novelraw Chapter 285 Stealing the Dowry!
Chapter 285 Stealing the Dowry!
Chapter 285 Stealing the Dowry!
The woman told Qian about the long-standing grudge between the two brothers, emphasizing one point.
"...It's all the fault of that old couple in the main room! They're so biased! For the sake of their eldest son's family's education, they've driven their second son's family to the brink of despair! If they could just be a little more impartial and not treat their granddaughter and son so cruelly, the second son's family wouldn't have been adopted out!"
“I see.” Madam Qian’s brows relaxed. “Since they have been adopted out, there is no question of favoritism. The eldest son’s family is here to carry on the family line, and the second son’s family is here to carry on the family line with the third uncle. No one is being taken advantage of.”
Woman: ...That's not how it's said, and that's not how the accounts are calculated!
Madam Qian had her own set of logic. She said, "The two brothers are still connected by blood, and they don't have any deep-seated hatred. It's fine if they are adopted. But why do I feel that the girl's tone is a bit off? It's like she has some grievances."
The woman said, "...Well, I'm an outsider, and there are some things I don't know. Please wait a moment. After the formalities are over, you can go and ask Lian Sheng yourself, and have him explain this matter to you properly."
Ms. Qian nodded, no longer dwelling on the matter, and continued to eat with her chopsticks, occasionally taking a sip of wine, quite content.
She was hesitant, but the others were on edge, no longer thinking about eating meat or drinking wine. Right now, they just wanted to fill their stomachs and leave.
This woman, surnamed Qian, seems a bit off. They dared not speak to her anymore and just wanted to stay far away from her.
As she ate, Ms. Qian ate her wine and food. At first, she ate quite quickly, but as her hunger subsided, she slowed down.
Regardless of whether she ate slowly or quickly, the others just ate their food heartily, and soon they all said they were full.
Qian didn't move; she had already finished the whole pot of wine and was now somewhat drunk.
"I'm full, and I'm tired and cold from the journey, so I'm going to sleep now."
After saying this, she staggered to her feet and walked outside.
She must have drunk too much alcohol, because her body was burning up. She even reached out and pulled at her collar, revealing a large section of her snow-white neck!
His style is truly bold!
Those inside the room witnessed her actions clearly, and each of them gasped in shock!
"There are so many men in this house! How could this bride act like this..."
A young woman, unable to bear it any longer, couldn't help but gasp in a low voice.
The older woman's heart sank. The more she looked at Qian, the more alarmed she became. She didn't seem like a respectable woman; instead, she had a certain air of prostitution about her...
This is something I can't think about too much; the more I think about it, the more terrified I become!
"Don't worry about this. Gu Liansheng is no good either. Who cares if he marries a human or a ghost?"
"Hurry up, gather the dishes and chopsticks, take them to the kitchen to wash them, and then wipe the table down. Once you're done with that, you can go home."
"Yes!" the group responded, rolled up their sleeves, and began clearing the table, chairs, and dishes.
When they came out of the west wing, they found that people were still drinking in the main room.
The older woman told them not to worry about it, just to do their jobs well, and then they could leave.
The group of people were all experienced workers. They went into the kitchen and helped each other. In less than fifteen minutes, they had washed the dishes and chopsticks, wiped the table in the west wing, and cleaned the kitchen.
"Let's go back." The older woman patted herself down, picked up her straw hat and put it on her head, intending to sneak home in the dark.
"Aren't you going to tell them in the main room?"
"That's enough, they're still drinking, let's not disturb them."
"What about the bride? Who's staying with her tonight?"
According to local custom, if the bride's family is far away and arrives at the groom's family's home before the wedding, a woman who has been married for many years must stay with her in the same house.
The older woman pointed to the east wing: "This is something the master should arrange himself, but look at our master, he only cares about drinking and doesn't do anything that should be arranged!"
"When people in the village get married, they often ask us for help. Which host would just sit and eat without asking any questions? Everyone's busy running around, practically doing the work of three people!"
“That makes sense. Tomorrow is the wedding day, but the exact time for setting off firecrackers, the ceremony, and the banquet hasn't been specified.”
"Just wait and see! Tomorrow will be a complete mess!"
"Let's go back, let's go back. This isn't our business. Maybe the young master thinks it's a remarriage and can reduce or waive all the formalities. If we worry about it, he might think we're meddling!"
"Yes, yes, yes! We can't get involved in this, let's go back, let's go back..."
The group put on straw hats and huddled in the snow.
