CHAPTER 592: CHAPTER 592: GU DEXING’S TRANSFORMATION

The modern Dongzhi festival varies every year, but in Great Chu, Dongzhi has always been on the ninth day of the eleventh month since ancient times. Nine is the extreme number, which people of Great Chu are particularly fond of, and they love it deeply.

On the eighth, Third Grandpa, Third Grandma, and everyone from the Qi Family stayed in the inn, getting ready for the grand opening the next day.

On the ninth, while it was still dark, several families got up.

Mrs. Cui and Gu Jinxiu had taken out their new clothes to wear today, so everyone could dress as soon as they got up.

Gu Dashan did not go to the workshop today. He had already entrusted Mu Tong yesterday, and Mu Tong would help with the tofu workshop and the spice workshop’s shipments.

After he got up, he went to check on the mules in the backyard shed. After feeding the mules fresh fodder, he went to the kitchen to help Mrs. Cui make breakfast.

Seeing that the water in the tank was frozen solid, he said to Mrs. Cui, "Use warm water for washing dishes and vegetables in winter. Our family can now afford to buy firewood. We have several rooms stocked with dry firewood that we can’t burn through."

He also said, "Xiao Yu has made that hand protector thing, right? Apply some, don’t let your hands get damaged by the cold."

Back in his hometown, Mrs. Cui had to wash a large pile of clothes every winter and spring. During these two seasons, her hands would get so frostbitten and cracked that they bled, which was painful to see. He didn’t want Mrs. Cui to go through that again.

Mrs. Cui smiled and said, "I’m heating up some warm water. If I don’t use warm water, Xiao Yu will scold me."

Gu Dashan laughed upon hearing this: "That’s your second daughter caring for you. The girl has this one flaw, always harsh with her words when she’s trying to be kind."

He poured a bowl of heated soy milk for Mrs. Cui and took the gourd ladle from her: "I’ll do it, you eat something first. Your stomach was rumbling when you were sleeping last night, and when I told you to get up to eat, you wouldn’t."

He scooped a bucket of water, poured it into the pot, then lifted the lid of another pot and scooped out a few eggs with a large wooden spoon, placing them in cold water to peel for Mrs. Cui to eat.

Today they needed to hurry to help at the inn, so breakfast at home was simple: boiled eggs, leftover bean dregs cake from last night, and soy milk.

While Mrs. Cui was eating, Brother Cheng, dressed plumply, came running over, complaining, "Mom, the clothes are so heavy, I don’t want to wear so much."

His older brother wouldn’t let him take it off, saying it was cold and he’d catch a cold if he did.

Mrs. Cui felt his back and, not finding any sweat, said, "It’s just right, you can’t take it off, you’ll get sick."

Brother Cheng had no choice but to wear his thick cotton-padded jacket back to the main room.

Gu Jinli even teased him, "Little round ball."

Brother Cheng got angry, huffed, and ran back to the kitchen to find his parents.

Gu Jinxiu said, "You’re bullying Brother Cheng again. He’s gotten older now and understands beauty and ugliness; he doesn’t like to be laughed at."

But Gu Jinli retorted, "While he’s still young, we should have fun teasing him. Otherwise, it won’t be fun when he grows up a few more years."

Gu Jinxiu found it helpless and could only go to brush her teeth and wash up.

The family was quick in their movements. After brushing teeth and washing faces, they had breakfast, and it was just starting to get light outside.

Gu Dashan called out to Gu Jin’an and the others, "Hurry up and get on the cart. The inn is also Xiao Yu’s business, we need to get there early."

A whole family, plus Sister Li, Zhu Chahua, Xiao Ji, and Luo Huiniang, all got onto the cart.

Gu Dashan was driving the cart, with Gu Jin’an sitting beside him on the front board. Mrs. Cui and other female relatives sat in the carriage as they drove off.

Just as they left the low slope outside the courtyard, they saw Gu Dexing carrying a yoke with buckets of water toward home. Gu Dashan stopped the mule cart and said to him, "Brother Xing, go back and tell your dad and second uncle that I will first take Aunt Dashan and the others to town, and I’ll come back to pick you up in two hours."

