MTLNOVEL 32: The Village Chief's Home
After finishing breakfast at home, Gu Yu rejected his brother-in-law’s request to accompany him, telling him to stay home and take care of the injured Gu Mengyao instead.
Although Gu Mengyao had only injured her arm, if there was any heavy work to be done, Gu Qingheng could be put to use.
Seeing nothing inappropriate about making an eight-year-old child do heavy work, Gu Yu then sauntered out of the house and headed toward the village chief’s home.
It wasn’t that Gu Yu deliberately swaggered like some good-for-nothing… but his body was truly too weak. When he walked, he swayed as if being blown by a strong wind, making him think that he would need to find time to exercise in the future.
With such a weak body, if not for his spatial storage ability, he wouldn’t even be able to run away if someone cornered and beat him up.
Thinking about his future exercise plans, Gu Yu walked toward what appeared to be the most impressive house in the village. Upon seeing the village chief’s house with its gray brick tiles, Gu Yu couldn’t help but click his tongue a couple of times.
Yang Hong, the village chief of Yang Village, was the village’s pride. After passing the imperial examination and becoming a Xiucai a few years ago, he had brought great honor to the people of Yang Village when they went outside.
After all, other villages couldn’t boast of even a single Tongsheng scholar, let alone a Xiucai.
Because of Yang Hong, the Xiucai, Yang Village could be said to have gained much face. Many girls from other villages competed to marry into Yang Village because they heard that the living conditions were good and the village chief was wise, so life was supposedly sweet.
Gu Yu remained skeptical about this. Talk was always better than reality. If things were truly so good, then why was the house the Gu family lived in about to collapse? The village chief hadn’t said a word about it, and the villagers turned a blind eye.
Although the Gu family were outsiders, they had been living in the village for decades and shouldn’t be treated this way.
Gu Yu didn’t expect the village chief to take care of his family, but not even asking a single question? Probably even if the three of them froze to death in winter, it would only elicit a sigh from others before being completely forgotten in some corner.
So, Gu Yu had no good feelings toward the people of Yang Village.
Even if he might be condemning an entire village with one stroke, Gu Yu didn’t want to change his mind. Anyway, he maintained the idea that no one should interfere with others, and just live their own lives well.
After some thought, Gu Yu still bought a piece of pork from the butcher shop at the village entrance, about half a jin, and added a jar of homemade earthen wine bought from the general store, spending a total of only twenty-five copper coins, much cheaper than in town.
For this visit, Gu Yu was ultimately asking for a favor, so if he didn’t bring some gifts to the village chief’s house, even if he succeeded… he might be criticized later for not knowing how to handle things.
To reduce future troubles, the wine and meat Gu Yu brought this time were quite good. After all, village families were frugal with meat, so bringing meat over would satisfy their craving.
Despite the imposing appearance of the village chief’s house, in reality, his family lived frugally to support his studies. Their life wasn’t much different from other farming families in the village… Gu Yu believed that the meat he brought would be very welcome.
As for why Gu Yu was still so stingy as to buy only half a jin of meat after earning so much silver… well, money doesn’t grow on trees. Gu Yu’s heart ached just buying half a jin of meat for the village chief, thinking that if this land purchase failed, he would definitely take the meat back.
Face and reputation weren’t even in Gu Yu’s considerations. Anyway, his family was poor at this time, and no one should try to take advantage of them.
Besides, the Gu family had originally been so poor they almost had to starve, suddenly becoming generous would also attract envy… better to have fewer troubles. After all, Gu Yu just wanted to live quietly, not constantly worry about thieves coming to his house.
“Isn’t this Goudan? Why have you come to my house? And carrying so many things, this is too kind.”
“Village Chief, I’ve come to ask for your help with something.”
“What is it?”
When Gu Yu arrived at the village chief’s house, the village chief was practicing calligraphy on paper, his serious demeanor showing no concern for his physical fatigue.
The village chief was now forty-two years old, an age that in ancient times had already entered the ranks of the elderly, not to mention that the village chief’s grandson was already ten years old.
Yet he remained so diligent that many young people couldn’t compare.
When the village chief heard someone approaching and looked up to see Gu Yu, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes, wondering why Gu Yu had come to his place today.
Then, seeing Gu Yu holding wine and meat as gifts, clearly intending to ask for a favor, the village chief became even more curious.
The village chief had heard about how miserable the Gu family’s life was, but no matter how miserable they were, he couldn’t subsidize them with his own things, so he pretended not to know.
After all, the Gu family were outsiders, different from the Yang surname people in Yang Village. They didn’t have many connections in the village, so even if they died, they would just be buried somewhere and that would be the end of it.
As Yang Village developed to its current state, almost all families in the village had some relationship with each other. The saying “pull one hair and the whole body moves” applied here too.
However, not everyone in the village had the Yang surname. Because of the road connecting Lianchen Town to the capital, every year some outsiders would appear and settle in various villages.
But how did the Gu family, who had always lived so miserably, now have money to buy gifts?