Chapter 606: Chapter 606: Marrying Into the Bride’s Family
When the apricots were ripe, Tong Huaqiong received the news that Gu Ruinian was going to get engaged.
As the eldest sister-in-law, regardless of how poorly Tong Huaqiong got along with the people of the old house, she had to be notified of Gu Ruinian’s engagement, and she had to attend Gu Ruinian’s engagement banquet.
"Who is Gu Ruinian getting engaged to?" Tong Huaqiong asked Gu Honglian.
"Xu Xinghua," Gu Honglian said and added, "he’s marrying into her family."
Tong Huaqiong’s mouth twitched.
It was hard on Gu Ruinian, to slip from the dream of being an adopted son-in-law of the Lian Family to being one of the former village chief’s family.
To Tong Huaqiong’s surprise, Mr. Gu was actually willing to let Gu Ruinian marry into another family.
It was clear that Mr. Gu had completely given up on Gu Ruinian.
As far as Tong Huaqiong was concerned, what happened to Gu Ruinian in the future was not her concern, as long as he did not work against her and the whole bunch of bad bamboo.
He got engaged to Xu Xinghua, and as the eldest sister-in-law, she had to save face in the eyes of outsiders by attending the engagement banquet and giving a piece of cotton cloth as a gift.
...
The old Gu house was bustling these days.
Gu Ruinian and Xu Xinghua had already met and both were "satisfied," and the two families began preparing the engagement banquet and exchanging engagement letters.
The news of their impending engagement exploded like a bomb in Qinghe Bay.
The villagers really couldn’t put Gu Ruinian and Xu Xinghua together.
"Have you heard? That girl Xinghua is finally getting engaged, and they say it’s to Ruinian."
"Ruinian? Wow, how did these two get together? But they do match, a pockmarked face and a lame leg."
People sat at the village entrance gossiping, and the explosive engagement naturally became the center of the gossip.
The people of Qinghe Bay didn’t have a good impression of Gu Ruinian, and they didn’t like Xu Xinghua much either.
It wasn’t that the pockmarks on Xu Xinghua’s face made everyone laugh; on the contrary, everyone used to feel sorry for the girl whose face was ruined for no good reason.
The reason people didn’t like Xu Xinghua was because she was tricky.
She had loved to cause trouble from a young age.
Especially if a girl was pretty, she’d find fault and provoke quarrels, even picking up a stone to scratch the girl’s face.
Over time, everyone kept their distance from her.
That she could pair up with Gu Ruinian made everyone feel they were rid of a menace.
"Ruinian is still a scholar, can he tolerate Xu Xinghua?" someone asked. "Xu Xinghua’s temper isn’t good."
"It’s more than just tolerance; I heard Gu Ruinian is marrying into the Xu family."
"What?"
The news that Gu Ruinian was marrying into the Xu family boiled over in the village like a pot of boiling water.
It’s no help; even people in this era find it hard to accept marrying into another family, just as they did in Tong Huaqiong’s future era.
This news was indeed too shocking.
"Ruinian, I heard you’re marrying into the Xu family?"
"So your future children with Xinghua will have the surname Xu?"
The villagers saw Gu Ruinian carrying a hoe and gathered around to inquire.
Now, Gu Ruinian, like the other young men in the village, had to go to the fields every day.
Planting, weeding, spraying pesticides... The daily labor left him so exhausted he wished he could jump into a well to return to the future.
He was used to living a Yaozu-style life and really couldn’t adapt to farm work.
Now, he couldn’t even slack off; if he dared to stand up straight in the field to wipe sweat, Mrs. Gu would point at him and scold him stink to death.
Gu Ruinian felt that he must have blown up the Galaxy in his previous life to deserve such shame at the Gu house.
What made him even more uncomfortable was the constant worry that Young Master Zheng would send someone to collect the gunpowder fee. For some reason, Young Master Zheng hadn’t come to the village for this since the beginning of the year.
He suspected Young Master Zheng was too busy and would eventually come.
In this life worse than death, he accepted marrying into the Xu family.
He thought he was different from the men of this era and didn’t mind marrying into another family, but being questioned about it still upset him.
He looked at these illiterate mudlarks with mud-covered feet and thought disdainfully, what right did they have to talk to him?
At the same time, a wave of sadness washed over him.
He was so smart, knew the history of five thousand years, had seen everything modern in the future, mastered technologies impossible for people of this era, yet he ended up being ridiculed by these mudlarks.
How unfair fate was to him.
"Ruinian, have you really agreed to marry into the Xu family? You’re really bringing shame to the Gu family," said the clan leader’s grandson, Gu Dahu, taking a puff of smoke with a frown.
"Do you know that because of you, all the men in our Gu family are being laughed at? You’re really starting something here."
Gu Ruinian put the hoe on the ground and shouted at Gu Dahu, "What the hell does my marrying into another family have to do with you?"
Gu Dahu was startled by Gu Ruinian’s outburst.
Gu Ruinian continued to shout at everyone: "Yes, I’m marrying in, so what? Do you want to marry in too? You’re not even fit to freeload off a woman."
"Get lost, you clueless mudlarks, daring to show off in front of me."
Saying this, he brandished the hoe as if to hit someone.
The young men in the village weren’t afraid of him; they were used to farm work and quickly snatched the hoe from Gu Ruinian’s hands.
"Are you crazy? We just asked you a couple of questions, what’s with the tantrum? It’s not like we forced you to marry in, go take it out on your father if you’re so tough."
"That’s right, thinking you’re a Scholar or a scholar, looking down on us mudlarks. Aren’t you one now yourself?"
Back when Gu Ruinian returned to the village, he was the child student under everyone’s watchful eyes.
Everyone knew he looked down on villagers, and now seeing his fall to marrying in, they found it a pity yet rather amusing.
Gu Ruinian’s outburst shattered any sympathy they had for him.
"Get lost, get out of here."
"I want to marry in, so what? Say one more word, and see if I don’t beat you."
Gu Ruinian waved his fists, eyes filled with a murderous look.
After driving everyone away, Gu Ruinian sat on the riverbank with his hoe, looking at his lame right leg and the nearby fields, his eyes revealing his confusion.
He kept thinking, but just couldn’t understand why he had failed.
"What are you doing dying on the riverbank? Get home and make a fire," Mrs. Gu scolded when she saw Gu Ruinian sitting on the riverbank while picking vegetables from the garden.
The current Mrs. Gu didn’t spare Gu Ruinian at all.
Originally, the Xu family was willing to pay fifty taels of silver for Gu Ruinian to marry in, but he then analyzed the pros and cons with Xu Xinghua, saying that since he was willing to marry in, the fifty taels weren’t necessary for the Gu family.
The Gu family shouldn’t expect a penny from him.
When Mrs. Gu heard about this, she was so angry she almost passed out; she had planned to use the fifty taels as a dowry for Gu Honglian, yet her grandson turned on her at the last moment.
How could she not be bitter?
So, in these days before the engagement, Mrs. Gu sought every means to make Gu Ruinian suffer.
Hearing Mrs. Gu’s scolding, Gu Ruinian cursed her in his heart while not daring to stop for a second, getting up immediately.
If he dared to go against Mrs. Gu, she wouldn’t even let him eat.
