novelraw Chapter 307 The money is lost, and the reputation is ruined.
Chapter 307 The money is lost, and the reputation is ruined.
Chapter 307 The money is lost, and the reputation is ruined.
By the time Zhu Youshou and Gu Mei had finished dressing and came out of the house, Gu Lianshan had calmed down.
He glared at the two men with a cold gaze, making them pale and weak in the knees. Zhu Youshou, in particular, broke out in a sweat on his forehead in the dead of winter and coughed incessantly, covering his mouth.
Yan looked distressed and gently patted his back, habitually ordering Gu Mei around.
"What are you standing there for? There's warm water inside, quickly pour a bowl over!"
If it were the old Gu Mei, she would have immediately argued back with Yan Shi without saying a word, and would never have obediently gone to pour water.
But now Gu Mei actually responded and turned to go back into the house to pour water.
There wasn't a trace of reluctance in his eyes or brows.
Gu Lianshan took a deep breath and shouted angrily, "Stand right here in the yard! Don't go anywhere!"
Gu Mei froze on the spot, not daring to move an inch.
This angry rebuke made Zhu Youshou even more terrified. Now he not only coughed, but his whole body was trembling.
Madam Yan was both angry and anxious, but she dared not provoke Gu Lianshan at this moment, so she could only force a smile and say, "In-law..."
"Which one is your in-law?!" Gu Lianshan glared at him immediately, his eyes fierce.
"This rebellious daughter has long since severed ties with me. I am not related to your Zhu family by marriage, and I am not worthy of such an honor!"
These words struck a nerve with Gu Mei, who boldly retorted, "If you don't acknowledge me, then what are you doing here today? Since we're no longer father and daughter, what are you doing causing trouble and kicking down the door for?"
"You're asking me? I'd like to ask you! Someone saw that your belly is bulging, and everyone outside is saying that you're pregnant. But the Zhu family is saying that you're Zhu Youshou's cousin!"
"What? You filthy bunch think you can drag me down with you? Bah! If the day comes that I don't kill you all, I'll slaughter your entire Zhu family!"
Gu Lianshan showed her no mercy and told her all the rumors circulating outside.
Gu Mei's face first turned red, then pale, her eyes filled with panic and guilt.
Clearly, the rumors circulating about her pregnancy are related to her personally.
No one knows a daughter better than her father. Gu Mei is stupid, and Gu Lianshan could tell at a glance that she had done something stupid again.
Seeing that Gu Lianshan knew about this, Old Master Zhu stepped forward and invited him into the house to talk.
“This can’t be entirely blamed on Mei; she was just confused for a moment. Let’s go inside first, and I’ll explain everything to you.”
Gu Lianshan wanted to find out exactly what was going on.
He glanced at Gu Mei's belly just now, but it wasn't swollen and he couldn't tell she was pregnant. So, what's the truth behind those rumors outside?
With questions in mind, Gu Lianshan went to the Zhu family's main hall with a dark expression.
Ah Gou followed closely behind him, attracting the scrutinizing gazes of the Zhu family.
Gu Mei also noticed Agou; it was the first time she had ever seen such a handsome and wealthy man.
Seeing him following behind her father, she couldn't help but stare at him curiously.
Noticing a gaze fixed on him, Ah Gou turned around and met Gu Mei's eyes.
Gu Mei blushed again, quickly lowered her head, and her heart started racing.
Ah Gou's gaze was cold and piercing; he glanced at it once and then looked away.
The two elders of the Zhu family went into the main room together, while the eldest and second sons of the family each hid back in their own rooms.
Zhu Laosan also wanted to hide, but he couldn't. Zhu Youshou was his son. If the son made a mistake, how could the father want to hide?
Given Gu Lianshan's bastardly nature, if he dares to hide, his only son will definitely suffer.
After glancing at his son, who was still coughing, Zhu Laosan forced himself to go inside.
Only Yan Shi, Zhu Youshou, and Gu Mei remained in the narrow courtyard.
Now that Gu Lianshan is no longer in the courtyard, Yan Shi has become arrogant again, reaching out to pinch Gu Mei's waist.
"You slut! You'd chase after any man! How did You Shou end up with such a piece of trash like you?!"
Gu Mei cried out in pain, glaring at Yan Shi with eyes blazing with fury, and quickly backed away.
Just as she was about to turn on her and start cursing, Madam Yan cursed again: "You little whore! How can someone with a temper like yours marry You Shou? In my opinion, it would be better if you continued to work on tempering your personality!"
After scolding her, Yan helped her son back into the house, leaving Gu Mei, who was still stunned, in the yard.
