CHAPTER 374: CHAPTER 374: AGREEING TO THE MARRIAGE

Beat her up and send her back?

Gu Dafu had foreseen that Sister Mei could not escape the beating today and could only nod in agreement: "Sister Mei is at fault first, and deserves to be beaten."

"Father!" Gu Yumei sobbed, "Isn’t an apology enough?"

Gu Jinli laughed, stood up, and walked towards Gu Yumei.

Gu Yumei, seeing her approaching, was so terrified that she hid behind Gu Dafu, shivering, "What, what are you going to do? I said I would apologize."

Gu Jinli beckoned to her: "If you don’t want to be punished more severely, then come out with some responsibility and stand properly!"

The words ’stand properly’ were almost roared by Gu Jinli, frightening Gu Yumei into quickly stepping forward.

Gu Jinli looked at the shivering Gu Yumei with a mocking smile on her face and slapped her twice.

Slap slap!

Gu Yumei, stupefied by the slaps, covered her face and cried, "Gu Xiaoyu, you, you hit me? I didn’t hit you, what right do you have to hit me? Today, I hit Aunt Xu Wang."

Gu Jinli laughed: "First, Aunt Xu Wang is a servant bought by my family. You hit my family’s servant; not only will I hit you, but you’ll also have to compensate."

"Second, don’t misunderstand. These two slaps are not punishment for the wrong you did today, but a rebuttal to what you said just now, ’Isn’t an apology enough?’"

Gu Yumei didn’t understand what Gu Jinli was saying until Gu Jinli said to her, "I hit you, now I apologize, do you accept it?"

Instinctively, Gu Yumei responded, "Of course not, why should a simple apology from you be enough to settle it?!"

Gu Jinli smiled sweeter: "Right, so why do you think that by hitting Aunt Xu and apologizing, you can just let it go? Gu Yumei, who do you think you are? A princess? You’re nothing but a peasant girl, a useless thing that cannot farm, cannot do work, and has a rotten brain!"

She was truly fed up with Gu Yumei. If she could, she really wanted to poison her, to put her to death.

Gu Yumei, hearing Gu Jinli’s words, trembled with anger: "You, you..."

"What ’you, you’... enough with your ’yous’. Those two slaps just now don’t count. Stand properly, let Aunt Xu’s family hit you back, otherwise, we can’t let this matter go today." Gu Jinli turned to look at Aunt Xu Wang, "Aunt Xu, it was supposed to be you who hit Gu Yumei, but now you are too weak to hurt her; that would let her off too easily."

She looked towards Wang Yongfu and Ms. Wang Ma, asking, "Uncle Wang, Aunt Wang, which of you two will hit her?"

Wang Yongfu and Ms. Wang Ma were shocked – were they really supposed to hit her? Gu Yumei is after all Gu Dafu’s own daughter and one of the workshop’s young mistresses. If they really hit her, how will the two families get along in the future?

This time, Third Grandma no longer indulged Gu Yumei, telling Wang Yongfu and Ms. Wang Ma, "You two need not worry about anything. Sister Mei did wrong, and she deserves to be beaten in return."

Sister Mei today has not only hit Aunt Xu Wang but also tarnished her reputation, and a woman’s reputation is more important than anything.

Furthermore, Aunt Xu Wang is a widow. Widows are easily criticized by others, and with today’s incident and the slanders spoken by Gu Yumei, Aunt Xu Wang will surely be pointed at and gossiped about in the village in the future.

The villagers won’t care whether she was wronged or not, only assuming she lacks propriety; otherwise, why would someone else’s daughter speak of her in such a manner?

Third Grandma felt for Aunt Xu Wang - her husband was dead, and life was already hard enough raising a son alone, now it was even harder.

Gu Dafu felt guilty and wanted to teach Sister Mei a lesson, so he said to Wang Yongfu, "Brother Wang, you do it. Sister Mei indeed needs a lesson. I don’t blame you. Today’s matter is really our family’s fault towards yours."