Gu Dexing replied with a laugh, "No need to bother, just go and pick up Granny Yan’s family and Elder Qin. There are no elders in our house, we can walk there."

He then said to Gu Jin’an, "Good Brother An, I’ve finished reading the three books I borrowed from you. I will return them to you in a few days, and there are some parts I didn’t understand. You’ll have to explain them to me then."

Ever since Gu Yumei’s death, Gu Dafu fell ill twice and his health declined significantly, aging a lot. Consequently, Gu Dexing matured and started helping around the house, his attitude toward others improved, and he learned to offer a smile.

Gu Jin’an said, "Sure, I’ll explain them to you properly. If I don’t know, we can both go ask Uncle Shang or Master Xia for clarification."

Gu Dexing was delighted to hear this; in the past, he had hinted a few times that he wanted Brother An to take him to meet Scholar Shang, but Brother An never agreed. Now, Brother An was initiating the offer.

"Alright, you go ahead. Our family will head there after finishing the morning chores," Gu Dexing stepped aside to let Gu Dashan drive the mule cart past.

After about an hour of travel in the mule cart, they finally arrived at Yanfu Building in town. Mrs. Cui got off the cart with a few of the children, sent Gu Jinxiu to keep Qi Kang Le company, then took Gu Jinli to find Gu Daya and help out, also reminding Gu Jinli, "There are many people today, don’t run around. If you want to do something, tell Mom first."

"Mhm, mhm," Gu Jinli knew Mrs. Cui was concerned about her and nodded in agreement.

Gu Daya was busy in the kitchen. Seeing them arrive, she happily said, "Sister-in-law, Xiao Yu, why did you come so early? Have you had breakfast?"

Mrs. Cui replied, "We’ve eaten. Let us know if you need any help."

"That’s perfect. There are a few basins of fried food in the kitchen. Let Xiao Yu taste and see if it’s good. Also, she can check the prepared side dishes to see if there are any that shouldn’t be mixed," knowing that some foods shouldn’t be combined, Gu Daya, a former kitchen maid, was aware that Gu Jinli knew more and had written several lists of food compatibilities and incompatibilities for her.

Gu Daya took these lists seriously, instructing the two assistants in charge of preparing the ingredients to memorize them, but she still wasn’t completely at ease until Gu Jinli had checked them over herself.

Gu Jinli went to the small side-room next to the main kitchen to take a look, where two assistants and two women who did miscellaneous tasks were busy at work.

These four, including the four waiters running around, were all from Da Feng Village, but with different surnames.

The two assistants in charge of preparing ingredients and one of the women doing miscellaneous tasks were from the Lu Family, specifically the parents of Lu Shuiwa.

After Lu Shuiwa and her siblings were kidnapped by Wan Lifang, Lu Shuiwa’s father dared not go out to work as a day laborer anymore. Later, seeing that he was an honest man, Gu Daya invited the couple to work, offering them monthly salaries of 800 and 500 cents, amounting to just over a tael a month, a good amount.

Among the four waiters, two were from the Lu Family, one the grandson of Lu Gen Sheng and the other the son of Lu He Fu; the others were from the He Family.

Lu Gen Sheng was truly grateful for this, personally bringing a thank-you gift to the Qi Family and Gu Family to express his gratitude.

The He Family People had concerns about this, claiming the Lu Family deserved to remain poor for a lifetime and that the Gu and Qi families should not have helped them.

However, Gu Jinli had done this deliberately. Only this way could both the He Family People and the Lu Family People feel a sense of crisis, ensuring they would never dare to cross those few families. Should either the He or Lu family grow too influential, it would not bode well for these families that were not native to the area.

With this strategy deployed, Village Chief He indeed felt a sense of urgency. Despite the cold weather, he increased his visits to the outskirts of the village, and no matter how cold it was, he would go to the workshop to chat with Third Grandpa, simply to maintain familiarity.