Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 14 - 0 Selling People

Qian Guangzong was the shopkeeper of a cloth shop, a typical unscrupulous businessman, who had long been scheming to sell off the entire Gu Dashan family.

But several times, he had prompted Gu Dagu to persuade Granny Gu to sell off Gu Dashan's family, Granny Gu hesitated and never agreed.

For Granny Gu, selling the Gu Dashan family was not as satisfying as tormenting them under her watchful eyes; as a stepmother, nothing was more pleasing than to torment the children of her husband's first wife.

Furthermore, keeping the Gu Dashan family around meant having them work for the entire household, almost like having bought a family of servants. If sold, the chores would have to be done by her own sons, which Granny Gu was reluctant to impose upon, hence she had not sold the Gu Dashan family over all these years.

This time was different.

Gu Dagu said, "Mother, due to the water source incident, Gu Dashan's family has won the village chief's favor. Today, in front of the entire village, the village chief spoke up for their family, outrightly insulting you. Third Uncle and Third Aunt also supported Gu Dashan's family. Moreover, that girl Xiao Yu, after surviving a calamity, has become increasingly audacious, challenging us at every turn in the last couple of days. With the village chief behind them, if things go on like this, won't Gu Dashan's family soon be trampling over us?"

Gu Dagu scanned the surroundings and, noticing Elder Gu taking a nap not far away on a mat, she lowered her voice and said: "Mother, you are their stepmother, no matter how well you treat Gu Dashan's family, you cannot win their hearts. It's better to sell them early for some grain to get us through the coming famine."

On their journey thus far, food had become increasingly scarce, and in another half month, they might not even be able to find tree leaves, grass roots, or mountain rats. They needed to prepare early.

Little Sister Gu chimed in from the side: "Mother, eldest sister is right, we haven't treated Gu Dashan's family well over the years, they must detest us by now. This time they've struck it lucky by finding water for the village, now the whole village is on their side. With the support of the village chief and villagers, who knows how they might retaliate against us. Better to sell them early and wash our hands of the matter. Don't worry about having no one to do the work after selling them off, we can have Third Brother's family take over."

Gu Youfu was Granny Gu's second son, but she did not care much for this son who bore a strong resemblance to Elder Gu. Among her three biological sons, she scolded and beat Gu Youfu the most. Having Gu Youfu's family replace Gu Dashan's family in doing the chores did not bother her one bit.

Granny Gu's slender eyes were half-closed as she contemplated the words of Gu Dagu and Little Sister Gu.

After a short while, she turned to look at Elder Gu, who was still napping, and told Gu Dagu, "Their family is currently in the limelight, we need to approach this matter slowly. Go with Guangzong and inquire around, and come back to me when you find a suitable family."

This was her agreement to sell the Gu Dashan family.

Gu Dagu and Qian Guangzong were overjoyed; the matter they had been contemplating for so long was finally going to happen.

Gu Dagu said, "Mother, rest assured, I will have Guangzong inquire these next few days, and we will come back and inform you once we have news."

In truth, the couple had long been inquiring about trading people for grain and money, even establishing connections with the housekeepers of several wealthy households. They were not worried about finding a buyer.

Little Sister Gu was brimming with joy; the despicable family that she loathed would finally be sold off.

Mrs. Cui was comforting Gu Chengzhi not far away. She didn't understand what was happening—the young Brother Cheng's arm had been aching all day long. His intermittent crying throughout the day vexed her, but she felt a little relieved when she heard Granny Gu agreed to the sale of the Gu Dashan family.

Qian Li'er was even happier. She had long disliked that vixen Gu Jinxiu. At the beginning of last year, the son of the town tavern's shopkeeper had seen Gu Jinxiu, taken a liking to her, and knowing the relationship between their families, he approached their family to inquire about Gu Jinxiu, hoping they could help mediate a marriage proposal.

She was furious at that time; the son of the town tavern's shopkeeper was one of the husbands she had her eye on, but he had taken a liking to that wretched Gu Jinxiu instead.

Fortunately, in the end, Gu Dagu schemed and managed to discourage the tavern shopkeeper's wife from the idea of taking Gu Jinxiu as a daughter-in-law, and the matter was dropped.