"Dad! This is the workshop, and you let the Wang Family people beat me here... How will I face anyone after this?" Gu Yumei cried, her tears were particularly sorrowful, almost wishing that she could just cry herself to death.

Last time, although she was beaten severely, it was in her own home, and only some elders from a few families were present, so no one would spread the news.

But now, it was in the workshop, with so many people watching, and all these people were workers hired by the workshop. To let the workers witness her, the Dong Family’s daughter, being beaten, it would be better for her to just die!

Gu Jinli could barely contain his laughter: "You were the one who beat Aunt Xu in the workshop, so it’s only natural for the Wang Family to retaliate in the workshop. Don’t always think you’re above everyone else, that everyone has to respect you. We’re not fools; why should anyone respect a good-for-nothing like you?"

If you want respect, you have to prove your worth, not just put on the airs of a young lady to earn people’s respect.

Mrs. Chen thought that they had lost enough face for the day and didn’t want to stay and be humiliated any longer. She urged Gu Yumei, "Hurry up and stand properly, let Brother Wang’s family finish beating you, and then we can go home quickly. How much longer do you want to embarrass yourself?"

Gu Yumei saw that no one was speaking up for her, and her crying was almost breathless.

Ms. Wang Ma had already come over and said, "Young Master, I’ll do it."

Wang Yongfu, being a man with strong fists and kicks, might knock Gu Yumei out with a single slap.

Gu Jinli nodded, "Alright. But make sure it’s eight slaps."

"Eight, eight slaps..." Gu Yumei shuddered like a sieve upon hearing this, and cried out, "I only slapped her four times, why are you letting Ms. Wang Ma slap me eight times?"

Gu Jinli replied, "Never heard of returning the favor double? If you haven’t heard of it, then go read more books. Don’t go around pretending to be a well-bred lady while being illiterate; you’ll only make a laughingstock of yourself."

"You, you..." Gu Yumei was so angry she could barely breathe.

Ms. Wang Ma didn’t go easy and with a series of slaps, she delivered eight slaps to Gu Yumei, knocking her out cold.

Gu Dafu watched with heartache but didn’t utter a word of blame towards the Wang Family.

"Useless," Mrs. Chen scolded Gu Yumei, then ran over to check on her. Seeing that she had only fainted and wasn’t seriously injured, she was relieved and turned to Gu Jinli with a smile on her face, "Xiao Yu, Sister Mei has been punished. This should settle the matter, right?"

Hoping there wouldn’t be any more fines, for their family hadn’t received dividends for several months. If fined again, they really wouldn’t be able to bear it.

Unfortunately, Gu Jinli then said, "Aunt Xu was injured; you should give her some silver to help her recover. We won’t ask for much this time. Just give thirty taels of silver to Aunt Xu and forfeit one month’s dividends, and it will be fine."

"What? Pay compensation and lose the dividends!" Mrs. Chen felt like dying, pleading quickly, "Xiao Yu, Sister Mei was wrong, and we are willing to compensate Ms. Xu Wang with money... But let’s not lose the dividends, after all, this matter is between the Wang Family and our family, it hasn’t harmed the workshop at all, has it?"

Before Gu Jinli could respond, Third Grandma had already spoken, "How hasn’t it harmed the workshop? Because of Sister Mei’s lack of sense, everyone had to stop working. If that’s not harming the workshop, what is?"

Mrs. Chen was left speechless and, fearful of being fined even more dividends if the quarrel continued, quickly agreed. She carried Gu Yumei on her back, with Gu Dafu following behind, and they hurried home.

On the way, Mrs. Chen complained, "Big Brother, don’t blame me for being heartless, but Sister Mei is a blight that cannot stay. Every day she just brings calamity upon our house. Since she likes the Wan Family, just agree to it. Our shop is in town; if the Wan Family mistreats Sister Mei, we can quickly intervene. You don’t have to worry about her being bullied after marrying into the Wan Family."

Gu Dafu, exhausted by Gu Yumei’s troublemaking, finally relented, "Alright, if the Wan Family comes to propose again, I will agree."