Chapter 379: Changing Jobs

Gu Jinli and the others did not speak; clearly, no one cared about this and just wanted Gu Yumei to marry off quickly so that they wouldn’t have to deal with the frustration of seeing her again.

Third Grandpa, seeing that no one else was speaking, said, "Completing the gift-giving, asking the name, setting an auspicious date for the marriage, sending betrothal gifts, asking for a wedding date, and the formal wedding procession—getting through all these tasks means that by the time the wedding happens, we will have to wait until next year at the earliest. So, it’s not too soon when you think about it."

Da Fu’s family and Scholar Wan’s family have only exchanged tokens of betrothal and birth date slips so far, reaching only the stage of asking the name, which is to compare the birth details of the two children. To actually get to the wedding procession will take at least half a year.

The truth is, Third Grandpa also wants Gu Yumei to marry off sooner. This child never learns her lesson. Because of her incident at the workshop where she hit Ms. Xu Wang and cursed out Old Guo and the others, Da Fu and Da Gui have been going door to door to offer apologies to Old Guo and the others.

Just a few days ago, the two brothers also brought gifts worth several taels of silver to Wang Yongfu’s family to apologize. Wang Yongfu was tough and didn’t even meet with them initially. It was only after the two brothers came to invite him again that he set aside his pride and took them to meet the Wang Family before Wang Yongfu would see them.

Ms. Xu Wang did not appear, because after Sister Mei’s remarks, she now avoids men, fearing that she might cause any further misunderstanding.

Speaking of which, Third Grandpa asked Gu Jinli, "Xiao Yu, what about Ms. Xu Wang in the future? She can’t keep hiding every time she sees a man. How is she going to work like this?"

Gu Jinli had not anticipated that Ms. Xu Wang’s reaction would be so extreme, but after Wang Yongfu and Mrs. Ma came specifically to speak to her, she realized that Ms. Xu Wang has always considered herself a widow, bringing bad luck, and fears causing trouble for her brother’s family, her son, and Gu Jinli’s house. That incident became such a big mess that she decided to just avoid people to not stir up any more trouble.

But that’s not a solution. If you want to work in the workshop, it’s not possible to avoid encountering other men.

Gu Jinli said, "She is weak now, and I was thinking that before the new workshop is built, we could let her can stay at home and prepare spices, just cloves and cinnamon. Have Gu Yumei fry tofu to let her taste some hardship and perhaps correct her bad attitude."

Third Grandma agreed with this and said, "Xiao Yu is right. Every time Sister Mei causes trouble, it’s Da Fu and the others who apologize and compensate. After she gets beaten, it’s over, but she never learns her lesson. Making her do some tough and dirty work will teach her what hard work is, so she’ll think twice before causing trouble in the future."

No sooner was this idea proposed than Third Grandma was impatient to put it into practice. She immediately asked Gu Jinli to go to Gu Dafu’s family and call Mrs. Chen and others over to discuss this matter right away.

Gu Jinli did not delay and, holding Brother Cheng’s hand, the siblings went to Da Fu’s family.

Gu Yumei got what she wished for and was engaged to Wan Lifang, now in her room admiring the token of engagement sent from the Wan Family.

The token was a jade paperweight. The one given by the Wan Family was not only small but also of mediocre quality. Nonetheless, Gu Yumei found this token of engagement to be quite precious.

"Worthy of a Scholar’s family, the engagement gift is so thoughtfully intellectual."

Those ordinary families that scratch a living from the soil at most would give a silver bracelet as an engagement token; they would never think to send a jade paperweight.

Gu Yumei did not know that although the jade paperweight was indeed made of jade, it was not worth much. The quality of the jade was poor, made of leftover scraps; it was worth no more than a tael or two of silver at most.

On the other hand, her family’s engagement gift to the Wan Family was quite impressive: a golden ring.

Gu Yumei’s maternal grandfather’s family was well-off, so when her mother married into the Gu family, he specially gave this golden ring to her mother as an heirloom.

