Chapter 245 Mother and son reunited!
Seeing her son like this, Wei's heart sank and she had a bad feeling that things might be worse than she imagined.
"Tell me, mother can hold on."
Gu Tianbao hesitated a little: "Why don't you take a rest for a night? I'll tell you tomorrow when you've had enough rest."
Wei shook her head: "Just tell me now. If you don't tell me clearly, I will always be worried about it and I won't know for sure. No matter whether it's good or bad, just tell me. I can handle it.
Mother suffered this catastrophe, and was able to survive until you came to save her. The suffering she endured during that time is not something that ordinary people can endure. Since she survived this catastrophe, other things, no matter how difficult they are, will not be difficult for her. "
Gu Tianbao felt relieved when he heard this. No matter whether he talked about family matters today or tomorrow, his mother would know about them sooner or later.
After a moment of silence, he said, "After you disappeared, my grandma and my dad were not interested in looking for you. They just asked around in the village and then left you alone...
A few days ago, my second uncle came home and said that he saw a man named Wang Er wearing your pants in Bei'an City, and he suspected that you were kidnapped by Wang Er.
My second uncle asked the family to pay some money to find a few clansmen to go visit Wang Er's house together, but... my grandma and dad are unwilling to go, and they don't want you to come back, saying that if they bring you back, it will ruin the family's reputation.
Not long ago, my father went to the Wei family in person, and then someone from the Wei family came and said that you died in the mountains, and your body was gone. In order not to delay my father's imperial examination, they persuaded the family to hold a funeral for you and let you "rest in peace"..."
"Hold a funeral for me?" Wei looked a little dazed and felt that this was too absurd.
But if you think about the moral character of the Gu family, especially the old hag and her husband, it doesn't seem surprising that they could do such a thing.
They are selfish and cold-hearted. When something happens, they all fly away. No one can take responsibility for the family. This is the common problem of the Gu family.
Now that she has lost her reputation, it is foreseeable that the Gu family will not tolerate her.
"Mom..." Gu Tianbao looked at her cautiously, feeling that his mother's reaction was not right. "I haven't finished talking yet. Are you so angry that you are losing your mind... or are you not angry at all?"
His mother's reaction didn't seem angry at all.
But how can I not be angry when encountering this?
"Angry?" Wei looked at her son and shook her head: "Mom is not angry, and I don't plan to be angry."
When she first heard this, Wei should have been angry, but for some reason, at this moment she only felt relieved that she had survived a disaster.
Everything that the Gu family did was within her expectations, but after thinking about it carefully, she seemed to not care anymore?
Turning her gaze to her son Gu Tianbao, Wei looked at him steadily: "During these days when I was suffering, all I thought about was you! And your eldest sister and second sister, I was worried about them too, I only thought about you three!
Tell me, do you dislike me? As long as you don't dislike me, I will give it my all. This time I will live with a thick face. Even if outsiders point their fingers at me and scold me, I won't be afraid! "
"If I despised you, how many times could I have asked my second uncle to save you?" Gu Tianbao comforted her, and then said, "I have thought about it in advance. If there is no room for you at home, I will take you and my second sister to live together! I found some of the private money you hid before, which is enough for us to live."
"Yes! Mom has money! If your father and the others can't tolerate me, Mom can move out with you guys!"
Wei's eyes brightened and he seemed alive again.
Seeing this, Gu Tianbao tentatively talked about his father's marriage proposal: "There is one more thing I need to tell you, it's about my father... After finishing your 'funeral', my father, he, he..."
Seeing her son hesitating again, Wei had a guess in her mind: "Is your father asking a matchmaker to look for a date?"
Gu Tianbao's eyes widened: "How do you know?!"
Wei smiled sadly: "Your father and your grandmother have long wanted to marry a second wife, but unfortunately your father has been unable to pass the imperial examination, so he can't find an excuse to marry a second wife.
Now that mom is gone, it just gives your dad an excuse to marry another wife. As soon as you mentioned it was about your dad, mom guessed it. "
Gu Tianbao remained silent. It turned out that his father had already thought about marrying another woman... He was completely unaware of these things.
"Don't be sad. Look, I'm not sad at all. Now I just want to take care of you and your sister and live a good life. I don't want anything else."
Instead of getting angry, Wei began to comfort her son.
At the end of the consolation, Wei asked calmly, "Has your father's marriage been arranged?"
Gu Tianbao: “…”
How should he respond?
Is his mother really not angry?!
