novelraw Chapter 256 Suspicion Arises, Drinking Leads to Deception
Chapter 256 Suspicion Arises, Drinking Leads to Deception
Chapter 256 Suspicion Arises, Drinking Leads to Deception
Is that right?
Third Uncle was a little confused by Gu Tang's words.
Gu Tang added, "He was poisoned by his own family and betrayed by his servants in his own home. I reckon he must not be favored at home!"
Which wealthy man doesn't keep several concubines? And who knows, one of them might be particularly favored and father a son born out of wedlock. With so many children, the father is bound to show favoritism.
There are those who are favored, and there are those who are not. Perhaps this person is one of the unfavored. If his whole family hadn't suffered a tragedy, he wouldn't have been allowed to inherit the family business. It's precisely because of this that his relatives and uncles dared to harm him.
"How do you know so much?" Third Uncle glanced at her, a suspicion creeping into his heart.
That one glance sent chills down Gu Tang's spine.
She casually explained, "He told me that himself when I saved him last time."
As she spoke, she pointed to her head and whispered, "This person's mind seems different from others. When I saved him that day, I only gave him a bowl of tea."
Unexpectedly, with tears in his eyes, he said that no one had ever been so kind to him in his life, and that his relatives and clansmen all hoped for his death so they could divide up the silver left to him by his parents.
Ok? ? ?
Third Uncle's eyes widened: "Really?"
"It's absolutely true!" Gu Tang said confidently. "You don't know, after he drank the hot tea and sobered up, he answered whatever I asked him without any suspicion."
He told me all the dirty and messy things about his family, he's such an honest man! So easy to fool!
"This is truly..." Third Uncle was speechless, not knowing how to comment.
Gu Tang: "I only agreed to let him visit because he seemed honest and not a bad person. If he had dared to try anything funny, I would have turned him away long ago!"
Uncle San's doubts were largely dispelled. He said, "No wonder he wasn't arrogant. He was a pitiful person after all. You can tell from his words and actions that he must have had a hard time before."
Gu Tang nodded, thinking to herself, "Yes, it's really not easy. How can a beggar's life be easy?"
Thinking of this, she became extremely smug again.
Ah Gou was able to escape poverty and start living a good life after meeting him.
Before meeting her, he was with beggars. Coupled with Ah Gou's evil bad luck, even if his body didn't collapse in the end, he would still die of bad luck!
While the grandfather and grandson were talking, the food in the kitchen was almost ready.
Both stoves were used together, and the furnace was also requisitioned to stew mutton soup.
Ah Gou made pan-fried fish, chicken pieces with dogwood, stir-fried cabbage, and cold shredded radish salad.
With the addition of the mutton soup, it makes a perfect four dishes and one soup.
For the main dish, Gu Lianshan prepared a pot of white flour pancakes, some fried and some steamed, offering two different flavors for customers to choose from.
Looking at the four dishes and one soup, Gu Lianshan felt it was too little, so he stir-fried a plate of eggs, a plate of pickled vegetables with meat, and a plate of dried mushrooms with meat, making a total of seven dishes and one soup.
The meat used was the piece of pork that Ah Gou hadn't touched before.
Gu Lianshan specially picked those out in the west wing; they were half fat and half lean, perfect for stir-frying.
Gu Tang just doesn't like pork, finding the taste too strong.
To prevent the pork's gamey smell from contaminating the other dishes, Gu Lianshan waited until Ah Gou had finished cooking all four dishes before taking over the stir-frying of the pork.
Watching Gu Lianshan stir-fry plate after plate of pork, Agou hesitated, unsure whether he should remind him that Gu Tang didn't like pork.
Ah Gou's expression made Gu Lianshan misunderstand, and he took a moment to ask, "Can't you stand the smell of pork?"
"No, that's not it." Ah Gou shook his head. He wasn't picky about food; as long as it filled his stomach, he would chew and swallow tree roots.
"Alright, alright, what's so hard about admitting this!" Gu Lianshan said with a 'don't lie to me' look, "My daughter doesn't eat pork. She says the meat has too strong a gamey smell and she can't get used to it. If you don't believe me, ask my son; he can vouch for me!"
Gu Ping'an, who was focused on tending the fire, was called on and immediately raised his hand: "Yes! I can testify that my second sister really doesn't like to eat this meat. She only eats chicken, duck and fish, and she also eats some mutton."
Ah Gou nodded seriously and remembered, thinking that when he cooked for Gu Tang later, he would avoid pork.
However, mutton also has a gamey smell, so why can mutton be eaten but pork cannot?
Ah Gou voiced his doubts, wanting to know the difference between the two.
