Free Web NovelChapter 199: Chapter 199: Slacking Off
Gu Anliang didn’t bother with their back-and-forth argument, draped a tarp over himself, and jumped off the ox cart, ignoring Liu Yun’s calls behind him.
"Mother, let brother go." An Tong quickly pulled Liu Yun, "He wants to be filial beside Father, you mustn’t stop him."
Liu Yun knew that doing more at this time would be helpful to her son’s reputation, but the world outside was icy and snowy, going outside was certainly going to be hard.
He is her only child; if anything happened to him, how could she bear it?
"When it’s afternoon, I’ll go and take over from Father and little brother."
As soon as An Tong said this, Gu Baijiang, who had been pretending to nap, couldn’t help but open his eyes and look at An Tong.
Yesterday she went out with the oldest brother, and when she returned, she seemed to have calmed down a lot and started using her brain.
Previously, he thought this granddaughter was somewhat spoiled in her upbringing; she had some cleverness but wasn’t calculating enough. This time, however, she’s using her brain and actively building a good reputation for herself.
If she continues to progress like this, she might become a talent the Gu Family can rely on; perhaps the family’s future hopes might depend on her.
An Tong certainly sensed her grandfather’s gaze, and she looked over gracefully, offering him a gentle smile, "Grandfather, do you need something?"
Gu Baijiang shook his head. Previously, he saw fear towards his face in his granddaughter’s eyes, but today it was different; that gaze had returned to the respectful look she used to have for him.
"You’re doing quite well; as children, you should be filial to your elders, so you haven’t disappointed your father’s love for you."
An Tong looked like a little girl who had received praise, her eyes curving with a smile, "Thank you for the compliment, Grandfather. I’m merely doing what I ought to do."
Gu Baijiang nodded and continued to rest his eyes. Being squeezed into a small carriage with the whole family, one couldn’t just engage in constant eye contact.
As the head of the family, he should maintain a commanding presence, which would ensure his descendants have respect for him.
An Tong’s performance today pleased him, lifting his spirits slightly.
The convoy continued on, but today’s speed was noticeably slower than yesterday because the snow had deepened.
The road here was also somewhat uneven; sometimes the wheels got stuck, and it took considerable effort to push the cart out.
The lead cart people felt it was unfair, thinking they were doing the pathfinding while the ones behind benefited.
Later on, they also learned to slack off, claiming it took a large amount of time to push out the wheels that could have been moved quickly.
The seasoned escort had seen such tricks before; initially, he cracked a few whips to scare them into behaving.
But as it happened more, it became clear these people were genuinely exhausted, so a different batch was sent to lead the way.
This time, Gu Baijiang and his group were leading the way, to the dismay of the Gu Family Brothers who wanted to slack off.
The more exhausted they became, the more they thought of Kai Yuan, simultaneously pondering how things would be different if he was present.
They blamed each other for being inflexible in their actions and had even spoken to Gu Baijiang, asking him to reprimand the Kai Yuan couple, but Gu Baijiang wouldn’t listen to them at all.
"Brother, you should exert some force; my wheel just came out, only to slide back again," Kai Chen sat powerlessly in the snow; this had happened many times, and each time Kai Ping left him with nothing.
"I have no strength left," Kai Ping was also leaning against the side of the carriage, "If worse comes to worst, no one goes anywhere."
The escort saw a lack of activity and came over to check, finding the two men slacking off and asked why. Knowing both men were exhausted, he frowned.
This Gu Family was useless; less than half an hour and already stuck here.
Just as he was about to help, he realized something wasn’t right; only these two people from the Gu Family were outside, oh, and two boys handling the ox cart.
"Everyone inside the cart, get out," the escort said irritably. It was hard enough for two scholarly men to push an empty cart, let alone this whole family sitting inside. No wonder they couldn’t move it.
...The Gu Family Brothers remained silent. They had proposed disembarking earlier, but the others feared the cold and getting frostbite or sick.
After waiting a moment with no movement from inside the cart, the escort flicked his whip at the curtain, tearing it open with a rip.
Screams instantly resonated from inside the cart.
Kai Ping looked at the ruined curtain with a headache; now, even hiding inside couldn’t shield them from the outside cold wind.
The cart they bought at the post station was lousy; how could it be of such poor quality?
"Everyone, get down quickly," the escort saw so many people inside the cart, chuckling with frustration, "You aren’t thinking of your family’s well-being. Now you all come down to push the cart, and if you delay the journey any further, you can forget about keeping the ox cart."
Gu Baijiang looked grim, but he still climbed down from the carriage, prompting the others to follow suit, reluctant to stay inside.
If they lost the ox cart, carrying these bags on their backs would leave them collapsed before they’d even gotten halfway.
They had amassed plenty of necessities along this journey, every item critical for survival, none to be abandoned.
"It seems you understand how to prioritize," the escort mocked, "next time this happens, I won’t negotiate; you’ll be walking the route on foot and save yourselves the effort of pushing a cart."
Seeing them standing foolishly by the side, the escort shook his head, "Do I need to teach you how to push a cart with my whip?"
Liu Yun and the others, frightened, hurried forward to assist.
Seeing the cart finally moving, the escort was satisfied, "Now that’s more like it. Your turn to open the path, remember to be diligent."
"Father, when will this misery end?" Kai Ping wailed mournfully once the escort left, "My arm’s still injured; though it’s not my right arm, if it doesn’t heal well, it’ll affect my future life." free𝑤ebnovel.com
"If I end up disabled, my career is ruined."
"What can we do? Our status is different now," Kai Chen assumed his brother was making excuses not to work and immediately counter-argued.
"I can’t do this alone; you can’t expect Father to join me doing such manual work."
Kai Ping didn’t even look at him, "Father, why not call Kai Yuan back? We’re all family. It’s only by working together that we can overcome this difficult time."
Liu Yun echoed from the side, "My husband is right; we erred before. We should apologize to our sister-in-law and brother-in-law.
Seeing her pregnancy growing daily, with Mother not around, we sisters-in-law should take more care."
