Chapter 185: Chapter 19: Visitors from Mrs. Lv’s Family
By the time the rented ox cart arrived at Shangling Village, it was already late afternoon.
Sun Xian and Ye Zhiqiu had already gotten off the cart in town, preparing to catch another cart back. Gu Chengyu got off the ox cart with a large bundle and packages he brought from the county, and handed a toy from the bundle to Gu Wanhua.
Gu Chengyu and Mr. Gu entered the courtyard. Gu Chengyu intended to call out and tell his mother that they were back! But before he could shout, he heard a commotion coming from the inner courtyard of the Gu Family.
Gu Chengyu let Mr. Gu go in first, then he hurriedly placed the things he was holding into a small compartment in the study and, without arranging anything, rushed to the backyard.
"Hmph! Tao’er! After all, we are your elder brother and sister-in-law, aren’t we? How could you be so heartless? You got married these years and didn’t bother to come back and see your parents. Your parents are still alive! Now that they are getting old, they miss you terribly and wanted to come see you. We, as your brother and sister-in-law, brought the old couple over. Who would’ve thought that when your maternal family came, you wouldn’t even offer us a drink of water?"
A sharp female voice seemed to pierce through the sky, speaking indignantly as if she had suffered great injustice.
This loud shouting had already attracted the attention of the Zhang family’s daughter-in-law from next door. She was standing outside the Gu Family’s gate peeking in. The Gu Family was now quite well-off, and their house was in the second courtyard, so she felt embarrassed to walk into someone else’s courtyard casually.
"Back then, what did you say? You called us all paupers and said we would never set foot in your house again, and now you’re blaming me. What you said, go and ask in Dayang Village; who hasn’t heard it? You could pull in anyone from the street, and they could testify for me. Do you think I don’t want to see my parents? But isn’t it because you wouldn’t allow me to go back and see them?"
In the first two years after Mrs. Lv got married, she would go back during the holidays and festivals. But her brother and sister-in-law despised her family for being poor, so they were always cold and sarcastic. Her parents, having to live in their son’s hands, felt sorry for their daughter but were afraid of upsetting their son, so they often advised her to endure. Mrs. Lv was always proud, and how could she bear this treatment? So, they hadn’t communicated for many years.
Gu Chengyu was a bit puzzled. Given that they hadn’t been in contact for years, naturally, there was no trouble between them. So why did they come today?
"Mother! Father and I are back!" Gu Chengyu saw Mrs. Lv was a bit emotional, so he spoke up to calm her.
"Is it Xiao Bao that’s back? Come over and let your mother see if you’ve become thin?" Indeed, as soon as Mrs. Lv saw that her younger son had returned, she immediately smiled. It had been ten days, and she had really missed him.
"Is my little brother back?" Gu Wan, who had been standing by her mother’s side, also happily went forward to hold Gu Chengyu seeing her little brother had returned.
"Second Sister! Third Sister-in-law! Where’s Third Brother, Eldest Brother, and Second Brother?" Gu Chengyu noticed only a few women standing in the courtyard and curiously asked. No need to ask about the Fourth Brother, naturally, he’s at Doctor Li’s house.
"They went to the fields and haven’t returned yet! I’ll go fetch them!" This sudden visit of the mother-in-law’s family still had her confused; she hadn’t figured out what was going on. However, the in-law family didn’t seem to be a good sort! The situation appeared a bit off!
"Oh! Is this my little nephew? He’s grown so well! Looks like little auntie! Poor child, grown so big and still doesn’t recognize your grandpa and grandma. I am your aunt! And this is your uncle! I’ve heard you are a scholar? Where did you come back from?"
Gu Chengyu turned his head to look at the woman speaking and saw she was around forty, her hair not neatly combed, unlike his mother’s, who would wet her hair when doing it. She had double eyelids, and what might have been relatively large eyes were now covered in wrinkles, making them appear much smaller. Her skin was very rough, likely due to frequent exposure to the elements in the fields. She wore a dark blue cross-collared coarse fabric outer garment, patched in two places; she was a typical peasant housewife.
At present, she was holding onto a tall, thin man beside her. The man appeared older than Mr. Gu, though it was hard to tell if he was actually older than Mr. Gu because Mr. Gu had been eating well these past two years and looked younger.
The so-called uncle had a "Shen" shaped face, prominent cheekbones, and a pointy, bony chin. Perhaps not eating well, he was very thin.
Gu Chengyu gave them a look but said nothing. They hadn’t been kind to his mother. Back then, it was this uncle who sold his mother to work as a servant for a wealthy family.
In the corner of the inner courtyard stood an elderly couple, their hair fully turned to silver frost, wearing clothes even more worn than the earlier woman’s. Despite the chill of spring winds, the elderly were still wearing single garments, with only a slightly thicker coat draped over.
At this moment, the two elderly were looking up at him, the old woman’s eyes were brimming with tears, their eyes weathered and full of hardship made Gu Chengyu feel some pity in his heart. His mother had mentioned before about her maternal home; her brother and sister-in-law were intolerant, but her grandfather and grandmother had still been good to his mother, though lacking in initiative. Being traditionally minded, they relied on this son for support, daring to be angry but not to speak out.
The woman felt embarrassed as Gu Chengyu did not address her.
Gu Chengyu understood clearly — they saw his family doing well and came knocking, probably hoping to renew kinship. As for why they hadn’t come these past years, it was likely Sun Craftsman hadn’t shared much with them. The Lv Family probably still thought Mrs. Lv was not doing well.
The Gu clan had several members in Shangling Village, and even if word got out that the Gu Family was doing well, those unfamiliar would likely be unclear about which Gu Family it was.
"What kind of aunt are you? Such thick skin, coming around to randomly claim kinship!" Mrs. Lv held deep resentment toward this sister-in-law. Before she was sold, she hadn’t been spared from being bullied by this sister-in-law even in her maternal home. Even being sold was caused by the sister-in-law’s instigation.
Mrs. Lv retorted sharply while looking toward the corner of the courtyard at her parents. So many years they hadn’t met, she hadn’t anticipated they had aged so much. Their silver-frosted hair pricked at her eyes, and the thin clothing left her feeling further heartache. She hadn’t bothered returning to her maternal home for all these years and hadn’t expected her brother and sister-in-law to treat her parents this way!
Back then, her parents’ weakness had left her heart filled with resentment toward them. But now, seeing her parents so old and frail, even if there was resentment in her heart, it had mostly dissipated!
Still, she had no intentions of forgiving this brother and sister-in-law.
"Hmph! Brother-in-law! My sister may be ignorant, but don’t you, as a man, understand? I’m your elder brother-in-law! Bones are connected to tendons, can they just be unrecognized as you wish? Besides, you don’t even care for the elderly couple, only enjoying your own blessings, can that be justified?"
Lv Yang looked around the Gu Family’s courtyard while speaking, eyes glinting with desire.