"The difference?" Gu Lianshan thought for a moment, "My daughter is a herb gatherer and knows some herbs that can remove fishy smells, so I guess that's why."
"That's not right!" Gu Ping'an immediately retorted upon hearing this. "My second sister likes mutton from dwarf sheep, not the kind of mutton we usually eat."
The difference between the two is that the former has no fishy or muttony smell, while the latter does.
"What kind of sheep is a dwarf sheep?" Ah Gou asked, not understanding.
Gu Pingan raised his hand and gestured: "It's a kind of short-legged sheep, only found in the Bei'an City area, but it's difficult to raise."
To get rid of that mutton smell, the sheep need to be fat and plump. If they're lean and skin and bones, the meat will taste no different from regular mutton.
"Okay, I'll remember." Ah Gou nodded repeatedly, making sure he remembered the short-legged sheep, and would buy some and send them over later.
Gu Lianshan assumed he was planning to buy some to try, so he told him about a few butcher shops.
"The three butcher shops on East Street—Niu Ji, Wang Ji, and Wu Ji—have the best dwarf lamb! A few years ago, I helped them transport dwarf lambs in the winter, and every single one of them was plump and healthy! They were all two-year-old sheep!"
"A two-year-old sheep?"
"Yes, two-year-old sheep! Dwarf sheep are only at their best when they are raised for a full two years!"
"Okay! I'll go take a look tomorrow!"
If you have any, buy more and store them. Stew some every day and send them over; they won't spoil in the winter.
While the three were talking, the mutton soup was ready.
Gu Lianshan then asked Gu Pingan to set the table in the main room first. He put the dishes on a tray and carried it to the main room.
Ah Gou originally wanted to help, but Gu Lianshan refused.
It's already unfair to ask guests to cook for them; to ask them to serve the dishes themselves is truly shameless.
There were only seven dishes and one soup in total, and he finished serving them in two trips.
Gu Lianshan told Ah Gou to go sit in the main room first, and that the two of them could have a few drinks later!
There are guests here today, so I suppose his daughter won't stop him from drinking.
Gu Tang wouldn't stop him from drinking today. In fact, Gu Tang secretly hoped that her father would eat more, preferably get drunk.
He only agrees to things when he's drunk and confused.
As for whether he would deny it after sobering up, Gu Tang wasn't worried about that. Putting everything else aside, just based on the six hundred taels of silver in the basket, her father would definitely admit it!
Therefore, when Gu Lianshan brought the dishes into the main room, his eyes were immediately drawn to the wine warming on the stove!
He smelled it – it was Qingjiu!
His mouth instantly watered, and Gu Lianshan took two more sniffs before reluctantly looking away.
As he placed the dishes on the table, he chatted with Gu Tang, who was warming the wine, "The wine doesn't need to be warmed; it's just as good cold!" "Eating cold wine in the dead of winter?" Gu Tang sneered, "Your health isn't what it used to be. If you get sick from it, our whole family will have to worry!"
That’s what I said!
"What do you mean 'not when I was young'? I'm not even forty yet! The way you're saying it makes it sound like I'm seventy or eighty!"
Gu Tang ignored his words and gave him two choices: "Do you still want to eat? If you do, I'll keep reheating it for you. If you don't, then I'll put it away!"
"Eat, eat, eat!" Upon hearing this, Gu Lianshan dared not make any more demands and immediately became obedient, taking the tray and going to the kitchen to continue serving dishes.
The father and daughter bickered without regard for others, leaving the third uncle quite helpless. He quickly apologized to Ah Gou, who was sitting next to him.
"This father and daughter have the same temperament. Every time they clash, neither of them will give in. You're just laughing at them."
"What's so funny about it? In my opinion, this is true affection and genuine love. If Master Gu hadn't spoiled her so much, Miss Gu wouldn't have developed such a temperament."
This is better than those who claim to love their daughters, but whose daughters behave like mice before a cat when they see their fathers.
Uncle San agreed wholeheartedly: "My son has four children, but this one is his favorite, so he spoils him terribly."
Hearing this, Ah Gou felt proud, and a smug look unconsciously appeared on his face.
The master is truly amazing!
It's something most people couldn't do to stand out among four children!
Fortunately, Gu Tang couldn't hear Ah Gou's thoughts. If she had, she would have rolled her eyes at him.
Having transmigrated to a farming family, is it something to be proud of, as an adult compared to three children?
Once all the dishes were served, Gu Tang had also warmed two or three pots of wine. As soon as she put the wine pots on the table, her father eagerly reached out and took them.
"Dad, Dad! Sit down and eat."
Gu Tang didn't argue with him and readily handed him the wine pot, along with two other pots, placing them in front of her father.
