Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 92 - 0 Lu Family’s Minor Moves

Gu Yumei was truly frightened this time, hiding in her room and crying.

Mrs. Chen stayed with her in the room, hopping mad and cursing He Sanlai and his gang, then turned her anger on Gu Yumei: "Just a few days ago you were laughing at Sister Xiu for practicing self-defense moves, saying it looked ugly for a young lady to brandish a knife around! Ugly, what’s ugly? Her practice could save lives, and tomorrow you’ll go to Sister Xiu’s place and train with her."

"Wu wu~" Gu Yumei simply cried.

Mrs. Chen was so annoyed by the crying that, once Gu Dafu and Gu Dagui returned home, she ran off to the Luo Family to tell Aunt Tian’s family to move quickly, to the house in front of theirs for protection, so that the village ruffians wouldn’t come loitering by their courtyard walls first whenever they caused trouble at the end of the village.

Uncle Tian and Aunt Tian’s family, rushed by Mrs. Chen, packed up on that very day and moved into the newly bought mud-brick house, settling in right above the brothers Gu Dafu and Gu Dagui’s home.

That night, Third Grandpa worried something might happen and called a few men from different families to discuss setting up a night watch.

Gu Dafu agreed most heartily, immediately saying, "Tonight, our family will start the night watch. Da Gui will take the first half, and I’ll take the second." By taking turns half a night each, it wouldn’t disrupt the next day’s work.

The rest of the men had no objections and went on to arrange the rest of the night watch rotation.

After they had settled the night watch details, Gu Jinli seized the opportunity to speak about He Dacai and the other troublemakers: "There must be someone behind them, someone directing them to cause us trouble. Otherwise, those few ruffians wouldn’t dare to be so brazen. We should investigate and see who is actually behind them?"

Elder Qin nodded: "Indeed, we should investigate them. Ordinary thugs wouldn’t dare to be so brazen in the village. The village values its reputation and wouldn’t let a few thugs ruin it. However, He Dacai and He Sanlai obviously aren’t afraid of this, and even Village Chief He can’t control them. Someone with more power than Village Chief He must be backing them."

"It’s the Lu Family," said Gu Jinli.

Besides the village chief’s house, the Lu Family wielded the most power in the village. The Lu Family had a daughter who became a concubine to the County Magistrate, and the villagers were all afraid of them. It would be too easy for them to buy off a few thugs to do their bidding.

"But why would the Lu Family want to cause us trouble? We haven’t offended them at all," Gu Dafu was puzzled.

Elder Qin said, "I don’t know, but the possibility that the Lu Family is causing us trouble is quite high. It could also be that Village Chief He wants to knock us down a peg. We’ll only know after we investigate."

Elder Qin looked at Qin San Lang and said to everyone, "You don’t need to worry about this matter; let San Lang handle the investigation. He’s good with his hands and knows his way around these things."

During their flight from famine, whenever they reached a new place, it was Qin San Lang who went to scout out information. The families were already well aware of his capabilities, so they entrusted this matter to him.

Qin San Lang kept an eye on He Dacai, He Sanlai, and their gang of hooligans for over ten days but discovered nothing.

Neither the Lu Family nor the He family had any contact with He Dacai’s group, and after being beaten up badly, they had quieted down considerably, staying put at home.

During this period, apart from being extra cautious around the villagers, the families continued with their tofu business, trying to make as much money as possible by setting up their stall every day.

Despite the weather being so cold that it made people’s teeth chatter, their business was doing well, with a steady clientele. Many families from the town would come to their stall every day to buy a portion of Fried Five-Spice Tofu and golden bean pancakes.

The bean curd was sold out, and the seasoning spices also did very well. Families in the town, as well as food stalls and shops, would all buy their seasoning spices to cook with. Their stall could earn three to six taels of silver a day, a thriving business.

Gu Jinli was still preoccupied with Gu Jin’an’s studies, and during the time they had stalls set up in town, he ran to Xuanhu Fang with Third Grandpa to ask Doctor Wu where there was a good private school in Qingfu Town.

Doctor Wu pondered a bit, then asked them, "Are you studying just to learn to read, or to pursue an official position?"

Third Grandpa said, "To pursue an official position. Our few families are outsiders, with no one to rely on. We must raise a scholar among us. Only by attaining official positions can our families avoid being bullied."

Doctor Wu said, "If it’s for pursuing official positions, then go to Shang Family Village and look for Scholar Shang. Don’t just see him as a mere scholar, but he’s quite capable, very proficient in the Four Books and Five Classics, essays, and treatises."

Third Grandpa listened with surprise, but Doctor Wu added, "However, Scholar Shang is a man of peculiar temperament and, over the years, has only taught a few of the Shang Family’s sons and nephews, not a single outsider. Furthermore, his ancestors were landlords, and his family owns some property. They’re not short of silver coins and won’t take students for the tuition fee."

"What can we do then?" Third Grandpa became anxious, "How can we get Scholar Shang to take in our Brother An?"

Doctor Wu handed him a visiting card from Xuanhu Fang and said, "I’ve treated Scholar Shang’s family a few times; we are acquainted. Take this card from Xuanhu Fang along with Brother An to visit him in the Shang Family Village and see how it goes."

Doctor Wu also reminded them, "Scholar Shang despises those who aren’t sincere. You have to be clear about why you want the child to study and not hide anything."

Third Grandpa took the card and thanked Doctor Wu, "Thank you, Doctor Wu, you’ve helped us a great favor again."

Doctor Wu stroked his white beard and laughed, "What’s to thank for? We’ve eaten quite a bit of your bean curd and bean cakes. It’s just a little favor, not worth your thanks."

The Gu Family’s Fried Five-Spice Tofu and golden bean pancakes were very tasty. The folks at Xuanhu Fang would miss them if they didn’t have any for a day, and the Gu Family was good at managing relationships. They would deliver a few portions to them every day as an implicit fee for storing tables and chairs.

After getting the card from Xuanhu Fang, Gu Jinli and Third Grandpa bid farewell and returned to their stall.

It was now noon, a busy time for the stall. Many families in the town were coming out to buy Fried Five-Spice Tofu and bean cakes.

"Here you go, your three portions of Fried Five-Spice Tofu, six golden bean pancakes, and two bags of seasoning spices. Make sure to take them," Father Luo handed the packaged goods to the customer.

It wasn’t a festival today, so there were not as many customers as on Lantern Festival. They reassigned staff and split them into two groups. They would rotate to run the stall in turns.

Father Luo and Ms. Chu as one couple, Uncle Tian and Aunt Tian as another couple were one group; Gu Dagui and Mrs. Chen as one couple, and Gu Damu and Ms. Yan as another couple made up the second group.

As for Third Grandpa, he came every day, responsible for handling the money, while Gu Jinli came occasionally and no longer needed to accompany them to run the stall every day.

After rushing through the midday rush, they could finally take a breather.

In the afternoon, just before closing the stall, two customers arrived. One looked shrewd, wearing a very nice new blue long coat; the other had a wealthy appearance, with a pair of gray cloth sleeve covers on his clothes.

Once they sat down, the shrewd-looking man said, "Give us one serving of Fried Five-Spice Tofu, two golden bean pancakes, and one bag of seasoning spices."