novelraw Chapter 235 Ignoring the noise won't hurt your heart!
Chapter 235 Ignoring the noise won't hurt your heart!
Chapter 235 Ignoring the noise won't hurt your heart!
Gu Tang's eyes welled up with envy!
They were all kidnappers, all searching corpses. Her father found thirty taels of silver, but she herself didn't get a single copper coin.
why?
The differences between the two sides are just too great!
Was it just that her father was lucky?
Gu Tang's eyes grew increasingly envious as she thought about it, and in the next instant, the silver in her father's hand suddenly appeared right under her nose.
"This is..." Looking at the silver in her father's hand, Gu Tang was overjoyed and wondered if it was for her.
Just as she was about to speak, her father said, "Exchange these for loose silver coins, weigh them on a scale, two and a half ounces per portion, twelve portions in total."
It wasn't for her...
Gu Tang reached out and took the silver, her feelings complicated.
This incident proves once again that her luck is indeed not good, and with that unlucky guy Ah Gou dragging her down, it's like adding insult to injury!
Gu Lianshan was unaware of his daughter's thoughts. After handing her the silver, he left the house feeling relieved and went to find a pharmacy to buy herbs for stewing chicken soup.
Third Uncle got up and fetched a steelyard and a large pair of scissors, saying he would help Gu Tang cut the silver.
Each portion is two and a half ounces, and twelve portions need to be cut out. The silver notes also need to be exchanged for loose silver.
While weighing the silver, they cut it into pieces, weighing each piece individually until the final twelve pieces filled the entire table.
"We need to find something to separate these silver coins and put them away properly. If they accidentally get mixed up, all our work will have been for nothing."
Gu Tang scratched his head, unsure of how to divide the silver into portions.
Third Uncle suggested, "Why don't we sew some money pouches? They don't need to be very fine, just big enough to hold silver."
"Twelve money pouches, even if you sew one roughly, it will take a lot of work. It would be better to cut out twelve palm-sized pieces of cloth, wrap the silver in the cloth, and then tie them with thin hemp rope. That would be faster."
That’s okay too.
Third Uncle nodded and told Gu Tang to go find the cloth.
We have plenty of fabric at home, but it's all fine fabric. Using such fabric would be a bit too conspicuous.
After searching around, Gu Tang simply tore off her father's coarse linen outer shirt.
This outer garment was originally meant to be worn over a fur coat, both to prevent others from noticing that one was wearing a fur coat and to provide some cover to prevent the fur coat from getting dirty.
A perfectly good outer garment was torn to shreds by Gu Tang in the blink of an eye. Third Uncle just laughed and let her make a fuss without giving her a single scolding. Instead, he stood on her side and teased Gu Lianshan with a smile.
“I recognize your father’s linen shirt. It’s been two or three years. He sewed it himself. When I caught a cold and had no one to take care of me, your father stayed with me and sewed this long shirt.”
Grandpa was still furious, saying that your father's life was the same whether he had a wife or not! But your father wasn't worried at all, always carefree, arguing with everyone, but he just wouldn't bring himself to have a serious argument with your mother.
"My dad may seem hard-hearted, but he's actually very soft-hearted and has a good temper. He's not the kind of person who doesn't treat his wife like a human being."
My mother knows this, which is why she's so incredibly arrogant! If it were anyone else with a short temper, just try letting her try; someone like my mother would be beaten three times a day, and that would be the least of their worries!
According to Gu Tang, this is all because they've been spoiled!
One was pushing their luck, while the other was too lazy to even bother.
Speaking of Zhang, Gu Tang recalled that when she returned, her father saw Zhang shopping at the market with a man. He quickly approached her third uncle, wrapped up some silver, and whispered to him about Zhang finding a new husband.
Upon hearing this, the third uncle was truly shocked. "Your mother is proud and cares a lot about her reputation. Logically speaking, even if she wanted to find a new husband, she wouldn't choose someone your father knows."
"She had the right to be arrogant more than a decade ago, but what does she have to be arrogant about now? I guess she can't find anyone better."
These words are harsh, but they are the truth.
More than a decade ago, Zhang was young and beautiful. In addition, her late husband was a proper clerk. In the eyes of the farmers, Zhang could be called "Madam".
They're definitely in high demand!
What about the Zhang family now?
She had been married into the Gu family for over ten years, giving birth to a son and a daughter, but in the end, she was divorced!
No matter how Zhang tried to cover it up outside, she couldn't explain why she was divorced.
Given her age and the fact that she has given birth to four children, who knows if it has taken a toll on her health?
If we have the money to hire Zhang, we might as well hire a younger widow.
Uncle San did not respond to Gu Tang's sarcasm.
The old man wasn't as thick-skinned as Gu Tang and his daughter Gu Lianshan, but he still valued etiquette very much.
