novelraw Chapter 185 Sending a Letter to Wangzhai Village
Chapter 185 Sending a Letter to Wangzhai Village
Chapter 185 Sending a Letter to Wangzhai Village
When Gu Tang arrived at the Gu family home, her feet were covered in mud, making her feel very heavy and causing her to pant heavily.
She stopped at the entrance of the Gu family compound, lifted her trouser leg, and rubbed her feet against the door frame to remove all the mud.
The mud off my feet suddenly felt lighter. I looked up and glanced around at the Gu family home, which I hadn't seen for several days. For some reason, I felt a sense of desolation.
Gu Tang didn't call out to anyone, and went straight in, heading towards the main room.
The door to the main room was open. I went inside and looked around, but found no one in the room.
After leaving the main room, she went to the east wing.
The old master Gu, who is always concerned about his image, would not go out to visit other people's homes at this time. Since he is not in the main room, he must be in the east wing.
As they approached the east wing, they encountered Gu Qing, who was clutching her stomach with her left hand and looking pained.
Gu Tang raised an eyebrow. Was it diarrhea?
Seeing Gu Tang approach, Gu Qing was startled. Before she could speak, her stomach churned again, causing her to grimace in pain and unable to utter a word. She could only glare fiercely at Gu Tang before hunching over and trying to run to the backyard.
Being glared at for no reason, Gu Tang was displeased and maliciously blocked her way: "We are cousins, after all. If you have any complaints, just say them. Why are you staring at me without saying a word? What do you mean by that?"
Gu Qing was about to burst out, but Gu Tang stopped her, and her face turned green!
"Get out of the way! Don't block the way!" These words were squeezed out through clenched teeth; at that moment, she wished she could tear Gu Tang apart.
It would have been better if she hadn't said that, because once she did, Gu Tang got even more excited. She deliberately spread her arms wide, completely blocking the way.
"You're not leaving until you explain yourself! I'll make you poop in your pants today!"
Gu Qing was so angry that he trembled all over, almost spitting out a mouthful of blood. He turned his head and shouted into the house behind him, "Father! Grandfather! That wretched girl Siya is causing trouble at home! Come out and tie her up right now!"
Inside the house, upon hearing these words, Old Master Gu and Gu Liansheng quickly opened the door and indeed saw Gu Tang.
The father and son were already seething with anger, and when Gu Tang showed up at their doorstep, they stormed out in a huff.
Gu Qing took the opportunity to reach out and push Gu Tang, but Gu Tang suddenly dodged, causing Gu Qing to miss and stumble forward a few steps.
Gu Tang followed her example and retaliated in kind, pushing the person to the ground, where she landed face down on a pile of mud and water!
"Ah!!! Si Ya!"
Gu Qing's face contorted with rage as he struggled to his feet, ready to go and beat Gu Tang.
But just then, her stomach, which had just calmed down, started churning again, causing her to turn pale with pain. She didn't even have time to fight with Gu Tang or go back to the house to change her clothes. Covered in mud and water, she ran to the backyard clutching her stomach!
This time, Gu Tang didn't stop her. The father and son opposite her, having been reminded of Gu Tang's ruthlessness by Gu Qing's fall, didn't dare to approach her again. They only asked with disgust, "What are you doing here?!"
"Do you think I want to come?" Gu Tang rolled her eyes. "Tomorrow you just need to go to Bei'an City to pick them up. The money has already been paid, you don't need to pay anything. Don't be scared like the sky is falling just because money is mentioned! It's not respectable at all!"
The father and son looked at each other, highly suspicious of what he had said: "You and your father didn't say this before, and now you've changed your mind. Are you thinking we're easy to fool?"
"Believe it or not! You don't really care about the old lady. Maybe you just don't want to bring her back, but you're afraid of what outsiders will say, so you're making up this excuse about whoever sent her out should bring her back."
"Bullshit!" Gu Liansheng was easily provoked when facing Gu Tang.
With a gloomy face, he pointed at Gu Tang and cursed, behaving rudely and completely lacking the dignity and refinement of a scholar.
"You and your father are the ones with malicious intentions, deliberately leaving your grandmother alone in Bei'an City! You father and daughter want your grandmother to die out there!"
"You've finally said what's on your mind." Gu Tang sneered and directly peeled off his face.
“Now that the old lady is paralyzed and can’t move or take care of anyone, you and the old man have started to complain. Before, they said they didn’t have the money to pick her up, but now they’ve told you that the money has been given and you can just go and pick her up. But they’ve brought up something else.”
