Chapter 101 - 28 Buying Land

Chapter 101: Chapter 28 Buying Land

The ox cart traveled for almost half an hour before finally reaching Shangling Village.

When Mr. Gu stopped the ox cart in front of the Gu Family courtyard, he picked up Gu Chengyu and carried him down.

"Mom! I’m home!" Gu Chengyu ran towards the main house.

"Is it Xiao Bao who’s back? Come in quickly!" Mrs. Lv had already heard the noise when Gu Chengyu reached the main house and hurriedly came down from the kang to greet him at the door.

"Why are you back so late? Did you go to school today? Was the teacher strict with you? Did you get along well with your classmates? Nobody bullied you, right?" Mrs. Lv’s heart, anxious all day for her youngest son’s return, finally was at ease.

Gu Chengyu patiently answered Mrs. Lv’s questions, though Mr. Gu had already asked him these along the way.

"Enough! The kid’s been at school all day and he’s tired. Do you have to question him about everything when he gets home? Can’t you let him rest? The teacher assigned homework that needs to be done within the hour, because when it gets dark, even if we light the oil lamp, it won’t be easy to see. Let’s prepare dinner first! After eating, let Xiao Bao do his writing here in the main house." Mr. Gu quickly interrupted Mrs. Lv’s endless chatter, or she might have continued asking for a long time.

"Hey! Why does he have to read and write as soon as he gets home? Isn’t today his first day at the private school? Then I must quickly tell the second family to set the table." With those words, Mrs. Lv hurriedly went to the kitchen.

"Dad! How did the matter of buying land and the house site go today?" Gu Chengyu remembered that Mr. Gu and the others went into town this morning to find a broker.

"Ah, this! We’ll talk at the table. I haven’t been home all day because I went to see the land. As for the house site, I had the eldest and the second go to talk with the village chief when they returned, but I don’t know how their discussions went." Thinking about successfully buying the land today, Mr. Gu felt delighted. This was wealth to be passed down through generations!

To celebrate Gu Chengyu’s first day at school, Mrs. Lv purposely asked Mr. Gu and the others to bring back a small piece of meat from town to nourish Gu Chengyu.

"Second sister-in-law, don’t even think about sneaking a bite. I’ve counted the slices of cut meat, and if I find you’ve stolen any, I’ll send you back to your mother’s home. Hear me?"

Gu Chengyu heard his mother warning He in the kitchen while he was just in the main house. Ah, we’re still short of silver! By the way, the honeysuckle should be ready to pick in a couple of days; he needed to ask his dad to check it out.

When Mrs. Fang and others brought in the dishes, porridge, and buns, He’s eyes almost fell into the dish basin; the pork was so fragrant!

Gu Chengyu glanced at the plate of meat on the table and saw it was cabbage stir-fried with pork slices. In ancient times, pork sold was mostly fatty meat, so the pork in this dish was fatty. Though in his past life, Gu Chengyu didn’t eat fatty meat, the fat here was particularly delicious; every time it was cooked, he ate two slices.

Gu Wan had come back from outside; she probably went looking for Chunhua again. Gu Chengchi was still running to Doctor Li’s house during the day; Gu Chengyu had returned just when he came home from Doctor Li’s, resting for half an hour.

Regarding Gu Chengchi’s situation, Gu Chengyu changed his mind about visiting Doctor Li. Everyone has their own path, and although he didn’t know why Doctor Li disagreed, Doctor Li had his reasons for his actions, whether truly unwilling or testing. It was best not to meddle and let things take their course.

Mr. Gu took the first bite of the food; everyone quickly picked up their chopsticks. At He’s table, there were only five slices of meat in the cabbage stir-fry, so she was naturally quick to start; the meat slices were hidden in the cabbage. He picked up a bit with her chopsticks and sipped a small portion from it, then immediately began searching through the cabbage for meat slices, which was her habitual action - she’d always sip from her chopsticks first and then go for the dishes, always rummaging through the serving basin, making the others at the table lose their appetite.

Seeing He start, Er Ya also quickly grabbed her chopsticks and imitated He, rummaging through the serving basin. Upon seeing this, He was about to lose her temper. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Fang smacked Er Ya on the back of her hand with a chopstick, leaving the table’s occupants stunned. Even at Gu Chengyu’s table, they heard the noise and looked over.

"Who taught you to act so improperly? What does a girl look like doing such a thing?" Mrs. Fang scolded Er Ya sharply, preferring not to eat meat rather than have her daughter mimic He’s nature, which might disgust people when married off someday.

"Mom! I..." Er Ya cried with reddened eyes, clutching her hand; she just wanted to pick a couple of pieces for her big brother.

Seeing her daughter’s eyes turn red, Mrs. Fang felt sorrow and looked away.

Watching this scene, Gu Chengyu didn’t expect Mrs. Fang to value her children’s morals so much, no wonder Da Lang and the others were so honest, with pretty decent temperaments.

Mr. Gu glared at that table, frowning; as if they couldn’t eat peacefully without some commotion daily.

"Alright! Let’s eat quickly; there’s something to discuss afterward."

After everyone finished eating, Mr. Gu had Mrs. Fang and the others clean up the dishes, ready to start discussing the house-building issue.

"The second and I went to town early today to find Liu Yazi, see if there’s large good land for sale. Liu Yazi said we need to wait. We were about to return, but his associate broker said Xialing Village has large land for sale, so Liu Yazi led us there to look. The second and I went; there’s fifty-five mu! It’s divided into two places. The land is good! It’s a pity we can’t afford it all." Mr. Gu took out his pipe and lit it, taking a smoke.

"Dad, if we don’t buy that land, it’ll really be a shame! Our village doesn’t have those contiguous top fields; rarely, there’s land for sale, and they’re only a few mu, scattered and can’t be pieced together!" Gu Chengyi remarked with emotion. Yet, if they bought all fifty-five mu, their family could afford the silver, but they wanted to also build a house, and sixty or seventy taels might not cover much on a large tile-roofed house; it was worrisome.

"Then just buy thirty-five mu! What’s the problem?" The remaining silver was meant for Xiao Bao’s education; the second might be eyeing the silver again, Mrs. Lv felt the second was a white-eyed wolf, never satisfied regardless of how much was given.

"But people want to sell the land in one piece; one is twenty-five mu, the other is thirty mu. This is the land from Mr. Qin’s family in Xialing Village, and today I met Housekeeper Qin. He said their master plans to do business in the Capital and doesn’t intend to return to Xialing Village anymore. So? Without anyone to manage the land, they decided to sell it. Otherwise, over half a month later, it’s planting season, and who’d be willing to sell land then?" Mr. Gu was worried; Xialing Village was close to Shangling Village, making management easier. Plus, it was hard to buy land nearby, all scattered bits; though there were various farms, it wasn’t something he could afford.

"Is that the only family selling land? Are there others?" Gu Chengyu also found it difficult after hearing this. Buying either piece alone seemed too small, but buying both would lead to frugal days at home.