Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 145: Looking for Someone

Gu Dashan began, "Your Aunt Daya and your father were twins, and she is also thirty-seven this year. She resembles your grandmother, with a long oval face, thin build, slightly pointed chin, phoenix eyes, and there’s a sesame-sized, brownish-red mole on the left eyebrow..."

When they were young, the villagers used to say that people with such moles were blessed, but Daya’s life was tough. She lost her mother when she was young and was abused by her own father and stepmother, eventually eloping to get married.

Thinking of Gu Daya, Gu Dashan couldn’t help but wipe away his tears.

He dried his tears and continued to describe Gu Daya in great detail, even mentioning the scar on her right forehead and how her right earlobe was torn into two.

Listening to Gu Dashan’s descriptions, Gu Jinli was furious, knowing that those injuries must have been caused by Granny Gu’s violent beatings; even her earlobe was torn—how ruthless the beating must have been!

Gu Jinli cursed again that Granny Gu and her family should all die on the road fleeing from famine.

By the time Gu Jinli finished drawing Gu Daya’s portrait, it had already turned dark. She lit a lamp and touched up the portrait several times. Finally satisfied, she showed the finished portrait to Gu Dashan.

Gu Dashan, seeing the portrait, excitedly exclaimed, "It looks like her, like your Aunt Daya, just aged quite a bit... With so many years passing by, Daya must look like this now."

It had been almost six months since they last saw Gu Daya before she eloped with a peddler, and now nearly twenty years had passed without a glimpse of her.

Gu Jinli smiled, "My aunt isn’t a monster, she naturally ages. Don’t worry, dad, we will definitely find Aunt Daya."

Gu Dashan laughed, "Our little Xiao Yu is lucky; if she says we’ll find her, we definitely will."

This daughter was their family’s blessing; without her, they would have already died on the road from famine.

"Dad, Third Grandpa, Third Grandma, it’s time to eat." Gu Jinxiu brought the food to the main room and cheerfully called out for Gu Dashan and the others who were still talking. ƒreewebɳovel.com

"Coming." Gu Jinli and Gu Jin’an cleared the table, packed away the two portraits, and moved the table back to the main room where the family sat down to eat together.

During the meal, they discussed how much money to offer for finding someone.

Third Grandpa and Third Grandma wanted to use all their savings to find people, but Gu Jinli disagreed, "Money moves people’s hearts. Offering too much might lead to foul play, and we would be the ones at a loss."

After some thought, she said, "We will give twenty copper coins for reliable information, and two taels of silver for bringing the person safely to us."

Third Grandma frowned, "Why such a big difference? Why not have them take us to find the person? If we go along, we can meet them sooner."

Gu Jinli replied, "Some people have malicious intentions. If we promise to pay a large amount upon finding the person, and then follow them, there’s a high risk of being knocked out and robbed. It’s safer to have them bring the person to us first and then give them two taels of silver."

What she meant was that the person had to be brought to them unharmed, or else they could forget about the reward money.

Third Grandpa agreed, "This method is good. Bringing the person here could reduce some risks and thwart the bad intentions of others."

After dinner, Gu Jinli took out two portraits and worked on them with Gu Jin’an.

Gu Jin’an was smart. After Gu Jinli taught him the techniques of sketching in detail, he learned quickly during the day and was able to copy the portraits independently by evening.

The siblings each copied three portraits before they rested.

The next morning, Gu Jin’an took out the portraits of his aunts, Gu Fuya and Gu Daya, and showed them to Liang Zhuzi, He Dacang, and He Wanli who came to buy tofu. He asked them for help in finding the people and also mentioned the reward.

Liang Zhuzi and the others, having earned money from the Gu Family’s tofu, quickly responded: "What does money matter? Since these two sisters are part of the Gu Family, it is only natural for us to help look for them."

After each of them took a portrait, they promised, "Gu Family brothers, don’t worry. We will only show the portraits to others but will not give them away. Once we find the people, we will return the portraits intact."

Although the portraits were of middle-aged women, being females, it was inappropriate to simply hand their portraits out to others, and they must be taken back.

Gu Dashan smiled and nodded, expressing his gratitude: "Thank you for the trouble."

He Wanli waved his hand and said, "What trouble? The Gu Family brothers provided us with a tofu business. Helping to find someone is the least we could do."

After Liang Zhuzi and the others took their tofu and paid for it, they left with their loads.

After they were gone, the Gu Family members finished their breakfast. Third Grandpa and Gu Dashan prepared a gift, took the portraits, and accompanied Gu Jin’an to Shang Family Village to ask Scholar Shang for help in finding the persons.

Upon seeing the two portraits, Scholar Shang’s eyes lit up, surprised he asked, "Who painted these?" The portraits were extremely clear, with facial features and expressions far surpassing those of current character portraits. If such painting skills could be popularized, they would be of great help in capturing fugitives.

Scholar Shang, being the son-in-law of County Captain Jiang who was in charge of the public security of Tianfu County, had seen the wanted criminal portraits issued by the county government.

Those portraits... frankly speaking, were far from resembling the real people; it was impossible to identify the real persons based on those portraits, thus many criminals could not be apprehended.

If the painters at the county government had such painting skills, those fugitives wouldn’t be able to hide anymore.

Gu Jin’an stated, "Xiao Yu painted them."

He added, "I can paint, too."

This was something Xiao Yu had told him while they were copying the portraits last night.

Xiao Yu mentioned that Scholar Shang would definitely be interested in this painting technique. But being a girl, there were many things she couldn’t do conveniently, such as teaching painting in the government office or entering jails to listen to criminals describe fugitives, which is why she asked him to handle it.

If he could use this painting skill to teach painters in the county government, it would greatly benefit his examination for official position.

During the former dynasty, the trend of the "Madman" was prevalent among scholars who highly valued reputation. In Great Chu, although this trend had weakened significantly, scholars still valued reputation.

This innovative painting technique could help Gu Jin’an build his reputation, which would be highly beneficial.

Gu Jin’an was not a pedantic scholar; instead, he was practical and understood the importance of gaining a good reputation and acquiring an official position.

Only with a good reputation could he prevent being supplanted during exams, successfully pass the exams to earn an official position, and protect his family. Thus, he did not refuse and repeated what Gu Jinli had advised him to say.

Scholar Shang knew it was Gu Jinli’s handiwork, and he wasn’t too surprised, as that little girl had already surprised him many times over.

However, he didn’t inquire how Gu Jinli learned this painting skill. Instead, he said to Gu Jin’an, "This painting technique can be very useful for the county government in capturing fugitives. If you are willing, you can go teach the painters there."

He added, "This will be very beneficial for you; not only can it promote your name, but you can also receive a substantial reward silver."