Chapter 173 Return to the Zhu Family
With something on his mind, Li Shunzi ignored Gu Mei and quickly arrived at Zhu's house in his ox cart.
After sending the people to the door of Zhu's house and waiting for them to jump off the ox cart, Li Shunzi drove away without looking back and did not say another word to Gu Mei.
Gu Mei stared at his receding back, furious. What the villagers said was right, a man who can't find a wife will become crazy after a while!
This Li Shunzi is simply sick!
First he mentioned Zhang for no apparent reason, and then he left without saying goodbye. He must be seriously ill!
Gu Mei spat at the receding figure, cursed inwardly, and vented her anger before heading towards Zhu's house.
The Zhu family's courtyard wall is a half-person-high fence, and the courtyard gate is made of bamboo. It is very simple and can only serve as a shield, but cannot protect against people at all.
Standing in front of the courtyard gate, Gu Mei saw through the sparse bamboo gaps that the bolt behind the door was not locked. She raised her hand and wanted to push the door open.
But she didn't know what happened. She suddenly felt very nervous and shivered all over. She didn't know if it was because of the cold, but her spine was tingling.
Looking into the Zhu family courtyard through the bamboo gaps, a faint voice emerged in my heart, saying, "Don't go in, don't go in..." It was as if there was a mountain of swords and a sea of fire ahead.
Gu Mei shook her head, thinking that she was too shy to discuss the marriage with the Zhu family.
But now that we are at the door, it is too late to regret...
At this moment, the tightly closed door of the Zhu family's main room was opened from the inside, and Old Mrs. Zhu walked out tremblingly, wrapped in a blanket.
As if she had a feeling, Old Lady Zhu glanced towards the gate of the courtyard and vaguely saw a person standing in front of the gate.
"Who is it?" Old Mrs. Zhu asked vigilantly.
Hearing Old Lady Zhu's voice, Gu Mei suppressed the strangeness in her heart, pushed open the gate and walked into the yard.
"Grandma, it's me."
Old Mrs. Zhu was overjoyed. Her cloudy eyes were surprisingly bright at this moment. She eagerly went to greet him: "My dear! Why are you back? Didn't you go back with Dad?"
Coming to Gu Mei, he wrapped his skinny and rough hands around hers and began to rub them, looking distressed: "Look at how cold your hands are! Did you walk back here alone? Come into the house and warm yourself up! There's a stove in the nursery, and the fire is burning brightly."
A warm feeling surged in Gu Mei's heart, and all the previous strangeness disappeared.
Her grandmother still loves her.
Old Mrs. Zhu's loud voice startled the east and west wings. The first, second and third rooms of the Zhu family all opened their doors and came out.
Seeing Gu Mei coming back, the people from the three rooms had different expressions and their eyes flickered, all of them were calculating.
But soon, the three sisters-in-law, Qin, Ding and Yan, all put on smiling faces and walked towards Gu Mei with great concern.
"Girl Mei is back? What a coincidence! Just now I was talking in the room about how you haven't stayed at home for a long time. I should have asked you to stay!"
"Sister-in-law is right. We regretted it as soon as you left. We knew your father didn't like you and that you had a hard time. Unfortunately, your father left so quickly that we didn't even have time to speak up!"
"Yes, your father has a bad temper, and this incident happened again. Your family has been worried that you will be beaten when you go back. I just told your third uncle that if it really doesn't work, let him go to see you tomorrow, but don't let your father really beat you..."
…
The three sisters-in-law were talking to each other, and the three brothers of the Zhu family who followed behind also interjected from time to time. At first glance, it really seemed like they were welcoming their closest relatives.
Gu Mei had been visiting the Zhu family for so many years, but today was the first time she was treated so warmly. The words spoken by her uncles and aunts were more caring than the others, which made her eyes red and her heart burn.
"Stop talking. Let Mei go into the house to warm up first. Poor girl, her hands are so cold!" Old Mrs. Zhu took Gu Mei and took her to the main room.
The three sisters-in-law fell behind and didn't move. They looked at each other, hesitated for a while, and finally followed.
As for the three brothers of the Zhu family, they did not follow. They looked at each other, turned back to their rooms and continued to lie down.
…
At the Gu family, except Gu Laian, no one knew that Gu Mei had sneaked away to the Zhu family.
Gu Lianshan was helping out in the backyard at the moment, as a group of people were making the final repairs to the cowshed.
The cowshed is located in the corner behind the woodshed, with its back against the courtyard wall. On the left and right sides, there are two "walls" made of bamboo inserted vertically, and then covered with thick straw curtains made of thatch, which has a very good wind-blocking effect.
The roof of the cowshed is also covered with layers of straw mats, and then thick wood chips or stones are evenly pressed on it in two circles to ensure that the thatch on the roof will not be blown away when the wind is strong.
