Transmigration: Space-Aided Rise to Power and Prosperity-Chapter 113 - 38: Your Gu Family has lots of silver!

"Dad! The land with the red contract is more secure, this Silver is worth spending! By the way, did the village chief approve the homestead?" Gu Chengyu actually felt that the sixteen Silver tax was quite heavy. No wonder it wasn’t easy to buy just two mu of land in ancient times; more people would rather choose the white contract. However, choosing a white contract for large transactions is quite insecure, since this deal is private and won’t be archived by the government.

"I had your second brother take a box of Jujube Cake and a strip of meat to the village chief’s house at noon. Finally, this matter was settled. Seeing these things, the village chief didn’t mention the five Silver anymore. Hmph! He, being the village chief, doesn’t know how many benefits he’s gotten inside and out. Your uncle lost out by not being as willing to give gifts as he was. Before becoming the village chief, he gave gifts to others, and after he became the village chief, others gave him gifts. Your uncle just isn’t as good at maneuvering as he is!" Mr. Gu sighed, remembering the matter of electing the village chief, feeling regretful for his older brother. If his brother had become the village chief, he, as a younger brother, would have benefited a bit.

After expressing his regrets about Uncle Gu’s past, Mr. Gu suddenly remembered today is the county examination. Uncle Gu and Gu Wanhua had packed their things yesterday and gone to the county to stay at an inn.

"Tomorrow is the county examination; I wonder if Hua can pass. If he really can, our family will have another Scholar, and by then, our Gu Clan could hold its head high for a while."

"Dad! Hua is confident; otherwise, the teacher wouldn’t have agreed to let him take the exam. Let’s just wait for the good news!" Even though he said this, Gu Chengyu still decided to go to the private school tomorrow to inquire about it, as he had forgotten to ask about the county examination these past two days.

"Dad! The honeysuckle should be ready for picking, right? Let’s go pick it today so we can earn some Silver soon."

"After dinner, we’ll go pick it. We’ve found craftsmen to build the house, but I’m afraid we can’t afford to build that many tiled houses. We’ll first build the main house and two rooms in the east and west wing, and then build a study room for you. We’ll leave the rest for later!" Mr. Gu planned to build these rooms first and then add more as the children grew older.

"Dad! I’ve got a plan for building the house. Let’s get up early tomorrow; I want to go to the town’s restaurant to sell a dish recipe." Gu Chengyu shared his plan with Mr. Gu.

"What? A dish recipe? Is it that Immortal who told you again?" Mr. Gu looked around, seeing no one, and lowered his voice to ask.

"Dad! It’s still uncertain if it’ll work! Don’t tell the family first; let’s see what happens tomorrow. I don’t even know if the restaurants will want the recipe, or what kind of dishes they already have." Gu Chengyu was a bit unsure about selling the recipe. He ate plain food at home every day; meat was rare, and even when they had it, it was boiled with cabbage. He didn’t know what the dishes at the Dayan Dynasty restaurants were like.

"I understand, I won’t tell the family for the time being."

The two of them continued talking all the way back home.

As the ox cart stopped at the entrance of the Gu family’s yard, Gu Chengyu had just gotten off when he saw Mrs. Huang from the Zhang family next door peeking out through a crack in the gate. Seeing Gu Chengyu looking over, she unabashedly widened the door and came out of the yard.

"Oh! It’s Xiao Bao! Did you just come back from studying in town? Tsk tsk! One can tell you’re a scholar at a glance! Look at those clothes! Your Gu Family is really flourishing! I heard today you bought land in Xialing Village? As much as fifty-five mu!" Mrs. Huang approached Gu Chengyu, clucking her tongue in surprise.

"Uncle Gu, when I asked you the other day, you said selling ginseng only brought in dozens of Silver. How could that buy fifty-five mu of land? I guess that ginseng was worth a lot of Silver, huh?" Mrs. Huang squinted at Mr. Gu, questioning him while internally certain that the ginseng the Gu Family dug up was worth more than just a few dozen Silver; otherwise, where did the land-buying money come from?

Mr. Gu frowned at Mrs. Huang’s words. In the afternoon, when he was measuring the land with the government officials, some people from Xialing Village came to watch out of curiosity. Knowing Mr. Qin’s family wanted to sell the land, they realized since someone came to measure it, it must have been sold. They wanted to see who was able to buy so much land at once. This news surely came from people in Xialing Village. But eventually, when they went to cultivate the land, the villagers would find out sooner or later; it couldn’t be hidden.

People from Xialing Village recognized him as Wang Quanshou’s father-in-law from Xialing Village.

This was like stirring up a hornet’s nest. Everyone knew what kind of family Wang Quanshou’s wife’s family was, and now they saw the Gu Family buying so much land; they wondered where the wealth came from! Some well-informed people already heard the Gu Family recently dug up ginseng on the mountain and sold it for some Silver. But who knew it would bring so much Silver?

The news spread around Xialing Village and quickly extended to the nearby villages. This was something Gu Chengyu realized as soon as he got home, even Mrs. Lv, who rarely stepped out, knew about it, and there were even more outrageous rumors to come!

"Zhang family’s nephew’s wife, where did you hear this? Actually, we didn’t sell much; we just bought land with what we got." Mr. Gu wasn’t keen to chat with her, but she was blocking the gate, and their ox cart couldn’t get through!

"Oh, Uncle Gu, don’t fool me. The surrounding villages all know! The Gu Family has a lot of Silver! Didn’t I also hear from the Li Zheng family that you bought the yard over there to build a house?" Mrs. Huang pursed her lips, knowing the word was out, and there was no fooling anyone. Who would come to rob their Silver? 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Mr. Gu was at a loss for words at what she said, so he simply stopped speaking with her. He moved the ox cart forward, ignoring Mrs. Huang still partially blocking the gate. She, seeing the ox cart coming, moved aside to avoid being hit.

Gu Chengyu helplessly patted his book bag. With all the noise, he’d have to be careful about their family’s safety, making sure no thieves sneaked in.

When Gu Chengyu entered the main room, he overheard his mother talking with his third and fourth brother, and Gu Wan.

"These days, you better not go out. There’re rumors everywhere about us having Silver. If you go out and someone asks about it, you might slip up. So just stay in the house obediently and don’t go anywhere!" Mrs. Lv was worried the children might not keep the secret and might boast under questioning.

"Mom! Everyone already knows, even if we don’t say anything. Why can’t we go out?" Gu Wan was a bit displeased, having just run into Lin Liuliu from the Li Zheng family today. Normally looking down her nose at others, Liuliu actually approached her with a smile. But Gu Wan ignored her; clearly, she was trying to cozy up to her family because they had Silver, but Gu Wan wasn’t that naive.