Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 104 Ms. Jiang

Returning home, it was the beginning of the afternoon Shen hour.

The families were all busy. Gu Dafu, Gu Dalin, and Luo family father and son were grinding soybeans, carrying buckets of ground soy milk to Gu Dashan’s house, filtering it, then lifting the soy milk into Gu Dashan’s kitchen.

Gu Dashan, Gu Jin’an, and Mrs. Cui were at the stove boiling soy milk, adding gypsum to make tofu.

As for the teenagers from each family, all of them had gone out to chop and gather firewood. Everyone was hustling and bustling, with not a single person idling.

Third Grandma saw them returning and quickly came up to greet them, as usual, asking: "How was business today? No trouble, I hope?"

She had been worried these past few days that County Magistrate Zou would cause them trouble, remembering the Shopkeeper of Fugui Building who had previously wanted their recipe. She was quite anxious.

"No trouble, business was very good, nobody came to stir up any issues." Third Grandpa set down his load, took the silver coin that Qin San Lang was holding and told them: "You all go back to your own tasks for now, come over later in the evening to divide up the money."

None of their families were wealthy, and there were many places they needed money for, so they divided the silver coins daily for clear accounting, making everyone happy.

"Eh, Third Uncle Gu, then we’ll head back first." Gu Damu spoke and left first with Ms. Yan, and after Qin San Lang left the things purchased by the Gu family, he also went back to the Qin family.

Gu Jinxiu, hearing the commotion, knew they had returned, put down the half-finished shoe she was working on, and brought over some hot soy milk and bean cakes for them: "Third Grandpa, Xiao Yu, come eat something to fill your stomachs."

After eating a bean cake and drinking a bowl of hot soy milk, Gu Jinli finally felt comfortable.

After the meal, Gu Jinli went to the kitchen to take over tofu making from Gu Dashan and Gu Jin’an, while they, together with Third Grandpa, called out to the men from the other families to head to the Back Village to clear their families’ abandoned fields.

The fields were overgrown with weeds, brambles, and rocks, and even had wooden stakes; all of these had to be cleared out. Then, the soil needed to be plowed several times before it could be used for planting crops. Because their families were too busy, they could only rush to work in the fields after finishing their market stalls.

Only when it turned dark did they return home, carrying hoes and picking baskets.

After a whole day of hard work, everyone was exceedingly tired, but there was hope for the future, and thus the fatigue felt worthwhile.

And for dinner tonight, there was no boiled soybeans, but fragrant bean dregs cakes and golden-fried tofu, along with the sweet and crispy soybean sprouts, as well as the stomach-warming sweet potato old rice porridge. Everyone enjoyed the meal so much that the fatigue of the day vanished after dinner.

After dinner, they still had to divide up the money, which really lifted everyone’s spirits.

"Uncle, Dashan, we’re here." Gu Dafu and the others called out from the outside courtyard. After dinner, they came to Gu Dashan’s house to gather and divide the money.

Gu Dashan opened the door for them, and once everyone was in the main hall, Third Grandpa took out all the money they earned today, allowing the families to count it. After counting thrice and verifying the amount was correct, they began to divide it.

"We actually earned seven taels and four hundred cents today, the business is better than before." This sum was pure profit, even after deducting one tael set aside for initial expenses. Ms. Chu was originally worried that after the issues with the Lu family, their business would suffer. Unexpectedly, their business had improved even more.

Mrs. Chen proudly said: "Sister-in-law Luo, why are you surprised? You didn’t see the crowd buying tofu today; everyone was desperate to buy, with many who couldn’t get it reserving for later. Earning seven taels of silver today is actually on the low side, tomorrow we could easily make eight taels."

Mrs. Chen grew more and more ecstatic as she spoke, and praised Gu Jinli lavishly. In the end, she added regretfully: "If I had a daughter like Xiao Yu, I wouldn’t have a care in the world." She just needed to lie down at home, and this daughter would earn her countless money.

Gu Jinli humbly declined the praise; she couldn’t handle a mother like Mrs. Chen, as she’d end up exchanging knife slashes with her. Mrs. Cui’s gentler and less troublesome demeanor suited her much better.

