister brought back?"
Gu Yin smiled and nodded: "That's right, so once you go to school, you have to study hard and not end up like your older sister, who didn't bring anything back."
The town's primary school is quite strict. Only those who get full marks in both Chinese and Math can receive a prize. Gu Yin's handwriting is too bad. Even if she gets all the answers right, she won't get full marks. Instead, she is often called on by the teacher to read her own compositions. She writes them well, but when she reads them aloud, she can't even recognize her own words. This always makes her look ridiculous, and she still can't correct it next time.
Gu Le clenched his fist and promised, "Sister, it's okay. When I start school, I'll give you all my prizes. What everyone else has, you'll have too!"
Gu Yinyue smiled and pinched his cheek: "Okay, I'll leave my stationery to you, Ale!"
Gu Le nodded: "Mm!"
Hearing noises outside, Gu Yin guessed they were talking after finishing their meal, so she stood up and said, "Let's go out and see what Grandpa and the others are saying." With that, she took Gu Le's hand and left the room.
"Old Gu, you have no idea how uncomfortable I felt during this meal. I was so ashamed. Luckily, the two kids are alright, otherwise I would have jumped off Daqingshan Mountain! I wouldn't have been able to face you! How could I have the face to come here for a meal! If it weren't for Ashu pulling me here, I... sigh!" After saying that, Li Genzi took a big gulp of wine and then pulled Gu Jianguo to apologize.
Gu Jianguo looked at Li Genzi with suspicion: "What's wrong? Why are you saying such things? The child is missing, what does this have to do with you? Did you call these people?"
Li Genzi: “….”
"Grandpa, Third Master Li is feeling guilty. My brother asked me to come back and get the bike for you to chase after Ayin. The bike is heavy and big, and I can't ride it. I happened to run into Third Master Li, so I asked him to help me deliver it. But the chain fell off halfway there, so it was too late for the bike to be delivered. That's why Third Master Li feels guilty!" Gu Hua explained to Gu Jianguo while gnawing on a chicken foot.
"How dare you talk like that? You have no manners!" Gu Qingming glared at Gu Hua, then smiled at Li Genzi.
"Uncle Li, this has nothing to do with you. It's just bad luck, isn't it? Why did this day have to be so unlucky? What bad luck! Ugh, what really bad luck! Come on, let's drink!"
Li Genzi: "..."
"Pfft! Hahaha, your uncle is quite something!" 001 laughed in Gu Yin's mind.
Gu Yin replied helplessly in her mind, "That's just his personality; he doesn't have any bad intentions."
001 raised an eyebrow and said, "Hmm!" Then he didn't say anything more.
Seeing Gu Yin and Gu Le come out, the old village chief's son, Li Sen, sighed: "The secretary and I just went to a meeting in town a couple of days ago. At the meeting, they just mentioned that there have been human trafficking incidents in rural areas of other provinces, and that our village committee should pay more attention to unfamiliar vehicles and people, especially unfamiliar vans, pickup trucks, and other well-sealed, large vehicles. Our village didn't even have time to hold a meeting before this happened! It's our fault, we're too busy with the farming season. We thought that since we're so far away, they probably wouldn't be able to come. Who would have thought? Yin, is your forehead alright?"
Gu Yin shook her head: "It's alright, it'll be almost healed once the stitches are removed."
Gu Qinglang, who doesn't drink, handed a handful of melon seeds to Gu Le and poured a glass of milk for Gu Yin before speaking: "That's why we say, caution is the best policy. We can't be careless about anything. Take this time, for example. Who would have known that human traffickers would come to the village? We haven't seen one in so many years! Now they say there's a crackdown, but who knows what will happen next? We still need to talk to the villagers. During the day, everyone goes to work in the fields, and the old folks who have nothing to do at home should walk around the village entrance or in the village. If it's too quiet, even if it doesn't attract human traffickers, it's easy to attract thieves!"
Li Sen agreed: "Second Brother Gu is right! Didn't the neighboring village get robbed in broad daylight a few days ago? Da Shan, what do you say?"
Li Genzi's nephew, Li Dashan, who is also the current Party Secretary, nodded: "Okay, tonight we'll start with the examples of the neighboring village and Uncle Gu's family, to make them realize the importance of this matter. We have to cooperate. If anyone doesn't cooperate, we won't help them if something happens later! Qinglang, what do you think?"
After all, we're going to bring up the Gu family's affairs, so we need their consent first.
Gu Qinglang nodded: "That's fine."
The meal lasted until the afternoon before everyone dispersed.
Gu Yin still had a headache, so she went back to rest.
She vaguely heard people talking in the yard. She listened for a moment and realized that it was someone from the village who was on good terms with the Gu family who had come to visit. They were talking to Li Mengxin outside. Gu Yin turned over and fell asleep again.
When she woke up, it was already dark. She got up and went outside, where she saw her grandmother sewing pants for Gu Le.
"Grandma, where is everyone else? Why are you the only one here?"
Li Mingfang took off her reading glasses, put away her pants and sewing supplies, stood up and said with a smile, "They've all gone to a meeting. My old arms and legs are too weak to join in the fun. How are you? Are you hungry? There's still some food warming on the stove. I'll go get it for you. You sit and wait for me."
Gu Yin nodded and sat down: "Okay~"
It's not that she doesn't like crowds, it's just that she's afraid of being alone at home.
Li Mingfang took out a large bowl, on which, besides rice, she layered vegetables and chicken. Then she brought out a bowl of something white and somewhat like tofu.
"Grandma, what is this?" It smells like Chinese medicine.
Li Mingfang looked at Gu Yin's head and put the soup bowl in her hands: "This is stewed pig brain with gastrodia elata, which is good for the brain. You have a cut on your head, and you're already not very bright. I'm afraid you'll become even less bright, so I'm giving you some brain-boosting soup. Drink it quickly, eat one every day, and you should become smarter by the time school starts!"
Gu Yin: "Grandma, I'm not stupid."
"Hmph, if you weren't stupid, would you have chased after human traffickers all by yourself? You're just incredibly stupid to do that. Don't you even think about what would happen if you caught up and the traffickers took you with them? I know you're brave, and I know you're wild and fearless, but you should at least think about us, think about your parents, right? If your brother isn't found, and you're gone too, how are we supposed to live? It's a blessing that you were found; if you had found both of you..."
Li Mingfang couldn't continue, so she slapped Gu Yin: "Hurry up and drink it, be smarter next time."
Gu Yin knew that her grandmother was still scared, so she put down the bowl, hugged her arm, and rubbed against her: "It won't happen again, it will never happen again." They will be alright from now on.
"uh-huh!"
The voice of 001 echoed in my mind again.
Gu Yin ignored him and swallowed her anger as she finished the bowl of pig brain.
After dinner, Li Mingfang sat down behind Gu Yin with scissors, draping a plastic bag over her head while saying, "Your hair was already yellowish and lacked nutrition, and you kept it so long. Now look what happened, you cut off such a big chunk of it. It looked awful. I've cut it all off for you. Don't worry, it'll grow back by the time you go back to school. We'll take good care of it then. Grandma will find you some tea seed oil to make it black and shiny!"
Gu Yin wasn't overly concerned about her hair. She sat obediently, remaining still: "Okay~"
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