Free Web NovelChapter 292: Chapter 292: Endure
"I’m in a good mood every day," Xu Yulan chuckled, "but today I’m happier than finding silver."
Gu Antong said, "Second Aunt, instead of enjoying it alone, why not share the joy with everyone?"
"Well, that’s possible. You all know about the village matters today, right?"
"Are you talking about someone in the village going into the mountains?" Gu Kaichen, who had been lazing around the village after working for a bit, had heard some news. "What does that have to do with us? Could it be that you know their whereabouts?"
Even if she knew their whereabouts, so what? The people in this village are dirt-poor and can’t afford any generous rewards.
"How would I know their whereabouts," Xu Yulan was laughing behind her hand, "The villagers searched everywhere and didn’t want to go into the mountains again. I felt sorry for their families, so I pointed them in the right direction."
Everyone looked at Xu Yulan in surprise. Could she have been so kind-hearted?
"Why are you all looking at me like that? I’m just doing a good deed.
No one dared to go into the mountains, so I told them to find Gu Kaiyuan. Isn’t he good at hunting? He knows the mountains well, so it’s fitting for him to go in.
The village chief took my advice and went straight to the end of the village.
Just now, when I was coming back, I saw them heading into the mountains. In this cold weather, they’re in for it."
"You’re the one to beat," Gu Kaichen had no brotherly affection for Gu Kaiyuan, and was even a bit gloating, "No one from around here dares to go into that part of the mountain. Gu Kaiyuan is trying to play the hero, but it’ll be interesting to see how that turns out."
Gu Baijiang didn’t even lift an eyelid, but was considering that if something happened to Gu Kaiyuan in the mountains, it might benefit them more.
Bai Suihe, a woman guarding so many family assets, and Bai Family sent so many things over. Without Gu Kaiyuan, they would have the upper hand.
But a shred of conscience made Gu Baijiang shake off the thought. Even if something did happen to Gu Kaiyuan, the people sent by Bai Family wouldn’t be pushovers, so he decided to just let things be.
He only had a few taels of silver in hand now. Previously, to make ends meet at home, he had even taken some embroidery work for his daughter-in-law and granddaughter from the embroidery shop.
With so little silver left, this winter would surely be hard to get through.
"The snow isn’t too heavy now. Eldest and Second, you should make another trip to town and buy more grain back."
"Dad, is that really necessary?" Gu Kaichen really didn’t want to go; it was too cold outside.
"Not necessary? When the grain is gone, we might as well eat the northwest wind together." With his son’s reluctance, Gu Baijiang’s tone turned icy, "Hurry back and forth, and starting tomorrow, we’ll begin chopping firewood. Everyone except the oldest daughter-in-law and Antong needs to pitch in."
"Is everyone going to chop firewood tomorrow?" Xu Yulan’s previous good mood instantly vanished. Her delicate hands were already a thing of the past, and now, besides frostbite, she feared more scars would be added.
"Yes, everyone goes to chop firewood," Gu Baijiang pointed to the Chen Family not far away, "look at their oilcloth-covered pile of firewood, and they are still busy every day.
And look at the corner of our yard; we bought some from the villagers before, but it will only last us two more days at most."
"Dad, why don’t we go and buy more firewood from the villagers?"
As soon as Xu Yulan finished speaking, Gu Baijiang immediately asked, "Are you going to pay for it?"
A bundle of firewood costs two coins, and the amount needed to burn through an entire winter isn’t small. The thought frightened Xu Yulan into shaking her head quickly, "I don’t have any silver."
"Then hurry and get to work. It’s still early, and besides the two brothers going to town, everyone else needs to head to the mountains."
Xu Yulan heard this and maliciously glanced at the three Xu Shuanghong women, "Father, what about Mrs. Xu and the others?"
"They’re going too," Gu Baijiang wasn’t about to soften up, even though Xu Shuanghong had been serving him well these days.
He had a clear understanding of what kind of nature each member of the family was. If Xu Shuanghong and her daughters didn’t contribute, the others would certainly strike as well.
Xu Yulan was on the verge of tears at this point, not expecting that after sabotaging Gu Kaiyuan into going to the mountains, she’d end up back in trouble herself.
"Dad, how about I stay home to cook?"
"You don’t have to cook. Liu Family, you cook and then do the work."
Liu Yun quickly agreed. She could bathe these days and had also taken some medicine in town, so her skin was improving. Naturally, she could concentrate on embroidery.
Compared to going into the mountains to chop branches, she immediately appreciated that her father-in-law had done a great job securing embroidery work. For the sake of her delicate hands, hard labor at home was thankfully avoided for her and her two daughters.
Once everyone was out, Gu Antong sat directly by the stove, "Mom, I’ll help you light the fire."
In this weather, lighting the fire was indeed a good task.
"No rush," Liu Yun rechecked to make sure everyone was far away before returning to the room. When she came out again, she was holding a package of pastries, "Let’s eat something first."
"Mom, where did these come from?" Gu Antong couldn’t remember the last time she had had any pastries, and without any hesitation, she eagerly opened the package and popped a piece into her mouth.
"Eat slowly, don’t choke," Liu Yun said as she calmly took a bite, "I bought these when I went to town for medicine a few days ago; I just hadn’t found a chance to bring them out."
There were only three rooms now, aside from Gu Baijiang and Xu Shuanghong’s cheating pair; the other two were divided by gender. She simply hadn’t found the chance to enjoy these pastries.
"Second Aunt is so annoying," Gu Antong complained about Xu Yulan, who had been sleeping next to her, "she even grinds her teeth at night."
"Just bear with it," with so few rooms, there was no other way to arrange it.
"As for the Third Prince, who knows when we’ll hear from him. Once he solves his matters, our hard days would be over."
If not for this shred of hope, Liu Yun feared she could not keep going.
"Mom, you keep telling me to endure, but haven’t I endured enough?" Gu Antong felt like she was about to break down, "That Fan Meilin shuffles around me every day, asking everything and learning everything. I’m not her free tutor.
Besides, I find her terrifying; she’s great at pretending. No matter what I say or ask her to do, she always readily agrees, but is quite perfunctory when it comes to action.
In the past few days, even Grandfather has talked to me, asking me to teach earnestly..."
Liu Yun understood the grievances her daughter was experiencing in such close quarters, but apart from enduring, she didn’t know how else to guide her daughter.
"I’ll talk to your father and ask him to speak to your grandfather."
Yet, Gu Antong had little hope, "Dad knows all too well, but he simply doesn’t want to help me.
Lately, he’s been focusing every day on quizzing the two younger brothers about their studies. I know they have pinned all their hopes on my two brothers."
