Chapter 175 Think it over before answering
Hearing the noise outside, Gu Tang grabbed the clothes on the quilt and put them on quickly, combed his hair casually, and walked out in a hurry.
When he reached the corridor, he bumped into Gu Ping'an who was also about to leave the house.
The brother and sister both looked at the Zhu family in the yard and looked at each other in surprise.
Old Mrs. Zhu and Old Mr. Zhu haven't visited for many years, so it's a rare occasion today.
The brother and sister were so curious that they wanted to go over to take a look, but they were called over by their third uncle in the corridor of the main hall.
The third uncle's words immediately attracted the attention of the Zhu family and the Zhao family.
"Who is this..." Zhao asked Old Lady Zhu quietly.
Old Mrs. Zhu had met her third uncle in the early years. Although she hasn't seen him for many years, she can still recognize him.
"This is the father my son-in-law recognized after he was adopted. He is very smart and hard to fool!"
Zhao nodded, understanding what was going on. She put on a smile and planned to go over and say hello.
At this moment, two young boys and girls suddenly appeared in her sight. After seeing the girl's appearance, Zhao's eyes lit up surprisingly: "Is this girl also a daughter of the Gu family?"
Old Mrs. Zhu pursed her lips and stared at Gu Tang with vicious eyes. The words she whispered in Zhao's ear were even more despicable.
"This girl was born to my son-in-law's wife, Zhang, who was divorced and left behind a son and a daughter. Don't be fooled by her pretty appearance. In fact, this girl looks very much like her mother!
She has a vicious character, is narrow-minded and holds grudges. At such a young age, she is just like her mother, learning to seduce people. She is not a good person! Who knows which unlucky person will marry a slut like her in the future!"
Zhao glanced at Old Lady Zhu with a flash of sarcasm in her eyes. She knew what Old Lady Zhu meant by saying that, but she didn't expose her.
After tidying up her clothes, Zhao smiled and went to the main hall: "Grandpa Kang'an, I greet you!"
Over the years, Zhao has made many connections, both rich and poor, and has learned a few etiquettes from them.
Now that he met his third uncle, he performed the proper etiquette as a junior, and no one could find any fault with him.
Third Uncle had been out for quite a while. Knowing that Zhao was the matchmaker, he didn't hit her in the face but nodded at her as a response.
Zhao didn't care that her third uncle ignored her. She kept glancing at Gu Tang with a deeper smile on her face. She wanted to ask Gu Tang if he was engaged.
Old Mrs. Zhu noticed that Zhao was thinking about getting married to Gu Tang, and she was extremely unhappy.
Zhao was invited by the Zhu family to help arrange marriages. Now that the Zhu family's marriage has not been finalized, they actually want to arrange marriages for others. This is not the way to do things! It's too rude.
Old Lady Zhu frowned and reminded Zhao before she could speak: "Aunt, let's talk about business. We are not good at talking, and we are counting on you!"
Being suddenly interrupted, Zhao became very annoyed and wanted to turn around and curse at someone!
But she was more rational than Old Lady Zhu and knew that no matter how angry she was, she couldn't make a scene at the Gu family.
After calming down, Zhao looked calm as usual, and continued to talk to her uncle happily: "Congratulations to you in advance. Your family and the Zhu family are going to be even closer now!"
"It's still unclear whether it will work out. It's a little too early for you to congratulate me." Third Uncle didn't change his expression and spoke in a casual tone.
Zhao didn't take it seriously and wanted to say something, but old lady Zhu behind her became unhappy again and started yelling at her third uncle, bypassing Zhao.
"Why not? Now Mei girl is sleeping with my grandson! If she doesn't marry my grandson, who else can she marry? If this gets out, the two brats around you will never be able to get married again in the future!"
idiot!
Zhao was so angry that she could no longer hold back and glared at Old Lady Zhu, feeling somewhat regretful for accepting this marriage.
Not only Zhao was angry, but Zhu Laosan and Yan were also angry about these words. Was their mother out of her mind?
These words will surely anger Gu Lianshan. When you get beaten later, don't drag them along with you!
"If you can't speak, shut up! No one told you to speak!" Mr. Zhu's face was grim. He showed his toughness for once and scolded Mrs. Zhu: "What are you talking about here! What can't you say in private? Why do you have to yell in front of the children?!"
Old Mrs. Zhu didn't take her husband's words to heart. She was more afraid of Zhao's eyes.
Under Zhao's horrifying gaze, Old Lady Zhu's face stiffened and she gritted her teeth and said something soft.
"Don't be offended, dear relatives. I was just too anxious. I was afraid that you would break up the couple and ruin Mei's reputation."
This is really shameless!
