Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 109: Watching

He Dacang asked Village Chief He, "Dad, what should we do next? Should we show goodwill to the Gu Family? Scholar Shang didn’t come alone today; he brought his wife and daughter. His wife is the daughter of County Captain Jiang; being able to visit the Gu Family and even staying for a meal suggests that County Captain Jiang really intends to protect the Gu Family."

Though it was a life-saving favor, who were the Gu Family? They were merely refugees who fled from famine. Meanwhile, Scholar Shang’s wife was the daughter of County Captain Jiang, a true official’s daughter who didn’t need to personally visit to express gratitude. A simple monetary gift would have sufficed to repay the life-saving favor.

Yet, Scholar Shang brought his wife and daughter to the Gu Family’s threshold, presenting himself as wanting to foster good relations with the Gu Family.

"He Dacang sighed, ’The Gu Family has really struck it lucky.’ From now on, associating with the Shang Family and the Jiang Family, who would dare to look down upon them?"

However, Village Chief He didn’t immediately decide to foster relations with the Gu Family; he said instead, "Let’s wait and see. It might be that scholars care about saving face; hence, he personally visited. The future is still uncertain."

If after this visit, Scholar Shang’s family stops interacting with the Gu Family, and their family rushes to befriend the Gu Family hastily, the Lu Family would surely be annoyed. Once the Lu Family rises again, their He family would certainly be in a tight spot.

He Dacang sat crouching by the fire and frowned upon hearing this, saying, "Wait further? Dad, if we wait any longer, it might be too late."

By the time the Gu Family firmly establishes themselves, would they still regard them highly if they tried to get close then?

"Moreover, the Gu Family’s tofu business is extremely prosperous. People in town are going crazy buying it, and they’re making quite a bit of money every day. Now they have both support and a livelihood. If our family doesn’t get close to them, wouldn’t that be wasting a perfect opportunity to foster good relations?" His family might be the village chief’s house, but they lacked a steady source of income, with nothing except his father being the village chief and his youngest brother working as an accountant in a cloth shop in the county – bereft of support and livelihood.

He Dacang wasn’t very smart; therefore, his thoughts weren’t as extensive as Village Chief He. Seeing the Gu Family doing well, he wanted to rely on them to boost his own family, but Village Chief He, always cautious, still shook his head: "Don’t rush, let’s wait and see a bit more."

"The Lu Family has suffered a big blow at the hands of the Gu Family; they won’t let it go and will surely seek revenge. If our family gets close to them now, and the Shang Family and Jiang Family stop interacting with the Gu Family, when the Lu Family recovers and begins their revenge, our family will surely be implicated."

Village Chief He, warming himself by the fire and looking at the desolate courtyard, said again, "Don’t rush, let’s wait some more."

He Dacang had no choice but to suppress his urge to win the Gu Family’s favor and continued waiting.

Aside from Village Chief He’s house, many villagers in Da Feng Village were also paying attention to the Gu Family; they wanted to get closer and curry favor, yet feared the reprisal from the Lu Family. After hesitating, they, like Village Chief He, opted to watch from the sidelines.

Shang Family Village was the nearest village to Qingfu Town, only a 30-minute walk away, but it was somewhat far from Da Feng Village, and even by mule cart, it took Scholar Shang and his family half an hour to get home.

After arriving home, the family changed out of their formal, heavy clothes, drank a cup of warm tea, and then finally felt relaxed.

Yuanyuan, having played at the Gu Family’s house all day, fell asleep as soon as she got home.

Ms. Jiang carried her to the bed in the inner room, tucked her in with thick blankets, stoked the charcoal fire in the room, and then went to the outer room.

Scholar Shang took out the writings by Gu Jin’an and his siblings, and seeing a paper with crooked, twisted characters, couldn’t help but laugh.

Ms. Jiang leaned over to see the writing and also covered her mouth, starting to laugh: "Who wrote this?"

Scholar Shang pointed at a name in the upper right corner of the paper, saying, "Gu Dewang." This was something Ah Jiu had mentioned to him beforehand; otherwise, just from looking at the scribbles in the upper right corner, he wouldn’t have been able to make out that it was Gu Dewang’s name.

Scholar Shang put down Gu Dewang’s writing and looked at Gu Dexing’s next. Gu Dexing wrote about the Analects’ Learning and The Practice of Government Chapters from The Four Books.

It was apparent that Gu Dexing harbored ambitions of becoming an official, but his mastery of The Practice of Government was not profound. He managed to complete the Learning Chapter but failed to finish The Practice of Government Chapter.

He had previously stated that they should write down the characters or essays they believed they had mastered best, yet it was clear that Gu Dexing had not sufficiently learned The Practice of Government. Still, he forced himself to write it down to show off.

Thinking back on the expression on Gu Dexing’s face earlier today, Scholar Shang shook his head and moved on to the next piece.

Initially having no expectations, he was immediately impressed by what he saw next—a Thousand Character Classic, all one thousand characters completed with a sharp and powerful brushstroke, each resembling a dancing silver dragon, with strokes as imposing as mountains, carrying a momentum of its own.

"Good, well written," Scholar Shang was very satisfied with this piece of writing, judging the person by his handwriting: "This Gu Jin’an is ambitious."

Hearing this, Ms. Jiang glanced at the writing in his hand and noticed the majestic strokes, like a wild silver snake, and continuously nodded, "This piece is well-written. However..."

She paused, then continued, "He too desires to be an official, the eagerness shows in his strokes."

Perhaps knowing of my husband’s reputation, they all eagerly perform to seek mentorship.

Hearing this, Scholar Shang slightly furrowed his brows, stood up, and walked around the room several times before coming back to the desk, picking up a brush, dipping it in ink, and writing two characters on the paper: Wen Zhi.

Clearly and distinctly, he wanted to understand what aspirations Gu Jin’an held in life.

Although he never tested for the scholar examination and was not interested in an official career, he did not think that aspiring to be an official was wrong.

However, he disapproved of officials like County Magistrate Zou. If Gu Jin’an aspired to become such an official, he would not teach him.

Ms. Jiang looked at the characters Wen Zhi on the paper, asking Scholar Shang, "Does husband intend to accept disciples?"

Scholar Shang and Ms. Jiang had a great relationship; he never hid anything from her. Hearing this, he nodded, "Indeed, I am considering it. Firstly, I think well of Gu Jin’an, and secondly, this could maintain our families’ relationship."

He mentioned to Ms. Jiang, "The Zou family and the Lu family are not to be underestimated. Once they regain their strength, they will definitely find other means to target the Gu Family. Our continued interactions with the Gu Family will keep those two families wary and deter them from acting against the Gu Family."

Ms. Jiang, after listening, did not oppose Scholar Shang’s plans but instead nodded, stating, "It should indeed be so."

Not to mention that the Gu Family were their life-saving benefactors, just the fact that her Jiang family had grievances with the Zou family meant they would support the Gu Family.

Seeing that she didn’t oppose interacting with the Gu Family, Scholar Shang felt slightly relieved but still worried about possibly upsetting Ms. Jiang, so he asked, "How did you find interacting with the womenfolk of the Gu Family today? If you dislike them, you needn’t go again in the future; I can maintain the ties with the Gu Family myself."

Ms. Jiang playfully glared at him and said, "Look at what you’re saying. Just as you mentioned, though the Gu Family are refugees fleeing famine, they are dignified and principled. From our interaction today, I sense that the Gu Family is worth associating with."

She pondered, then added, "Especially Mrs. Cui—her every move has an indescribable charm about her. Although she seems like a typical rural woman, there’s something quite different about her, too."

In any case, Mrs. Cui left a peculiar impression on her.