Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside

Chapter 669: I Don’t Like Him

Gu Jinli’s eyes narrowed, and she fiercely swung the small cloth bag in her hand, hitting Lin Leniang’s accusing finger.

With a thud, the cloth bag slammed into Lin Leniang’s hand, casting a bit of dust into the air, raising a cloud of dust almost invisible to the naked eye, floating in the air.

Lin Leniang’s hand was stung by the pain, and she cried out, "Gu Xiaoyu, what gives you the right to hit me for no reason?"

Gu Jinli laughed: "And what gives you the right to point and curse at me for no reason? The last time someone did that to me, I nearly chopped off their finger."

Lin Leniang was startled and a bit scared. But seeing that Gu Jinli was only a girl about her age, she presumed Gu Jinli wouldn’t dare chop someone with a knife, so she toughened up again and said, "You’re almost fifteen, right? As a young lady, you ought to understand the principles of not being overly familiar with men, even if you’re neighbors with Company Commander Qin, you shouldn’t always be around him. It’s wrong for you to cling to him like that, it’s not something a proper girl should do."

Gu Jinli played innocent: "I’m not clinging to him."

It’s him who clings to me, alright.

And another thing...

"Who are you, then? Are you Brother Qin’s wife? What right do you have to talk to me like this? Talking about knowing the rules, I think the one who doesn’t know the rules here is you. Do you know that your current behavior is something only a promiscuous woman would do?"

Kid, try arguing with me, I won’t let you get away with it.

Lin Leniang trembled with anger: "You, who are you calling a promiscuous woman?"

Gu Jinli’s laughter was as refreshing as a spring breeze: "You, of course."

Lin Leniang was livid, but she couldn’t find the words to retort against Gu Jinli. After all, she was the one who picked the fight, but she wouldn’t back down. Seeing as they already had a falling out and no one was around in the bamboo thicket, she bluntly warned, "I’m telling you to stay away from Company Commander Qin, he is going to marry me; he’s my future husband. You, a farmer girl, might have some silver, but with no one in your family in government or military service, you can’t help him. My second brother is a small Section Leader!"

Gu Jinli couldn’t hold back a burst of laughter at her lofty manner.

Lin Leniang was dumbfounded by her laughter: "What are you laughing at?" You should be crying.

Gu Jinli laughed for a while, then said, "Sorry, it’s just been a long time since I’ve met someone as stupid as you, I couldn’t help but laugh."

Lin Leniang was furious: "Who are you calling stupid? Don’t laugh, I’m discussing something serious with you."

Gu Jinli heard this and laughed again.

After a short while, she stopped laughing and burst into a scolding: "Lin Leniang, do you think being a Section Leader is such a big position? Let me tell you, a Section Leader isn’t even considered an official, and could be demoted to a common soldier at any time if the Chief Commander wishes it. Your so-called pride, the Section Leader, doesn’t even have the privilege to dine at the same table with the Lord County Magistrate. Both my brother and my father have dined with County Magistrate Zheng, and not just once."

"Yes, I am a farmer girl, but I have money. Your family’s comfortable life is all thanks to me. Just one word from me, and your Mingya Grass won’t sell, you’ll be back to poverty. So if you don’t want to endure the hardship of having meat only once a month, behave yourself."

She continued: "At least Brother Qin and I are neighbors. What’s your relationship to him? You’re not even close to being neighbors. I wouldn’t bother with you today if I were not in a good mood, otherwise you’d suffer."

Lin Leniang was speechless from the scolding: "You, you..."

"What ’you, you’? If you’re at a loss for words, don’t bother arguing, lest you try to scold someone but end up getting verbally killed yourself," Gu Jinli interrupted Lin Leniang’s words, then suddenly asked, "Do you like Brother Qin?"

Huh?

Lin Leniang was somewhat confused; had the topic changed too quickly? But instinctively, she nodded: "Yes."

Gu Jinli sneered coldly: "Since you like him, then go to the Military Office and confess your feelings to him. Do you know what confessing means? It means to tell him face-to-face that you like him, and that you want to marry him to become his wife."

