Chapter 183: Being a Slave
Uncle San was not in a position to say anything about this matter, so he just said, "Let's calculate, we have been living here for less than ten days, so I don't think it will cost much money, three or five taels will be enough.
I'll go get the silver for you, and you send the silver over there. The person was sent away by your father in the first place, and now we should bring him back safely, and don't let anyone say anything about us. You siblings are getting older and older, you can't let people gossip about you outside! ”
After giving out three or five taels of silver, no one can say that the Lianshan family is cruel no matter what happens in the future.
"We don't have to pay." Gu Tang simply told the truth, "My father told others that he hadn't paid any money and that it was all owed. This was because when the family was split up that day, he was afraid that they would make a fuss about going to take my grandma back, so he told them on purpose.
My father knew that they were very stingy with their money, and when he heard that they still owed money to the inn, he would definitely not go to pick up my grandma without permission. In fact, the silver was given several taels in advance, which was enough for the days' expenses. ”
After hearing the truth, the Third Uncle breathed a sigh of relief: "So that's how it is... In that case, go over there later and tell them what happened. Ask them to pick them up quickly and don't delay any further."
"Okay, I'll be there in a bit."
After explaining Feng's situation clearly, Third Uncle calculated the time and asked Gu Ping'an to go to Doctor Gu's house to get the medicine.
"I think your brother's medicine should be ready. Take the copper coins and go to Doctor Gu's house to get the medicine back and boil it. When I left just now, your brother's head was still burning hot. I think the medicine I gave him earlier didn't work very well."
After saying this, he got up and went to the east room, saying that he was going to give the copper coins to Gu Ping'an.
Gu Ping'an wanted to say no, as he still had some copper coins in his hand, but Gu Tang pinched him secretly and he shut his mouth immediately.
When the man went to the east room, Gu Tang glared at him and said, "If I give you these small amounts of money, just take them. If we don't spend my money, he will be unhappy."
Not a good taste?
Why doesn’t it taste good?
Gu Ping'an looked confused and didn't quite understand.
Gu Tang ignored him and shouted towards the east room, "Master! I'm leaving first."
"Hey! Drive slowly!" The third uncle in the east room replied quickly.
At the end of the village, at Gu's house, the father and son walked home, one step deep and one step shallow, with both pairs of feet covered in mud.
Gu Liansheng didn't have leg wraps on, and his trouser legs were covered in mud. Thinking that he hadn't accomplished his task and now his clean cotton trousers were soiled, he felt aggrieved and angry.
After entering the courtyard, he went to the east wing with a gloomy face, without saying a word, completely ignoring his father behind him.
Seeing his son so angry, Mr. Gu couldn't help but feel sad, but when he thought about the fact that the family had not had enough food or clothing these days, he could understand his son's anger.
Back in the east room of the main hall, the dirty clothes in the basket were still not washed and were already full. Mr. Gu had no clean clothes to change into. If he went out, he could only pick up some less dirty clothes to wear, which was unacceptable to the old man.
He had instructed the sisters Gu Qing and Gu Lian to wash the clothes two days ago, but the two girls insisted that they wanted to take good care of their hands. They also said that Li from the Wang family had promised them that once their hands had recovered, they would be sent to live a happy life.
Now the two girls are completely obsessed with the hand. They don't do any housework at home or outside. They just want to heal their hands as soon as possible so that they can live a good life with Li.
After sitting for a while, my stomach started rumbling again. I felt very hungry and uncomfortable.
In the morning, Gu Tianbao cooked some porridge, but it was too watery. After eating two bowls, I could barely fill myself up with water. Now I have urinated a few times and my stomach is empty again.
Old Master Gu had never done housework in his life. It was always Feng who served him and took care of his clothes and food. All he had to do was wait to enjoy them.
Now that Feng was not at home, the second wife's family had been adopted away, and the first wife's granddaughter was disobedient, there was no one to wash his clothes, and he didn't want to do it himself, so he tried not to go out to avoid having no clothes to wear.
The same went for the daily meals, no one took the initiative to cook, and Old Man Gu was also unwilling to cook. In the end, he ordered Gu Tianbao to learn how to cook.
At least the rice wasn't cold, so although Gu Tianbao was reluctant, he still held his nose and did it!
But he refused to wash clothes, let alone other people's clothes, he wouldn't even wash his own dirty clothes. Anyway, he never went out, so he didn't care at all whether his clothes were dirty or not.
Touching his belly, Mr. Gu didn't understand why his life had become like this.