Looking at the wine pot in front of him, Gu Lianshan laughed, his eyes practically disappearing into his grin, and quickly poured wine for Agou.
Ah Gou dared not let him pour him wine. He got up, snatched the wine pot from Ah Gou's hand, poured a cup for Third Uncle first, then poured one for Gu Lianshan, and finally poured one for himself.
The third uncle took in the whole scene, his eyes flickered slightly, and the suspicion that had dissipated earlier resurfaced.
The Gu family is neither extremely wealthy nor an official family, so why should a rich young master be so humble?
So what if they are my saviors?
The two sides are not on equal footing, and even if he saved his entire clan, he should not be forced to fawn over him in such a humble manner.
Uncle San, whose suspicions were growing again, remained silent, only watching Ah Gou pour the wine with a smile on his face.
Gu Ping'an was sitting to A Gou's right, staring longingly at the wine pot in A Gou's hand, really wanting a cup.
"You want some too?" The intense gaze beside him was hard to ignore. Ah Gou glanced at him and saw that he was staring at the wine jug in his hand, so he asked.
Gu Ping'an was overjoyed and was about to say yes when Gu Tang, who was to his right, secretly pinched his arm.
"He doesn't want to!"
One pinch wasn't enough, Gu Tang pinched his waist twice more, giving him a fierce sidelong glare: "What are you doing drinking at such a young age?!"
Gu Ping'an didn't dare to dodge, and endured the three blows with a grimace. Then he shook his head and waved his hands at Ah Gou: "I never said I wanted to drink! You guessed wrong!"
Ah Gou paused for a moment. From Gu Ping'an's expression, he had already guessed what had happened. He immediately tensed up, put down the wine pot, and sat up straight.
Gu Lianshan, who was so hungry he couldn't stand their commotion, held up his wine cup and pestered Ah Gou, saying he wanted to toast him.
"Come, come! I've been so presumptuous today, having such a distinguished guest as you personally cook. I'll offer you three cups! Cheers!"
After saying that, he raised the wine cup in his hand and drank it all in one gulp. Then he poured two more cups and drank them all in one gulp as well.
Ah Gou was stunned for a moment. Was there really such a thing as offering three toasts in one go?
He didn't understand the rules here. Since the master's father had done it this way, it must be the right thing to do.
Alright, let's have three cups of wine first.
Following Gu Lianshan's example, Agou also ate three bowls in a row, which made Gu Lianshan laugh even more heartily.
This person is really interesting!
"Don't stop! Have three more cups!" Gu Lianshan poured him some wine and said, "My father should also have three cups with you, but he's too old, so I'll drink them for him!"
After saying that, he downed three more cups!
Ah Gou: ...Then I'll have three more cups with you!
In just a short while, each person had downed six cups of wine.
The third uncle's smile was almost impossible to contain; he was secretly glaring at his adopted son.
That's not how you toast someone!
Gu Tang was also furious, and under the table, she stomped hard on her father with her little feet.
We let you drink, but not like this!
Having been kicked, Gu Lianshan toned down his behavior, stopped offering toasts, and urged Ah Gou to eat.
But after eating only a few bites of food, Gu Lianshan urged Ah Gou to play rock-paper-scissors.
Ah Gou doesn't know how to play this.
Gu Lianshan then enthusiastically taught him how to play.
After being taught for a while, Ah Gou memorized the incantations and gestures, and then began a duel with Gu Lianshan.
Although I memorized the formulas and gestures, theory and practice are two different things.
In addition, Gu Lianshan was a very unscrupulous person. Taking advantage of the fact that Agou had not yet fully understood the rules of the game, he cheated and made Agou lose seven or eight rounds in a row!
Losing is losing, but who knew that Gu Lianshan would also tamper with the number of cups used for drinking.
Originally it was one cup per game, but he insisted on changing it to two cups per game!
Not only did he change the numbers, but he also had the audacity to say that it was Ah Gou's first time playing rock-paper-scissors, and he would pay for every game Ah Gou lost.
In other words, although Ah Gou lost, they both received the penalty drink together.
After eight rounds, one person drank sixteen cups of wine, and Third Uncle's face turned black!
Gu Tang couldn't bear to watch either. When she received Ah Gou's pleading look, she pretended to be dead and looked away.
Her father was enjoying his meal, and she couldn't stop him; she just let him be.
As for Ah Gou... cough! He's still a Yin spirit, he can't be inferior to a mortal, can he?
Besides, Ah Gou knows martial arts and can use some kind of internal energy to neutralize the effects of alcohol, so he should be fine.
Gu Tang only remembered that Agou was a Yin spirit, but forgot that Agou's current body was that of a mortal!
And he's just an ordinary person with a low alcohol tolerance.