Seeing her son's silence, Wei immediately understood: "From your expression, you must have decided. Which family did you decide on?"
"...a widow from San'an Town, surnamed Qian, who lives about fifty miles from us. She said she doesn't care about the amount of the betrothal gift, but she needs a marriage certificate approved by the government, and she will bring her own dowry."
Wei didn't think there was anything wrong with what her son said at first, but as she pondered over his words, her expression became strange.
The more she tasted it, the more she felt something was wrong.
The conditions proposed by this widow were similar to those she had proposed back then. Back then, she also didn't care about the betrothal gift. She only wanted a marriage certificate from the yamen, and she also brought a lot of dowry.
The reason why she didn't want a betrothal gift was because she was flirting with a scholar and was seen by people many times.
Originally, this was nothing. As long as that person married me, I wouldn't be afraid of what people would say.
But who would have thought that the man would turn around and marry his cousin, deceiving himself!
Because of this incident, her reputation spread all over the place. In order not to bring trouble to her family, her mother was forced by her family to choose Gu Liansheng for her to marry. She did not ask for a betrothal gift and even brought a large dowry.
The actions of this widow Qian were surprisingly similar to what she had done back then.
Her reputation was ruined at the time, and she had no choice but to do this in order to get married as soon as possible.
So what is Qian doing this for?
If a normal woman remarries, she usually has no betrothal gifts or dowry. She just carries a small bag into the man's house and sets up two tables casually.
After all, remarrying is not a good thing, and many people will talk behind your back.
It is extremely rare for someone like Qian to ask for a marriage certificate from the government office and to prepare her own dowry!
The more Wei thought about it, the more he felt that there was something fishy going on.
But she didn't tell her son about this. She just said indifferently, "Since your father wants to remarry, then let him marry. But no matter how many he marries, they can only be concubines! Mother is the principal wife! You and your eldest and second sisters are the legitimate children, not those illegitimate children!"
Farmers don't really care about the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, but Wei heard from Gu Liansheng that he had a classmate whose family was a big landlord, owning a thousand acres of fertile land and a dozen shops.
Now that he had money, the old man in the family started to spend his time. He took in concubines on the left and right, and in total he had four or five!
Moreover, these concubines all gave birth to children.
Later, the old man in the family passed away, and all the children in the family wanted to earn the family inheritance.
Unfortunately, the imperial law states that illegitimate children cannot inherit the family business.
Gu Liansheng's classmate relied on the law to seize all the family property and drove out all the half-born brothers and sisters, as well as their biological mother.
Wei knew that her mother-in-law Feng had hidden money and that the Gu family was not poor, but they had two scholars to support them, and they lived a hard life in case they were short of money in the future.
Both Mrs. Feng and the old man are elderly and don't have many years left to live. When they die, the saved money will be handed over to her husband.
As long as Tianbao is a legitimate son, no matter whether her husband is partial to her in the future, as long as he dies, Tianbao can sue the government and inherit the family business.
Gu Tianbao didn't think much about what his mother said about legitimate children and illegitimate children. Although he had studied for several years, he didn't understand these things.
Hearing his mother say this, he didn't say anything, but only asked: "Are you speaking in anger or sincerely?"
"To be honest, everything I said is true! After what happened, I just want to live a good life and don't want anything else..."
Gu Tianbao seemed to be thinking about something.
If his mother gave in like this, his father should be able to tolerate his mother staying.
When he was thinking deeply, someone knocked on the door suddenly. Gu Tianbao came back to his senses immediately and saw that his mother's face turned pale.
"Mom, what's wrong with you?"
Wei covered her chest with both hands and gasped for breath: "I don't know what's wrong with mother. She gets scared when she hears a knock on the door."
"It's okay, it's okay. I'll go see who it is." Gu Tianbao comforted her. Just as he was about to go to the door, he heard Gu Lian's voice coming from outside the house.
"Tianbao? Did mother sleep? I asked the waiter for a basin of hot water so that mother can wash her face and soak her feet. This way she can sleep more comfortably."
"It's my second sister!" Gu Tianbao was delighted and turned to look at Wei. "Mom, it's my second sister! She's here to bring you some hot water!"
Having said this, he happily went over to open the door.
Upon hearing that her second daughter was coming, Wei's eyes instantly turned red. This child had been scolded and beaten a lot since she was a child. She didn't expect that now she and Tianbao were the most filial.
After opening the door, Gu Tianbao saw his second sister holding a basin full of hot water, and he quickly reached out to take it.
