Chapter 244: Interrogation

After Luo Huiniang finished speaking, she glanced in the direction of Gu Jinli’s house and asked, "Did you find your aunt’s family? How are they? Are they alright?"

Gu Jinli replied, "We’ve found all five members of my aunt’s family. They’re fine, just a little hurt, but they’ll recover after some rest."

Hearing this, Luo Huiniang was very pleased and quite curious. She immediately wanted to go see Gu Daya’s family, but she knew the proper etiquette. She understood that Gu Daya’s family had just returned and must have a lot to discuss with Xiao Yu’s family, so they wouldn’t have time to meet with her yet. She had to suppress her eagerness.

Gu Jinli said, "Don’t worry, at most by tomorrow, you’ll be able to see my aunt’s family."

Then he took the opportunity to ask her, "Is your mother not angry with your big brother?"

It seemed that Ms. Chu did not like Luo Wu being with Gu Jinxiu.

Luo Huiniang paused for a moment, then said, "No, not at all. My mom said that my big brother either doesn’t move at all or doesn’t come home for days. But it’s better this way; my mom doesn’t like it when my brother just stays in the village and works as a farmer. She’s glad when he goes out and makes something of himself."

After hearing this, Gu Jinli felt relieved and then asked her, "Has that Zou Yuwan come to play with you recently? Have their siblings left?"

It was quite clear that Zou Yuzhen had brought his sister to live in Da Feng Village, with the apparent intention being to get Zou Yuwan to become friends with the young women from a few families here.

When Luo Huiniang heard him mention Zou Yuwan, she scoffed, "She wished to come over to play, but if our house doesn’t open, she can’t climb over the wall to get in."

Zou Yuwan had sent her maid to Luo’s house twice, and Luo Huiniang was home both times, but she didn’t open the door, letting the maid call out from outside.

"That Hua’er didn’t dare to shout too loudly, fearing that everyone would hear her. She waited a moment, and when no one from my house opened the door, she left."

"However, she left the gifts she brought outside our courtyard door. My mother took them to the village chief’s house and gave them to Village Chief He, asking him to return them to the Lu Family." Luo Huiniang said with a smug look on her face, "My mother is smart, isn’t she?"

Gu Jinli smiled and nodded, "Smart. And what about Gu Yumei? Has Zou Yuwan gone to look for her?"

Luo Huiniang shook her head, "I don’t know about that. Don’t mention Gu Yumei to me, she’s too dumb. The day before yesterday, she screwed up the proportion of spices, getting it completely wrong by five pounds. That’s nearly three taels of silver lost. Third Grandma scolded her and fined her family one tael of their capital. Aunt Da Gui was furious, scolding Gu Yumei for half an hour. She just cried, and we could hear her crying even from our house. It was so annoying."

Luo Huiniang complained, clearly disliking Gu Yumei.

Gu Jinli had already anticipated Gu Yumei would mess up the spices; considering her character, it would be strange if she didn’t make such a mistake.

After asking all she wanted to know, she said, "I should head back now, I’ll come to play with you another day."

"Alright." After Luo Huiniang escorted her to the door and then returned to mix spices.

When Gu Jinli got home, Uncle Liu and the others had already left, and Gu Jin’an had returned.

Mrs. Cui and Gu Jinxiu were serving bean dregs cakes, Fried Five-Spice Tofu, pan-fried eggs, and a basin of hot soy milk in the main room for Gu Daya’s family to eat.

Looking at these unfamiliar foods, Gu Daya hesitated to pick up her chopsticks: "Are these what Xiao Yu mentioned, the bean dregs cake, tofu, and soy milk?"

Third Grandma laughed and said, "Yes, indeed. Thankfully we have tofu and spices now, or else we wouldn’t just be struggling to live day-by-day – without them, we might not have survived at all."

Having fled from famine, their health had deteriorated. They wouldn’t be able to clear land for farming, and as refugees, others were reluctant to employ them, preferring to hire locals instead.

