novelraw Chapter 304 The Dates Don't Match
Chapter 304 The Dates Don't Match
Chapter 304 The Dates Don't Match
Having learned the whole story, Third Uncle stopped mentioning it and instead glanced at Gu Tang.
"Girl, go out for a while. Your father and I have some things to discuss."
"Sigh." Gu Tang responded obediently and turned to walk out.
As she came out of the main room, Ah Gou was waiting for her in the corridor.
Ah Gou had keen hearing and overheard what was happening in the east room. He whispered, "Go back inside first. I'll listen to what they're saying from the porch and tell you later."
Gu Tang glared at him: "You're eavesdropping!"
Ah Gou blinked: "I thought you'd be curious."
Gu Tang: ...Okay, she was indeed curious.
"Then you'd better watch out. If my dad catches you, you'll be fully responsible!"
"Okay, I take full responsibility."
Gu Tang nodded in satisfaction, agreeing to let him stay and eavesdrop, while she went back to her room.
She didn't know how long it would take, and she didn't want to wait in the cold.
She thought it would take at least fifteen minutes for Ah Gou to come over, but to her surprise, Ah Gou knocked on the door and then pushed it open and came in as soon as she arrived at the west wing.
Gu Tang looked bewildered: "Weren't you eavesdropping in the corridor? Why are you here now? Did you get caught?"
"They weren't discovered because they listened to the whole thing."
"You've finished listening?!" Gu Tang was even more confused. "You came in right after me, and you're saying you've finished listening?"
"The old man's message was very brief, just a sentence or two. After hearing that, I didn't listen to the rest."
"Then tell me, what exactly is it?" Gu Tang was very curious, because the old man had never avoided talking to her father in private.
This is the first time, and she's incredibly curious!
"It's about Gu Mei."
Gu Tang immediately perked up: "Tell me! Tell me!"
"Your grandfather said that Gu Mei's belly is swollen, but the Zhu family is still not arranging the marriage. Someone saw Gu Mei's belly and said that some busybodies are asking about whose daughter Gu Mei is."
Oh open!
Her belly is bulging?!
Gu Tang subconsciously gestured with her hand on her stomach. Was she... was she pregnant?!
"No way... Gu Mei's body hasn't even fully developed yet! Are you crazy?!"
"According to your previous life, Gu Mei was underdeveloped, but according to the customs here, she is of marriageable age and should have children."
Gu Tang was stunned. Yes, this was not her world; this was ancient times ruled by a feudal dynasty.
She composed herself and asked, "Did my father say anything after he found out about this?"
He cursed "bastard" three times.
"Just three curses calling me a wicked child? That's all?"
"I didn't hear anything else, but I came here after hearing this."
Gu Tang: ...
"Why are you in such a hurry to come over? Couldn't you have listened to the whole thing before you came?"
Ah Gou paused for a moment, realizing he was being too hasty. "How about... I go listen to it again?"
"Go quickly!"
Ah Gou dared not delay and turned to leave the west wing.
Unfortunately, just as he reached the corridor of the main hall, Gu Lianshan lifted the curtain and came out of the main hall.
Ah Gou: ...We're doomed!
He subconsciously looked towards the west wing. Gu Tang had left the west wing at some point and was now looking this way from under the west wing corridor.
Ah Gou has excellent eyesight and can clearly see that she's glaring at him with anger.
"Why are you out here in this cold weather?" Gu Lianshan asked calmly.
Ah Gou: "...I just went to the outhouse."
"Then hurry back inside and warm yourself by the fire, lest you catch a cold."
"Ugh."
Ah Gou responded and walked east along the long corridor, then turned right and returned to the east wing.
Gu Tang stomped her feet in anger, then turned and went back into the house!
It had piqued her curiosity, but then the conversation ended abruptly halfway through!
It's better not to listen at all!
During dinner, Gu Tang was still thinking about this matter, occasionally glancing up at her father to see his reaction.
Unfortunately, her father was too calm; he spoke and acted as usual, without showing any abnormality.
Gu Tang was unwilling to give up. She thought that since this had happened, she had to deal with it. She couldn't let those busybodies find out who Gu Mei was, could she?
If you pay attention to his father's actions, you can probably guess what he wants to do.
The next day, while keeping an eye on her father's movements, Gu Tang continued to teach her third uncle and Gu Ping'an how to make incense.
Strangely, her father didn't make a single move; instead, he joined the old man and the others in making incense.
He also dragged Ah Gou along.
Ah Gou learns things extremely quickly. He only watched Gu Tang do it once, and when he tried it himself, the incense he made was perfect, fast, and good, a hundred times better than Gu Tang, who was only a half-baked novice.
