Chapter 227: Chapter 63 Little Scholar?
It was originally so far away that if you donât set off early in the morning, no coachman would take the job as itâs hard to travel at night. It was Silver who paid double the silver coin before the coachman agreed.
Silver carried his bundle and pushed open the courtyard gate. The house was very quiet, and Silver went straight to the main house without stopping.
"Mom? Iâm back!" Pushing aside the curtain of the main house, Silver found that only Mrs. Lv was inside, sitting on the kang sewing a robe.
"Is it Xiao Bao back? Quickly put down the bundle. Why did you spend so many days away this time? Brother Xian and the others came back long ago, yet you still remembered to come back, huh?" Mrs. Lv put down the clothing she was sewing as soon as she saw her son return and got down from the kang.
"Mom! Whereâs Dad? Why didnât I see him when I came back? Whereâs the second sister? Why is she not here either?" Not seeing Mr. Gu was normal, after all, he couldnât idle at home and would stroll to the fields, but not seeing the second sister was a bit strange.
Gu Wan had been quite quiet these past two years, and it was time to prepare dinner; she shouldnât be away. When he arrived, he glanced at the kitchen, and it was completely empty.
"Sigh! Donât mention it. Your dad called your uncle and Gu Wan went with them! Didnât you send a letter back? Hua brought a woman back from a trip, and now? The house is in upheaval!"
Mrs. Lv couldnât stand that kind of woman either. When she was brought back yesterday, the village was abuzz, and she went to see. That woman was clearly not a nice girl. Look at her figure and those movements, just an enchantress.
"Ah! Did they already start quarreling?" Silver could imagine it; this would definitely cause chaos at home.
"Still quarreling! They even started fighting. Hua is still defending that girl; itâs really hard for Huaâs wife now. Who knows how sheâll live in the future! Also, your uncleâs family is already living tight, and now with another one added, how will they live?"
In Shangling Village, besides Mr. Zhaoâs family taking a concubine, no family has done so. But now, the Gu family is about to set a precedent.
Silver thought for a moment and realized he had to go take a look. Although he had advised Gu Wanhua before, now that such an incident had occurred, he couldnât just stay uninvolved.
"Mom! Iâm going to check it out!" Silver got ready to put the bundle back in his room before heading to Uncle Guâs house.
"What? You canât go! You donât know that Huaâs wife is still blaming you! Saying that you didnât keep an eye on Hua, letting him mess around outside. Yesterday, I exchanged a few words with her. Itâs truly unreasonable. How can this be blamed on you? Are you Huaâs parents? Can you control him? Besides, youâre still a kid yourself! What do you know? I even said that Hua nearly led my son astray!"
Mrs. Lv got angry at the mention. She was originally sympathetic to Yang, but what did it mean to throw mud at her son? Even blaming Xiao Bao from her family, how ridiculous!
"Mom! That means I should go all the more. I advised Hua on this matter, but he didnât listen to me. Villagers donât know the truth, and itâs not right if his wife goes around spouting nonsense. Moreover, I indeed share some responsibility. I should have watched him more carefully. If I had disregarded his objections and brought him back earlier, there wouldnât have been so much trouble!"
In fact, at this point, Silver genuinely regretted not asking Ming Mo to bring Gu Wanhua back earlier. Otherwise, how could so many troublesome things happen?
"How is it your fault? Heâs grown enough to manage himself, and how many times can you manage him?" As soon as Mrs. Lv heard Silver blame himself, she immediately put on a stern face. Gu Wanhua, in her heart, was nowhere near as important as her son.
"By the way! Whereâs Ming Mo? Did he come back from the town?" Silver had Ming Mo bring Gu Wan Qian to the house in town as soon as he returned. There was a teacher there who could teach him literacy and arithmetic and at the same time go through the accounts of the town and county.
"Heâs back! He came back in the afternoon and went with your dad to your uncleâs house." Mrs. Lv was very satisfied with Ming Mo, the boy was steady, and he was perfect as Silverâs servant.
Silver also thought of Ming Yan in the workshop; he had previously left him in charge of overseeing the soap workshop in the village.
"Itâs almost time for dinner; you might as well go! Ask your dad and sister to come back for dinner." Mrs. Lv poured a drink of water for Silver and then sat back on the kang.
"Oh! What about eldest brother and them? Did they also go? I didnât hear any sound when I came back!" Silver found it a bit strange how quiet the courtyard was.
Mrs. Lv pouted, "Your eldest brother and their family are in the fields; your second sister-in-law went back to her family, and theyâve been gone for three or four days. The second brother went to pick her up! I donât know which familyâs wife always goes back to stay at her own familyâs house and doesnât return. The little bit of silver she has would definitely be taken away by Mrs. Wang and her brother!"
Mrs. Lv thought that the second brotherâs frequent trips back to her family were really foolish. The house was always cold stoves and cold pots, and Mrs. Wang, the old mother of He, was not a good person either. Seeing her daughter had divided up the property and had silver in hand, she was thinking of ways to trick her daughter into bringing the silver to her family! And yet He was foolish enough to be running to her family often.
"Then Iâll head over!" Silver wasnât interested in the whereabouts of the second brotherâs family that Mrs. Lv mentioned. Now that the family was separated, it wasnât their place to say anything about the second brotherâs family matters. Simply speaking, as long as they were happy!
"Oh! Grandma, donât stop me anymore. Since this house canât accommodate me, Iâll take the child back to my parentsâ house!"
Silver hadnât yet entered Uncle Guâs courtyard when he heard Mrs. Xiaoâs cry from outside the courtyard gate. At this moment, Uncle Guâs courtyard was also surrounded by people, all watching the drama unfold.
"Hey? What do you say about the Gu family, huh? Two years ago, it was always Gu Changqingâs house causing trouble. How is it now that itâs Gu Changsongâs turn? I think that the Gu familyâs feng shui must be problematic!" a villager said superstitiously to someone nearby.
"I think youâre just jealous, right? You say the Gu familyâs feng shui has problems? Well, also, look at them living in a row of big brick houses, and they have several scholars, all doing well! I heard that theyâve all become scholars! Isnât it normal for a scholar to take a concubine? Moreover, they have plenty of silver coins!"
The person speaking truly envied them! The Gu family was truly thriving, probably even surpassing Mr. Zhaoâs family since Mr. Zhaoâs family didnât even have a scholar!
Silver pushed through the villagers behind him, "Excuse me, please make way!"
"Oh! The little scholar is back!" The villagers recognized Silver immediately and made way for him, for this was a scholar lord!
"Ahem! Everyone misunderstood, I am not yet a scholar! I still have to take another exam, and only after passing am I a scholar. Currently, I am just a child student!"
"Ah? Still have to take the exam? Anyway, isnât becoming a scholar just a matter of time? When that time comes, the scholar lord must not forget our neighbors!" Villagers enthusiastically complimented Silver.
Silver smiled lightly and cupped his hands towards everyone. In his heart, however, he thought, when they needed silver coins back then, apart from Aunt Wangâs family, no one in the village stood up to speak for his family.