Third Grandpa Gu stared at Wenhao, furrowing his brows: "How did you find this place?"
He hadnât told Wenhao where his home was, yet Wenhao showed up at his doorstep uninvited.
Third Grandpa Gu was displeased. After hearing what Gu Jinli had said, seeing Wenhao suddenly appear at his door made him very averse.
What displeased Third Grandpa Gu even more was the other person in the mule cart.
"Brother Gu, what a coincidence indeed. It turns out that you were the one who helped Wenhao," Village Chief Sun lifted the cart curtain, stepped down from the mule cart, and warmly greeted Third Grandpa Gu.
Third Grandpa Guâs expression instantly turned cold, recalling the warnings Gu Jinli had given, there was nothing left to guess.
Village Chief He was right; this Village Chief Sun was indeed cunning and crafty, full of sneaky ideas. After failing to gain anything from a visit to the workshop with a few village chiefs, he now aimed to form a connection through this young man.
Speaking of Wenhao, Third Grandpa Gu glanced at him and shouted into the house: "Old lady, fetch those tattered books!"
"Coming, coming." Third Grandma, sensing the fury in Third Grandpa Guâs voice, hurriedly brought out the book bag and handed it to him: "Here you go."
Third Grandpa Gu took it and shoved it into Wenhaoâs hands: "Take it, and leave. Donât come back again."
Seeing Third Grandpa Guâs poor attitude, Wenhao was stunned for a moment, his face showing a hint of grievance as he said, "Grandpa Gu, please donât be angry, itâs Wenhaoâs fault for visiting unannounced without sending a visiting card first."
The servant supporting Wenhao also spoke: "Elder Gu, please donât be upset, our young master came specifically to express his gratitude, there was no ill intent. If thereâs anything done improperly, we hope you can forgive us."
"A visit to express thanks?" Third Grandpa Gu scoffed coldly: "Is it really to express thanks, or intentionally setting a trap for an old man?"
Who do they take for a fool?
As someone who has lived for more than sixty years, canât he see through such tricks?
Third Grandpa Gu was genuinely furious, angry that Wenhao had deceived him.
Initially, he saw that Wenhao was honest and often tearful, sometimes appearing aggrieved, and he felt sympathy for the young man. Unexpectedly, this young man turned out to be an associate of Village Chief Sun.
Seeing Third Grandpa Gu sending people away, Village Chief Sun urgently said: "Brother Gu, donât be angry. I know the issue from earlier was my fault, but that has nothing to do with Wenhao. He has been living in the county and is completely unaware of what happened in the village. This time, he came back because his Grandma is sick, taking leave from his teacher to visit her. Unfortunately, he had an accident falling off a donkey."
"Luckily, he met Brother Gu, or this childâs leg would have been ruined."
"The day after Wenhao got home, he said he wanted to go to town to repay the money, but I stopped him. I told him to heal his injuries first, and delay the repayment for a few days."
"Yesterday his leg improved a lot and wasnât as swollen, so he asked his family to prepare a generous gift and came to express his thanks." Village Chief Sun, disregarding Third Grandpa Guâs stern face, uttered a long string of praises, then finally said: "Itâs really fate that brought this about. Brother Gu, this is Godâs will; I hope you wonât stay angry. Letâs treat each other like brothers from now on, what do you think?"
He also promised: "Rest assured, Iâve given up the idea of buying tofu and spices. I just wanted to find a way for several villages to earn money. If Brother Gu is unwilling, then weâll forget about it."
Village Chief Sun spoke sincerely, but Third Grandpa Gu sneered inwardly. Did Village Chief Sun think he was a fool? Would he believe what he said?
Had it not been for the incident with Wenhao, if several months had passed and Village Chief Sun came to him with these words, he might have believed him. But how could he believe him just a few days after the incident with Wenhao?
Even a fool knows that Village Chief Sun wants to use Wenhao to climb up to their workshop, hoping they would slacken up and sell him tofu and spices due to Wenhao.
"This indeed is two different matters, but Village Chief, Iâve only met this young man once, and we have no relationship or plans for future interactions. Just give me the silver coins you owe, and weâll be even. You are the village chief, and I am an old man who fled famine. Our familiesâ status do not match, no need to treat each other as brothers." Third Grandpa Gu decisively refused Village Chief Sun.
Village Chief Sun felt a surge of anger within. This damn Third Gu, heâs too hard to deal with, why didnât he die on the road when fleeing from the famine?!
Wenhaoâs eyes were filled with tears, looking at Third Grandpa Gu, "Grandpa Gu... did my grandpa do something wrong to upset you? Please donât be angry, Wenhao is here to apologize for him."
Third Grandpa Gu looked at Wenhao, feeling very uncomfortable: "You young man, why canât you understand human speech? The old man has already said, these are two different matters. You donât need to apologize for Village Chief. We donât have any relationship between us, I just bumped into you injured on the road and lent you some money, just return the money, and we are settled."
Such a simple matter, yet it is made so tearful and annoying!
Yet, Wenhao choked up, "But...but I want to interact more with your family, Grandpa Gu."
Third Grandpa Gu felt helpless.
In the kitchen, Luo Huiniang and Ms. Chu were learning how to fry spices from Gu Jinli, hearing the commotion in the courtyard. Luo Huiniang clung to the kitchen door, looked outside, and saw Wenhao and Village Chief Sun, then turned around and said to Gu Jinli: "Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu, itâs that swindler, he turns out to be Village Chief Sunâs grandson!"
Wenhao heard Luo Huiniangâs voice, looked towards the kitchen, saw her and greeted, "Miss Luo."
Luo Huiniang snorted coldly, grabbed a rotten piece of wood by the kitchen door, and hurled it at Wenhao, viciously saying: "Miss your head, you dead swindler!"
She slammed the kitchen door shut angrily, "Xiao Yu, you were right, that Wenhao is a swindler, he is in cahoots with Village Chief Sun."
She still remembered the time when Village Chief Sun came with several village chiefs wanting to force a purchase of tofu and spices.
Hearing Luo Huiniangâs words, Ms. Chu moved to the back of the door, peeping through the crack towards the courtyard, and seeing it really was Village Chief Sun, she too was upset. She turned back to Gu Jinli and said, "Xiao Yu, you two stay in the kitchen. Iâm going to call people from the workshop. If that Village Chief Sun dares to make trouble, we will let the people from the workshop deal with him and that Wenhao!"
Ms. Chu was very angry, already realizing that Wenhao not only wanted to climb up to Third Grandpa Gu but also wanted to approach her daughter Hui Niang. Such tactics of deceiving young girls, she had seen and heard too much of, utterly shameless.
He dared to deceive her daughter!
Unable to stand it, Ms. Chu quickly left Gu Jinliâs house, rushing towards the workshop to call for people.
Luo Huiniang, seeing her mother rush out in a fluster, was stunned and said, "Whatâs with mom? Why did she suddenly get so angry?"
While stir-frying spices in the iron pot, Gu Jinli replied, "Silly girl, your mother is angry because you were almost deceived by a young man with bad intentions."
Luo Huiniang, startled, finally understood after a while, pointing to her own face she stammered, "He, he, he, to me..."