Chapter 176 Gu Yumei Gets Beaten

As soon as He Danhua left, Mrs. Chen rushed towards Gu Yumei, grabbed her hair, and gave her two resounding slaps.

Gu Yumei was stunned, looking at Mrs. Chen with a face full of disbelief. After a moment, she burst into tears and pointed at Mrs. Chen, scolding, "You, you dare hit me, you are not my mother, what right do you have to hit me? I didn’t do anything wrong, woo woo woo..."

Mrs. Chen laughed angrily, pointing at the handkerchief in her hand, she berated, "Didn’t do anything wrong? What’s this then? Do you know this handkerchief was bought by He Cui’er’s brother? You even dare to accept it? Are you trying to become someone’s stepmother?"

He Cui’er’s brother, He Minzi, was twenty-six this year. He had married before, but his wife died in childbirth two years ago, leaving behind two sons.

"The He family is busy arranging a marriage for He Minzi. Now, in receiving a handkerchief bought by He Cui’er’s brother, if word spreads, it will be taken as a secret engagement."

"I’m letting you off lightly by just hitting you, if it were in our hometown, you’d be waiting to be drowned in a pond!"

"Eiyo, such a clever elder sister-in-law and she gave birth to such a fool like you?" Mrs. Chen poked Gu Yumei’s forehead, really wanting to split open her head to see how much straw was stuffed inside.

Gu Yumei, frightened pale, wept and said, "I, I didn’t know, she said she had another handkerchief too, she gave me the handkerchief to exchange with."

"Exchange handkerchiefs, what nonsense, you fool. Every day at home you carry yourself like a young lady, complaining about hand pain from grinding spices, useless at everything, and now this. On top of that, you act so pretentiously, causing trouble here and there. Why did I end up with a niece like you?"

Mrs. Chen was furious to death. She snatched the brocade handkerchief from Gu Yumei’s hand, but Gu Yumei was too nervous, and Mrs. Chen couldn’t pull it away in one go, scolding angrily, "What are you clinging to? Let go quickly, or you’ll wait to become someone’s stepmother if you can’t give this handkerchief back."

Gu Yumei quickly let go, and after Mrs. Chen took the handkerchief, she desperately grabbed Mrs. Chen’s hand, pleading, "Auntie, please save me, I don’t want to be a stepmother, woo woo woo..."

"Let go of me! If you keep holding on, once the He family spreads the word, your reputation will be ruined, and no one can save you!"

Gu Yumei hastened to release her grasp, Mrs. Chen ran out of the house like a wisp of smoke, heading straight for He Cui’er’s home.

The moment Gu Dagui came back, he saw Mrs. Chen charging out of the house and shouted at her back, "Where are you rushing off to?"

Hearing the cries coming from Gu Yumei’s room, Gu Dagui furrowed his brows and asked towards the room, "Sister Mei, what’s wrong? Why are you crying? Did your aunty scold you again? Don’t be upset, when she returns, your Uncle will discipline her for you."

Gu Yumei heard this and cried even louder.

Gu Dagui had a headache and wanted to go into the room to see, but Gu Yumei was grown up, and although he was her biological uncle, it would not be appropriate for him to enter, so he could only ask Brother Fa, who was sitting in the yard grinding spices, "What’s happened to your sister Yu Mei? She was quite happy these past few days, why is she crying today?"

Because of the workshop’s affairs, many girls her age in the village came to play with Sister Mei, which made her very happy, and she hadn’t argued with Mrs. Chen these past few days.

Gu Dagui had two sons, Gu Dewang, who was almost nine, and Gu Defa, who was almost seven. Gu Dewang seemed dull and silly but was actually clever, whereas Brother Fa was truly sluggish. Hearing his father’s words, he paused for a moment then said, "She got into a fight with mom."

"What? Your mother actually hit her?" Gu Dagui was very angry. His eldest brother had been so good to them, and he had already given up on remarrying, content with just Sister Mei and Brother Xing as his two children. How could Mrs. Chen bring herself to hit Sister Mei? How could he face his eldest brother now?