Lin Leniang was shocked, completely unable to follow Gu Jinli’s line of thought: "What do you mean? Don’t you like Company Commander Qin? How can you let me go to him, to him..."

Gu Jinli: "What’s ’liking’ anyway? I’m a businesswoman; I don’t do losing deals, and marrying someone with a huge dowry is a losing deal for me."

Lin Leniang felt like she was about to go insane. Didn’t her second brother say that Company Commander Qin liked Gu Xiaoyu and wanted to marry her? How come Gu Xiaoyu doesn’t care about Company Commander Qin at all, and even encourages her to tell him that she wants to be his wife?

Oh my, how could she ever utter such embarrassing words?

Seeing Lin Leniang first shocked, then blushing with embarrassment, Gu Jinli was speechless: "If you like San Lang, then go tell him. Don’t come to me for this, I’m very busy and don’t have the time to deal with these things for San Lang."

Seeing her speak so coldly, her face devoid of anger but filled with indifference, Lin Leniang couldn’t help but ask: "Don’t you like Company Commander Qin?"

Gu Jinli: "Why should I like him? Is he made of gold or silver?"

Lin Leniang, being naive, couldn’t see that Gu Jinli was about to explode with anger. Hearing her words, she was delighted and grabbed Gu Jinli’s hand excitedly: "I’m sorry, Sister Gu. It was a misunderstanding on my part; I blame my second brother. He said that Company Commander Qin always talks about you, and every time he mentions you, he smiles very happily. He also praises you for being smart and capable. In short, he says you are perfect in every way, and everyone thinks you’re going to be his wife in the future. It’s all my fault... Please forgive me this one time."

Gu Jinli withdrew her hand and said to Lin Leniang: "If you have no other business, I need to go back and collect the herbs."

Lin Leniang, now believing that Gu Jinli did not like Company Commander Qin, was very kind to Gu Jinli: "It’s nothing, it’s nothing. You go about your business, Sister Gu."

Gu Jinli gave her a look and said with a smile: "If you like San Lang, better hurry and express your feelings to him. A young man like that can’t go without a wife."

With that, she turned around amidst Lin Leniang’s shy smile and walked out of the bamboo forest.

San Lang, you can drop dead!

As for Lin Leniang, Gu Jinli was not someone with a good temper. If Lin Leniang dared to come to her with problems, there would be consequences. The poison in her pouch would be more than enough for Lin Leniang to handle.

Half an hour later, Gu Jinli returned to the entrance of the workshop’s residence.

"Young Master, we’ve already checked the Mingya Grass from Aunt Zhang’s family, and there are no issues; it counts as top quality," San Qi came over with a ledger and asked, "Shall we weigh it?"

Gu Jinli nodded: "Let’s weigh it."

"Alright." San Qi immediately led the workers from the pharmaceutical workshop to weigh the Mingya Grass from Aunt Zhang’s family.

Aunt Zhang was very pleased. Her family was the first to sell Mingya Grass, and they sold it at a premium—seven copper cents a pound.

A quarter of an hour later, San Qi weighed Aunt Zhang’s Mingya Grass and reported the count: "One thousand eight hundred pounds, which converts to twelve taels plus six hundred copper coins."

Aunt Zhang was overjoyed to hear this. With twelve taels and six hundred copper coins this season, plus the income from the previous two seasons, her family had earned more than forty taels of silver just by selling Mingya Grass this year alone.

Although twenty taels of it belonged to her elder daughter-in-law and the family of her second daughter-in-law, her own family still made over twenty taels of silver. Not bad at all.

Sister-in-law Zhang was very happy. Her mother-in-law, being kind-hearted, let her family grow Mingya Grass after seeing how profitable it was. When the Gu Family was ready to collect the herbs, her family would harvest the Mingya Grass and deliver it to the Zhang family, who would then take it to the Gu Family in one batch.

Thanks to the Mingya Grass, both her family and her younger sister-in-law’s family have been able to enjoy good times.