He had thought before that if all else failed, he could just spend some money to hire someone to come to his house to help out, but he was reluctant to use the silver he had hidden away, so he set his sights on Feng's private property.
He knew that his wife had worked as a maid in a wealthy family in her early years, and that she was very resourceful and had made a lot of money. But the silver had always been in his wife's hands, and he didn't know where he had hidden it.
In the past few days, in order to find the silver, he really turned the whole house upside down, even the rat holes in the cracks in the wall, but he didn't find a single copper coin!
In desperation, he turned his attention to the silver that his daughter-in-law Wei had stolen.
But his eldest son was a spendthrift. All the money that Wei had earned over the years was spent by him, and even Wei's dowry was squandered by him.
In the end, there were only two choices left: either to bring his wife back and let her use her private savings to supplement the family expenses, or to use the money he had himself.
The money in his hand was used for his son's education and could not be used at will, so Mr. Gu had no choice but to choose to bring his wife back.
But it costs money to bring someone back!
Old Master Gu and his son spent a long time counting on their fingers in the room. The expenses for the two maids, the accommodation in the inn, the food and drinks, the medicine, etc., all added up to several taels of silver!
The Gu family cannot afford it, and even if they can, it should not be them who pay. Whoever sent the person out that day should be the one to bring him back!
So the father and son went to the door today.
But the result was very unsatisfactory.
With a long sigh, Mr. Gu stood up with the help of his crutches and went to the east wing, wanting to talk to his eldest son, and by the way, tell the sisters Gu Qing and Gu Lian to wash their own clothes.
If cold water hurts your hands, then light a fire and wash them with hot water!
When they arrived at the east wing, the old man first went to find the sisters Gu Qing and Gu Lian, and sternly told them that they must wash their clothes today.
The old man was angry, but Gu Qing seemed to have something to rely on. He remained motionless, just pursed his lips tightly. He was very dissatisfied, but not afraid.
Gu Lian's reaction was much more normal. Seeing the old man got angry, she stood up with a nervous look on her face and quickly agreed to do the laundry.
After the old man left, Gu Qing cursed in a low voice: "This old man only knows how to order people around!"
After scolding, she glared at Gu Lian again: "Have you forgotten what aunt and Aunt Li said? Don't let us do any work. Apply the ointment Aunt Li gave us to our hands every morning and evening. When our lips open next year, our hands will be white and tender, and we can work in the Cheng Mansion by then."
Gu Lian lowered her head in silence, tucked up the corners of her clothes with her hands. She wanted to go but also didn't want to go. She was wavering in her heart and could not make up her mind.
Gu Qing couldn't bear to see her acting so cowardly, so he stood up and took out all the ointments in her cabinet, and then put them all into his own cabinet.
"Since you want to work, you shouldn't waste this ointment. Just give it all to me, and I'll apply it on my body. Next spring, I'll go to Cheng's house and live a rich life, and you can stay at home and be beaten and scolded, and go hungry and clothed!"
Looking at Gu Qing's actions, Gu Lian suddenly felt relieved, as if she didn't have to make the decision on her own. Gu Qing had already made the decision for her. Without the ointment to nourish her hands and face, she would not be able to enter the Cheng Mansion in her current state.
All the things I had been carrying for the past few days were suddenly removed, and I felt extremely relaxed all over.
After taking a deep look at Gu Qing, Gu Lian walked out of the house briskly.
After leaving the house, she went straight to the east room of the main hall, took out all the dirty clothes that the old man had accumulated for many days and put them in the basin. Then she picked up the basin and the mallet, and planned to go to the river in the village to wash the clothes.
Just as they reached the gate of the courtyard, Gu Tianbao from the east wing ran out and said he wanted to go with them.
Gu Lian didn't stop him and led him to the pond at the foot of the mountain.
The river pond here is close to Gu's house and few people come here, so Gu Lian always comes here to wash clothes.
The dirty clothes of the Gu family were easy to wash. There was no grease, just some soil, or some sticky stuff on them, which would fall off when they came into contact with water. Then they would beat them again with a mallet, and the clothes would be considered washed.
The water in the river was so cold that it was bone-chilling. After a while, Gu Lian's hands turned red and stinging.
Gu Tianbao, who was standing by, snatched the mallet from her hand, and without saying a word, imitated Gu Lian's movements and started beating the clothes.
Gu Lian was startled by his action, and then her eyes turned red.
Gu Tianbao has lost a lot of weight recently, and his fat face has some contours. After washing a piece of clothing, he stopped and stared at the river in a trance.