"This damned woman, just you wait, I’ll deal with you!" Gu Dagui was fuming, sitting in the courtyard waiting for Mrs. Chen with a tense face. He waited a full 30 minutes before he saw Mrs. Chen return with a face full of triumph, looking as smug as a rooster that had won a battle.

"Why did you hit Sister Mei?" Gu Dagui asked coldly.

"Heh, why did I hit her? Call her out and ask her yourself." Mrs. Chen mentioned the incident with He Cui’er using a handkerchief as a ruse against Gu Yumei, but she spoke softly, conscious of Gu Yumei’s reputation.

Upon hearing this, Gu Dagui anxiously stood up and rushed into the house to ask, "Sister Mei, is what your second aunt said true?"

Gu Yumei just cried and, when pressed, had no choice but to say, "I didn’t know, I never expected her to be that kind of person."

Seeing her admission, Gu Dagui didn’t know whether to blame her or not, but Mrs. Chen scoffed, "Just keep indulging her, make her more and more foolish. When she ruins her own life, let’s see how you will face elder sister-in-law after you’re dead and gone!"

Brother Xing and Sister Mei were motherless, and both Gu Dafu and Gu Dagui felt sorry for them, Mrs. Chen knew this. But they couldn’t keep spoiling them this way. Just look at the two siblings: one always has a sullen face, looking as if everyone owed him money; the other dreaming of being a young lady every day. Do they look like children of farming folk?

Gu Dagui, listening to this, felt his face burning hot, realizing he had misjudged Mrs. Chen. He quickly apologized to her and asked, "What happened with the handkerchief? Was it returned? Surely the He Cui’er family isn’t spreading any gossip?"

"They wouldn’t dare!" Mrs. Chen said proudly, "I’ve warned them already. If their family dares spread any unsavory rumors, our family would have Lord County Magistrate send county soldiers to smash their home and drag all the men to the official mine to labor."

She also slapped He Cui’er twice, and grabbing He Minzi’s two sons, gave each a slap, warning He Minzi’s mother, "Don’t even think about ruining Sister Mei’s reputation and expecting her to marry into your family. If you dare to bring our Sister Mei into your home, we dare to let Sister Mei torment these two brats to death and cripple your son, so he can never be a man!"

He Cui’er’s mother was scared out of her wits, having never seen someone as ruthless as Mrs. Chen. Remembering that the Chen family had fled famine and the village rumors that they had blood on their hands, she was terrified and quickly assured them her family would never again target Gu Yumei.

Hearing Mrs. Chen’s words, Gu Dagui was relieved. But he worried about Sister Mei and Brother Xing—their current state was no solution; they couldn’t be spoiled any longer.

When it got dark, Gu Dafu and Gu Dexing returned from the Luo Family’s place where they had been grinding beans. Gu Dagui told him about the handkerchief incident and Gu Dafu was scared witless. He scolded Gu Yumei harshly and made her apologize to Mrs. Chen. If not for Mrs. Chen, she would’ve been schemed off by the He Cui’er family.

Mrs. Chen sat with one leg cocked over the other, accepting a kowtow from Gu Yumei.

After scolding Gu Yumei, Gu Dafu finally felt that they could no longer indulge Gu Yumei and Gu Dexing and told them, "Starting from tomorrow, several families will begin spring plowing. Both of you should stop staying idle at home and go work in the fields."

Gu Yumei was startled, pleading, "Dad, I’m a grown girl now. It’s not good for me to work in the fields. I—I’ll grind spices at home, and this time I’ll do it properly, without complaining of hand pains."

This time, Gu Dafu was determined to fix her ladylike airs and didn’t agree, resolutely saying, "You’re not even betrothed yet, so what’s the problem with working in the fields? Go out and see for yourself how many girls in their teens are toiling in the fields. Besides, when you get married you’ll have to work in the fields too, so it’s better to start practicing now to avoid being despised by your future in-laws."

"Brother Xing will also work in the fields, and after spring plowing, you’ll go study at Xu Tongsheng’s home in Songzi Gully. Forget about the idea of apprenticing to Scholar Shang."

Gu Dafu sternly looked at Gu Yumei and Gu Dexing and said, "Our family are farmers, our fate has been laid out by our ancestors; don’t dream of becoming young ladies or high officials. You must accept your destiny!"