Since it was the only keepsake left by Gu Yumei’s mother, the family never parted with it in times of hardship, even during the years of fleeing famine. Gu Dafu could not bear to sell it and kept it all this time, and now it was given to the Wan Family as a part of the engagement ritual.

Mrs. Chen felt a painful loss and did not approve; she said this keepsake of the elder sister-in-law should have been kept for a future daughter-in-law, not for a daughter. Giving it to the daughter meant it was sent off to another family—once it was gone, it was never coming back.

But she only complained to Gu Dagui. After all, it was the matter of Gu Dafu’s family. As an aunt, no matter how distressed she felt, there wasn’t much she could do.

Gu Dexing also wanted that golden ring, but he loved Gu Yumei too much, so he didn’t fight her for it.

Mrs. Chen shouted in the main room, "What are you still looking at? You’ve been staring for so long. Hurry up and put things away properly. When it’s time for your marriage, the jade paperweight must be sent to the Wan Family. You’re so careless; what if you broke it?!"

Breaking the betrothal gift would mean the end of the marriage arrangement.

After Gu Yumei was betrothed, she felt very happy. Even when scolded by Mrs. Chen, she did not talk back, but carefully put away the jade paperweight and then helped with mixing spices in the main room.

She saw that bag after bag of ground spices almost made her throw up, and she complained, "Mixing spices every day, when will it ever end? Smelling these spices every day, I’m almost nauseous."

Mrs. Chen said, "How come you don’t throw up eating every day? You just complain when asked to do some work. Our household has lost so much silver because of you, and I haven’t beaten you for it yet, but now you’re the one complaining."

Gu Jinli arrived at Gu Dafu’s courtyard just to overhear this and laughed, ’Getting nauseous from mixing spices every day, okay, let’s swap for a better job for you.’

"Aunt Da Gui, Third Grandma wants you to bring Gu Yumei over to my house for a bit; she has something to tell you. You guys better come quickly."

After Gu Jinli finished speaking, without waiting for Mrs. Chen to respond, she took Brother Cheng by the hand, and the siblings headed home.

"Xiao Yu, what’s the matter?" As Mrs. Chen asked this, Gu Jinli and Gu Jincheng had already left her courtyard without a trace.

Mrs. Chen had no choice but to instruct Brother Fa, "You stay home and watch the house. Lock the door, and don’t open it for strangers, so no one can tamper with the spices, got it?"

Under the barrage of Gu Jinli’s caution, several households became much more attentive to the spices they had brought back. Only family members could be present during the mixing of spices; outsiders were not allowed in.

Gu Defa nodded in acknowledgment, responding to Mrs. Chen.

Mrs. Chen scolded, "Have you turned mute? Will you die if you speak?"

Mrs. Chen was resigned to her son’s unresponsiveness, almost like a block of wood. It wouldn’t have mattered if he didn’t speak much in a day or if nudging him didn’t even budge him. If it weren’t for his ability to work and that he never mixed up the seasonings wrong, Mrs. Chen would have suspected that there was something wrong with his brain.

"Let’s go, let’s see what’s happening at Third Grandma’s house," Mrs. Chen called Gu Yumei.

Gu Yumei didn’t want to go, "I don’t want to. That’s Gu Jinli’s house."

Bang! Mrs. Chen kicked the stool Gu Yumei was sitting on, "Will you go or not? Xiao Yu has asked you to come along; do you dare not to? If you don’t go, I will go to the Wan Family tomorrow and tell Mrs. Wan all about your misdeeds. Let’s see if the Wan Family would still want to marry you!"

Mrs. Chen had recently discovered Gu Yumei’s Achilles’ heel – she also knew that many things she had done were wrong and was terrified that the Wan Family would find out and call off the marriage.

Upon hearing this, Gu Yumei could only reluctantly stand up and follow Mrs. Chen to Gu Jinli’s house.

Upon their arrival, Third Grandma cut straight to the point, "From now on, your family doesn’t need to mix spices anymore. This task will be given to Ms. Xu Wang."