Discussing her former daughter-in-law with her granddaughter... well, just a brief chat is enough, anything more would be inappropriate.
He helped Gu Tang wrap up the remaining silver, skipped over the topic, and instead asked Gu Lian and Gu Tianbao why they seemed to have changed their ways, and were actually helping to save Gu Tang today.
Gu Tang didn't hide it and sighed, "It's all because of my aunt..." She told her and her brother's request, exclaiming that Wei was really lucky.
Although the eldest daughter, Gu Qing, was a terrible person, her younger daughters, Gu Lian and Gu Tianbao, were both filial.
Third Uncle disliked Wei Shi. No, it should be said that he disliked all of Second Brother's daughters-in-law, whether they were dead or alive or divorced!
Sometimes he really admired his second brother and sister-in-law; their eye for choosing a daughter-in-law was truly unprecedented!
No family can afford to marry one poisonous woman, two poisonous women, or even three poisonous women!
This isn't just being blind, it's being blinded by a ghost!
"If we can really save her, it would be a good thing. Your uncle has already arranged a marriage for you, and judging by the old couple's standards for choosing a wife, the prospective bride is very likely not a good one either."
"Let's not even talk about Gu Qing. Lian'er and Tianbao are alright. In the future, their branch of the family will probably rely on Tianbao to uphold their reputation. It's just that he's too young. If he had his own mother to protect him, at least she could help him a little."
No matter how bad Wei was, there was one thing that no one could fault: her kindness towards her son.
The siblings were both quite young, and at that age, they needed their parents to protect and help them. Unfortunately, they couldn't rely on their father, so they could only rely on their mother.
“Gu Tianbao said that when his mother comes back, he will decide to return the money to me. If he really returns the money to me, as long as he doesn’t bother me in the future, my aunt and I will keep to ourselves.”
The calamity that Wei suffered was caused by her. Even if the person is saved, she will be criticized and gossiped about for the rest of her life.
In an era where reputation was more important than life, if the Wei family stayed in Shanghe Village, their lives would be worse than death unless they moved away.
Sometimes, rumors are more deadly than a knife.
This ordeal can be considered as the Wei family repaying the original owner.
Third Uncle was very pleased with Gu Tang's "magnanimity": "Although my dear granddaughter is a girl, her magnanimity is comparable to that of a prime minister!"
Gu Tang is thick-skinned and shameless, so she didn't deny the praise at all, raising her chin and saying, "That's right! A gentleman doesn't fight with a petty person!"
These words amused Uncle San.
As the grandfather and granddaughter were talking, all twelve portions of silver were wrapped up and placed in a box. Gu Ping'an's voice came from outside, saying that the two hens had been cleaned and asking Gu Tang whether she wanted them chopped into pieces for soup or stewed whole. Gu Tang turned her head and responded, saying that she would go over right away.
She handed the box to her third uncle, and told him to give it to her father when he returned. Then she hurriedly left the main room.
He was walking along with his sleeves rolled up, clearly intending to chop the chicken into pieces himself.
Sure enough, once they got to the kitchen, Gu Tang took the knife from Gu Ping'an and cut a chicken into four large pieces.
Two chickens make eight pieces.
Gu Ping'an didn't understand: "What's the difference between this and stewing the whole animal?"
"How can there be no difference? Chopping it like this makes it easier to eat when you take it out later!"
"Then why not chop it into smaller pieces?" Wouldn't it be more convenient to eat if it's chopped into smaller pieces?
"Small pieces will fall off the bone after stewing for a while, and it'll be hard to scoop them out!" Gu Tang found another excuse, and glared at him as well.
Little brat, shut up if you don't understand! Why do you have so much to say?
She glared at him, then ordered Gu Ping'an to light the stove, as Gu Tang planned to use a larger clay pot to stew it.
This clay pot is made of iron. When Gu Tang bought the pot, the shopkeeper persuaded her that such an iron clay pot was the best for stewing soup and medicinal dishes, so she bought two.
I bought it and then left it unused; this is the first time I've used it.
I tapped it with my finger; the sound was dull, and the pot was very thick.
"When did you buy this pot?" Gu Ping'an took it, and it was very heavy in his hand. He looked at Gu Tang in surprise: "It's made of iron, and the materials are so solid. It must have cost a lot of money, right?"
"Two taels of silver each!" Gu Tang held up two fingers and shook them in front of him.
Gu Ping'an's eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets: "Two taels of silver for just this one small pot?!"
"Is it small?" Gu Tang snatched the pot back from his hand, held it up and examined it. "It's not small. This is a clay pot, for stewing soup and medicinal dishes, not a big iron pot for stir-frying and cooking rice!"
"This is way too expensive! Does Dad know?"