"Do you think I don't know what you're thinking? You just think the old lady is useless and want to find an excuse to abandon her in Bei'an City?"
“Let me tell you the truth, even if you don’t come home today, my father will come to pick them up in a couple of days. Anyway, our family has already been adopted, so even if we bring them back, they won’t be our responsibility to raise them. You don’t want to take them back, do you? Fine, in a couple of days I’ll have my father personally bring them back to you.”
After giving the father and son a piece of his mind, Gu Tang turned to leave.
Gu Liansheng was furious: "Stop! Who gave you permission to leave!" He reached out to pull Gu Tang away.
Grandpa Gu stopped his outstretched hand, signaling his son not to get angry.
Seeing that Gu Tang was about to reach the courtyard gate without stopping, the old man quickly called out to him.
"You just said the money was given in advance, but I still don't quite believe it. Since your father isn't home, you'll go with him to pick up your grandmother tomorrow. If it's really as you say, and the money was given in advance, then we'll let it go. If not, you'll have to pay the bill!"
Gu Tang originally wanted to say no, but then she thought that since her father wasn't around, she could take this opportunity to go to Bei'an City and see if she could create some momentum for Daoliuxiang.
When her father was around, there were some methods that couldn't be used directly, but now that her father is gone, she can go all out and do her thing.
“Since you don’t believe what I say, then come find me tomorrow at the beginning of the morning in your oxcart, and I’ll go with you.”
After saying this, Gu Tang left without looking back.
Gu Liansheng stared menacingly at Gu Tang's retreating figure. Once she was out of sight, he suddenly whispered in the old man's ear, "It's rare that this wretched girl is alone in our hands. Father! How about we tie her up and sell her tomorrow?"
Grandpa Gu's eyelids twitched, and he looked at his son with a distressed expression: "Siya went with us. If you sell her, how will you explain it to them when we get back?"
"Just say you got separated in the crowd on the street!"
"Then?"
"After that? What after that?" Gu Liansheng asked impatiently.
Old Master Gu was exhausted, but he forced himself to explain to him in detail: "If you really do that, when the second son comes back, he will either beat you to death or report you to the authorities. Once the authorities are notified, we may not be able to find him, but the matter will most likely be investigated. Those slave traders will not keep our secrets; they will be the first to implicate you!"
Gu Liansheng disagreed, shouting, "Didn't you and Mother discuss selling Siya before? If you can sell her, why can't I?"
"It wasn't handled by us before!" Old Master Gu was furious at his son's foolishness.
"Previously, your mother and I wanted to use your sister's sister-in-law, Li, to connect her with the person behind the scenes. We wouldn't get involved; the kidnappers would find a way to abduct the person. We wouldn't get involved, so no one could blame us!"
It's just a matter of getting 10% less money for selling oneself. But for the sake of stability, 10% less is 10% less.
"So, will we still let the Li family act as matchmakers this time? Let her find a way to kidnap them!"
Grandpa Gu waved his hand: "I'm afraid it won't work. Madam Li has never had a chance to see Siya, and doesn't know what she looks like. Is it worth taking this risk?"
On the other hand, even if Li Shi sees Siya tomorrow, she won't kidnap her immediately; she'll need to find a good opportunity to act.
"I'll spend some copper coins to send a letter to the Wang family to my younger sister, asking her to arrange for her to go to Bei'an City with Li Shi tomorrow. We'll find a way to let her meet Siya then. With Siya's looks, I guarantee Li Shi will take a liking to her at first sight! Once she takes a liking to someone, we won't have to worry about the traffickers not making a move!"
Gu Liansheng was determined. In order to sell Gu Tang and to vent his anger, he was even willing to spend money to hire someone to deliver the message.
Old Master Gu had long intended to sell Gu Tang, but later he and his wife both fell ill, and no one took care of it, so it was delayed.
Now that he's feeling better and his son's dizziness has improved considerably, it's worth a try.
Just like her son said, with Siya's looks, Li would definitely take a liking to her, and the price she would probably offer wouldn't be low.
"Alright, then go and write the letter, and have someone send it to your little sister."
With the old man's support, Gu Liansheng felt better. He hurriedly went back to his room, wrote a letter, took out five copper coins, and then went out to find someone to deliver the letter.
Gu Liansheng wasn't well-liked in the village. When he stepped out of his house, he looked around blankly, not knowing who to ask to deliver the message.
Throughout the entire village, there wasn't a single person who had any dealings with him.