After the cowshed was built, the chicken coop and duck coop next to it were also completed.
This time, Gu Tang raised the chickens and ducks separately, and surrounded them with a fence to form two circles. Inside the circles, he built a row of simple nests with wood chips and adobes, and filled them with straw. This not only provided a convenience for the chickens and ducks to avoid the wind and snow and keep warm, but also provided a convenience for the hens and ducks to lay eggs.
After tying up the cow in the cowshed, Gu Lianshan waited for a while. Seeing that the cow showed no signs of restlessness after moving to a new place, he went to the woodshed to catch the chickens and ducks.
Except for Third Uncle and Gu Tang, everyone else also went in to help.
There are forty chickens and ducks. How long will it take for one person to catch them all?
Fat chickens and ducks were caught one after another. They felt heavy in people's hands.
Gu Dazhu, the leader, touched the chickens a few times and said to his uncle with a surprised look on his face: "Uncle, your chickens and ducks are really well raised! I haven't seen such fat chickens and ducks in many years. Will you sell these chickens and ducks? If you do, please leave me a chicken and a duck. I will buy them and kill them for New Year's Day."
Hearing the praise, Third Uncle couldn't stop smiling, but he would not take the credit for himself.
Pointing at Gu Tang beside him, he asked Gu Dazhu to talk to Gu Tang about this matter, "These chickens and ducks are all raised by Tang girl. If you want to buy them, you just need her consent."
There was a flash of surprise in Gu Dazhu's eyes. He glanced at Gu Tang and admired him very much.
This girl is capable!
Before she was adopted, the Lianshan brothers were biased towards her and let her interfere in everything at home and outside. After she was adopted, even the third uncle was subdued.
It's really amazing. If his daughter had this ability, he would wake up laughing even when he was asleep!
Thinking of this, Gu Dazhu kept smiling, and he discussed with Gu Tang in a nice voice: "Girl, uncle likes the chickens and ducks you raise, can you sell them?"
"We can sell them." Gu Tang pointed at the rooster in his hand and said, "Only sell roosters and drakes. Keep the hens and ducks for laying eggs."
"Okay! Then leave a rooster and a duck for me, and I will come to buy them during the Laba Festival."
Gu Dazhu didn't even think about buying hens or ducks. Most people wouldn't sell hens or ducks to him as they were relying on them to lay eggs in exchange for copper coins.
"Okay, I'll pick the big ones for you. By the way, uncle, my family has accumulated quite a few chicken and duck eggs now. If you want to buy some, just come to my house. I'll give you two coppers for one chicken egg and three coppers for one duck egg."
Gu Tang's eyes were burning. The price she offered was definitely a low price!
In Bei'an City, an egg cost three copper coins, while a duck egg cost four copper coins.
If you buy them in the village, it will be cheaper. For example, ten eggs originally cost thirty copper coins, but if you buy them in the village, you only need to pay twenty-five copper coins.
If you do the math, there aren’t many cheap ones.
Her chicken eggs and duck eggs are different, they are really cheap.
Sure enough, after Gu Tang quoted this price, Gu Dazhu was tempted.
Since the beginning of winter, the two hens in his family have been starving because they have no grass, insects and other things to fill their stomachs, and they are only fed wheat bran once a day. They peck at straw in the pen every day, and are so thin that they have hardly any meat left. They have stopped laying eggs early on.
Come to think of it, my wife and children at home haven't eaten eggs for a long time. Now that they can find such cheap eggs, I can buy a few to take home and have some meat.
"Girl, can I buy five chicken eggs and five duck eggs? I can't afford more than that." Gu Dazhu felt a little embarrassed. The other party offered such a low price, and he probably wanted to sell more. However, he was short of money and couldn't afford to pay extra.
Five chicken eggs and five duck eggs together make only ten eggs, which is indeed not a lot. Gu Tang can understand that most people in the village are tightening their belts to make ends meet. Let alone reducing the price to two copper coins per egg, even if it is reduced to one copper coin, there will be very few people who can buy in large quantities.
"No matter how many you buy, the price is the same." Gu Tang assured him that she would not raise the price just because he bought less.
Gu Dazhu grinned, put the rooster in his hand into the chicken coop, and took out twenty copper coins and handed it over on the spot.
"Here's the money for the eggs. Count them. Twenty copper coins."
Gu Tang took it, counted it, and returned ten copper coins: "I haven't paid you for your work in the cowshed yet, so I'll use your wages to offset half of it. You can take these ten copper coins back."
Gu Dazhu was unwilling to accept it: "You sell chicken and duck eggs at a really low price. If I charge you for it, what will become of me?"
Gu Tang paused, turned to look at her father, and motioned him to speak up and persuade her.
This was agreed upon in advance, the amount was what it should be. People had been busy for such a long time in such a cold weather, she felt embarrassed to let them work in vain.
