Chapter 163 Go to the Zhu Family to Seek Justice

Chapter 163 Go to the Zhu Family to Seek Justice

Gu Tang was quite satisfied with this explanation.

Her father was not the kind of man who favored boys over girls. Two years ago, she had heard him talk to Zhang about their daughter's marriage in the future.

According to her father's idea, no matter which of the two daughters got married, the family would have to prepare boxes, household items, bedding, clothes, etc. All in all, each would need at least two taels of silver.

Don't look down on these two taels of silver. When a country family marries a wife or daughter, the betrothal gift is usually around a hundred copper coins, sometimes more, but at most only one tael.

Most dowries consisted of a bundle, a set of clothes, a better dowry box, and an even better dowry of a quilt.

A thick quilt costs more than a hundred coins, which is more than the betrothal gift.

Not only did her father prepare a dowry of two taels of silver for each daughter, he also did not keep any of the betrothal gifts given by the husband's family and left it all for the daughters as dowries.

Normally, the betrothal gift should be kept, but her father did not intend to keep it and gave it all to his daughter.

After Zhang knew her father's plan, her face became long and she said that with such a dowry, there would not be a single penny left in the family, and her words showed that she was unwilling.

But no matter how reluctant Zhang was, she had no choice. At that time, there was already a rift between her father and Zhang, and he kept all the money he earned in his own hands and did not give it to Zhang.

Zhang, who had no control over the family's savings, had no say in her daughter's dowry.

Now Gu Mei brought disaster upon herself and lost the two taels of silver as dowry.

Two taels of silver was nothing to Gu Tang, who had a "huge sum of money" in his hands, but in this rural farm family, it was definitely a grand occasion.

She didn't want to let Gu Mei get away with it.

No matter whether the cloth was stolen by Gu Mei's aunt, or by Gu Mei herself, or by both of them together, the cloth is definitely gone!

Without the cloth, Gu Mei, as the suspected cloth thief, must be punished.

Gu Tang felt relieved when her father took back the two taels of silver as dowry. However, this did not stop her from continuing to flatter Gu Mei.

"I kept the cloth on purpose because I was still growing up and if I made clothes out of that fine cloth, I might not be able to wear them in a year or two.

I thought about putting it in the closet for two or three years, then taking it out and making it into clothes. I would make it bigger so that I could wear it for many years.

Unexpectedly, it was stolen long ago, and I didn't even notice when it was stolen. It's really hard to guard against thieves in your own home."

Gu Tang sighed softly, his tone was extremely reluctant, and the disappointment between his brows was not concealed at all.

"Don't be sad. I know which cloth shop sells that cloth. I'll buy you two later... I'll buy two pieces. You can use one to make clothes first, and keep the other one. When you're older, you can make two more clothes."

Gu Lianshan tried to comfort her, but he became more and more angry with Gu Mei in his heart. He usually thought she was stupid, but he didn't expect that she would team up with her aunt to steal his own sister's things!

"That's not necessary. Last time when I went shopping in Bei'an City, I bought several pieces of cloth. They are still lying around in the house. If you buy two more pieces, I'm afraid the cabinet won't be able to hold them all."

Gu Tang shook her head and asked her father to give up the idea of ​​buying two more horses for himself. She then changed the subject and talked about Gu Mei's aunt.

"A piece of cloth is four meters long, which can make four or five sets of clothes with some left over. The Zhu family's aunt only made one set of clothes for my eldest brother and sister, and took the rest of the cloth away with her. This matter cannot be left unexplained like this. There must be an explanation. The elders of the Zhu family must know about this."

"You're right, the Zhu family really needs to give an explanation." Even if Gu Tang didn't mention this matter, Gu Lianshan would not leave out the Zhu family.

After calming down, he discussed with his uncle, "I will take Mei to the Zhu family tomorrow morning to explain the matter clearly. Regardless of whether the remaining cloth is returned or not, there must be an explanation for this matter. It cannot be left unclear."

"That's right. Stealing... is not a glorious thing. You have to make it clear." Third uncle frowned. Mei girl is not a good person and she is not smart either.

Aunt Zhu blatantly stole cloth from the Gu family. As a girl from the Gu family, you saw it but did not stop her, nor did you tell your elders, and you even accepted the "hush money" given by Aunt Zhu.

Now, no matter you stole or not, you can't get away.

If there is a first time, there will definitely be a second time. If Aunt Zhu takes a fancy to something from the Gu family again and asks you to help steal it, will you do it?

If you don't do it, the news of stealing the cloth will spread out immediately, and all the blame will be thrown on you, after all, the new clothes in your room are made of the stolen cloth.

You can't deny it even if you want to!

Thinking about this, Third Uncle finally understood why Gu Lianshan was so anxious to marry Gu Mei off.

This stupid and vicious girl, he couldn't bring himself to kill her, and if he kept her at home, she would be a nuisance. Now the only thing that was exposed was stealing cloth, what about the other things? He didn't believe that she only did this one thing.