Third Uncle was also angry. He called Gu Lianshan, who was still teaching his son in the east wing, over and asked him to solve the problem at hand first. It would not be too late to teach his son a lesson later.
Gu Lianshan's complexion looked much better now. He didn't seem as angry as before, but he looked gloomy all over, which made people tremble with fear.
Old Mrs. Zhu, who had been so arrogant just now, immediately retreated and hid behind Zhao, not daring to show her head again.
Zhao was so angry at what Old Lady Zhu did that she laughed. She took a deep breath and tried to hold it in!
Just wait, when she returns later, she will make a fortune from the Zhu family!
When passing by the Zhu family and the Zhao family, Gu Lianshan didn't say a word and went straight to the main hall.
Seeing this, Zhao hurriedly took the Zhu family and followed.
The third uncle was the last one to come. He bowed his head and told Gu Tang and Gu Ping'an, "Don't go in. Go back to your room. If you are hungry, go to the kitchen and cook by yourself. Don't worry about what's happening here."
Third Uncle had an idea of what they were going to talk about later. It was just some dirty calculations that would not pollute the children's ears.
The brother and sister responded and watched their uncle lift the zipper and enter the house.
"Are you really going back to your room?" Gu Ping'an asked Gu Tang quietly.
Gu Tang shook his head: "I'll come back later and go to the east wing to find Gu Laian!"
The brother and sister tiptoed to the east wing, and following the sound of crying, they found Gu Laian in Gu Mei's room.
Gu Laian, who was hiding at the foot of the bed, feeling cold and in pain, turned pale when he heard footsteps. He looked towards the door in fear, thinking that his father had come back to beat him again.
When he saw clearly that it was Gu Tang's siblings, Gu Laian felt relieved and lowered his head and continued crying.
While crying, he stretched out his hands tremblingly, stood up with the help of the bed edge, sat on the bed, wrapped himself in Gu Mei's quilt, and his whole body was almost frozen.
"Shut up! Stop crying!" Gu Tang scolded impatiently, glared at him and threatened him not to cry anymore.
Gu Laian was scared after being beaten. He was afraid of everyone he saw, let alone Gu Tang who had been beating him.
When he heard Gu Tang's scolding, Gu Lai'an's skin tightened and he bit his lips tightly. Tears were still falling, but the crying sound had stopped.
"Tell me the truth! Tell me clearly without missing a single word! If you dare to play tricks again, I will instigate you in front of Dad, and I will kick you out of the house and make you live on your own!"
At this moment, Gu Laian answered whatever was asked. When he heard Gu Tang asking him to confess everything, he sobbed twice and told him the whole story from beginning to end.
Gu Tang and his sister listened to the whole story in silence and were stunned for a long time. They couldn't help but think of a saying: We are not afraid of fools doing stupid things, but we are afraid of fools having an idea!
Gu Mei and Gu Laian, these two idiots, had more than just a flash of inspiration, it was the second and third inspiration!
Never call them stupid in the future, because that is complimenting them. Idiots are a hundred times better than them!
"The Zhu family is poor and lazy. How did you and your sister know that this was a good marriage? From the promises the Zhu family made to you? Or from the Zhu family's flattering words?"
Gu Tang was very curious about what this weird couple was thinking.
Gu Laian lowered his head and said nothing. He thought the Zhu family was good, and his sister also thought the Zhu family was good. Only his father and that dead girl Si Ya thought it was not good.
Sure enough, what his grandmother said was right, his father and Si Ya couldn't stand seeing them getting along well!
Gu Tang didn't care when he didn't get a reply from Gu Laian. He continued, "You know, this 'good idea' you came up with is giving the Zhu family a handle to hold you over. Regardless of whether this is true or false, the Zhu family will confirm it. Your sister Gu Mei will not have a good life!"
After saying this, Gu Tang ignored him, pulled Gu Ping'an, and the brother and sister left one after another.
Gu Laian looked up and was unmoved. He sneered and thought that Si Ya knew nothing and only knew how to talk nonsense.
After the brother and sister walked away, he wrapped himself in a quilt, endured the pain in his body, and limped back to his room.
There was no stove in his sister's room, and it was as cold as an ice cellar. He was afraid that he would catch a cold if he stayed there any longer.
If he really caught a cold, his father would definitely not ask a doctor to prescribe medicine for him!
After coming out of the east wing, Gu Tang and his sister went all the way to the kitchen.
They lit the stove in the kitchen, boiled some hot water, washed up, and then went back to their rooms.
What happens in the house is not something they can interfere with. With their father around, even though their Gu family is at a disadvantage in this matter, they won't suffer any loss. The one who really suffers is Gu Mei.
The original two taels of silver dowry had already been lost by Gu Mei herself, and now this incident had happened, her father was afraid that she might not even be able to get married.
