Inside the main room, Gu Dekang and Zhang Shi sat on the kang (a heated brick bed).
The eldest uncle, Gu Yingfu, and the second uncle, Gu Yinggui, were both sitting in chairs, while Xie from the second wife's family and Yang from the eldest wife's family stood beside their husbands with their children.
Upon seeing Gu Sang's family arrive, Gu Dekang greeted them in a low voice, "Sang Sang is here. How are you feeling?"
Before Gu Sang could speak, Zhang Shi impatiently interrupted, "So what if he was buried alive for a few hours? He can't possibly die!"
Gu Sang felt a chill in her heart.
Judging from her grandparents' behavior, it seems they're going to cause another scene today.
Gu Sang glanced at her uncle and grandparents with a sly smile and said threateningly:
"Grandpa, Grandma, Sangsang is alright now. It's just that she was buried with the people below, and I feel like she's been tainted by something, so I have to be careful what I say. I probably can't just say things like whether she's dead or not."
That brat!
Upon hearing this, Zhang's face turned pale, but she was still frightened and afraid of getting involved in something, so she didn't say anything more.
“Sangsang is right,” Gu Dekang glanced at Zhang Shi, then nodded to Li Shi, “I’ve come to you today to discuss this matter of being buried with you.”
"The eldest son is a fool. He actually sold his own niece to be buried with him for thirty taels of silver. Fortunately, Sangsang is alright now. But since Sangsang ran away, if the Yang family finds out, they will never let it go. What I mean is that this matter must be resolved."
solve?
Gu Sang couldn't help but sneer.
The trouble was caused by her uncle, and the money was taken by her uncle. What's the point of asking her third wife, a widow and orphan, to solve this?
She looked at her uncle, Gu Yingfu, and saw a hint of guilt in his eyes.
As expected, Gu Dekang said earnestly, "Sangsang is the Gu family's granddaughter, and we can't hand her back to the Yang family. So we have to return these thirty taels to the Yang family. The eldest son took out twenty taels of this money to supplement the family income, so he only has ten taels left. The eldest and second sons chipped in ten taels, and the third son's wife, you can make up the remaining ten taels!"
Upon hearing this, Li panicked immediately: "Father, the household expenses that Ying'an used to send are all in my eldest brother's hands, I really don't have any money on me..."
Before he could finish speaking, Gu Yingfu couldn't help but retort, "Sister-in-law, don't you still have your dowry? That hairpin your mother left you is worth quite a bit of money!"
Upon hearing this, Li's face turned deathly pale.
Her mother did leave her a silver hairpin, but she also told her that she must not sell it even if she starved to death.
Gu Sang observed Li's expression and guessed that the silver hairpin must be of great significance.
Seeing Gu Yingfu's calculating manner, Gu Sang was furious. Gu Yingfu got all the benefits, but when things went wrong, they were the ones who had to take the blame.
She stared intently at Gu Yingfu and sneered, "Uncle's words are interesting. Aunt and Second Aunt also have dowries. Why don't you two aunts take out your dowries to make up for it!"
“What are you saying! We’re doing this for you. If we can’t raise these thirty taels of silver, you’ll have to bury it again, or we’ll be in legal trouble! So, sister-in-law, since you’re not going to wear it anyway, just take out that hairpin!” Gu Yingfu said emphatically.
Upon hearing this, Li was shocked. She looked at Gu Sang with reluctance, her heart filled with hesitation.
Gu Sang wasn't fooled; what was this guy trying to twist?
"Uncle! This deal was made by you and the Yang family! You're the one who'll handle the lawsuit! What does it have to do with me! What do you mean by 'for my own good'! This thirty taels of silver is supposed to help with household expenses, but my younger siblings haven't even had a bowl of porridge, while you and your wife have put on new clothes!"
Gu Sang couldn't stand those who took advantage of others and then acted innocent. She immediately said coldly, "Those who eat meat don't think about us, but now that something's happened, they expect us to be the ones to take the lead. Why should we be the ones to do this?"
"How dare you! What nonsense are you spouting? We're all family, why are you calling us 'yours' and 'me'? Besides, you widows and orphans haven't done much for us, and your uncle hasn't said much either. Why are you suddenly scheming against me?"
Gu Dekang slammed his hand on the table and shouted sternly, "Third daughter-in-law! You know this is all because Gu Sang ran away and broke the deal with the Yang family! If you don't bring out the hairpin, then bury Gu Sang back down!"
Gu Sang felt a chill in her heart.
In his heart, he cursed the original owner's family of awful relatives to the core!
Li was originally timid, but now she was terrified. Tears streamed down her face as she said frantically, "I'll take it, I'll take the hairpin out right now, please don't sell my Sangsang."
In her panic, she tried to go home to get the hairpin.
Gu Sang was furious; her mother was truly a pushover.
She grabbed Li Shi and looked coldly at Gu Dekang: "Sir, can you bury me alive? Can you bury my mother alive? Can you bury my brothers and sisters alive? Can you bury all three branches of our family alive? If you can't, as long as one of us is alive, we'll crawl to the government office, crawl to the village head, and ask him what kind of logic it is to sell one's own niece!"
Gu Sang's gaze was like a sharp blade, piercing straight into Gu Dekang's eyes.
His heart skipped a beat!
He was speechless for a moment.
If word gets out, the Gu family's reputation will be ruined!
Gu Dekang remained silent, his face grim.
The atmosphere became tense for a moment.
Second Uncle Gu Yinggui greeted him with a smile: "Father, since Third Sister-in-law and Sangsang refuse to produce the hairpin, why not separate the Third Branch of the family and use the land belonging to the Third Branch to pay off the debt!"
Separation!
If the Gu family were to split up, Gu Sang's branch would naturally receive land and houses as well.
Selling the land that belonged to the Gu family meant that the Gu family could no longer live and eat with the Gu family.
Gu Sang and Li Shi need to support themselves without having any land!
This is tantamount to driving Gu Sang's family to their deaths!
Gu Sang's gaze toward Gu Yinggui was tinged with coldness.
Gu Dekang frowned, then said something even more shocking to Gu Sang: "There's no need to separate the family. If we separate, where will the third daughter-in-law's family live? Since the land has been sold, the third daughter-in-law will have to take care of the household expenses herself from now on. But she still needs to be filial to her parents!"
If the family separates, whether Li is willing to be filial to her parents-in-law depends on their relationship.
No points were awarded; that's just my duty!
This is what greed is all about!
Gu Sang understood the key point and immediately rejected the idea: "Then let's divide our three branches! Otherwise, if we're all mixed up, our family of five children will have to rely on you for food. If we're divided, my mother can support all five of us, which is more reasonable!"
Gu Dekang was naturally unwilling to let the five children share a bite or two, but after being rebuked several times by Gu Sang, a girl, he immediately turned cold: "If you want to divide the property, then divide it! From today onwards, all of you from the third branch of the family will move out of the main courtyard! I will give you the thatched house at the foot of the mountain, and from now on, your life or death has nothing to do with our Gu family!"
The thatched hut at the foot of the mountain was tiny, dilapidated, and shabby; there wasn't even a bed inside...
Moreover, the mountain is half barren.
Li's face turned deathly pale after hearing this.
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