Chapter 325: Hard to Please

The gift from He Cui’er’s family was rather ordinary, just six eggs and half a bowl of glutinous rice.

Glutinous rice has always been a precious commodity, and it was only after much persuasion that her mother agreed to give that half bowl.

"Aunt Gu, I wish you health and peace during the Dragon Boat Festival. This is the festival gift from my family to yours, a small token of our thoughts, please accept it," He Cui’er said as she took out two Five Poison Pouches and handed them to Gu Daya: "These are the Five Poison Pouches I made, for Aunt Gu and Sister Le to ward off evil spirits, please keep them."

Although He Cui’er wanted to marry Qi Kangping to form a connection with Gu’s Workshop and lead a better life, she still remembered the lesson learned from the incident at Gu Yumei’s place. This time, she didn’t dare to give five pouches, only two, to Gu Daya and Qi Kangle.

Seeing He Cui’er speak in such a refined manner, Gu Daya was somewhat surprised and complimented He Cui’er’s mother: "Elder sister-in-law, your daughter is really well-behaved and quiet, she seems like a good girl."

In reality, she found it unnecessary for a country girl like He Cui’er to speak in such a way; it sounded quite strange.

He Cui’er’s mother laughed heartily, showing her yellow teeth, and said to Gu Daya: "Aunt Gu, I’m not boasting about my Cui’er, this girl has been sensible since she was young. Not only is she skillful with her hands, but she’s also good at housework. She does almost all the chores at home and even helps take care of her nephews and nieces. She’s very capable."

Gu Daya’s smile remained on her face, but inside she was displeased. This He Cui’er’s mother lacked discernment; she couldn’t tell whether others were speaking sincerely or just being polite.

He Cui’er, with her cheeks flushed by her mother’s praises, quickly chided in a low voice, "Mother, I’m not that good, stop exaggerating, otherwise Aunt Gu will laugh at me."

He Cui’er’s mother was unhappy and said, "What I’m saying is true, Aunt Gu likes to hear this, why would she laugh? Right, Aunt Gu?"

Gu Daya smiled and nodded: "Elder sister-in-law is correct."

This is your daughter, you’re free to praise her as much as you like.

Gu Daya didn’t want to entertain He Cui’er and her mother any longer, so she made an excuse: "Our eldest at home has trouble with his legs, it’s time for his medicine, so I won’t keep you any longer."

Upon hearing Gu Daya mention Qi Kangping, He Cui’er’s mother quickly asked, "Aunt Gu, is there something wrong with my great-nephew’s legs?"

If he ends up disabled, it wouldn’t be worthwhile for her daughter to marry into the family.

Gu Daya frowned slightly and said, "Brother Ping’s legs are recovering well, thank you for your concern."

Their family sends Kangping and Kangming to Xuanhu Fang every ten days, where Doctor Wu looks at their hand and foot injuries. According to Doctor Wu, they are recovering very well and, if this continues, Kangping will not become lame, and Kangming’s hand will not affect his ability to write.

"That’s good, that’s very good," He Cui’er’s mother was as pleased as if it was her own son’s limbs that had healed and added meaningfully, "Having nimble hands and feet will prevent any gossip when it’s time for him to take a wife."

"Mother!" He Cui’er wanted to strangle her mother. Why did she say such things at this time?

Worried that a longer stay would cause Gu Daya to dislike her mother, she hurriedly said to her mother: "Mother, we have been out for a while, there are chores to do at home, let’s go back now."

He Cui’er’s mother heard this and got poked by He Cui’er from behind, she quickly came to her senses and hurriedly said, "Auntie, we’ll be going back now, you go on with your busy work."

"Elder sister-in-law, please wait a moment." Gu Daya didn’t like He Cui’er’s family and didn’t want to accept their festival gift for nothing. She turned around to the kitchen, strung together a pound of spiced bean curd and a pound of spiced fried tofu, and handed them to He Cui’er’s mother: "Here is our return gift, elder sister-in-law, please accept it. Add two dishes for tonight’s meal."