Gu Lianshan was taken aback by Agou's words. After a moment of silence, he turned to his son and ignored Agou.
Gu Tang had been keeping an eye on her father. When Ah Gou showed off the air-drying net to her, she immediately gave him a task.
Isn't he someone who loves to join in the fun and show off?
Perfect timing! She needs a skilled incense maker, and you're the one!
If you don't use up those hundreds of pounds of face powder today, I'll make you regret it!
Ah Gou: ...
The best-quality incense is selected and sold at the normal price.
The remaining items that are not in good condition will be sold cheaply.
To dry the incense, a room was specially set aside with two large furnaces that burned day and night. The prepared incense was placed inside and dried very quickly.
The incense that had been made earlier had already been dried. Uncle San lit a few sticks to try, and both the smoke that came out when it burned and the fragrance that it emitted were excellent!
It smells much better than those expensive ones outside!
Since this was the first time making incense, the incense sticks weren't arranged very straight; they were a bit crooked.
That's not a problem. We'll take these out and deliver a few to each household so that everyone in the village can light them and see how good the incense is.
The snow was so thick this year, and it was freezing cold; going outside to buy incense was enough to freeze you to death!
Nowadays, incense is sold right at our doorstep, and at a much lower price. In the end, any person with a sound mind would choose to buy Gujia incense.
Gu Tang was distracted, supervising Ah Gou's incense-making while keeping an eye on her father.
During this time, her third uncle kept looking at her, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.
It was originally agreed that she would personally make some incense with auspicious shapes and meanings to give to Gu Sanlang as a return gift.
Now look what's happened! Before she's even returned the gift, she's already ordering people around again.
Fortunately, Gu Sanlang was a bit dim-witted and honest, so he didn't get angry no matter how much she ordered him around.
If it were someone with a narrow mind, they probably would have fallen out long ago. Oh well, they're both willing to be hurt, let them be.
Gu Tang stared at her father for a long time, from morning until afternoon, but he remained completely still, as if he didn't know that Gu Mei was pregnant.
In the evening, after the family had dinner, Gu Lianshan led Gu Ping'an to search through the various vats.
A whole dwarf sheep, a whole pig leg, and five chickens, five fish, and a basket of tangerines that Ah Gou had previously brought.
These things were all piled up in the main room, which was quite a sight.
Gu Tang was completely bewildered: "Dad, why are you digging out all this food so late at night?"
"Are you out of your mind, girl? Tomorrow is the seventh day of the new year, and we're having a family reunion banquet."
Gu Lianshan pointed outside and continued, "It's too cold, the meat is frozen solid. So the stove in the main room will stay lit today."
"The meat should thaw overnight, and your sixth uncle will be coming over tomorrow noon to prepare for the feast."
"Start preparing the banquet at noon? You plan to hold the banquet in the evening?"
Gu Tang did some mental calculations. For five tables of food, the preparation process for each dish had to be done in advance, including chopping and frying.
This part is extremely time-consuming and laborious, no wonder we need to start preparing half a day in advance.
"We invited villagers, so we didn't have to travel at night. We decided to have the meal in the evening, and then everyone could go back to sleep."
Gu Lianshan spread the meat on the table, glanced at Gu Tang, and specifically instructed her: "You have to get up a little earlier tomorrow. Your sixth uncle said he would come at noon, but knowing his personality, he will only come earlier, not later."
If they come early but you're still in bed, you'll be considered a lazy girl from now on! Listen to your father, you must get up early tomorrow no matter what.
Gu Tang's face scrunched up: "How early is considered early?"
"Would Chenshi (7-9 AM) be alright?" Gu Lianshan asked her gently. "Everyone's home by then. How about you get up around that time too?"
Chen Shi (7-9 AM)?
"Is it the beginning or the end of Chenshi?" The beginning of Chenshi is 7 o'clock, and the end of Chenshi is 9 o'clock.
One is at the beginning and the other at the end, but they are two hours apart.
"Of course it's early morning!" Gu Lianshan glared at her. "If you get up at the end of morning, your sixth uncle will probably already be home!"
Okay, then she'll get up at the beginning of Chen Shi (7-9 AM).
Gu Tang turned around and went back into the house listlessly.
After walking a few steps, she turned to her father and asked, "Father, you're not going out tomorrow, are you?"
"Tomorrow is the family reunion banquet. Where else could your father be if he's not home? Why are you talking nonsense today, you little brat?"
Gu Lianshan was very puzzled. What was wrong with his daughter today?
Seeing that asking any further would arouse her father's suspicion, Gu Tang stopped mentioning the matter and ran back to her room.