Gu Mei remained silent, but a sense of panic rose within her. She feared that Yan Shi would cause trouble again and further postpone the marriage.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she held them back until Yan entered the room, at which point she raised her hand to wipe them away.
Thinking back to when she first arrived at the Niu family, she had ten taels of silver in her hand, which made everyone in the Zhu family flatter her.
The marriage was arranged early on, for fear that she would refuse to marry him.
But her good fortune didn't last long; she was tricked into losing her virginity to Zhu Youshou.
From then on, the Zhu family looked at her with strange eyes, especially Yan Shi, whose contempt was very obvious and clearly looked down on her.
At that time, she still had money in her hands. Even though Yan looked down on her, she didn't dare to go too far because of the money.
Later, in order to buy a wedding dress, she had a falling out with the Zhu family in Bei'an City.
In the end, somehow, she unwittingly revealed her wealth, which attracted the attention of thieves.
She was squeezed in the crowd, surrounded by a group of women, and it was then that the silver in her arms was plucked away.
At first she didn't know, but when she returned to the Zhu family, she discovered that the silver was missing!
She panicked and frantically searched for money, which made the whole Zhu family aware of the matter.
When she lost the money, the Zhu family all scolded and blamed her, as if she had lost the Zhu family's money.
Yan completely changed her attitude towards her, constantly making veiled insults and ordering her around.
If she didn't comply, Yan would beat her.
She complained to her maternal grandparents, but they said that Yan was her future mother-in-law and that she was being taught how to be a daughter-in-law.
Especially since the wedding hadn't even taken place yet, but she and Zhu Youshou had already slept together, Madam Yan naturally had to be stricter with her for this behavior.
This is not what the two elders promised.
It had been agreed beforehand that she wouldn't have to do anything after arriving at the Zhu family's house, and her life would continue as before.
But right now, before the wedding is even held, she has to learn how to be a daughter-in-law.
The two elders said that it was all her fault. First, she was shameless and slept with Zhu Youshou before the marriage. Then she lost the ten taels of silver!
If any daughter-in-law acted like that, she would have been beaten to death and buried long ago!
Now that she is allowed to live and the marriage has not been canceled, and that Yan Shi is allowed to teach her, this is already an immense kindness.
If you don't want to, just go back home!
Looking back at her home… Gu Mei was in a daze. She had wanted to go back to her home that day, but she had lost her innocence, and her parents had dragged her to see the crazy young woman at the entrance of the village.
It is said that this madwoman lost her virginity to another man and was later married off by her family to an old cripple in his early forties!
That old cripple is no human being. He treats this madwoman like a prostitute, regardless of age. As long as you give him money, he'll drag her to bed.
In less than a year, the madwoman contracted a host of diseases and went insane.
The old cripple thought the madwoman was useless, so he sent her back without a second thought. Now she wanders around the village all day, and is often dragged to the haystack by ruffians and hooligans to be bullied.
The two elders asked her if she wanted to become the second madwoman.
She didn't want to become another madwoman; she just wanted to get the marriage done as soon as possible and become Zhu Youshou's wife legitimately.
The two elders said that if the gentle approach didn't work, they would have to use a more forceful one. They tied a blown-up bubble around her stomach and made her walk around the village.
If the villagers find out, it will ruin Zhu Youshou's reputation, cut off his chances of finding another wife, and deter matchmakers from even approaching him to propose marriage.
Given time, Madam Yan will eventually agree to let her into the family.
Gu Mei didn't know what was wrong with her. Back then, she was completely confused and let her parents do whatever they told her to do.
Looking back now, she cut off Zhu Youshou's path to remarriage, but she also severed all her own escape routes.
"What's the point of dying out there!"
Yan has started ordering people around again.
"Go to the kitchen and boil a pot of water. Let Youshou soak his feet to calm his mind and spirits!"
Gu Mei came to her senses and felt a sense of resistance.
Her father came today, and she didn't want him to see her in this disheveled state.
Madam Yan came out of the house with a gloomy face. "Since you're disobedient, why don't you go back with your father later? My temple is too small to accommodate a big Buddha like you."
go back?
Gu Mei thought back to the days she spent at home, and she would be willing to go back if she could.
But she was afraid of becoming the second crazy woman!
She pursed her chapped lips and whispered, "I'll go boil some water..."
As she walked through the courtyard, the kitchen was right across from her. She huddled up, her hair still unkempt, and with her thin frame, she looked more like an old woman than a young woman of sixteen.
Yan spat at her retreating figure, feeling a sense of relief from the resentment that had been building up in her heart for years.
Zhu Xiuer, Zhu Xiuer, the sins you committed, I will now take revenge on your daughter!