After going through all the familiar people in the neighborhood in his mind, Gu Liansheng finally chose Li Shunzi.
First, Li Shunzi is greedy; second, the Li family owns an oxcart, making the trip convenient. Most importantly, they need to borrow the Li family's oxcart to go to Bei'an City tomorrow, so they need to inform them in advance.
However, he had never associated with Li Shunzi before, and usually only associated with the second son's family. He didn't know if he could persuade them to come.
However, Li Shunzi's parents were acquainted with his father, so his father could ask them to help.
Thinking of this, Gu Liansheng went home and told his grandfather about it, hoping that his grandfather could personally go and invite someone.
When Grandpa Gu heard about this matter, he did not refuse. He took the letter from his son and went to the Li family.
Since there was money to be made, the Li family didn't utter a single word of refusal, and Li Shunzi quickly drove the oxcart towards Wangzhai Village.
Watching Li Shunzi drive to Wangzhai Village, Grandpa Gu felt much better. Leaning on his cane, he walked home feeling relaxed.
……
When Gu Tang returned home, she told her third uncle and Gu Ping'an about going to Beian City with Grandpa Gu the next day, which was met with strong opposition from the two of them.
“Your grandfather and your uncle have never been kind to you. What good will it do you to go alone? Don’t they not believe what you say? I’ll go and talk to them right now. Either they go on their own, or they wait for your father to come back and have him lead them. In short, you can’t go with them!”
"You're right, they hate you to the core! If they had the chance, they'd kill you! Going with them alone is like throwing yourself to the wolves! No way! You absolutely cannot go!"
Knowing that the grandfather and grandson were worried about him, Gu Tang patiently explained to them, "There are no oxcarts over there, and the father and son don't know how to drive. They will definitely ask a family in the village who has an oxcart to drive them to Bei'an City."
There were only a handful of families in the village with oxcarts, and every single one of them knew my father well. Because of that, they wouldn't dare do anything to me. Besides, that father and son were concerned with their reputation; with outsiders around, they would only be nice to me in public, not openly try to harm me.
This wasn't something Gu Tang made up; it was indeed the case.
For example, Grandpa Gu doesn't know how to drive a carriage, and Third Uncle also knows this.
Since even Old Master Gu can't drive a carriage, then Gu Liansheng is even less capable; he's a lazy bum.
Therefore, the father and son had no choice but to ask someone to help them travel to Beian City.
With outsiders present, and fellow villagers, it's highly unlikely that the father and son would do anything wrong.
However, even though that's the situation, it's not a reason why Gu Tang absolutely has to go!
"I'll go with them tomorrow!"
Gu Tang pointed to the east wing: "You can't be away from home. The person in the east wing is still sick. If you leave, believe me, Ping An won't dare to drink a single drop of the medicine that I brewed!"
Third Uncle suddenly had a headache, forgetting that there was still someone lying in the east wing who couldn't move.
"Is it absolutely necessary to go?"
Gu Tang paused, hesitated for a moment, then leaned closer to her third uncle and whispered something to him: "I'm not going there just for this one thing. I bought a small courtyard in Bei'an City a while ago, and I haven't been there for a long time. I want to take this opportunity to sneak a peek into that courtyard..."
Third Uncle gasped: "Bought a whole courtyard?!"
"Yes, we bought it some time ago, but we haven't told anyone. Only my dad, Ping An, and you know about it. Nobody else knows. Please don't let it slip!"
"I won't tell!" Third Uncle was still in a daze, marveling at how remarkable this girl was! She even bought the courtyard behind everyone's back!
"I'm going there this time to take a good look at the houses in the yard. After next spring, I'll renovate the houses in the yard and make them a good place for Ping An to study and live."
That's nonsense; the houses in that courtyard were already fully furnished.
Gu Ping'an wanted to expose this, but Gu Tang suppressed him with a look. He pursed his lips and swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
Gu Tang continued to paint a rosy picture for her third uncle: "Then you can move in with Ping An and keep an eye on his studies and writing. I'll also hire two maids to take care of your food, clothing, and lodging. Think about it, isn't that wonderful?"
"It is quite beautiful..."
"Since it's beautiful, then it's settled! I'm going back to pack my things; we have to leave at the beginning of Chenshi (7-9 AM) tomorrow!"
After saying this, Gu Tang didn't care about her third uncle's reaction and happily went back to her room.
Third Uncle finally came to his senses and realized he had been tricked. He hurriedly shouted at the curtain swaying by the door, "Don't try to fool me! What you're saying is completely different from what I'm saying!"