Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside

Mrs. Ni's heart was already filled with contempt for Gu Dafu's family, and it inevitably showed on her face. Reverence was gone, leaving only perfunctory gestures. Glancing at the holiday gifts she was holding, she wished she could take out the valuable books, white paper, cloth, and Floral Carving Wine and more.

A family of paupers, unworthy of the generous holiday gifts from the Wan Family.

Mrs. Chen greeted them with a smile, saying to Wan Lifang, "Brother Fang has arrived. How come you've brought such lavish gifts? Don't stand there; please come inside and have a seat."

Disdainful, Mrs. Ni saw that Gu Dafu's house was in poor condition, and Brother Fang's face also turned sour, yet he still maintained a degree of respect and bowed to Mrs. Chen, saying, "Auntie, with the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, Brother Fang has brought some modest gifts for the family, and I hope you won't look down upon them."

He turned back towards Shuzi and Mrs. Ni, who were holding the holiday gifts, and said, "What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and present the gifts to Auntie."

"Yes." Shuzi handed the gifts to Mrs. Chen, specifically pointing out a jar of wine, "This is Floral Carving Wine from the Prefecture, our young master brought it especially for your father-in-law."

"Wow, Floral Carving Wine, now that's something special. We've never even heard of it in our Northwest," said Mrs. Chen with a chuckle, taking the basket from Shuzi and growing more pleased as she looked at the holiday gifts inside.

Mrs. Ni, watching Mrs. Chen eyeing the gifts, said in a tone neither cold nor warm, "The Floral Carving Wine is a fine thing from Jianghuai and Jiangnan. In such poor and cold places as the Northwest and northeast, you'd wish to drink it but could never find it."

After saying this, she placed the congratulatory gifts on the table and moved back to stand behind Wan Lifang.

Mrs. Chen knew Mrs. Ni looked down on her shabby house and felt contempt. Hearing her words, Mrs. Chen's eyes lifted to confront Mrs. Ni, and with a smile, she asked Brother Fang, "Brother Fang, who is this elder sister? From her tone, could she be a relative of your family?"

After hearing this, Mrs. Ni was filled with hatred towards Mrs. Chen. This refugee-turned-resident was no good sort; with such a question, wasn't she embarrassing her young master?

Out of respect for Wan Lifang's face, Mrs. Ni could only bend her knee to Mrs. Chen and said, "Auntie, you've misunderstood. I'm not a relative of the Wan Family, but a house slave of theirs."

Mrs. Chen laughed, "Oh, so it's just a house slave."

A house slave, daring to be impolite to the family's in-laws, is truly seeking death.

Mrs. Chen flicked a disdainful glance at Mrs. Ni and sat down, directing Brother Fang to the opposite chair, "Brother Fang, take a seat."

She then turned to the stunned Gu Defa and said, "What are you spacing out for? Hurry up to the new workshop and call your father and uncle back."

Blinking, Gu Defa eventually came to his senses and slowly left home, heading for the new workshop.

"Brother Fa, walk faster! The new workshop is far from here. With the way you're walking, when will you be able to call them back?" Mrs. Chen scolded Gu Defa and then sighed to Brother Fang, "Our workshop has moved; the new workshop is at the Lu Mansion, which is a bit far from our home. If it were still at the end of the village, your father-in-law and uncle could be back in the blink of an eye. Now you might have to wait about 30 minutes."

Brother Fang's eyes lit up, and he asked eagerly, "Auntie, was the Lu Mansion bought by several families together?"

Mrs. Chen nodded, seeming indifferent but actually quite pleased with herself. "Hmm, we bought it a while ago and moved in at the end of July. The Lu Mansion is spacious, so moving our tofu workshop and spice workshop there has made work much smoother. The old workshop was so cramped, there was no room to store more tofu when production increased."

Wan Lifang was very excited to hear this. Having heard that the Lu Mansion was very large, to think it was purchased not for living but as a workshop, how wealthy must these Qin, Gu, Luo, and Tian families be?

Wan Lifang became a little restless and said to Mrs. Chen, "Auntie, since my father-in-law is busy in the workshop, it wouldn't be proper for me to just sit here. How about I go to the workshop to meet father-in-law? What do you think?"

Mrs. Chen found herself in a difficult position. Xiao Yu had said that outsiders were not allowed to enter the workshop at will, yet she was aggravated that the Wan Family's servants looked down on her household. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Alright, you can go to meet him. But just wait at the entrance. There are many workers inside, and as a scholar, it wouldn't be suitable for you to enter. You might get bumped by the crude workers."

"Ei, Auntie, don't worry. Brother Fang will wait outside for father-in-law," said Wan Lifang as he stood up immediately and left with Shuzi.

Today, Mrs. Ni had come to pick up the embroidery from Gu Dafu's family. Seeing the situation, she followed to the new workshop.

Mrs. Chen stood with her hands on her hips, spitting contemptuously as she watched Mrs. Ni hurry away, "A mere servant, what are you worth? You dare look down on my family? Wait until you see the Lu Mansion, then let's see if you still dare to be so arrogant!"

After saying that, she turned and approached the table, flipping through the festival gifts brought by the Wan Family.

Gu Yumei had been hiding in her room. Upon learning that Wan Lifang had taken a servant to meet her own father, she came out of the room. Seeing the festival gifts from the Wan Family, she proudly said to Mrs. Chen, "The Wan Family sure brought many festival gifts, even books and white paper. Truly a family of scholars."

If it were the Yuan Family, how could they send books and white paper? At most, they would just send a piece of fatty meat to her household.

Mrs. Chen was initially pleased with the festival gifts from the Wan Family, but after the joy, she started to worry, "The Wan Family's festival gifts are generous, so our return gifts must be equally generous. But we're currently borrowing money to get by, where can we find the silver to afford lavish gifts?"

Pointing at Gu Yumei's forehead, Mrs. Chen scolded, "It's all because of you, you wretched girl. You gambled away all the family's Silver Coin, oh, my heart aches just thinking about all that silver."

Gu Yumei didn't care much, "So we borrowed money, so what? Our family can pay it back. When the dividends come at the end of the month, we'll just pay back the silver."

"Ptui, you make it sound so easy. After repaying that silver, we still need to prepare your dowry and hold your wedding banquet. Each and everything requires money, doesn't it?"

Mrs. Chen looked at Gu Yumei, who acted wealthy and casual, and wanted to scold her, "Who do you think you are, playing rich girl? The dividends from the workshop and shop are not just yours, our family has a share too. You frittered away our share; your dad said that the next three months' dividends are all ours, as compensation for our family, and your household will have to endure a few more months of hardship."

Gu Dafu felt his family had burdened Gu Dagui's family, so he told Gu Dagui that after receiving August's dividends, the next three months of dividends would all go to Gu Dagui's family to make up for their previous losses.

Gu Yumei was unaware of this arrangement, and upon hearing it, she exploded, "What did you say? My dad agreed to give three months of dividends to your family? Why? That's not fair!"

Mrs. Chen retorted angrily, "Ptui, how is it unfair? You gambled it away, why should my family be fined along with yours? If it weren't for the bad reputation you'd get as a widow and eldest daughter, and if it weren't for the kindness my elder sister-in-law has shown me, I would have washed my hands of you long ago."

Mrs. Chen and Gu Yumei were not quiet in their quarrel; Mrs. Ni's husband hadn't followed to the new workshop but was watching the mule cart outside the courtyard. He overheard the gist of their argument.