In the main room, the Zhu family elders' account was largely the same as Gu Mei's, except for some differences in details.
"...That girl lost her dowry money, and she was afraid that You Shou would not want to marry her again because of this, so...she ended up sleeping in the same room with You Shou in a daze."
Then she tied a large, inflated bubble to her stomach, strolled around the village a few times, and said she was going to ruin Youshou's reputation so that he wouldn't be able to find another wife and would have to marry her!
Gu Lianshan's face remained dark: "Didn't you think of stopping her?"
"Don't you know what kind of person your daughter is? She knew we would stop her, so she didn't say a word about it. It wasn't until someone came to ask about it that the family found out what she had done."
By then, it was too late. She had done everything she should and shouldn't have done, and no matter how we explained, it was no use. Yan was also angry about this and insisted on postponing the wedding, saying she wanted to teach Mei a lesson..."
At this point, Zhu Laosan quickly interjected, "It's not that we don't want to marry Mei, we just want to teach her a lesson. You tell me yourself, given what she's been doing, which family would dare to marry a daughter-in-law like that?"
Gu Lianshan kept staring at the two elders of the Zhu family, and could roughly guess that of what they said, seven parts were true and three parts were false.
He didn't blindly believe them; he also wanted to ask Gu Mei.
He told Ah Gou to go out and call Gu Mei in. He wanted to ask Gu Mei himself, and also to ask her if she knew she was wrong after all that had happened.
Ah Gou moved quickly, and as soon as he entered the courtyard, he sensed that Gu Mei was tending the fire in the kitchen.
Once inside the kitchen, Ah Gou invited her to talk in the main room, saying that her father, Gu Lianshan, had something to discuss with her.
Gu Mei was initially unwilling to go; she didn't want to see her father.
Ah Gou advised her, "Didn't you want to marry Zhu Youshou? Your father is here now, you can ask him to help you."
These words truly captured Gu Mei's thoughts.
If her father could help her without holding a grudge, she would be able to live with her head held high in the Zhu family, and Yan Shi would also restrain herself.
With this thought in mind, she put down the firewood and followed Ah Gou to the main room.
The atmosphere in the main room was extremely oppressive. The expressions on the faces of the two elders of the Zhu family were very strange, showing a mixture of worry and unease.
It was obvious that he hadn't told the truth earlier, fearing that Gu Mei would come to check the accounts.
Gu Lianshan had no interest in reconciling accounts with Gu Mei. When she came in, he asked her directly what she was thinking.
Should she stay at the Zhu family's house, or secretly go back with him?
Gu Mei didn't understand what he meant: "What do you mean by secretly going back with you?"
“What you’ve done is shameful, your reputation is ruined, and your family will not tolerate you.”
You secretly come back with me, and I'll have someone arrange a marriage for you in a faraway place. After that, you can live a quiet life under an assumed name.
Gu Mei's face turned pale, her mind was buzzing, and she suddenly remembered the madwoman at the entrance of the village.
My maternal grandparents said that if she went back, she would most likely become the second madwoman.
She had previously suspected it, but now it seems she really will become the second madwoman.
"I'm not going back!" Gu Mei said stiffly. "I'm staying at the Zhu family's house; I'm not going anywhere else!"
"Alright!" Gu Lianshan said without hesitation. "In that case, I will go back and find someone to arrange the funeral, and tell everyone that you died of illness."
Once the funeral is over, even if you tell everyone you meet that you are my daughter, no one will believe you anymore.
Whether you lost your virginity before marriage, were pregnant before marriage, or had any other dirty or shameful past, it will no longer implicate your family.
Upon hearing this, the two elders of the Zhu family were shocked. If the funeral was really held, they would never see each other again.
Zhu Laosan was also anxious. They had arranged for their son to marry Gu Mei for two reasons: first, for the dowry money, and second, for the money in Gu Lianshan's hands.
Now that the dowry money has been lost, if Gu Lianshan also holds a "funeral" for Gu Mei, then Gu Mei, who lives in the Zhu family, will truly become an "orphan."
Since she is an orphan, who would be willing to marry her?
Marrying an orphan girl is completely useless!
Having said everything he needed to say, Gu Lianshan got up and walked outside, intending to go home.
Upon seeing this, both the Zhu elders and the third son of the Zhu family panicked.
"Lianshan!"
"Brother-in-law!"
The three men stepped forward and stopped Gu Lianshan, their faces full of smiles: "If you have any complaints, just say them, and we'll discuss it slowly. We can't do funerals for the living!"
"Father!" Gu Mei's eyes were red and swollen. "You're arranging a funeral for me? Aren't you cursing me to die?!"