After much thought, the only option is to marry her off.

As for whether the woman will bring harm to her husband's family after marriage, they don't care about that.

It's still raining outside. If I want to go to Zhu's house early tomorrow morning, it depends on whether the weather is favorable.

If the road was muddy and slippery the next night, we would not be able to go and would have to stay for two or three days.

If the rain stops in the middle of the night, we can take a bus the next day and take a good road. It doesn't matter if we take a longer route.

Before going to bed, Gu Lianshan stood under the corridor and looked at the rain. It was not heavy, so he hoped that the rain would stop soon so as not to delay his trip to Zhu's house tomorrow.

The rainy night in winter was unusually cold, and everyone in the courtyard quickly turned off the lights and went to sleep.

The lights in Gu Mei's room were also off, but she was just lying on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

The stolen firewood was returned and the stove in the house was extinguished early. At this moment, she didn't dare to go to the backyard to get firewood from the woodshed.

Si Ya had said before that she was not allowed to use the firewood in the backyard. She was afraid that as soon as she brought the firewood into the house, Si Ya would seize the opportunity and beat her again.

She wrapped herself tightly in the quilt, but there was not much warmth in the bed. Her stomach was still growling. She was not allowed to eat dinner, and she was so hungry that she felt dizzy.

While enduring the cold and hunger, with her mind in a mess, Gu Mei felt that her father's attitude today was very strange.

Her father has always favored the fourth girl and he also dislikes her maternal grandfather, the Zhu family.

Now that she knew that Si Ya's cloth was stolen by her aunt, based on her past temper, she would definitely be beaten!

But today she was very calm, not even angry at all. Her temper was so unlike her father's. It was like she had become a different person.

If it were just this, Gu Mei would at most feel a little relieved and would not think too much about it. She would just think that they were about to be adopted and her father would not lose his temper and beat his daughter.

But for some reason, Gu Mei's heart kept pounding, and she felt very anxious. She always felt that something was going to happen. Was her father planning something bad?

The more Gu Mei thought about it, the more worried she became. She didn't feel sleepy at all and tossed and turned in agony in bed.

She didn't know how long she endured it, until she could no longer hear the sound of rain outside, she finally felt sleepy and fell into a drowsy sleep.

Not long after I fell asleep, I heard the crowing of chickens from the woodshed in the backyard. It was almost five o'clock in the morning.

As the sky began to turn light, the roosters in the woodshed crowed even more cheerfully.

My third uncle, who hadn't heard the crowing of a rooster in his home for many years, was the first to wake up.

The room was still pitch dark, with only a little light coming from the stove not far away.

The old man listened to the crowing of roosters, and the long-lost smell of life arose in his home that had been silent for many years, which made people sigh again and again.

Not long after, the sound of a door opening was heard outside. It came from the east wing, and I guess Lianshan was rising.

Third Uncle still remembered that Gu Lianshan was going to take Gu Mei to Zhu's house today, and he didn't know whether the road outside was passable.

Thinking of this, he sat up, groped for the small table beside the bed, and after finding the oil lamp, he threw on some clothes and got out of bed, then went over to light the oil lamp with the remaining fire in the stove.

With the lighting of the oil lamp, there was finally some light in the house. Third Uncle started to put on his clothes and shoes, and hurried out to take a look.

When he put on the coat, his eyes fell on the newly bought fur coat on the bed.

This was bought by his granddaughter, specially as a gift to him as a gift of filial piety. He now has children and grandchildren.

When he thought of this, Third Uncle couldn't contain his joy and simply took off his coat and put on the fur coat.

After getting dressed, the old man walked out of the house refreshed.

When I reached the corridor, I saw Gu Lianshan opening the gate.

"It's still dark so early in the morning. Where are you going?" Third Uncle couldn't help but ask.

Hearing his uncle's voice, Gu Lianshan stopped what he was doing and looked back: "Dad? Why are you up so early?"

Uncle San came over from the east corridor and said, "I always get up at this time. But you, what are you doing?"

"I'll go outside and check the road to see if cars can pass." Gu Lianshan continued to remove the bolt and opened one of the gates.

Outside the courtyard gate was the main road of the village. Gu Lianshan walked on it and stepped back and forth. Soon his feet were covered with mud, but it was not much, and the ground was not too soft, so it should be possible for a car to pass.

Third Uncle looked a little worried and said, "How about waiting for two more days? I think this road is a bit risky."

"It's okay. I'll just walk on the main road. It's a road that has been compacted by people for decades. This little bit of rain won't hinder me."

Gu Lianshan was angry, and seeing that the road was barely passable, he didn't want to wait any longer. He was afraid that if he waited another two days, he would be so angry that he would die.

Seeing that he couldn't persuade her, the uncle stopped trying to persuade her. "In that case, you can go to the backyard to harness the cart. I'll go to the kitchen to cook some porridge and a few eggs. You and Mei can eat first."