As for spiced meat, Gu Daya didn’t take any out; He Cui’er’s family wasn’t worth offering meat to.

He Cui’er’s elderly mother was overjoyed, quickly taking them and said with a broad smile, "Auntie, you are too kind, then I’ll accept it. There’s no need for you to send us off, we can walk back ourselves."

After speaking, she left Gu Daya’s house in high spirits, taking He Cui’er with her.

He Cui’er, with her head down and a displeased expression, followed her own mother home. Upon arriving, she finally couldn’t help but complain, "Mother, what you said today was too much. It’ll be terrible if it displeased Gu Daya."

He Cui’er’s mother retorted, "Displeased? Our family sent six eggs and half a bowl of glutinous rice, both expensive items. Apart from Grandma’s house, who else have we given such a substantial festival gift to? How dare she be displeased?"

"Speaking outright, they are merely refugees who have managed to survive thanks to Gu Dashan’s family. Without Gu Dashan’s family, Gu Daya and her household would be beggars, asking for alms."

He Cui’er’s mother took the two strings of vegetable spiced dishes into the main hall, put them into a pottery bowl, covered them with vegetable leaves, hid them in the jar with soybeans, then turned and glared at several grandchildren whose eyes were gleaming with greed, "Don’t any of you dare to steal and eat. Whoever dares, I’ll beat them to death!"

"We get it, Grandma." The three grandsons and granddaughter replied, but their eyes remained fixed on the jar full of soybeans, drooling. The oldest grandson was already plotting - if his grandmother wasn’t around, he might steal a piece or just lick it a couple of times to taste it.

He Cui’er was very dissatisfied with her mother’s words: "Mother, why do we want to form a marriage alliance with Gu Daya’s family? It’s all because of Gu Dashan’s family and their workshop. Gu Dashan’s family holds a forty percent share of the dividends. If I could become Gu Dashan’s niece by marriage, then our family would be relatives of Gu’s Workshop. Then our family, Grandma’s, Aunt’s, as well as the households of our eldest uncle and third uncle, can all work in Gu’s Workshop. Our group of relatives can prosper."

"So, hold back for now. Pretend for a while and don’t let Gu Daya take a dislike to you."

He Cui’er’s mother said, "Alright, alright, can’t I endure it? In my opinion, you should go straight after Gu Jin’an. If you can secure him, you’ll become the workshop’s young madam. To aim for Qi Kangping merely makes you a workshop owner’s niece by marriage, you can benefit from their status but not share in their wealth."

He Cui’er became irritated upon hearing this, "Mother, stop talking. Be careful if someone overhears you, Gu Jinli might come and hack you with a knife."

Did she think that she didn’t want to marry Gu Jin’an? But Gu Jin’an had to fancy her first. With her skills, she could at most entice a simpleton like Qi Kangping and not even hope to scheme for Qi Kangming.

Worried that her own mother might ruin things, she added another word of caution: "Mother, next time you go to Gu Daya’s house, don’t show any disdain for Qi Kangping. Don’t inquire about his injured leg either, making it seem like it can’t heal. Gu Daya will be unhappy."

"When you chat with the village gossips outside, remember to praise Gu Daya’s family and Qi Kangping. Let Gu Daya’s family and Gu Dashan’s household know that we do not look down on them and that we truly admire those families."

Although it’s a bit late to put on an act now, if she didn’t even make this small effort, her chances of marrying into the Qi family would be even slimmer.

That Gu Daya wasn’t an easy character to deal with, in fact, she was rather difficult to ingratiate oneself with.

"Alright, alright, I’ve got it. Do you really need to tell me such trivial things?" He Cui’er’s mother urged He Cui’er, "You’d better hurry up. Capture Qi Kangping before October, otherwise, our family won’t have the money to exempt your elder brother from labor service."