Gu Jinli almost wanted to cover her ears and quickly said, "If you have something to say, just say it. Why are you shouting? Youâre scaring your daughter to tears."
Last year, Mo Chunyue got pregnant, and a few months ago, she gave birth to a chubby girl. Although she didnât have a boy, He Sanlai didnât mind and doted on this daughter to the bone.
He even gave the child a very common nickname, Jinhua!
Oh heavens, how could he think of that? Arenât he afraid the child will get mad at him when she grows up?
Fortunately, Mo Chunyue is clever and asked Mrs. Cui to give the child a formal name. Now this childâs nickname is Jinhua, and her formal name is He Jiahui.
He Sanlai cherished his daughter the most. He quickly comforted her, and after coaxing little Jinhua, he said tearfully, "Young Master, the world outside is chaotic now. You canât abandon us. My wife and I have discussed it, and we donât want any ten-year deal. We will serve the Gu Family as servants for life!"
Being a servant for the Gu Family is great. You donât have to serve the master, you can go home to eat and sleep, and just go to the workshop to work every day.
Because they have an indenture, the Gu Family made them housekeepers, allowing them to manage workers at the workshop who do not have indentures.
If they redeemed themselves, without the binding of the indenture, the Gu Family would definitely not trust them to continue being housekeepers. They might lose this job, and with the chaos in the world, they wouldnât have any protection.
Gu Jinli said, "You are originally from a good register, and you are He Family People. You canât be a servant for our family for life."
She thought for a moment and said, "If you are worried about the chaotic world and have no support after redeeming yourselves, you can delay the redemption, and once the world stabilizes, you can take the indenture."
Gu Jinli was busy preparing for her marriage and her journey to the Northwest, and had little time for He Sanlai and his wife. Seeing they didnât want to redeem themselves early, she let it be.
"I will leave the indenture with my elder brother. Whenever you want to redeem yourselves, you can go find him." She tucked the indenture into her pocket, stood up, took Mo Chunyueâs hand, and diagnosed her pulse. After a moment, she said, "Itâs fine, youâve fully recovered now. Next time you get pregnant, donât listen to He Sanlai and eat so much. The baby will be too big and hard to deliver."
Mo Chunyue quickly responded, "Yes, yes, yes, we all listen to the Young Master."
He Sanlai was a first-time father, extremely excited, and bought fatty meat for Mo Chunyue every day, even adding sugar to it... Gu Jinli imagined the taste and felt nauseous. Mo Chunyue actually ate it for several months; it was terrifying.
They almost had a difficult delivery; fortunately, Qingping and Qingrong helped, and mother and daughter were safe.
"Young Master, please check our Jinhua too," He Sanlai pleaded.
"Your Jinhua is as strong as an ox, whatâs there to check?" Although she said this, Gu Jinli still checked little Jinhuaâs pulse. After a moment, she said, "Very well, sheâs a little calf. Donât worry about her getting sick; she could even kick your wife to injury."
He Sanlai, hearing this, was overjoyed and didnât dare to bother Gu Jinli anymore. He left with his wife and daughter.
This year, besides He Sanlai and his wife, Qi Kangping and his wife also had children, and Uncle Han Liu and Aunt Hong had a healthy baby boy, making Uncle Han Liu extremely happy. They had delayed half a lifetime, and finally got married and had a child.
After Gu Dexing and Gu Qingliang get married, they should become fathers soon too. By then, there will be many children at the end of the village, and it will be very lively. Unfortunately, she will be in the Northwest by then, missing it all.
Gu Jinli quickly collected her thoughts and continued preparing for her wedding and journey to the Northwest.
That evening, Mrs. Chen and Gu Dagui hurried back in, and as soon as Mrs. Chen saw Gu Jinli, she grabbed her and asked in horror, "Xiao Yu, are you really going to the Northwest? Oh dear, you canât go to such a place. You look like a fairy; how will you remain intact if you go to the Northwest?"
Gu Jinli was shocked, pointing at her own face and said, "But you often say behind my back that Iâm ugly, and now youâre actually complimenting my looks?!"
Mrs. Chen choked and quickly said, "Aunt was just talking nonsense. All four of your siblings are good-looking. If youâre considered ugly, then thereâs no one good-looking in the world."