Gu Liansheng, who was in the main room, was unaware that all the women he had hired to help with cooking had left.
Right now, he was drunk and intoxicated, using the alcohol to numb himself and avoid facing his current predicament. He was thinking how wonderful it would be if life were still as comfortable and carefree as before!
The drinking session lasted until 9 PM.
None of the people at the table got drunk, except for Gu Liansheng and Li Shunzi.
Li Shunzi was the most drunk. He lay motionless on the table, like a dead pig, and no amount of shouting could wake him up.
Gu Liansheng is a little better off than him; he can still stand up and walk.
Seeing that he could walk, the group stopped paying attention to him and focused their attention on Li Shunzi. Together, they carried him away.
Despite being drunk, Gu Liansheng escorted them to the courtyard gate.
After they left, he casually closed the courtyard gate and then went to the west wing to ask if Madam Qian was asleep.
As they approached the west wing corridor, a sound suddenly came from the west room of the main hall.
"Boss! Your mother and I are starving! Get us some food and bring it to us."
Old Master Gu's loud voice was quite abrupt late at night, and Gu Liansheng felt a surge of anger upon hearing it.
When they asked for money before, they didn't say a word. Now how dare they ask me for food?
Gu Liansheng came to the window and said impatiently, "The food prepared today is not enough. We who have been busy all day have not eaten enough. How can we have anything for you two to eat? Just bear with it. I will boil eggs for you and your mother tomorrow morning!"
Inside, Madam Feng lay on her back on the couch, sleeping. No one lit a lamp for them; the room was pitch black, and she couldn't even see Old Master Gu across from her.
She listened hopefully as her husband asked their son what to eat. She knew that Mrs. Qian was coming today, and there were two tables of food set up at home. She thought she would get some good food, but she didn't expect to receive such a few words of disdain.
Overwhelmed with mixed feelings, I felt a chill run through my body, and tears welled up instantly.
Madam Feng began to cry silently, and Old Master Gu was no better off, his eyes stinging with tears.
He paused for a moment and tried to bargain with his son: "There are a few packets of pastries in the betrothal gifts sent to the Qian family. Go and take one packet out, so that your mother and I can at least have something to eat."
You fed us half a bowl of porridge this morning, but that porridge doesn't keep us full for long. Your mother and I were starving, and I wouldn't have bothered you if we hadn't been so hungry..."
These words were spoken in an extremely humble manner, with a hint of flattery, in a vain attempt to move Gu Liansheng.
Unfortunately, Gu Liansheng wasn't buying it, and his heart was hard enough.
"There was nothing in the betrothal gifts except for a few packets of pastries that were presentable. I was thinking of using them to entertain guests tomorrow. If you eat them, what will we serve our guests tomorrow?"
The room fell silent, and then even Old Master Gu shed tears.
In their son's eyes, they weren't even as good as strangers. "Then...then where's the medicine? Your mother and I haven't taken a single bowl of medicine all day. Doctor Qin said before that it should be two bowls of medicine a day, without fail!"
If they won't give us food, they can't just not give us our medicine either, can they?
Gu Liansheng became irritable whenever the topic of decocting medicine came up.
Brewing medicine is a task that requires a lot of patience, and that's exactly what Gu Liansheng lacks most.
The elderly couple didn't take their medicine today because Gu Liansheng was lazy and didn't want to brew it. He postponed it from morning to noon, from noon to evening, and from evening to this time.
The medicine is still in the cabinet, untouched!
Gu Liansheng was in the wrong, but he couldn't admit that he had made a mistake.
He then turned the tables and protested his innocence: "You've always been concerned about your and Mother's medicine, but you've never thought about me! To help you and Mother get better, I brought Qian Shi here early for the wedding, hoping to bring good luck and wash away all the bad luck in our family!"
"I've been busy all day at home, and now I can finally catch my breath. I was hoping that you and Mother could be understanding, but all you did was order me around and complain!"
"You know I've never done these kinds of chores before. I was hoping you and Mother could give me some money to help me. At the very least, we could hire some aunties and older women who know these things to help."
Who would have thought that at this crucial moment, you and Mother would both go back on your word! Not a single penny would you part with! You just watched me make a fool of myself! You wouldn't lend me a hand!
Grandpa Gu fell silent. Indeed, they were in the wrong.
No, this is my husband's fault, it has nothing to do with me!
His wife kept all the money in the house; he never saw any of it.
Old Master Gu wanted to defend himself regarding the money.
