novelraw Chapter 271 Hiring someone to do the work
Chapter 271 Hiring someone to do the work
Chapter 271 Hiring someone to do the work
After the radishes weighing over a hundred pounds were cut into strips, the quantity was truly spectacular!
One jar can only pickle ten catties of radish strips. After using up ten jars, there were no more jars left, but there was still a basket of radish strips left.
Looking at the remaining radish strips, Gu Lianshan announced that they would stir-fry them for dinner and eat them for several meals before they were all gone.
Gu Tang's face darkened upon hearing this decision.
She won't eat it!
Gu Lianshan saw her dark expression and immediately added, "I'll make you something else, I won't force you to eat this."
Gu Tang's expression softened, and she looked much better.
In the afternoon, the third uncle went to find the clan chief, saying that he wanted to tell the clan about Gu Qing's escape.
It started snowing again outside. Gu Tang was worried about him going alone, so she had her father come along to talk to the clan chief about Gu Qing.
Gu Lianshan had originally intended to go, since Gu Qing had harmed his own daughter and now that she had run away, he had to go with her to talk to the clan chief about it.
However, he had promised his daughter at noon that he would learn how to make incense, and if he went out now, he might not be able to come back for a while, which would probably take up too much time.
He said, "Your grandfather and I will go and come back quickly. You stay home and prepare the incense recipe first. When your father comes back, he will learn how to make incense from you."
Gu Tang nodded, telling him to go ahead and that they could discuss the incense-making matter when he returned.
He took the straw hat off the wall and handed one to the old man. Gu Lianshan then helped the old man and carefully made his way to the clan chief's house.
Gu Tang escorted them to the courtyard gate, and after they left, she closed the gate.
Back in the courtyard, she asked Gu Ping'an to wait for her in the main room, saying she needed his help to grind the incense materials.
Gu Tang carefully selected three incense formulas: Dream Spirit Incense, Agarwood Incense, and Tranquilizing Incense.
Then he rummaged through his system inventory and took out a lot of incense materials according to the types of incense materials listed in the recipe.
Each type of incense ingredient was packed in a burlap bag, some large and some small, the large ones reaching up to Gu Tang's chest and the small ones only reaching his knees.
There are so many bags of all sizes. If we were to move them all to the main room, it would take countless trips back and forth to get them all there.
After thinking for a moment, Gu Tang simply went to the main room and called Gu Ping'an to the west wing, asking him to grind incense materials there.
The west wing where Gu Tang lives was originally two rooms that were combined to form an inner and outer room.
The inner room remained untouched as her bedroom, while she could arrange the outer room as she pleased.
She cleared out the table and bamboo couch, which were now filled with millstones and various incense materials.
Normally, almost no one comes to her place, so Gu Tang isn't afraid of being exposed and openly lets Gu Ping'an in.
Gu Ping'an, who had just stepped in, was so shocked by what he saw in the room that his mouth dropped open.
"Why are these things in your room? Aren't there empty rooms in the east wing? I'll clean one out for you to store the incense materials."
"We don't need it right now. Look how much incense we have right now. Once we grind it into powder, there won't be much left."
Gu Tang pushed him to the table and placed the millstone on the table in front of him.
There were two millstones on the table; Gu Pingan used one, and Gu Tang used the other.
This millstone was found in the incense-making gift pack. There was originally only one, but she checked in for three days in a row with those incense-making tools, which resulted in her checking in for three different types of incense-making tools.
The number of millstones also increased from one to four.
Gu Tang taught him how to crush the incense materials, and to what extent they should be crushed, before sifting them.
The sifted powder should be put into a fine cloth bag, and the remaining powder that has not been sifted should be ground until it is all sifted.
After grinding one type of incense material, the millstone must be cleaned before grinding the next type of incense material.
With hands-on instruction, the siblings quickly finished grinding a millstone.
After sifting, Gu Tang carefully put it into a fine cloth bag.
Gu Ping'an stared at the fine cloth bag and gasped, "Did you make this fine cloth bag?"
"Some of them I made, and some I bought. What's wrong?"
Gu Tang was busy filling the bag with face powder, barely daring to breathe, afraid of blowing some of the powder away, and didn't think much of what Gu Ping'an said.
"What's wrong?" Gu Ping'an's eyes widened. "Our family has never even worn fine cloth clothes before, and now you've made a bag out of fine cloth?! You wait, when Father comes back, he'll definitely scold you!"
So that’s what happened.
Gu Tang pointed to the burlap sack next to him and asked him to pick it up and compare it with the fine cloth sack to see what the differences were.
Gu Ping'an didn't understand her intention, but she still did as she was told, picking up the burlap sack and comparing it with the fine cloth sack.
