That evening, Gu Nianzhi fried all the small fish. After dinner, she went to the little pond by the water and dug a small pool to keep the six grass carp in.
As night fell, the rain grew heavier again. Eleven still slept in the house with Gu Nianzhi, while from the next room came the excited voice of Gu Nian’an.
“New clothes are so soft!”“Mom, it’s my first time wearing new clothes! I’m so happy!”
…
After several days of continuous rain, the siblings went every day to the shallow waters to collect fish. The small pool they had dug before could no longer hold them all, so they dug a bigger pool and stocked it with more than twenty large fish.
Every day, the small fish they brought back were fried and some were sent to Uncle Daniu’s family and the Lizheng household who had helped them before. The rest were kept for themselves.
Before the weather could clear, bad news arrived from the old Gu residence.
Madam Gu had been waiting anxiously. By the end of the month, Gu Dazui had managed to earn just over a hundred coins from odd jobs.
Madam Gu spent the hundred-odd coins to buy twenty jin of coarse rice, estimating that if rationed carefully, it would feed the family for a month.
She had hoped to wait for Gu Tiezhu’s money to come in so they could buy oil and salt, but Gu Tiezhu said Chengwen needed the money for school, so he couldn’t spare the three hundred coins this month!
Madam Gu was instantly devastated…
The oil containers were cleaned out, there were only a few spoonfuls of salt left. How would they survive the month?
At noon, the old Gu household had nothing but plain porridge made with coarse rice—barely thirty grains in a bowl. Even the vegetables on the table were tasteless, with no oil or salt. Eating it left a bitter taste in the mouth.
Gu Dazui, hearing that Madam Liu and her children were surviving each day on wild vegetables, felt some guilt.
But with no food left at home and the vegetable garden nearly depleted, he had no choice but to head empty-handed to the foot of the northern mountain.
Looking at the little yard by the mountainside, blooming with wildflowers, Gu Dazui rubbed his eyes.
Something was different from before…
He walked to the fence and saw smoke curling from the house on the left and chickens clucking in the yard.
They… had chickens?
Recalling the rumors that Madam Liu’s daughter had collected wild chickens and rabbits and sold them, he realized the chickens must have been bought with that money—probably to lay eggs and earn a little silver.
As he was lost in thought, a puppy ran out of the yard and lunged at him.
Gu Dazui looked at the little puppy, only slightly bigger than his shoe, and felt a surge of mixed emotions.
Now, they couldn’t even feed themselves properly, yet they had the extra to raise these animals! They really had no sense of survival!
He resolved to lecture them properly.
Hearing the noise outside, the mother and children came out of the kitchen and saw Gu Dazui outside the fence.
“What are you doing here?”
Madam Liu said, clearly annoyed.
“What kind of words are those? I’m the father of two children. Can’t I come to see them?”
“Hah.”
Gu Nianzhi looked at Gu Dazui with disdain, noticing his empty hands, and thought he probably came just to cause trouble.
Sure enough, the next moment, Gu Dazui struck a paternal pose and began lecturing them.
“Look at you! Your parents barely have enough to eat, and you’re raising an animal in the yard!”
Hearing himself being called an “animal,” Eleven angrily spun in place.
“We’re raising it? Dogs catch mice and mind their own business. Why don’t you try raising your whole family first!”
This Gu Dazui really knew how to get under Gu Nianzhi’s skin—every encounter left her irritated.
Weak, useless, bossy at home… he had it all figured out!
“Why do you talk to your father like this? Your grandparents are nearly starving, you’re not helping them, and you’re feeding an animal with precious food—if people knew, they’d laugh their heads off!”
Seeing that Gu Dazui still tried to meddle after their divorce, Madam Liu grabbed a thick stick from the kitchen and swung it at him.
“You don’t feed your own family, but you want me, a widow with children, to feed them? Are you even a man?”
“You—!”
Hearing her call herself a widow, Gu Dazui realized they were already divorced, and a twinge of guilt appeared.
“The divorce wasn’t my choice! If Nianzhi hadn’t been foolish, we wouldn’t have divorced. How could the family have paid that ten taels to Landlord Liu! Now that the household has no food, just take the chickens and coins and apologize to your grandmother. Then we can still be a family…”
“Get out!”
Madam Liu struck Gu Dazui on the leg with the stick, sending him stumbling to the ground.
“Our family, even if eaten by wolves on the mountain, won’t ever let your lot touch a single chicken! Try touching them again and I’ll burn down your old house!”
Madam Liu, abandoned by him in a past life, now saw him clearly.
She had thought the world would collapse after leaving the Gu family, yet leaving them had made their lives better!
Now, she didn’t want to see Gu Dazui at all. She just wished for peace in this little yard.
Gu Dazui hadn’t expected Madam Liu to hit him. In the past, she hadn’t even dared to speak loudly. What had happened to her now?
“I know you’re angry. You’ve hit me and vented. Time to go home, right?”
Gu Dazui thought if this beating could ease her anger, he would let it go and live peacefully with her.
Then he looked at the two children.
“Nianzhi, the Liu Landlord matter is over. Families shouldn’t hold grudges overnight. Take your brother and apologize to your grandparents. They’ve always been kind. At most, they’ll just scold you a little and it’ll be over.”
Gu Nianzhi turned her head, refusing to look at him. She feared she’d hit him.
In this era, filial piety was important. If she harmed this scumbag, the consequences could be severe.
“My mother and you are already divorced. The government has it on record. Don’t ever come here again,” Gu Nianzhi said through gritted teeth.
“It’s fine! After you go home, we’re still a family. Even if the authorities say Liu Shi isn’t my wife, as long as we’re together, the old Gu family will still recognize you!”
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t take it anymore.
She stormed back into the kitchen and slammed the door, keeping him from seeing anything inside.
Madam Liu trembled with anger, raising the stick to strike again. Gu Dazui quickly dodged.
“Never mind the apology for now! Liu Shi, your parents are your elders. Since the household has no food, could you—”
“Bah! When I divorced, I didn’t take a single grain from the old Gu house. Everything we have now is from my hard work gathering on the mountain. You lazy lot want to eat? Go gather it yourselves. Don’t even think about mine!”
Seeing that Madam Liu thought he wanted her wild vegetables, Gu Dazui hurried to explain.
“I meant… Nianzhi recently collected wild game and sold it. I know after you repaired the house and bought grain, you had no money left. The hens can lay an egg a day. I was asking if—”
Madam Liu couldn’t wait for him to finish and went on a rampage, striking him repeatedly. Gu Dazui, hearing her say he’d come back in a few days, found himself already running far away.