If she gets up at Chenshi (7-9 AM), and no one wakes her up on time, she's basically doomed to oversleep.
To prevent her father from nagging her, Gu Tang specifically instructed Gu Ping'an to wake her up on time tomorrow.
Gu Pingan gets up at dawn every day without fail, and when it's morning, he comes to Gu Tang's place to knock on the door and wake her up.
Gu Ping'an was very dedicated and responsible.
The next morning, after getting up, he kept glancing at the clock in the room, afraid of missing the appointed time.
As soon as Chen Shi (7-9 AM) arrived, Gu Ping'an dashed out like a gust of wind and ran to Gu Tang's door to knock.
This was the time when Gu Tang was sleeping soundly, and the moment she was woken up, she felt nothing but annoyance.
As for what her father told her yesterday, she completely forgot about it.
When Gu Ping'an shouted out what she had promised last night, Gu Tang finally remembered and reluctantly got out of bed.
By the time she finished dressing and putting on her shoes, three-quarters of an hour had passed.
Only Ah Gou was outside the door and under the eaves; Gu Ping'an was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is Ping An?"
"He couldn't stand the cold anymore, so he went back inside to warm himself by the fire."
Ah Gou glanced around the main room and suddenly whispered, "Around 5 a.m., your father went out and came back with a packet of medicine."
Gu Tang's heart skipped a beat. Pretending to tie a sachet around her waist, she asked in a low voice, "Do you know what kind of medicine it is?"
"I know, I secretly opened the medicine; it contained musk and safflower..."
"Musk safflower?" Gu Tang's pupils contracted slightly. "This is..."
"If I'm not mistaken, this medicine should be for Gu Mei. At this time, buying musk and safflower is only useful for a miscarriage."
"Where did he buy it? At Doctor Gu's house?"
Ah Gou nodded: "That's right, it was bought from Doctor Gu's house. It must have cost a lot of money. Musk is extremely expensive. Your father bought about one tael. Even the lowest grade of musk would cost at least ten taels of silver for one tael."
Hearing that it would cost ten taels of silver, Gu Tang didn't feel any heartache. She was just worried that Gu Mei was several months pregnant and whether she could still use medicine to induce labor, lest it result in the death of both mother and child.
"Tell me, how many months pregnant must Gu Mei be to be able to tell she's pregnant? If it's early in the pregnancy, it's easier to miscarry. But if it's later, can she still use medication?"
Ah Gou looked completely bewildered; he couldn't answer that question.
He raised his hand and gestured to his stomach, "If an outsider could tell at a glance that a person's stomach is bulging, then it must be at least... this big!"
Gu Tang glanced at what he was gesturing; it was about the size of a small watermelon.
"You're exaggerating! How long has she been at the Zhu family's house? From the day she arrived, it's only been about a month. How could she be this pregnant?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Tang was suddenly struck by lightning and froze on the spot.
She looked at Ah Gou, her expression somewhat blank: "No! No! If Gu Mei is really pregnant, she's only about twenty days along in the month! How could her belly be swollen?"
"Huh?" Ah Gou looked bewildered. "Won't a pregnancy of around twenty years old show?"
"Of course it won't swell up!" Gu Tang said firmly.
So, could this be a false alarm?
Did her father and grandfather think of this?
Gu Lianshan had indeed thought of this.
When his third uncle first told him that Gu Mei might be pregnant, he did get angry and cursed a few times.
But once he calmed down, he realized something was wrong. How long had that wretched child been at the Zhu family's house?
Even if she were pregnant, her belly wouldn't swell up so quickly.
Gu Lianshan then suspected that something might have gone wrong. Could it be that this Zhu Youshou was just someone with the same name and surname, and not Zhu Laosan's son, Zhu Youshou?
With so many people in Zhujiazhuang, it's possible that there are others with the same name.
Gu Lianshan kept trying to convince himself of this, but for some reason, after getting up at 5 a.m. today, he felt very restless in the house and thought about going out for a walk.
But this journey led them to Doctor Gu's house.
Doctor Gu had already gotten up and was just coming out of the house carrying a chamber pot. When he saw Gu Lianshan, he greeted him familiarly.
Gu Lianshan responded, stared at the door of Doctor Gu's house for a while, and then, as if possessed, entered the courtyard...
When he came out of Doctor Gu's house, he already had a packet of abortifacient medicine in his pocket.
He told his third uncle about it as soon as he got back.
Third Uncle couldn't understand what was going on. If he didn't believe that Mei was pregnant, then who was the medicine bought for?
Gu Lianshan didn't explain. In fact, he didn't know how to explain his actions. He could only put the medicine in the house and then go to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.