Chapter 249: Chapter 250: Heart-to-Heart Talk
Xie Ruyi looked around guiltily, but then quickly declared with renewed confidence, "I was just afraid you’d all be working for nothing. After all, with all the expenses at home and outside, we can’t have zero income."
Gu Yuanjin said, "Even with only these two hundred taels of silver, do you think we brothers could earn that much back in a year working for Foreman Ding?
"Let me make this clear. From now on, this business is for us brothers to decide. If I find out any of you are gossiping behind our backs or trying any funny business, don’t blame us for being ruthless."
Li Xiaohua asked foolishly, "What would happen then?"
Gu Yuanhuo narrowed his eyes and said with a smile, "You probably don’t want to find out."
Terrified by his gaze, Li Xiaohua shivered and, filled with a sudden will to survive, shook her head frantically.
Hong Daya had been huddled quietly in a corner the whole time. Only when she saw Gu Yuanjin tuck the silver taels back into his robes did her eyes flicker.
"Why aren’t the two boys at the private school?" Gu Yuanjin’s brow furrowed into a knot as he thought of his two nephews who had been playing foolishly in the courtyard just now.
He recalled being in front of their seventh sister-in-law. Though he had pretended to be calm, he knew none of the brothers felt good about it. Even the servants in the estate could read, write, and do arithmetic, while they had to have their seventh sister-in-law explain things to them item by item, over and over again.
The moment they left the estate, Gu Yuanjin had resolved that he would never let the next generation suffer such humiliation.
Intimidated by the brothers’ stares, Li Xiaohua swallowed nervously before carefully explaining, "Scholar Zhou wasn’t feeling well today, so he let the boys take the day off.
"They really aren’t slacking. You can ask around if you don’t believe me."
As soon as the village’s private school was built, every single child, young and old, had been sent there. No matter what, you had to see if a child had a natural aptitude for it, right?
In just two short months, some had persevered, while others showed no interest at all, even when their families chased them with a wooden plank.
The Gu family’s children, however, were dead set on becoming a great scholar like their Seventh Uncle and went to school on time every day.
Gu Yuanjin looked at his brothers and said leisurely, "You’re all younger than me, so your memories must be better. You should follow the boys and learn some characters, too.
"We don’t want to be staring at account books in the future and not be able to make heads or tails of them, do we? I have high hopes for you all."
The other brothers: "..."
’We’re not exactly young anymore.’
After everyone had left, Li Xiaohua couldn’t hold it in any longer. "Why did Big Brother take the silver note? Shouldn’t it be split evenly among us?"
Thinking of the fifty taels she should have gotten, Li Xiaohua desperately wanted to run after him, but she was still too scared.
Gu Yuanhuo said, "No one is to touch that silver. We’re planning to build another workshop in the village. It’s not a long-term solution to keep crowding the place at Fifth Brother’s."
"But we don’t need that much..." Li Xiaohua’s voice trailed off under Gu Yuanhuo’s furious glare.
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Dao City Lan Family
Lan Ying cradled the swaddled baby, glaring at Gu Yuanlei. "Day in and day out, can’t you just go out and find a job?
"We’ve been freeloading off my family for so long now. If you’re not embarrassed, I’m embarrassed for you."
Gu Yuanlei’s face was wooden. He’d heard these words dozens of times, and the guilt he’d initially felt had long since turned to numbness.
"Is there any point in saying this all day?" Gu Yuanlei finally retorted, his patience worn thin.
"If you don’t want to hear it, then provide for me and our child," Lan Ying hissed, lowering her voice so as not to startle the baby in her arms.
Gu Yuanlei shot back, "Then tell me what I should do! I went to haul sacks at the grain store, and your family said I was an embarrassment. I worked as a day laborer in the village, and you complained I was disgustingly filthy.
"So now you tell me, what exactly do you want me to do? Why bother with all these sarcastic remarks all day?"
"I just want you to go out, earn money, and support our family! I’m sick of this life." Lan Ying was already filled with regret. ’Back then,’ she thought, ’I married this... this thing just so my family could survive.’
"Doesn’t this family own several shops? Can’t I work in one of them?" Gu Yuanlei looked at the baby in her arms. "Don’t forget, his surname is Lan. Even if the Lan Family has nothing to do with me, he should still have a share in it."
Lan Ying retorted, "So you finally show your true colors. Don’t forget, you’re a man without a clan now. What’s the use of the child taking your surname?"
"You all forced me into this!" Gu Yuanlei felt that if he stayed any longer, he would lose control and hit her. But he had to swallow his anger for now. Clenching his fists, he turned and stormed out.
Once she was sure he was gone, Lan Ying carried the baby to her parents’ courtyard.
"Is he gone?" Lan Yongnan asked without looking up as his daughter entered.
Lan Ying hummed in affirmation. "Father, will this really work? I’m afraid Yuanlei might rebel. What if he rejoins his family?"
Only then did Lan Yongnan look up at her and curse, "Foolish girl. Even if he does rejoin his family, you’ll just have to pack up the baby, change his surname, and go with him.
"We really underestimated his family before. His Brother Qi quietly passed the provincial exam to become a scholar, and a top scorer at that. His future prospects are immense.
"I’ve already made inquiries. Besides their current soap workshop, the soy products that are now all the rage in the city were also created by the Gu brothers.
"Just those two things alone... do you really think our one house and three shops can compare?"
Lan Ying was still confused. "Then why did you just have me provoke him with those words?"
Looking at his foolish daughter, Lan Yongnan smiled contentedly. "Your brother has already made arrangements. All we have to do now is tie him tightly to our family. Once he mends his relationship with the Gu family, our own family will reap endless benefits in the future."
Lan Ying: "..."
＆
Meanwhile, Gu Yuanlei, fuming with anger, had just stepped out the main gate when he bumped right into Lan Yun.
"Can’t you watch where you’re going?" Gu Yuanlei snapped before he even saw who it was.
"What’s wrong? Did you argue with Yingying again?"
"Big Brother," Gu Yuanlei greeted sheepishly when he saw it was Lan Yun.
Lan Yun patted his shoulder. "What young couple doesn’t argue? Just talk things through properly. It’ll be fine once it’s all out in the open."
But Gu Yuanlei looked as if he’d found someone to vent to. With a pained expression, he said, "Yingying is still upset with me for being incompetent, for not being able to give her a decent life after all this time.
"But Big Brother, I’ve really been trying my best. I go out looking for work at the crack of dawn every day, but jobs out there aren’t that easy to find."
At this, Lan Yun looked at him thoughtfully. "Actually, I’ve thought about it before... about having you come help out at the shop.
"But the general store is only so big, and we don’t need that many people.
"Besides, seeing you work so hard to find a job these past few months... I really hope you can forge your own path."