Following his daughter's instructions, Gu Lianshan took the copper coin from Gu Tang's hand and stuffed it into Gu Dazhu's arms, forbidding him to return it.
"I have finally gotten what I wanted after all the hard work, so I don't need these ten copper coins. Just take what's yours. If I need copper coins someday, even if you don't tell me, I won't give you any copper coins even if I invite you to work at my house!"
These words reminded Gu Dazhu of the past days. He knew that if he refused again, it would hurt their relationship, so he accepted the copper coin with a smile.
"That's it!" Gu Lianshan patted his shoulder.
Then he asked the others: "Do you want chicken eggs or duck eggs? If you want them, the price is the same!"
The remaining few people were also tempted and started buying a few eggs each, totaling twenty eggs.
There is not a single duck egg left. I guess they are reluctant to throw it away.
Gu Tang quoted a price according to the quantity they wanted. According to their request, he would use today's wages to offset the amount first. If it was not enough, they would make up the difference.
After settling the bill, Gu Tang went back to the house to get the eggs.
Gu Lianshan took everyone to the main room and asked them to have a few cups of tea and warm themselves up before going back.
After a while, Gu Tang brought the chicken and duck eggs to them. They each had a cup of tea and then said goodbye and left.
It was already dark outside, and the drizzle that had been falling had long since stopped.
After sending the people away, Gu Lianshan locked the courtyard door, rubbed his hands and went to the kitchen while breathing out hot air.
As I was about to reach the kitchen door, a burnt smell instantly filled my nostrils.
Gu Lianshan took a deep sniff and hurried in, only to see his son making pancakes.
On the stove nearby was a bamboo food basket with a dozen or so fried pancakes stacked inside. Seeing this, Gu Lianshan laughed, "Just now I was thinking of coming over to cook, but it seems that Dad is a little late."
"I have finished memorizing the words that Master asked me to memorize today. I have nothing to do, so I came to the kitchen to help cook. Oh, and I also made some mutton soup."
Gu Ping'an took out the last few pancakes and put them in the food basket, then took off the lid of the earthenware pot on the stove and motioned for his father to look.
The earthenware jar contained thick white mutton soup, which had no smell at all and tasted extremely tempting.
Gu Lianshan took out a spoonful of meat and was very surprised: "Where did the mutton come from?"
"Grandpa gave it to me. The day we moved in, he told me to stew it for my second sister, saying it was good for girls. I actually forgot about the mutton these days, but I just remembered it today, so I stewed some."
"Mutton has a strong taste. Would your second sister be willing to eat it?" Gu Lianshan knew how picky his second daughter was. He was afraid that this mutton soup would not suit her taste.
"Smell it." Gu Ping'an said proudly, "I don't know if it's because my cooking skills have improved or if this mutton is different, but after it's stewed, it doesn't have any mutton smell at all, only fresh and fragrant. It's really rare! Try it!"
He handed over the bowl on the stove and signaled his father to serve some soup.
Gu Lianshan was skeptical. He took the bowl, scooped out a small half bowl of soup, blew on it a few times, and drank it all in one breath.
The hot soup tastes really fresh and delicious when you drink it!
He smacked his lips a few times, his eyes lit up: "Wow! This is really rare! Mutton doesn't have a smell?!"
"Am I right? There is indeed no smell of mutton." Gu Ping'an's hands did not stop moving. He scooped the rice porridge into the rice bowl and asked his father to carry it to the main room together with the fried cakes.
As for the mutton soup, he brought it over himself.
On the east wing, Gu Laian heard the noise and came out of the house. He sniffed the fragrance in the air, drooling, and walked hurriedly towards the main room.
Gu Ping'an was distributing mutton soup at this time. He didn't stew much, about three bowls.
Grandpa and second sister each had a bowl, and the remaining bowl was given to his father. He and Gu Laian didn't eat it. They only ate fried cakes and rice porridge.
Gu Laian was unhappy and glared at Gu Ping'an fiercely, his eyes falling on the mutton soup in front of his third uncle.
He couldn't afford to offend Gu Tang, and he didn't even dare to think about offending his father Gu Lianshan. After thinking it over, it seemed that only his good-tempered third uncle could be the one to ask for help.
“Master…”
"Shut up!"
As soon as his eldest son opened his mouth, Gu Lianshan knew what he was going to say, so he interrupted him and glared at him, not letting him even open his mouth!
Gu Laian shrank back and swallowed back the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
Seeing this scene, Third Uncle sighed and wanted to divide the mutton soup into two parts, half for Gu Laian and half for Gu Ping'an.
Gu Ping'an stopped his third uncle's bowl and refused to let him share the mutton soup.
"Master, I don't like this. This is specially stewed for you and my second sister. There is still some mutton left. If I want to eat it, I can cut it and stew it anytime."
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