After comparing them back and forth for a while, Gu Ping'an spoke hesitantly: "The linen is coarse, while the fine cloth is dense. If you're using it to hold incense powder, the linen will leak, but the fine cloth won't."
"That's right, that's exactly what I mean. Hurry up! Keep grinding, all these spices need to be crushed."
Gu Tang calculated that if she could grind a small portion today, she could grind the rest in one day tomorrow.
The siblings worked hard, grinding the grain, but the work became slower and slower. It was so tiring that their wrists ached and felt numb, and they felt like they couldn't exert any strength anymore.
Gu Pingan could tolerate it. He was used to doing things this way. Although the work was tiring, it wasn't impossible. It just really tested one's patience.
Gu Tang couldn't do it; she hadn't done any chores since transmigrating, and she didn't have the patience for it.
She pushed the millstone aside, shaking her aching wrists, refusing to work anymore.
"There are too many incense materials. If we do it all ourselves, our wrists will be broken by the time we finish! How will we have the energy to learn incense making?"
Gu Ping'an couldn't refute this; the job was indeed tiring.
"Then what do you want? You can't make incense without crushing it."
"Let's hire someone!" Gu Tang gritted her teeth. "We'll spend some money to hire someone!"
"Would Father agree?" Gu Ping'an thought his second sister was being a bit far-fetched.
Gu Tang, however, said with certainty, "When Father comes back, let him try this job. After he tries it, he will agree."
Gu Ping'an held his own opinion; his father was a hard-working man and would never spend money to hire someone to do the work.
The siblings, each holding their own opinions, made a bet: the loser would have to obey the winner for the rest of the winter.
Seeing that he was about to have the opportunity to command his second sister, Gu Ping'an rubbed his hands together, looking confident.
Gu Tang ignored him, looking completely exhausted. She slumped on the bamboo couch, leaning against the incense burner, and didn't want to work anymore.
Gu Ping'an didn't stop, continuing to grind the incense materials until he heard a knock at the courtyard gate.
He ran to open the courtyard gate and saw that his father and third uncle had returned. He glanced at them and his expression was not good.
"What's going on here?"
"It's alright. Where's your second sister?" Gu Lianshan's expression softened, and he looked much better.
"In the west wing. To make incense, you first have to grind the incense materials, and Second Sister is exhausted."
Gu Ping'an led them towards the west wing. Hearing that his daughter was exhausted, Gu Lianshan immediately felt sorry for her: "Your second sister isn't in good health. You should do more work so that your second sister can do less."
Third Uncle added, "Your father is right. You are the son, and you will be the pillar of the family in the future. You will have to shoulder everything. We can't let your second sister carry the burden."
Gu Ping'an: ...He's innocent!
"Grinding incense is such tiring work, my second sister didn't do much of it..."
“You’ll have to do even more work, which is tiring!” Gu Lianshan said seriously. “If you become the head of the household in the future, you’ll have to take on all the dirty and tiring work. You’ll have to learn to take responsibility.”
Gu Ping'an: ...It was his fault. He shouldn't have let his second sister do the work.
As they spoke, the three of them arrived at the west wing.
Gu Ping'an pushed open the door, letting them see the spectacular sight inside.
Gu Lianshan and his third uncle, like Gu Ping'an before them, were both taken aback when they entered the house.
There are so many incense materials in this room!
"Daughter! You bought all of these?" Gu Lianshan's voice trembled.
How much silver must have cost to acquire this room full of fragrant herbs?!
Knowing her father's temperament well, Gu Tang knew that he was feeling sorry for her again.
She replied weakly, "Some were bought with money, and some I picked myself in the mountains. It didn't cost much money."
Gu Lianshan felt a lump in his throat; he knew immediately that this was just a lie!
But seeing his daughter's weak and listless appearance, he couldn't bring himself to ask any more questions. He leaned closer and asked about her health with a worried expression.
"Where are you tired? Go back to bed and rest for a while. Let your brother do the rest of the work."
Upon hearing this, Gu Ping'an felt as if the sky had fallen!
Why is he doing this all by himself?
How long will this take?
"My wrists are sore, and my palms hurt too." Gu Tang raised her wrists, feeling a little better than before.
"Does it hurt a lot?" Third Uncle also stepped forward, his gaze falling on Gu Tang's exposed wrist. He examined it carefully for a moment, his face solemn.
"It looks a bit swollen. Should we call a doctor to take a look?"
Please call a doctor?
Gu Tang immediately sat up straight: "I was just tired from pushing the millstone back and forth. I'll be fine after a rest. There's no need to call a doctor."
"Father, please help Ping An with this. All the incense materials in this house need to be ground into powder, just like flour."
Gu Lianshan looked helpless: "Father also wants to help, but I'm afraid it's not possible today. Father has to go out for a while."
