“How can you call that selling them?”
Gu Changxing finally felt that he had found a chance to convince his wife and daughter. He hurriedly explained, “They were both properly married. Matchmakers came to arrange the marriages, the marriages were registered with the authorities, and all the proper rituals were observed. They were married fair and square.”
“Hah!” Gu Qingqing let out a mocking laugh. “One was married to a widower in his thirties whose stepson was older than she was. The other became the second wife of a butcher known for bringing bad luck to his wives, and she was beaten at home every day. You really think those were good marriages? If that wasn’t selling them, then what was it?”
She could no longer contain her anger. Her eyes burned with fury.
“Do you want Chunqi and me to end up in families like that too?”
Gu Changxing remembered the bruised, miserable faces of those two girls whenever they returned to their parents’ home. He immediately shook his head.
“Of course not!”
This father might be blindly devoted to his parents, but his love for his wife and children was genuine.
That was precisely why Gu Qingqing was willing to be patient with him.
She softened her tone.
“Father, stop fooling yourself. If we don’t separate from them, the fate waiting for us siblings will only get worse. By then, you and Mother might not even find a place to bury us.”
Gu Changxing closed his eyes. The dim candlelight cast flickering shadows across his face as he struggled with the decision.
It wasn’t that he didn’t believe his youngest son’s words. Nor was he unable to understand his daughter’s fears.
But those were his parents, the father and mother he had respected and obeyed his entire life.
How could he deceive them?
How could he turn against them?
“Changxing, if you truly can’t bear to leave your parents, then give me a letter of divorce and let me take the children away.”
Tears slipped down Madam Liu’s haggard face, but her gaze remained gentle and resolute.
“As long as our family can stay together in peace, we’ll work hard and somehow make a living.”
“How could I do that?”
Gu Changxing’s voice rose instinctively.
“Absolutely not!”
Madam Liu said nothing. She simply looked at him quietly.
Gu Changxing panicked.
His honest, round face suddenly wore the wounded expression of a child.
“Liu, are you saying you don’t want me anymore?”
Aaaaaaaaaah!
A piercing scream went off inside Gu Qingqing’s head.
What kind of ridiculous way of addressing someone was that?!
Even though she remembered from the original owner’s memories that her parents really did address each other that way, hearing it from this overly earnest father while he wore that expression made every hair on her body stand on end.
“Father, it’s not that we don’t want you. It’s that you don’t want us!”
Gu Qingqing shuddered internally and decided to settle this as quickly as possible.
“All five of us want to separate from them. You’re the only one who doesn’t. So make your choice. Either divorce Mother and let us leave, or separate from your parents and come with us.”
“Liu…”
Gu Changxing looked helplessly toward Madam Liu.
She said nothing. She merely comforted the sobbing Xia’an and gave him her back.
Gu Changxing turned to Gu Ping’an and Gu Chunqi.
The two children did exactly the same thing.
That left only Gu Qingqing.
Rather than avoiding his gaze, she deliberately met his eyes head-on.
Her gaze was bright and unwavering.
A strange feeling rose in Gu Changxing’s heart.
His daughter had never looked at him like this before.
“Qingqing, you’ve changed.”
“Father, how could someone who has already died once not change?”
Gu Qingqing smiled faintly, but her eyes remained dark and serious.
“You’ll discover even more differences in me from now on. The daughter you remember already suffocated to death inside that coffin.”
She was telling the truth.
But her family only took her words as an expression of grief, resentment, and lingering hurt.
Gu Changxing lowered his eyes and clenched his fists in guilt.
“Father let you down.”
“There’s no need to say all that. We only need one answer from you. Are you going to separate from them or not?”
Gu Changxing gritted his teeth.
“We’ll separate. Tomorrow, we’ll do it. But what about your grandmother…”
His fear of his parents had been carved into his bones over decades. He genuinely had no idea how he was supposed to explain this to them.
“As long as you agree to separate, that’s enough. I’ll handle everything else.”
Gu Qingqing didn’t want to hear any more of his hesitant, overly sentimental arguments.
She instructed Gu Ping’an to move the kang table aside and told everyone to settle down and get some proper rest.