She urgently asked, "And what about our familyâs business? If you leave, what will happen to the business? Iâm not bragging, but youâre just too capable. If those evil men come to scheme against us, itâs always you who comes up with ideas to drive them away. If you and San Lang go to the Northwest and those evil men come to steal our recipe, what will we do?"
She scolded Qin San Lang, "San Lang is really something, what is he thinking? How dare he take you to a man-eating place like the Northwest? Where is he? Let him come out; I want to beat him to death!"
Gu Jinli sat comfortably in her chair and said, "Aunt Da Gui, enough, enough, stop acting. Do you dare to hit Brother Qin? Even if he really bullied me, youâd at most dare to curse him quietly at home without letting him hear it."
Mrs. Chen is cowardly. Brother Qin, who commands soldiers, has a deadly aura around him, which terrifies Mrs. Chen. Every time she sees Qin San Lang, she greets him with a smile, never showing a sour face.
Mrs. Chen was at a loss for words and suddenly burst into tears, crying and acting shamelessly, "No, you have to clarify the business matters before you leave. Otherwise, if the business collapses, I wonât live either!"
After struggling for half a lifetime, she finally became the shopkeeperâs wife and could live a decent life. If Xiao Yu leaves and the business collapses because of that, she really would rather die.
Gu Jinli clicked her tongue, "You really would choose money over life. Stop crying; Iâve already sent Xiao Ji to call everyone. When theyâre here, weâll discuss the business."
Mrs. Chen was overjoyed hearing this. In no time, everyone arrived, and Gu Jinli started explaining the business arrangements to them.
In fact, thereâs not much to arrange. Things will continue as theyâre run now, but they need to be more cautious with the sale of the seasoning spices, to prevent any tampering.
At last, she said, "In these chaotic times, if facing a life-and-death crisis, the tofu recipe can be given away to save lives."
"What? What did you say, giving away the tofu recipe? Xiao Yu, are you crazy? Thatâs silver!" Mrs. Chen was the first to disagree, clutching her chest and saying painfully.
Gu Jinli looked at her and asked, "Whatâs more important, money or life?"
Mrs. Chen shouted, "I want both money and life!"
Gu Jinli: "..."
Oops, she forgot Mrs. Chen is greedy.
Fine, then sheâll ask differently, "Between the tofu recipe and the seasoning recipe, which one would you use to trade for your life?"
Mrs. Chen was stumped. Everyone knew the answer - naturally, the tofu recipe would be used to trade for life.
"Tofu isnât hard to make, and the money it earns is through hard work, not as much as with the seasoning spices. If indeed faced with a life-threatening situation, we give up the tofu recipe, keep the seasoning spice recipe, and save our lives; thatâs the proper thing to do."
After Gu Jinli finished explaining, Gu Jinâan also discussed with them the chaotic state of the outside world.
Upon hearing this, all the families nodded in agreement.
Third Grandpa looked at all the families and said, "These two businesses were thought up by Little Xiao Yu. We benefited from her; whether to continue or give up, itâs all up to her."
He finally pointed to Mrs. Chen and said, "Da Guiâs wife, did you hear that?"
Mrs. Chen was uncomfortable, but nodded, "I heard it, nephewâs wife."
"Itâs good you heard it. Little Xiao Yu and San Lang will marry on the sixteenth. You should help with the preparations these few days and let Little Xiao Yu have a grand wedding," said Third Grandpa. Seeing it was getting late, he dismissed them, telling them to come back the next day to help.
Mrs. Chen left grumbling, and Gu Jinli, with her sharp ears, heard Mrs. Chen complaining about having bad luck, afraid sheâll marry the wrong man.
Gu Jinli scoffed. She wonât marry the wrong man, and even if she did, sheâs wealthy enough to live well after divorce.
...
However, her husband truly treats her well. He promised to be back in three days, and he really returned before dawn.
Upon hearing the sound of hooves, Gu Jinli woke up immediately and waited. When Qin San Lang, imitating a birdcall, knocked on the window, she opened it at once, seeing his smiling face, accompanied by the words, "Xiao Yu, Iâm back. Were you scared?"