The Gu Dashan family was completely oblivious to this incident, but due to Qian Li'er's strong jealousy, she resented Gu Jinxiu.

When she heard Granny Gu had agreed to sell the Gu Dashan family, she quietly suggested to Qian Guangzong and Gu Dagu, "Father, Mother, Gu Jinxiu is quite attractive. You could offer Gu Jinxiu to those housekeepers, just ask them to put in a good word for us to the wealthy masters, and get us a little more grain in return."

Not only did Qian Li'er want to sell off the Gu Dashan family, but she also wanted to ruin Gu Jinxiu.

In the end, she added, still worried: "Don't send Gu Jinxiu to the rich master's household, lest that vixen bewitches the masters and incites the rich master to settle scores with us. Let her become a servant's concubine, and let her suffer for a lifetime!"

Qian Guangzong, upon hearing his daughter's words, praised: "Li'er is smart indeed. Alright, daddy understands."

Among the housekeepers he knew, there were two or three who were quite old but still had a taste for women.

...

After Gu Dashan's family exchanged water for food and paid off their grain debt, they gave Doctor Du a bowl of grain as a token of gratitude for curing Gu Jinli, the whole family was happy at the time, totally unaware that Granny Gu intended to sell them off.

After Gu Dagu and the others came to turn things over, Gu Jinli took Gu Jinxiu and Brother Cheng to rest at Third Grandmother's Family's place. On the way, they had already agreed with Third Grandmother's Family to eat and sleep together in the future.

Third Grandma was very happy, having been looking forward to their arrival.

Because of his plea for food and the beating of Mrs. Cui and Brother Cheng, even Gu Dashan, who insisted on resting with Old Gu Family, did not object this time.

Third Grandma had already cooked some millet porridge and was serving it in a small wooden basin. Seeing Gu Jinli and the others, she exclaimed joyfully, "Xiao Yu, bring a few wooden bowls for Third Grandma, let's serve the porridge and drink."

Gu Jinli responded, untied the wooden bowls strung together with grass rope, wiped them a few times, and handed them to Third Grandma. Seeing only a thin layer at the bottom of the basin of millet porridge, she said, "It's millet porridge, that's good, nourishing."

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

Millet is a type of coarse grain.

Third Grandma was cheerfully smiling, serving each of the three siblings a small half-bowl, urging them, "Eat quickly, you all have become so skinny from hunger."

Seeing the children's skeletal figures, Third Grandma felt tears of compassion welling up.

Gu Jinli pushed his bowl into Third Grandma's hands, saying, "Third Grandma should eat too."

She filled a bowl with a shallow portion, finished it in less than two bites, but smiled very contentedly: "I will save the rest for Third Grandpa, my father, my mother, and my elder brother."

Tonight the village didn't organize a search for food, but Third Grandpa couldn't stay idle and went searching nearby with Gu Dashan, his son, and the Luo Family father and son, and hadn't come back yet.

Afraid that Third Grandma would insist on her drinking more millet porridge, Gu Jinli took a wooden spoon and stirred the food in a pot nearby.

This was the main meal for both families tonight, a concoction stewed with soybeans mixed with grass roots and leaves. Although they had exchanged water for food, since the journey to escape famine was long, they needed to save and ration their food.

Third Grandma, holding the bowl of millet porridge that Gu Jinli had given her, her eyes reddening, appreciated the child's kindness, and ate from the wooden bowl heartily.

Seeing her eat, Gu Jinxiu and Brother Cheng began to eat slowly from the rims of their bowls.

When the pot of mixed food was ready, Third Grandpa and the Luo Family father and son returned, while Gu Dashan and Gu Jin'an were absent, having gone to give to Old Gu Family the food they had found.

A quarter of an hour later, they arrived with Mrs. Cui. Gu Jinli, seeing that Mrs. Cui had not been beaten today, felt relieved.

After the whole family dug for water through the night, only taking turns to rest for a while, everyone was so exhausted they were about to faint. The family, along with Third Grandpa and Third Grandma, finished their dinner and started resting, sleeping deeply and satisfyingly, before continuing on their journey early the next morning.

On the road, Qian Guangzong and his wife were very busy, always taking the opportunity during breaks to go and speak with the housekeepers of various rich households.