“Tomorrow, everything goes on as usual. Once we walk out of this house after the separation is official, we’ll all have better days ahead.”
Everyone lay down that night with anxious hearts, yet for the first time, they found themselves looking forward to sunrise.
Could they really separate successfully?
What if Grandpa and Grandma saw through their plan?
And once the truth eventually came out, what would they do then?
The next morning.
Gu Changfu arrived at the Gu family home early.
“You’ve all looked over the document carefully, right? If there are no changes or additions, give it to me.”
He hadn’t taken the documents home the previous night because he was afraid something might have been overlooked in the rush.
Old Madam Gu handed the original house deed, land deeds, and household registration documents to Gu Changfu.
“Changfu, nephew, you’d better keep these safe for me. As soon as everything is finished, bring them straight back to me.”
“Don’t worry, Auntie.”
Gu Changfu tucked the documents safely inside his clothes. He quickly glanced at Gu Qingqing, but spoke to Gu Changxing.
“Aren’t you coming with me?”
“I’m coming, of course.”
Gu Qingqing answered before her father could.
She immediately winked at Old Madam Gu.
“Grandma, I’ll accompany Father. I can read, after all. Some things are better handled sooner rather than later. Isn’t that right?”
Madam Liu was literate, so she had taught all of her children to read as well.
Gu Changsheng would be heading to the prefectural city for his provincial examination in June. It was only May now, but when it came to money, the sooner they had it safely in their hands, the better.
Old Madam Gu narrowed her eyes.
She didn’t trust Gu Qingqing in the slightest.
Ever since the girl had crawled out of that coffin, there was something different about her. She seemed far too clever, as though she had suddenly grown eight hundred extra minds.
Gu Changxing, meanwhile, felt guilty about deceiving his own mother.
“Mother, why don’t you go with Brother Changfu? The sun isn’t too hot yet. I’ll stay behind and tend to the fields.”
His meek and obedient appearance finally put Old Madam Gu at ease.
“Mother trusts you. Take care of your younger brother’s affairs and come straight back. Keep those things safe and don’t lose anything. Otherwise, don’t blame me if I break your legs!”
As if she would go herself.
The weather wasn’t terribly hot yet, but the round trip was nearly thirty li. It would take more than two hours on foot.
She certainly wasn’t about to suffer through that journey.
Those words, “Mother trusts you,” almost made Gu Changxing waver.
But when he caught the faintly amused expression on his daughter’s face, he ultimately said nothing.
After they left the village, Gu Changfu waited until there was no one around before speaking with a smile.
“Qing girl, you’re really planning to separate from your grandparents, aren’t you?”
Gu Qingqing didn’t answer directly.
Instead, she smiled and asked, “Uncle Changfu, you were the one who wrote the separation document. Could it possibly be fake?”
Gu Changfu froze for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“Good, good! Separating is good!”
Smart people didn’t need to say everything out loud.
A few words were enough.
As soon as they reached the county seat, Gu Changfu took the father and daughter to transfer the land deeds and household registration.
Gu Changxing didn’t want to enter the county government office, so Gu Changfu told him to wait outside.
Once everything was completed, Gu Changfu solemnly placed the documents into Gu Qingqing’s hands.
“Girl, this family will depend on you from now on. Your father has a kind heart and is easily deceived and bullied. Don’t blame him. Protect him.”
Gu Qingqing held the few thin sheets of paper and bowed deeply to him.
“Thank you.”
She would protect her family with everything she had.
And she would repay everyone who sincerely helped them.
After reuniting with Gu Changxing, Gu Changfu left first.
Gu Qingqing waved the documents in front of her father’s eyes before quickly slipping them into the inner pocket of her clothes.
They were truly separating this time.
She couldn’t possibly leave such important papers with him, not when he might hand them straight back to Old Madam Gu.
Gu Changxing understood perfectly well.
Still, disappointment showed on his face.
In the past, this daughter had trusted him more than anyone.
He rubbed his hands awkwardly and asked in a small voice,
“Qingqing, are we still going to the moneylender to borrow silver?”