After counting the money, they began to divide it. Gu Jinli’s house received two taels and nine hundred sixty cents, while the remaining six families each got seven hundred forty cents.

Everyone who received the money had smiles on their faces, and after discussing the matters of setting up their stalls and hosting Scholar Shang tomorrow, they each returned home.

Before dawn the next day, several families got up early to make tofu, set up their stalls, and chop wood. Only after busying themselves for two hours did they take a break to have breakfast.

After breakfast, Gu Jinli’s family began cleaning their house and courtyard, preparing to host Scholar Shang.

At the beginning of the hour of si, two mule carts with green canopies drove into Da Feng Village and soon arrived at the old house at the end of the village, stopping in front of the earthen gate of Gu Jinli’s house.

The driver of the first mule cart was Ah Jiu, and in front of the cart sat a maid of similar age to him.

The maid was named Taozi. She got off the cart first and placed a stool on the ground, then respectfully lifted the green cart curtain and said to the person inside, "Old Master and Madam, we have arrived at the Gu Family."

Scholar Shang got out of the cart, first lifting his daughter Yuanyuan down, then helping Ms. Jiang off the cart.

Ms. Jiang looked up at the earthen yard in front of her and asked Scholar Shang beside her, "Is this the place?"

The courtyard wall of this earthen yard had collapsed a little, and the five yellow mud and grass huts were also low and dilapidated, it was surprising that people still lived in such old and worn-down houses.

Scholar Shang nodded: "Yes, this is the home of our little benefactor."

Upon hearing this, Ms. Jiang felt a surge of emotion. The little benefactor’s home seemed very poor, but she didn’t look down upon it at all. Their Jiang family were also farmers digging in the fields during her grandfather’s time and were just as poor. It was only after her father joined the army that their family gained wealth, allowing her to live the life of an official’s daughter.

Ms. Jiang glanced at the second mule cart and spoke softly to Scholar Shang, "Is the gift we brought too modest? Should we add another silver note?"

Scholar Shang shook his head: "We mustn’t. The Gu family, although refugees from famine, are not beggars. If we regard them as benefactors and wish to foster relations with them, we cannot act like this."

Giving a silver note is no different from buying grace.

Even though it’s true that grace can sometimes be bought with silver coin, Scholar Shang did not want to do so.

The Qin, Gu, and Luo households from Luotian were people of integrity, not like ordinary farmers who simply endure bullying. Instead, they were willing to report to the authorities and were not the kind of families that leveraged grace for favors. Therefore, he wished to hold them in high esteem and interact with them as old acquaintances.

Listening to his words, Ms. Jiang did not insist any further, and together with Scholar Shang, she walked toward the Gu family’s courtyard. Before reaching the gate, Gu Jinli and his family came out to greet them.

"This is the little benefactor’s great-uncle Third Uncle Gu, this is the little benefactor’s father Brother Gu..." Scholar Shang introduced each member of the family to Ms. Jiang and specifically mentioned, "This young lady is the little benefactor who saved our Yuanyuan."

Although the Lantern Festival night was chaotic, Ms. Jiang faintly remembered Gu Jinli’s appearance. After looking him over, she smiled and said, "Indeed, he is our family’s little benefactor."

Xiao Yu politely greeted Scholar Shang and his wife with a smile, an etiquette taught by Mrs. Cui, then turned to Yuanyuan in Scholar Shang’s arms and said with a smile, "And you must be Yuanyuan."

Yuanyuan was also observing Gu Jinli, and seeing her speak, she was not shy but nodded firmly and said in a soft, tender voice, "Yes, Yuanyuan is Yuanyuan."

The child’s spirited response made everyone laugh, breaking the ice between the two families and bringing about a greater sense of harmony.

"Don’t just stand there, come in and let’s talk," Third Grandma ushered the three from the Shang family into the house.

Although the old house of the Gu family was dilapidated, it was clean inside. There was no sign of the old house’s dirt or moss, nor any unusual smell, just a faint scent of mugwort.

Gu Jinli would fumigate the house with mugwort every three days, thoroughly eliminating any musty smell and killing many small insects and bacteria.