Before he could even speak, Gu Liansheng shouted irritably, "I don't want to argue with you! There's no food, no pastries, and no medicine today. After our son's wedding tomorrow, Qian will serve you!"
These words were hard to swallow, and Old Master Gu's chest began to ache again, and tears streamed down his face.
Gu Liansheng didn't care whether the old man's chest hurt or not. He hurriedly returned to the west wing corridor and personally went to Qian's room.
The lights were still on inside, so they must not have gone to bed yet.
He approached the door and asked softly into the room, "Yunniang, are you settling in well since you've arrived here? Have you had dinner yet? There were pastries in the box I sent earlier; if you're hungry, just open it and eat them..."
Gu Liansheng rambled on outside the door, but Qian Shi inside didn't reply to a single word.
This made him very embarrassed.
I raised my hand and knocked on the door. Perhaps because I knocked too hard, the door creaked open.
The Qian family didn't bolt the door?!
I tried pushing it, and there was another creaking sound. Then the door was pushed open.
Gu Liansheng paused for a moment, then stepped into the house.
There were two stoves burning inside, making it very warm.
Inside, on the bed against the wall, Qian was fast asleep, wrapped in a quilt.
Fell asleep?
Gu Liansheng was somewhat surprised. Since he had gone to bed, why didn't he close the door properly?
He stood in front of Qian's bed for a while and vaguely smelled a faint smell of wine.
I bent down and took a closer sniff; it was indeed the smell of alcohol.
Did the Qian family drink alcohol?
Gu Liansheng pursed his lips, feeling displeased.
Turning to the oil lamp, he intended to blow it out and leave.
When they got to the table, for some reason, their gaze suddenly fell on the dowry piled up not far away.
He stared at the dowry for a while, then looked back at Madam Qian. His heart suddenly raced, his scalp tingled, and his hands trembled with nervousness!
The next moment, he walked around the table, went straight to the dowry, squatted down, and quickly flipped through Qian's dowry with both hands.
The dowry brought by Madam Qian consisted of boxes and bundles. The boxes were locked and couldn't be opened in a short time, so Gu Liansheng had no choice but to give up and focus on rummaging through the bundles.
He moved carefully, trying not to mess up the contents of the bundle and keeping them as intact as possible so that Qian would not notice.
After rummaging through two bundles, Gu Liansheng finally found an unlocked vanity box in the third bundle.
Upon opening it, I found a box full of silver jewelry.
Gu Liansheng grinned and hurriedly emptied the box, finding two pairs of silver bracelets, six silver hairpins, six silver rings, and six pairs of silver earrings.
He stuffed all the silver jewelry into his bosom, and then packed the bundle back to its original state.
There were still two bundles left to examine, so Gu Liansheng seized the opportunity, rubbed his hands together, and unpacked the remaining two bundles.
There was nothing else in those two bundles; one contained a bib and underpants, and the other contained winter clothes.
Gu Liansheng was not disappointed. Tonight's harvest was already beyond expectations, and he was only excited and happy.
He put the bundle back to its original state, got up, blew out the oil lamp, and hurriedly left.
Returning to the east wing, he bolted the door shut and then lit two oil lamps, doubling the brightness of the room.
Both oil lamps were placed on the table by Gu Liansheng's bedside. He took off his shoes, sat on the bed, and by the light of the oil lamps, took out all the silver jewelry from his pocket and placed it on the bed.
These silver jewelry pieces are bright and heavy, but I don't know if they are silver-plated or pure silver.
Gu Liansheng pulled out a pair of scissors and cut off all the silver rings and earrings. He carefully examined the cuts and found that they were all pure silver, without any adulteration.
Rings and earrings are easy to identify; just cut them off.
However, silver bracelets and hairpins are out of the question; they are too thick to be cut with scissors.
Even if he could cut it, it wouldn't be something he could actually do.
To verify whether the silver bracelet and hairpin are genuine or not, you can either go to Beian City and have the shopkeepers examine them, or get some charcoal and try to melt the silver into silver ingots.
If it can be fused together, then it is real; if it cannot, then it is fake.
Gu Liansheng chose the latter option. He collected all the silver jewelry on the bed, intending to try melting it down into silver ingots when he had some free time.
After putting away the silver, he yawned. Although he was tired and sleepy, his mind was still incredibly excited!
These silver ornaments should weigh forty or fifty taels in total. If they were all melted down into silver ingots, they would be enough for him to use for several months.
However... the Qian family is likely to cause a scene.