In their eyes, Gu Jingsheng had committed too many sins, which is why he was being punished one after another.
They thought the same as Gu Lili: if he lived alone, no one would bother to put out the fire.
After the fire was extinguished, everyone gradually went home to rest.
No one was willing to come forward to talk to Gu Jingsheng or help him clean up the mess.
The village head couldn't stand it any longer, so he sighed and walked up to Gu Jingsheng.
"Jingsheng, how did your house catch fire out of nowhere? By the way, where is Gu Shuwen?" the village head asked.
It was only then that Gu Jingsheng realized that he had been so focused on escaping that he had forgotten to rescue Gu Shuwen.
Gu Jingsheng stammered, "Shuwen, Shuwen... he didn't run away!"
Upon hearing this, the village headman was furious. Everyone in the village knew that Gu Shuwen was crippled in both legs.
How could a person with paralyzed legs escape from a fire?
Seeing Niu Cuihua's disheveled appearance, the village head became increasingly irritated and turned to take his son and daughter-in-law home.
At this moment, Gu Jingsheng's home had become ruins, and Gu Shuwen naturally had no chance of survival.
The village head no longer wanted to be a nice guy in front of Gu Jingsheng, because he had now completely seen through Gu Jingsheng.
The Gu Jingsheng of today is no longer the playmate of my childhood memories.
Gu Jingsheng today is completely unrecognizable.
Originally, the village head was thinking of asking his son and daughter-in-law to help with the aftermath, but he never expected that Gu Jingsheng would be so inhumane as to let his own grandson be swallowed up by the fire.
Seeing that even the usually kind-hearted village head was no longer willing to talk to him, Gu Jingsheng slumped to the ground in despair.
Niu Cuihua, standing beside her, was still sobbing softly.
She knew that if she cried loudly, Gu Jingsheng would definitely beat her.
Gu Jingsheng stared blankly at his messy home. He had thought that after today, his life would get better and better.
However, I never expected it to turn out like this.
......
Ever since that day when a beggar came to his door, Gu Jingsheng had a plan in mind.
Now that Gu Shuwen is paralyzed at home, yet still needs to eat, why not take him to town to beg?
Anyway, he's already in such a pitiful state, someone will definitely give him alms.
Gu Jingsheng's prediction was correct. He placed Gu Shuwen at a busy intersection, put a bowl in front of him, and quietly observed him from the side.
Before long, someone threw coins into the bowl, and someone else fed Gu Shuwen.
In just half a day, Gu Shuwen had filled his bowl with twenty-one copper coins.
This allowed Gu Jingsheng to immediately taste the sweetness of success.
If things continue like this, I can earn an ounce of silver in less than two months, so why would I need to farm?
This was practically a risk-free business. Someone was giving out food, and Gu Jingsheng took advantage of the fact that no one was watching to go and eat it himself.
To be able to return home with a full load in a single day without spending a penny is truly a wonderful thing.
Gu Shuwen is only disabled, not mentally impaired.
For him, this was a tremendous insult.
So, taking advantage of Gu Jingsheng's inattention, he secretly stole the flint he used to light his pipe.
Gu Shuwen originally intended to burn Gu Jingsheng and Niu Cuihua to death in a fire, but he did not expect that Gu Jingsheng had made a lot of money today and was so excited that he could not sleep. He was having an affair with Niu Cuihua.
Even so, by the time Gu Jingsheng realized what was happening, he hurriedly pulled up his pants and ran out; the fire was already raging.
Niu Cuihua ran away on her own; Gu Jingsheng never intended to bring her out.
Now, his grand plan to get rich has failed, and his home has been burned down.
Gu Jingsheng felt completely drained, and just sat there blankly until dawn.
Back home, Gu Lili and Gu Erniu were not affected by the events at Gu Jingsheng's house. Exhausted from the day, they fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.
The next day at cockcrow, Gu Lili and her three siblings began their busy day again.
It took two whole days of hard work to get the preparations done.
In the past few days, Gu Lili has already discussed with several close neighbors that they will help her make the sugar.
The wages for firewood, helping to boil and pull sugar were sixteen coins a day.
Because the malt is germinated in a greenhouse, where the temperature is relatively high.
The malt that Gu Lili and her brother had been storing for a few days had been used to make over 100 jin of sugar, which Gu Erniu had sent to Li's Trading Company, where Manager Li bought it all.
Having tasted the sweetness of Gu Lili's candy, Manager Li ordered another 100 jin from Gu Erniu.
Once the sprouts were ready, Gu Lili found several reliable people to help chop them up and then ferment them.
Thirty or forty people worked non-stop for three whole days and finally finished making three thousand catties of sugar.
During this time, Gu Lili went from house to house, instructing everyone on how to make sugar.
Gu Lili readily paid the wages, and the villagers who received their wages were overjoyed.
They couldn't earn that much money in a day working in the fields. It would only cost them some firewood, but there's plenty of firewood all over the mountain; they just need to collect it.
When it was time to exchange the candy, Han Changlin arrived at the gate of Gu Lili's house right on time.
Han Changlin was stunned when he saw the yard full of candy.
He hadn't expected that Gu Lili would actually make the candy as promised.
Today, he was not fully prepared and only brought a horse-drawn carriage, so it was clear that he couldn't take the candy back.
"Manager Han, this candy?" Gu Lili looked at Han Changlin, who looked embarrassed, with a half-smile.
This guy didn't even bring a convoy to haul sugar; isn't that a clear indication that he thinks he can't make sugar?
However, Gu Lili was not worried that Han Changlin would renege on his debt.
Putting aside the fact that she had already received the deposit, Gu Lili believed in Han Changlin's character based on the school being built across from her new house these past two days.
He can donate a school with just a wave of his hand; he can't be all that bad.
Han Changlin chuckled dryly, "I was in too much of a rush to leave today and didn't prepare a vehicle. Afu, hurry up and find a vehicle to transport the sugar!"
"Why bother looking for a vehicle? Our village only needs two oxcarts. Manager Han just needs to pay the fare, and we can take you to Mingyue Town," Gu Lili said with a smile.
Han Changlin nodded in agreement and readily paid the remaining money to Gu Lili.
The villagers watching looked at the silver notes in Gu Lili's hand with envy in their eyes.
None of them expected that in just one month, Gu Lili and her brother would go from being starving to becoming the richest people in the village.
Gu Jingsheng mingled in the crowd, his gaze dark and unreadable as he looked at the silver notes in Gu Lili's hand.
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