"How can I let you cook? Go back to the house and warm yourself by the fire. I'll go cook. It won't be too late to harness the carriage after the rice is cooked. After all, the Zhu family is not far away."

After closing the front door, Gu Lianshan rolled up his sleeves and walked towards the kitchen.

Third Uncle didn't go back to the main room either. Instead, he went to the kitchen and sat in front of the stove to help light the fire.

Thinking about how Gu Laian put his chopsticks into his second daughter's plate yesterday and the second daughter only ate half of her dinner and stopped eating, Gu Lianshan planned to make a few egg pancakes for her today to compensate her for the grievance she suffered.

By the time the meal was cooked, it was already bright outside.

Gu Lianshan first went to the backyard to harness the ox cart, pulled the ox cart to the front yard and stopped, then went to call Gu Mei to get up.

He just called Gu Mei and didn't say anything. He just told her to get up quickly and said he had something important to take care of.

After a night of freezing cold and barely sleeping for two hours, Gu Mei didn't want to get up at this moment. She hadn't slept enough and wanted to sleep for a while longer.

Unfortunately, Gu Lianshan didn't indulge her and kept knocking on the door. His tone changed from cold at the beginning to impatient now. Anyone could hear that he was angry when he shouted at people.

Gu Mei, who was so sleepy that she could not open her eyes, suddenly became alert and responded hurriedly a few times, not daring to stay in bed any longer.

Although Gu Lianshan only called out to Gu Mei with his loud voice, he still woke up Gu Tang and the others.

Gu Tang liked to stay in bed the most in the morning. After being woken up, she turned over, covered her head with the quilt, and soon fell asleep again.

Gu Ping'an didn't continue sleeping. He yawned twice, then got up and got dressed.

When he got dressed and walked out of the house, he just happened to see Gu Mei from the east wing opposite, also coming out of the house.

Seeing Gu Ping'an, Gu Mei didn't give him a good look. She glared at him with a gloomy face, then waved her sleeves and went to the kitchen.

Gu Ping'an curled his lips and didn't want to pay attention to her, but he saw his father standing at the door of the kitchen, holding a bowl in his hand and eating without raising his head.

I touched my stomach and felt a little hungry, so I followed him.

I walked around the corridor on the side of the main room to the kitchen and bumped into Gu Laian who was about to come out of the room.

Gu Laian is even more lazy in bed than Gu Tang, but after the incident of stealing cloth yesterday, he dare not stay in bed any longer.

Although his father didn't call him to get up, he still got up obediently.

When meeting Gu Ping'an face to face, Gu Laian did not dare to glare at him as blatantly as Gu Mei did, but he also deliberately pretended he did not exist and went to the kitchen without even looking at him.

Gu Ping'an was not angry. Coincidentally, he also pretended that Gu Laian did not exist.

Gu Lianshan, who was standing at the door, seemed not to be looking over here, but in fact he saw everything, and his determination to send his eldest son away became stronger.

In the kitchen, there was a rich meal on the small table, including egg pancakes, porridge, and pickles fried with oil residue.

Gu Ping'an did not go to get the meal. Instead, he greeted his third uncle first, then poured hot water and took it outside to the corridor for washing.

However, the brother and sister Gu Mei and Gu Laian were very unrefined. Not only did they not wash themselves, they even did not wash their hands. They just stretched out their hands and tried to eat the omelette.

Third Uncle paused, trying to tactfully persuade them to wash up first.

Before he could say anything, Gu Lianshan, who was standing at the door, immediately cursed: "Put your hands down! Are you a reincarnated ghost who died of starvation?! Get out and wash up!"

The brother and sister trembled when they stretched out their hands, and quickly retracted them. They looked for a basin with dejected faces, poured some hot water, and went out to wash them roughly.

When they returned to the kitchen, they found that the egg pancakes on the small table were gone, and only fried pickles and porridge were left.

The brother and sister immediately felt dissatisfied, and it showed on their faces. They picked up their bowls with gloomy faces and started eating.

After they had finished half a bowl of porridge, Gu Ping'an, who had just washed up outside, came back dressed neatly.

After washing her face, combing her hair, and cleaning her teeth with the salt that Gu Tang secretly gave her, she felt very energetic.

When he came back and saw that the omelet on the small table was gone, his expression remained unchanged. He picked up the bowl, put two chopsticks of pickles into the bowl, and sat aside to eat.

The table was not big, and Gu Mei and her brother didn't know whether it was intentional or not, but one of them took up one side and they actually occupied all the seats.

Gu Ping'an didn't fight with them. He could eat wherever he sat. Did he think he could be superior to them by occupying the small table and not letting others sit?

No, that would only make his father more annoyed with them.

Gu Lianshan watched the scene coldly without saying a word. He finished the porridge in the bowl and went to the yard to tidy up the ox cart.

The third uncle glanced at his departing back and sighed, "Children are all debts! Some come to repay debts, and some come to collect debts."

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