"Come in quickly! Mommy has been talking about you!"
Gu Lian was very flattered to hear this. She walked in with her clothes clenched in both hands and a reserved look on her face.
This guest room is not very big. As soon as you enter the room, you can see your mother Wei sitting beside the bed.
Wei is now very different. She is very thin, has white hair, and her face is dry and yellow. She looks several years older.
Just by looking at his appearance, you can tell that he has suffered a lot.
Gu Lian burst into tears instantly: "Mother..." She called out in a whisper. Although she was heartbroken, she was still a little afraid of Wei.
But it was different for Wei. In her eyes, Gu Lian was still not as good as Gu Tianbao, but she had surpassed others and became her second beloved treasure.
She stood up, walked to Gu Lian, hugged her and cried bitterly.
While crying, Wei was still counting her own faults: "…It's all my fault, you don't know, these days when I think of how I tortured you in the past, I slap myself in the face every day!
Mother is a worthless person! She used to beat or scold you, but when she was in despair, she finally remembered your kindness..."
Gu Lian burst into tears after hearing these words, all the grievances and worries in her heart burst out at once.
"Without you, Tianbao and I are no longer even human beings! It's bad enough that they ordered me to go to the river to wash clothes in the middle of winter, but even Tianbao was ordered by them to cook and chop wood!"
"My father doesn't care, and my eldest sister is on the side of grandma, so all the work for the family falls on Tianbao and me! Tianbao doesn't even have time to study now, and he is ordered around all the time!"
Hearing this, Wei gnashed her teeth in hatred: "Don't be sad, now that mother is back, your grandma has something on me. When I return, I will definitely avenge you!"
"And big sister!" Gu Lian didn't forget Gu Qing, "The other day, Si Ya and I encountered kidnappers, Tianbao went to call for help, but big sister deliberately led the people Tianbao called to another place!
If it weren't for Si Ya's ability to subdue those kidnappers with her medicine powder and rescue me, I would have been kidnapped and sold by now!"
"Kidnapper?!" Wei's face turned pale. "Why did I run into a kidnapper when I was fine?!"
Gu Lian cried and told her mother everything that happened that day, emphasizing Gu Qing's viciousness!
Gu Tianbao at the side also chimed in: "This is true! I was so scared that I went around asking for help. I finally got someone to come, but my eldest sister deliberately led them away! If it weren't for the fourth girl's ability, my second sister would never have come back!"
Wei felt dizzy and frightened.
She cursed with a gloomy face: "Qing girl, is she possessed by a ghost? She actually harmed her own sisters! The dead girl is really itching for trouble!"
After scolding Gu Qing, she gently comforted Gu Lian: "When mother comes home, I will definitely teach your elder sister a lesson!"
This is exactly what Gu Lian wanted to hear.
The mother and daughter hugged each other and cried for a while. After Gu Tianbao's persuasion, they finally stopped crying.
Gu Lian wiped the tears from her face and thought of something.
She looked at Gu Tianbao and pointed outside: "The shopkeeper is looking for you. He said the banquet will be ready soon. He wants to know where the banquet will be placed. Will it be placed in the private room or in the lobby?"
Speaking of business, Gu Tianbao also became serious and asked hurriedly, "Is Second Uncle back?"
"No, but I think it will be soon."
"Okay, I'll go find the shopkeeper first and arrange everything for the banquet."
After that, Gu Tianbao discussed with Wei again: "Mother, I have also prepared a table for the four aunts and sisters who came with us today. It would be best if you can come out to accompany us. If not, then let my second sister go."
"Mother will accompany them!" Wei agreed without hesitation, "They have all done me a favor, mother, you must remember that, and I should accompany them. And your second sister, mother will take your second sister with her."
Then, she looked at Gu Lian again and said, "You are not a child anymore. There are some things that I have not taught you in the past. From now on, I will teach you how to deal with people little by little."
"Oh!" Gu Lian responded quickly.
…
The Wei mother and son were very affectionate with each other, and the Gu family's courtyard was no less affectionate, the atmosphere was also joyful and affectionate.
Upon hearing that Gu Lianshan would go to the inn to have a drink with others later, Gu Tang asked Gu Ping'an to serve a bowl of mutton soup and two lamb ribs for her father to eat first.
"Eat more mutton soup and mutton. When you are full, you can eat less when you go over there to drink."
Gu Tang was afraid that her father would get drunk, so she had to let him fill his stomach first.
My stomach is full, so I can't drink this wine.
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