Chapter 33 This family cannot be divided
As soon as Grandpa said this, everyone in the room looked at him in astonishment as if they were under a spell.
Everyone was confused. Weren't they talking about setting up a school? Why did they suddenly mention splitting up the family?
"Dad, did we do something wrong to make you angry? Why do you suddenly want to split up the family?" Gu Huangtai asked cautiously, feeling uneasy.
"Dad, look at how many families in the village have split up? If this gets out, I'm afraid we'll be criticized by the villagers!" Uncle Gu also looked disapproving.
Gu Xuanhai's face was solemn. After a long silence, he slowly spoke. "I have made up my mind. You don't need to persuade me anymore."
His eyes slowly swept across the people in the room, finally landing on Gu Jiayue. But he quickly looked away, his eyes revealing both helplessness and a hint of determination.
Uncle Gu frowned and said with a worried look on his face, "Dad, splitting up the family is no small matter. We've always been a harmonious family, and suddenly splitting up will inevitably lead to gossip."
The normally timid second aunt couldn't help but speak up at this moment. "Dad, aren't you going to force the second child to death?"
What my second aunt said is not without reason.
If the family remained united, even if there were hundreds of people living in one house, the Gu family would still be considered one household. When forced labor was called up, only one person was required. In previous years, the four Gu family members, father and son, took turns serving. While it was tough, it offered some respite.
But once the family split up, each household would become a separate household. Second Uncle's family only had two daughters, and if there were to be labor service again in the future, Second Uncle would probably have to go every time.
This is one of the reasons why every family wants to have more boys. In addition to the traditional concept of continuing the family line, having more adult men in the family is like having an extra pillar of support, and their role in dealing with many matters cannot be underestimated.
Thinking about the fact that Gu Huangtai's legs were disabled due to hard labor, Second Aunt's statement that dividing the family property was forcing Second Uncle to die was not alarmist or groundless.
The atmosphere at home was depressing and gloomy. The two aunts couldn't help but feel a bit resentful towards Gu Jiayue.
It’s all this girl’s fault. She couldn’t live a peaceful life but insisted on setting up a school.
It’s just a few days of reading, what’s there to show off!
Now, once the family is divided, the third brother's family has a rich daughter who can hire people to work and pay money to avoid labor service, so the whole family can have no worries about food and clothing.
But what about them? Every year from now on, the head of the family will have to do forced labor. The family didn't have much land to begin with, and after the division, each family would only have a few acres of land. After paying the taxes, they might not even be able to make ends meet!
"I don't agree to split up the family. If we split up, I will go back to my parents' home!" Seeing that no one was speaking, the aunt mustered up the courage to speak out what was in her mind.
"I don't agree either. I think it's good for our whole family to live together." Although the second aunt's voice was low, she also followed the eldest sister-in-law in expressing her attitude.
She was filled with fear and anxiety. At least her sister-in-law's family had Yushan's support. But what about her own family? She only had two underage daughters. If the family split up, she really didn't know how to make a living.
As she thought about it, she couldn't help but blame herself. It was all her fault that she was incompetent and couldn't give birth to a son for the head of the family.
Gu Jiayue stood aside, filled with guilt and self-blame. She felt that it was her idea to open a school that had caused all this trouble. "Grandpa, it's all my fault. If this family is broken up because of me, I..."
Gu Xuanhai waved his hand, interrupting her: "Jiayue, this is not your fault. Grandpa didn't propose to separate the family because he was angry. Think about it, Jiayue's opening of a school will definitely attract a lot of criticism. Our whole family is tied together, and it will be difficult for anyone to stay out of it. It's better for us to separate and live our own lives to avoid being implicated."
Uncle Gu listened and nodded thoughtfully: "Dad, you are worried that Jiayue's school will affect our family's reputation, so you want to split up the family and protect us, right?"
Gu Xuanhai nodded slightly, acknowledging his uncle's words. "I'm old now, and I don't care about gossip. But you're still young, and you have a lot of life ahead of you."
After a moment of silence, Uncle Gu said, "Dad, whether we split up or not, Jiayue is still our Gu family's child. We will never let her suffer any injustice. Opening a school is a good thing, and we all support her."
The others nodded in agreement. "Yes, whether we split up or not, in the eyes of outsiders, we're still a family. If something goes wrong, no one can escape unscathed. Even if we split up, can we just ignore each other's affairs?"
Gu Xuanhai looked at his children and grandchildren with mixed feelings. He had thought that by proposing a split, he would be able to let the young people make their own way, as he was too old to take care of all the trivial matters.
Grandma Gu glanced at everyone, her eyes glaring. She put her hands on her hips and said, "Why are you all so gloomy? Your father and I are not dead yet! I didn't say we should separate now. I just brought it up first so you can be mentally prepared. Besides, a big tree branches out, and a large family divides. This is an ancient truth. Why do you still want to rely on me and your father for your whole life?"
Grandma Gu was always quite majestic. When she spoke, no one dared to say anything and they all found excuses to leave.
Seeing this, Grandma Gu was quite proud, thinking that this family really couldn't do without her. She turned to look at Old Man Gu and couldn't help but give him another blank look.
This old man, usually silent and devoted to his work, never caring about anything at home, has become a completely different person these past two days. First, he blocked Jiayue from opening a school, and today he's even proposed splitting up the family. He's like a man who's gone mad after eating beef—it's inexplicable.
Grandpa Gu noticed the old woman's complaining look and felt aggrieved. Didn't she say it was time to divide the family? How could it be a mistake if I did what she said?
If Grandma Gu knew what he was thinking, she would probably be so angry that she would hit him.
Although she had mentioned dividing the family, she hadn't said it should be done now. Looking at this large family, while seemingly numerous and powerful, the reality is that aside from the eldest, the other two families are not very self-sufficient. If they were to be divided like this, even their livelihoods would be in jeopardy.
Gu Jiayue, who had witnessed the entire incident, also felt somewhat uneasy. After all, today's disturbance was caused by her.
She guessed that her grandfather must have been speaking in anger.
Grandfather had originally disapproved of her opening a school, but for some reason he relented. Perhaps he felt it undermined his authority as head of the family, and so he wanted to express his displeasure by dividing the family—since I can't control you, then I won't, just split the family up and let it go, out of sight, out of mind.
In reality, Gu Jiayue was leaning towards a split. However, she had gained a good understanding of the Gu family's situation over the past few days. Given the family's current situation, a split wasn't really appropriate.
But there are also many benefits for her in dividing the family.
At least in the future, you won’t have to worry too much about your elders’ acceptance when you act.
She wondered in her heart, should she take the opportunity to make this happen?
"What are you all standing there for? Come and have your meal. After you're done, get back up the hill! Day after day, I've spoiled you so much that you have so much free time to think about random things!" Grandma's scolding was as loud as a bell, reaching everyone's ears.
Gu Jiayue was shocked when she heard this.
Never mind, it doesn’t really matter whether we split up or not.
So what if you can’t buy meat at will? Eating too much meat is bad for your health. It can easily lead to the three highs and make you obese.
There is nothing wrong with discussing and reporting to your family before doing things. As the saying goes, "An old person in the family is like a treasure." Grandparents are treasures of the family. They are experienced and everything they say and do is of reference value. Just listen to them if you can.
As for the small room and the difficulty of turning over when three people squeezed into one bed, it was no big deal. Instead, it was lively and warm with everyone squeezed together.
Thinking about it this way, it would be nice not to split up the family.
Gu Jiayue comforted herself in this way while eating.
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