Gu Tang looked puzzled: "It gets dark early in winter, it's almost late afternoon, where are you planning to go?"
"Go with the villagers to find that girl Gu Qing. Before it gets dark, search the surrounding ditches and streams to see if she has fallen into an ice hole."
Gu Tang paused, then pointed west: "They've made a scene over there and it's reached the clan leader's ears?"
"right……"
"Weren't they trying to keep it a secret? Why did it suddenly come out?"
Gu Tang looked surprised; this was unlike the way the Feng couple acted.
Gu Lianshan couldn't understand this either.
Third Uncle knew a little about this matter. Someone had secretly told him about Gu Liansheng's plans from the clan chief.
"Someone told me about what happened over there, but I don't know if it's true or not. They said that the father and son over there wanted to marry that widow Qian ahead of time."
But fearing gossip, she brought up the matter of Qing'er's runaway to the clan chief, lamenting that her wife, Feng, had no one to serve her, hoping to use this as an excuse to have Widow Qian marry into the family sooner.
"If you're getting married early, then get married early! But it's such a hassle that we have to freeze and go out to find someone too!" Gu Tang was very dissatisfied.
"Your uncle's reputation is tarnished now, and there are all sorts of rumors going around. If he doesn't have a decent excuse and dares to let Widow Qian into the house ahead of time, those outsiders will surely spread rumors that the two of them have known each other for a long time and have a secret affair..."
Gu Tang hadn’t thought of this before, but now that he heard what his third uncle said, he realized it was true!
This isn't the 21st century. Once the wedding date is set, it can't be changed unless there's something extremely important going on.
If it's changed without any reason, then rumors will spread like wildfire.
If they are farmers who make a living by tilling the land, then it doesn't matter; outsiders will talk about it for a while and then it will pass. As long as you are easygoing, it's not a big deal.
But scholars are different, especially scholars like Gu Liansheng who got engaged not long after his wife died.
If one doesn't have money to bribe the officials in the government, and someone reports him to the authorities, rumors could ruin his chances of passing the imperial examinations!
"This matter was decided by the clan elders. After all, it's a human life. Let's look for it first, and if we really can't find it, then we'll just let it go."
With such thick snow outside, if someone dies, they'll be impossible to find. The falling snow will quickly cover them; where would you even begin to look?
die?
Gu Tang twitched the corners of her mouth. Yesterday, Gu Qing was carrying a bundle on her back. This didn't seem like she was trying to commit suicide; it seemed more like she was running away from home to seek refuge with someone.
The Gu family doesn't have many close relatives, so they wouldn't just take Gu Qing in.
Of course, it's not absolute. Other relatives might not take Gu Qing in, but Gu Zhier definitely will.
Gu Tang hesitated for a moment, but still didn't mention that she had seen Gu Qing leave the village. Instead, she casually reminded him of it.
“Since it was decided by the clan elders, it’s not right to stop you from going. Why don’t you go with the villagers and wander around the area, or go to Wangzhai Village? My aunt lives there, and she has always doted on Gu Qing. Maybe Gu Qing will go to her for refuge.”
Gu Lianshan's eyes lit up: "You know what, it's actually possible!"
He left those words behind and rushed out of the house.
Before it gets dark, let's talk to the villagers about this and go to Wangzhai Village first.
Gu Tang followed her out, adding with concern, "Be careful. If you can't distinguish between the road and the ditch, take a stick and try to walk. Wear a straw hat and a raincoat; that will at least protect you from the snow."
"Father has remembered."
Following Gu Tang's instructions, Gu Lianshan took a stick, put on a straw hat and a raincoat, and strode out of the courtyard.
Gu Tang and Gu Ping'an followed to the courtyard gate, their eyes filled with worry, and stood outside the gate watching them go.
The snow started to fall again, and each snowflake was as big as a goose feather, feeling quite heavy when it hit someone's head.
Gu Tang touched his head and then touched a handful of cold snowflakes.
"Come back quickly! Be careful not to catch a cold!" Uncle San said anxiously, waving to the siblings.
"Don't worry, the clan chief and the others have found more than a dozen strong men. Everyone will travel together. As long as we don't go alone, nothing will happen."
Gu Tang nodded, patted Gu Ping'an's arm, and beckoned him to go back.
"Brush the snow off your body a few times, and go back inside to get a handkerchief to wipe the snow off your head." Uncle San closed the courtyard gate and urged the two of them to go back inside.
Back inside, after brushing the snow off himself, Gu Ping'an went to Gu Tang's place to continue grinding incense materials.
Third Uncle also wanted to help, but Gu Tang stopped him: "This work is really tiring. I can't even do it, let alone you."
After saying that, she waved her hand to stop Gu Ping'an: "You don't need to do it anymore. It's too slow for just you. I'll take out some copper coins and go to the village to find some people to help."