Before Gu Tang could even speak, her father's voice came from the kitchen doorway: "What do I know? Are you two hiding something from me?"
Gu Ping'an didn't expect his father to come back at this time. After hearing this, he chuckled and said it was nothing.
Gu Tang, on the other hand, made no attempt to hide anything and openly held up the clay pot in her hand for her father to see: "I bought this earlier; it's perfect for stewing soups and medicinal dishes."
Looking at the iron casserole pot poked right in front of him, Gu Lianshan couldn't help but pick it up and weigh it in his hand. Then his heart skipped a beat. With this weight, the price must be quite high.
To avoid showing any sign of distress, Gu Lianshan gritted his teeth and refused to ask how many copper coins it cost. He calmly put down the pot, took out a small package from his pocket, and handed it to Gu Tang.
"Here are the raw dragon teeth and thorn aster you requested. There aren't many left in the pharmacy. I heard you need them for making soup, and the shopkeeper said this is enough for you."
Gu Tang happily accepted it: "That's enough! Thank you for your hard work, Dad. Eat more later. The chicken soup made with raw dragon teeth and thorny aster is calming and soothing, perfect for today."
Calming and soothing...
Gu Lianshan nodded. Indeed, his family had been quite frightened by the kidnappers today, so they needed to calm their nerves.
"Alright, this meal is yours to prepare. I'll go to the main room and speak to your grandfather."
Gu Tang waved to him, telling him to go ahead and do his thing. She was sure she would show off her skills in making this soup today, as it was a soup she often drank when she was a child.
Gu Ping'an was bewildered when he saw his father leave without saying a word: "Why didn't Dad ask you about the price? This isn't like Dad."
"I guess it's a case of 'out of sight, out of mind' and 'out of hearing, out of heart'."
Gu Pingan: ...Is this just burying your head in the sand?
"I got this medicinal soup by trading herbs with a herb gatherer. Now I'm going to start simmering the soup. You need to watch carefully and remember every step. If you need to simmer this soup again in the future, you'll have to do it yourself."
Gu Tang stared at him with a serious expression, telling him to look carefully.
Gu Ping'an composed himself and quickly nodded, "I will definitely write it down carefully!"
That's good.
Take out a large bowl, put the raw dragon teeth into the bowl and soak them in water. Then clean the casserole, add water, put the chicken pieces in, add ginger slices and two spoonfuls of wine to blanch.
While the herbs are blanching, crush the aster and jujube seeds, put them into a small, plain-colored hemp bag, and set it aside for later use.
The water in the casserole had boiled and was bubbling. Gu Tang stirred it a couple of times with a wooden spoon, waited a little longer, then took out the chicken pieces, washed them, and set them aside for later use.
After finishing all that, she glanced at the dragon teeth, poked them with her chopsticks, and found they weren't soft enough. She decided to wait a little longer.
"The dragon teeth are hard, so they need to be soaked for 15 minutes before stewing." Gu Tang handed the chopsticks to Gu Ping'an and asked him to poke them.
Gu Ping'an was very curious, so he took the chopsticks and poked at them several times. They were slightly soft, but still hard overall.
Half an hour later, the dragon teeth had softened considerably. This time, Gu Tang asked Gu Ping'an to wash his hands and let him knead them to feel their softness and firmness firsthand.
"Soak it to this consistency. Got it?"
"I've got it." Gu Ping'an nodded.
After soaking the raw dragon teeth, Gu Tang took them out and put them in a clay pot, then added water to simmer the raw dragon teeth separately.
"If you use a low flame, simmer for 15 minutes; if you use a high flame, 15 minutes is enough. Then, extract the medicinal liquid for later use."
Gu Pingan followed closely beside Gu Tang, silently repeating each sentence Gu Tang spoke.
Before long, the decoction of raw dragon teeth was ready.
Remove the boiled raw dragon teeth, leaving the medicinal broth. Then, put the chicken, the bag containing aster and jujube kernels, lotus seeds with the core intact, ginger, red dates, etc., into the casserole.
Finally, add hot water.
"Remember, you must add hot water! After adding the water, bring it to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook for at least half an hour, but no longer than an hour. Add salt when you eat it."
"Sigh!" Gu Ping'an responded, silently repeating Gu Tang's words from beginning to end to make sure he hadn't forgotten or misremembered anything.
The siblings stayed by the casserole for half an hour. Then, Gu Tang took two small bowls, scooped half a spoonful of broth into each bowl, added a little salt, and asked Gu Ping'an to taste it with her.
Gu Ping'an was eating this soup for the first time, and he thought it tasted very good. When Gu Tang asked him, he just kept nodding his head and saying it was good, but he couldn't say anything else.
Gu Tang felt it wasn't flavorful enough, so she put the lid back on and continued stewing.