Chapter 211: Chapter 212: Scatter Money Boy

Hearing what Jin Qianqian said, Gu Lehua stroked the silver bracelet on her wrist. It seemed acceptable enough.

Since she was already fated to play the part of the "Scatter Money Boy," Jin Qianqian certainly wasn’t going to leave out the matriarch.

She gave the old woman not just two sets of clothes for spring and summer, but also a set of silver jewelry. The matriarch was so thrilled she stroked it repeatedly, while the other daughters-in-law were so envious their eyes turned red. Suddenly, their own new dresses lost all their appeal.

As for her brothers-in-law, it wasn’t her place as a sister-in-law to give them gifts, so they were simply overlooked.

Seeing that everyone else had received something, Song Xiuyang nudged Gu Lejia. "How could they leave us out?"

Having spent so much time with Chen Dagui, Gu Lejia could certainly recognize the value of that Jade Pendant.

Although he was envious, he didn’t have the courage to go over and ask for one. Instead, he turned and walked over to stand with Gu Le Di.

Song Xiuyang pursed her lips. She knew Jin Qianqian was not someone to be trifled with, so she could only swallow her resentment, feeling utterly helpless.

Li Cuicui looked at the huge family. She wanted to have Seventh stay for a meal, but with so many people, she simply didn’t have enough food to feed everyone. She could only turn to Ancient Wen Heng and say, "You’ve been away for so long. You should go and pay your respects to the clan elders."

"As for Gu Lejia, his father will take him to make his own visits later. You two should go take care of your own things first."

Ancient Wen Heng finally stood up. "You’re right, we should make our rounds. We brothers can catch up later when we have more time."

Gu Yuanshui immediately understood his mother’s underlying message. He also stood up and called to Liu Liu, "We haven’t finished weeding the fields! Hurry back and change your clothes so you don’t get them dirty. I’m heading out there now."

As he spoke, he gave his son and daughter a pointed look. Liu Liu instantly caught his meaning, grabbed a child in each hand, and left.

As soon as they were out the door, Gu Lehua clutched the bracelet on her wrist. "Mother, this is from Seventh Aunt. I’ll be careful not to lose it."

Liu Liu coaxed her in a low voice, "I know you won’t lose it, but none of the other girls in the village have one. What if they sweet-talk you into letting them try it on? Would you lend it to them?"

Gu Lehua shook her head vigorously. "No way! Their hands are so rough. What if they break my bracelet? They could never afford to replace it."

Liu Liu gave her a thumbs-up. "That’s my girl. So smart."

"But if you don’t let them wear it, everyone will think you’re stingy and won’t want to play with you anymore."

"Then... then I’ll put it away myself." Gu Lehua’s eyes were guarded. "I’ll hide it somewhere really safe."

"And what if you misplace it?"

"..."

Gu Le Kai had been listening, stunned. He quickly pulled the Jade Pendant from his shirt and thrust it into Liu Liu’s hands. "Mother, you should keep this for me. Just remember to give it back when I’m older."

Liu Liu carefully wrapped the Jade Pendant in a handkerchief. "Don’t worry. It’s not like your mother can wear a man’s jade pendant."

Gu Lehua glanced at the little bracelet on her own wrist, then at Liu Liu’s bare wrist, and finally handed her bracelet over as well.

"..."

By the time Jin Qianqian and her husband finished their rounds visiting the elders in the village, they finally understood what their eldest sister-in-law had been hinting at earlier.

"Eldest Sister-in-law is calling for a family separation. She wants you two to come over," Gu Yuantu reported, having been sent to fetch them.

"What family separation?" Ancient Wen Heng was caught off guard. ’Haven’t all of us brothers already split from the main household?’

Gu Yuantu gave a simple grin. "Eldest Sister-in-law is following Mother’s example. She’s saying that since Gu Lejia is married now, he should split off and form his own household, just like we brothers did."

In Gu Yuantu’s eyes, there was nothing wrong with his sister-in-law’s decision. After all, he and his brothers had all gone through the same process.

Jin Qianqian understood perfectly. ’Although my mother-in-law is being used as the justification,’ she thought, ’I definitely played a small part in causing this.’

"Isn’t Eldest Sister-in-law being a bit too hasty? He just got home today, and she’s already splitting the family. How is her son supposed to feel?" Although Ancient Wen Heng didn’t have a high opinion of Gu Lejia, he felt there was no need to rush things. They could have easily waited until he and Qianqian left, then dealt with it as a family behind closed doors.

Gu Yuantu couldn’t quite explain it either and just gave a dry laugh. "Well, just remember to head over to Eldest Brother’s place in a bit. I still need to go notify the other elders."

"Fifth Brother sure runs fast," Jin Qianqian remarked, snapping out of her thoughts to see only Gu Yuantu’s retreating back. "Do you think this was caused by us asking for our money back?"

Ancient Wen Heng replied, "That’s only part of the reason. I suspect Eldest Sister-in-law doesn’t approve of the wife Gu Lejia brought home."

To be honest, Ancient Wen Heng and Jin Qianqian had already decided to treat the twenty taels of silver as a gift, a precedent for what they would give all their nieces and nephews in the future.

The only reason she brought it up today was that the young couple had been causing so much trouble, and Jin Qianqian wanted to make things a little more difficult for them.

"So, are we going?"

Ancient Wen Heng said, "Let’s go see. They went to the trouble of sending Fifth Brother to notify us, and we’re here. It would be rude not to show up." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

&

"Mother, I don’t want to split the household." Gu Lejia had just gotten home. He was still surveying the family’s only two tile-roofed rooms and the adjacent thatched hut, wondering why their living conditions were so much worse than his uncles’, when his mother hit him with this.

Xie Ruyi said, "You see the state of this house. When we first settled here, each person was allotted two mu of land, and we were allowed to clear a bit of extra wasteland.

"Now that you’re back, we have to inform the clan and the village, get your household registration re-established, and claim your land. Since we have to go through all those procedures anyway, we might as well take care of everything at once. It’s a good chance for you to establish your own separate household and save on some deed taxes in the future."

"But we just got back," Gu Lejia said, his expression souring. The initial joy of his family reunion was instantly extinguished, as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head.

Xie Ruyi continued, "The timing is perfect. Not only can you re-establish your household registration, but you can also claim a new plot of land in the village to build a house. That’s a lot better than being squeezed into these few rooms with us."

Song Xiuyang, however, looked pleased. It took great effort for her to school her features back into a neutral expression. "Mother-in-law, Gu Lejia and I have nothing right now. How can we start a separate household? How are we supposed to survive?"

Xie Ruyi snorted. "How will you survive? We had nothing when we first arrived here, didn’t we? You can always make a living with your own two hands."

"Besides, Gu Lejia gave you a betrothal gift of twenty taels of silver. Did you show up empty-handed?"

Whenever Xie Ruyi thought about her son spending so much silver on a widow, she couldn’t suppress her indignation.

She secretly blamed Ancient Wen Heng for lending him the silver. If they had only written to her and let her make the decision, she wouldn’t be in such a passive position now.

"Mother, why are you doing this? Is it all because I made my own decision to marry Xiuxiang?"