If it weren’t for this tofu, and if soybeans weren’t cheap, they truly wouldn’t have been able to survive.

Qi Kangle looked at Gu Jinli and said: "Cousin Xiao Yu is quite capable."

If she could be as capable as Xiao Yu, she wouldn’t have dragged down her family, almost causing them to be utterly ruined.

Gu Jinli looked at Qi Kangle and smiled: "Cousin, you’re not bad either. If it weren’t for you daring to fight, we wouldn’t have been able to save you and auntie."

Third Grandma didn’t know about Qi Kangle and Gu Daya being sent to Yingxian Square; upon hearing this, she didn’t think much of it and just urged Gu Daya’s family: "You all eat up quickly."

Gu Daya’s family was also hungry, each of them picked up a bean dregs cake and started eating.

As soon as the bean dregs cake entered their mouths, they were filled with fresh fragrance, and after a few sips of soy milk, the slightly sweet soy milk settled in their stomachs, making them feel more comfortable all over.

After Gu Daya finished a bean dregs cake, she said to Mrs. Cui: "Sister-in-law, I’m troubling you."

Gu Daya was anxious; no matter how much Dashan doted on his sister, she was already married. Now returning to her parental home, bringing her whole family with her, and having to rely on her brother’s family to live in the future, she feared Mrs. Cui, her sister-in-law, would dislike her family.

Mrs. Cui knew that the person Gu Dashan could never stop worrying about was Gu Daya; hearing this, she smiled and said: "Sister, don’t talk like that, we’re all family. There’s nothing troublesome about that."

Mrs. Cui was someone who didn’t even know where her own parents lived. After marrying Gu Dashan, she had suffered a lot, but Dashan treated her well, and having experienced fleeing famine and witnessing life and death, she thought that in life, if you can help someone, you should. Therefore, she was very willing to help her sister-in-law’s family.

Hearing Mrs. Cui’s words, Gu Daya felt much more at ease in her heart.

She then looked at Gu Jin’an, who had just entered with Gu Jinli, and asked: "This must be Good Brother An, right?"

"Indeed," Gu Dashan said with a smile.

Gu Jin’an stepped forward and bowed to Gu Daya: "Good Brother An pays his respects to auntie."

Gu Daya looked at Gu Jin’an; seeing his good looks and demeanor, and his eloquent way of speaking, she felt very happy and asked: "I heard you’re studying under Scholar Shang? You must study hard. For us peasants, only with an official position can we avoid being bullied by others."

"Auntie, don’t worry, Good Brother An will certainly study hard under the teacher and strive for an official position," Gu Jin’an promised. He didn’t have any aversion to his aunt and her family.

In just a short time, he had seen that this aunt was decent, cared for his father, her elder brother, and wouldn’t do anything to harm their family.

His second cousin Qi Kangming and big cousin Qi Kangle were also good, both having ideas and were grateful people.

It’s just that his big cousin Qi Kangping was somewhat cowardly and easily deceived; as for Uncle Qi Panzi, what was his character like?

Gu Jin’an looked at Qi Panzi, who was silently eating his bean dregs cake, smiled, picked up a bowl of soy milk, and handed it to him: "Uncle, have some soy milk to go with your bean cake." Don’t choke on it.

Qi Panzi, who hadn’t been able to provide a good life for Daya, was now at Daya’s parental home, feeling scared and trying his best to lower his presence. Startled by Gu Jin’an’s words, he quickly put down the bean dregs cake and took the soy milk with both hands, saying: "Ah, thank you, Good Brother An."

Third Grandma saw Qi Panzi and felt anger bubbling up, speaking coldly: "Our Daya is a girl from a decent family, yet she has had to suffer with you. Not only that, but you went as far as to take her to sell herself. Qi Panzi, do you even have a conscience?"

The more Third Grandma spoke, the angrier she became, to the point where she stood up and pointed at Qi Panzi: "Tell me clearly, why did you take Daya to sell herself back then? If you can’t explain yourself, get out of here! Daya now has her parental family, we can support her, and don’t yearn to live with you anymore!"