After watching for a while, he turned his head to look at Gu Lian, and suddenly said: "Second sister, can we not be a maid? Is it easy to be a maid? Didn't the play say that maids are lowly and their life and death are decided by the master."
He didn't understand. His elder and second sisters were just going to the Wang family to ask their aunt and uncle to come back for support on the day of the division of the family property. Why did they follow their aunt's sister-in-law Li to the Cheng family in a daze?
If they really wanted to visit a wealthy family to broaden their horizons, they could just go, but the two sisters stayed away for two days.
When she came back, she said she wanted to go to Cheng's house to be a maid!
Although he was not good at studying, he knew one thing: being a slave was not a good thing, nor was it a comfortable job. Your life and death were in the hands of your master. If he wanted you to live, you would live; if he wanted you to die, you would die!
Gu Lian pursed her lips, thinking that this was some misunderstanding. Although she no longer wanted to go to the Cheng Mansion, to be honest, the Cheng Mansion was very generous and kind to the maids.
"That Cheng Mansion...my elder sister and I went to see it, and it was different from what was described in the opera."
"What's the difference? It will be the same in the end!" Gu Tianbao said in an aggressive tone.
Gu Lian paused, and simply told him everything she saw in Cheng Mansion: "Cheng Mansion has only one young master, who is extremely spoiled, and has a temperament a bit like a girl. He only likes to be served by well-dressed maids, and doesn't like to be close to old women and servants.
The Cheng family has always been obedient to Young Master Cheng and has raised dozens of pretty little girls in the young master's yard. They eat and dress almost the same as the girls of the Cheng family. They are well taken care of and do not have to do any housework. They just entertain and amuse Young Master Cheng every day to keep him entertained.
Young Master Cheng was very generous, and when he wanted to make someone happy, he would reward people with all kinds of gold and jade. I saw with my own eyes a little girl who could whistle, and because her whistle was so beautiful, Young Master Cheng immediately asked someone to reward her with a bracelet made of jade beads!
Aunt Li said that if she asked someone to take the jade bead bracelet out to sell it, it could fetch at least ten taels of silver! ”
Gu Tianbao didn't believe it: "Second sister, are you telling a story? Even the young master of the emperor's family wouldn't be so wasteful!"
"This is true! I'm not kidding you!" Gu Lian simply raised her hand and swore: "I swear, this is definitely not fake!"
Gu Tianbao paused, and stopped saying no, but he still didn't quite believe it in his heart. He said, "If they are happy, there will be rewards. But what if they are not happy? Will those little girls be punished?"
Gu Lian was stunned. She had never thought about this.
"Look! You don't know either." Gu Tianbao seized this loophole and continued to persuade her: "I know what you are thinking. You want to get some money from Chengfu and give it away, but do you know how to coax people? You can't even whistle!
If there is a reward, there will definitely be a punishment. Aunt Li definitely didn’t tell you the truth! If you don’t know how to coax people after you go in and they want to punish you, what should you do? Then no one will be able to help you! It's no use calling the earth! ”
You know what, these words hit the soft spot in Gu Lian's heart. She was most afraid of being punished!
She said, "My elder sister took my perfume away. I am not as pretty as she is, and without perfume to nourish my hands and face, I can't go to Cheng's house even if I want to. I will go to my aunt's house in two days and explain to Aunt Li that I will not go."
Finally hearing what he wanted to hear, Gu Tianbao smiled: "Our family doesn't need you to make money..."
At this point, he glanced around and then whispered to Gu Lian: "Although mother is gone, I know where she hid the silver! I overheard grandfather and father talking before. Grandpa said he has silver, and grandma also has silver. When grandma comes back, I will ask her for the silver and then give it all to you!"
Hearing this, Gu Lian burst into tears instantly.
She raised her hand to wipe away her tears, shook her head and said no: "What do I need money for? I am not greedy for food or clothes. My life is good now. I know what it means to be content.
If you can get some money, just save it secretly. Don't learn from our father. He can't keep the money in his hands. He spends whatever he has. No matter how rich you are, you can't afford it! ”
"I give you the money so that you can keep it as a dowry! How old are you? Forget about this year. If you don't go to the Cheng family next year, Dad will definitely arrange a marriage for you. When you get married, do you still expect Dad to prepare a dowry for you?"
Gu Tianbao dared to swear that his father would never prepare a dowry for his second sister!
Gu Lian knew all this and never thought about getting a dowry from his father.
He is my own younger brother. It's amazing that a kid like him can think so much about himself.
"Then I will listen to you. If you can get the silver, I will keep some for my dowry. If I can turn my life around in the future, I will pay you back a hundred times or a thousand times!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
