CHAPTER 21: CHAPTER 21: A WELL-LAID PLAN

EDITOR: INSCHAIN

Gu Yunjiao closed the box, "When Second Aunt finishes cooking and drains the rice soup, bring me a bowl."

Sanya nodded. She liked her elder sister-in-law very much. They slept in the same bed every day, Gu Yunjiao tucked her in at night and even did her hair during the day.

She was willing to listen to her elder sister-in-law.

Shortly after, Sanya went to the kitchen. When she saw Mrs. Yang draining the rice soup, Sanya quickly took a bowl and ran off.

Mrs. Yang shouted from behind, "You little rascal, that rice soup was for Silang, you’re just greedy!"

Luckily the bowl was thick enough and not too hot to touch. Sanya brought the rice soup into the house, thinking Gu Yunjiao was going to drink it, but instead, Gu Yunjiao took out a plain old handkerchief.

The handkerchief was made of silk.

Before her father went missing, the family actually lived quite well.

Gu Yunjiao dipped the silk handkerchief in the hot rice soup and started wiping the golden needles.

Sanya clapped her hands beside her, "Wow, they shine instantly."

Gu Yunjiao smiled at her and continued to wipe.

It was only after all the golden needles were polished to a gleam that Gu Yunjiao stopped and put them away.

She closed the box, placed it in a chest, and locked it.

In the main room, Mrs. Yang called out loudly, "Time to eat!"

Gu Yunjiao took Sanya by the hand and went out, just in time to see Jiang Youzhi also leading Liulang out.

She smiled at Jiang Youzhi and turned to enter the main room.

Two tables were already set up in the main room.

Gu Yunjiao helped with serving the rice.

At this moment, Jiang Erlang entered from outside, bumped into Gu Yunjiao with his elbow, and whispered, "I told you, you can’t escape. Let’s see how I’ll deal with you in the future."

Jiang Youzhi saw Erlang bumping into Gu Yunjiao. He frowned, went over to block Jiang Erlang, and said coldly, "Second Brother, what are you doing? If you harass sister-in-law again, I won’t be polite to you."

Jiang Erlang gave him a look and a cryptic smile, then sat down by himself.

With everyone present, the meal began.

Gu Yunjiao sat with Mrs. Chen on her left and Sanya on her right.

Halfway through the meal, Mr. Jiang from the neighboring table said, "The festival is the day after tomorrow, after that, we’ll start harvesting the grain."

"For the next few days, only the old lady will be cooking. Everyone else must go to the fields."

He paused, "Put in some effort. If anyone dares to slack off, I won’t let it slide!"

Gu Yunjiao ate silently. She couldn’t do farm work, wouldn’t be able to in two lifetimes.

The ten acres of land from her family was always farmed by tenants. When the time comes, if she’s clumsy, she wonders if Mr. Jiang will consider her lazy.

After the old man finished speaking, Mrs. Zhou picked up the topic, "And there’s one more thing."

"Erlang is eighteen this year and should be looking for a bride."

"The family isn’t well-off now, and getting married will cost a lot of silver."

"The old man and I have discussed it, and we’ve decided to let Erlang marry Da Lang’s widow. This way, we can save on the betrothal money and have one less mouth to feed."

In many rural families too poor for marriage, it wasn’t unusual for a younger brother-in-law to marry his widowed sister-in-law to save money.

Gu Yunjiao tightened her grip on her chopsticks. She glanced at Jiang Erlang at the other table; no wonder he said such things before.

Jiang Erlang was also looking over, giving Gu Yunjiao a malicious smile.

Gu Yunjiao lowered her eyes and chewed slowly. She would never marry someone like Jiang Erlang. If it came to it, she’d just have to run away.

Mrs. Chen was stunned for a few seconds and then suddenly put down her bowl, "No, Erlang can’t marry Yunjiao!"

Everyone in the room looked at Mrs. Chen.

Gu Yunjiao also turned her head to look at her.