In the main room, the atmosphere was neither good nor bad.
Originally, the Zhu family and the Zhao family were prepared to be scolded, and there was even a possibility that Gu Lianshan would hit them.
But after they came in, Gu Lianshan only had one thing to say: "Let Gu Mei come back! I want to hear her talk about this marriage in person. If she admits that this marriage was her own will, I will kick her out tomorrow!"
The Zhu family was delighted and agreed to this matter immediately: "Okay! It's up to you!"
Afterwards, he sent Zhu Laosan back to pick up Gu Mei.
Zhao interrupted, "Zhu Laosan, bring your son over as well and let his father-in-law take a look!"
Once the father-in-law glanced over and Gu Mei said a few more words, wouldn't the marriage be settled?
Old Mrs. Zhu thought this was a good idea and asked Zhu Laosan to do as Zhao said.
But Yan disagreed: "My son Shou is weak and cannot stand the cold wind! If he comes here by ox cart, I'm afraid his body will be ..."
"What nonsense!" Old Master Zhu interrupted, glaring at Yan with a gloomy face: "Youshou has always been in good health. He is good at fetching water, chopping wood, planting and harvesting, etc."
Yan realized belatedly that she had said something wrong, and hurriedly smiled and apologized to Gu Lianshan: "It's been cold these past two days, and I felt sorry for the child and was afraid that he would get cold, so I actually said nonsense. My dear relative, please don't take it to heart..."
Hearing this, Third Uncle's eyelids twitched. He subconsciously glanced at Gu Lianshan, only to see that he still had a calm face, without any sign of anger.
Something's wrong!
Something is very wrong!
Third Uncle was worried, thinking that his son would burst into tears.
…
Zhu Laosan was very fast. In about half an hour, he brought Gu Mei and his son Zhu Youshou back to the Gu family.
Zhu Youshou was wrapped in two layers of quilts. He got off the ox cart in a somewhat embarrassed manner and stood aside waiting for Gu Mei.
Gu Mei hesitated for a long time before getting off the car, trembling with fear all over.
I heard from my third uncle that her brother was beaten half to death by her father, but fortunately her father gave in in the end.
As long as she said in front of her father that she was willing to marry into the Zhu family, her father would agree to the marriage.
Thinking of this, Gu Mei regained some courage and followed Zhu Laosan and Zhu Youshou, lifted the curtain at the door of the main room, and stepped into the room.
Ever since Zhu Laosan left, no matter how Zhao flattered them, Gu Lianshan and the third uncle remained silent, acting as if they did not exist.
During this half hour, the Zhu family and the Zhao family were so embarrassed that they dug their toes into the ground, feeling very annoyed.
Now seeing Zhu Laosan coming back, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, with a hint of joy on their faces.
Yan couldn't wait to be the first to step forward, pulled her son to her side and asked him if he was cold on the road.
Because of his weak health, Zhu Youshou seldom met outsiders, let alone visited other people's homes.
Arriving at Gu's house for the first time, and seeing that there were outsiders present, he suddenly felt timid, lowered his head and spoke in a whisper: "No, it's not cold..."
Yan touched his hand worriedly, and found it was slightly cold as usual, so she finally felt relieved.
"Don't worry, I wrapped him in two quilts, so he won't catch a cold." Zhu Laosan cared about this only child more than Yan did, so he took good care of him.
Gu Mei was standing not far from Zhu Youshou, lowering her head and not daring to look at her father. Neither Yan nor Zhu Laosan beside her asked her any questions.
Gu Lianshan saw all of this but did not call her.
Seeing that the situation was not right, Old Lady Zhu hurried over and pushed Gu Mei in front of Gu Lianshan: "Girl Mei, quickly tell your father that this marriage is your own wish!"
Gu Mei was like a puppet. She was extremely frightened and her mind was in a mess. After hearing what Old Lady Zhu said, she began to speak in a dull voice.
"Dad, I am willing to marry you."
Gu Lianshan looked at her steadily. Surprisingly, there was not a trace of annoyance on his face, and he was frighteningly calm.
After staring at Gu Mei for a long time, when Gu Mei was about to give up, Gu Lianshan finally spoke: "Listen carefully, I will only ask you one question today, and I will never ask you again in the future! Do you really want to marry into the Zhu family?"
Gu Mei subconsciously wanted to say yes.
"Think about it carefully!" Gu Lianshan gave her the last chance before she could speak.
"If you regret and don't want to marry into the Zhu family, Daddy promises you today that I will find you a good family and marry you off far away. I won't let you be unable to marry because of rumors!
But if you insist on marrying into the Zhu family, Dad agrees to the marriage, but Dad also promises you that once you leave this family, the relationship between you and me will be completely severed!"
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