Chapter 138: Jealousy and Envy

Shaoyuan smiled softly at Jiaoyan’s adorable expression. Reaching out, he pulled out a handkerchief and gently wiped away a speck of soup from the corner of her lips. "If you like it, eat as much as you want. I found the mushrooms in there quite delicious too; let me pick a few for you." As he spoke, he dropped several pieces of mushroom into Jiaoyan's bowl.

Seated right across from Jiaoyan and Shaoyuan were Wentao and the others. Wentao stared wide-eyed, watching Shaoyuan continuously serve food to Jiaoyan. "That brat, always trying to curry favor. I can't stand him the most," Wentao muttered under his breath, feeling thoroughly helpless since he was seated opposite Jiaoyan and couldn't reach across to help her with the dishes.

The meal ended harmoniously with both hosts and guests thoroughly satisfied. Gu Chengyong had consumed quite a bit of wine, and his face was flushed. By the time they finished, it was completely dark outside. Fearing that the village gates would soon be locked for the night, Gu Chengyong decided against lingering any longer. After eating a little more, he took his wife and children and bid farewell to the Qi family.

Miao Suwen and Shaoyuan had finished eating earlier and now joined in to say goodbye. The Qi family escorted them all the way outside the main gates and even sent both families away with a generous basket of fruit, seeing as the Miao family had no fruit trees of their own—Uncle Gu Er had already dug them up and moved them to the new homestead.

As the group passed by the Miao residence, they accompanied Miao Suwen and her son into the courtyard. "Jiaoniang, when are you going to help the Qi family prepare those melon seeds? I'll come over and give you a hand then," Shaoyuan said, turning his head to look at Jiaoyan.

"Alright, I'll definitely need your help when the time comes. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to haul all those materials back from town by myself." Jiaoyan never stood on ceremony with Shaoyuan, so she agreed readily and cheerfully.

After the Miao family shut their heavy wooden gate and secured it firmly with a wooden crossbar, the Gu family members resumed their walk back home. Although Gu Chengyong had drunk quite a bit, he was far from inebriated. He bent down, scooped Jiaoyan up into his arms, and planted a loud kiss on her cheek. "Little girl, you really are something else! Well, not bad at all—my daughter is truly brilliant. You handled things splendidly today. We must never become blinded by money; forging a genuine connection with someone is far more valuable than eight or ten taels of silver."

Jiaoyan wrapped her arms around her father's neck and deliberately scrunched up her nose. "Mom, Daddy drank so much wine, he smells awful. Make him take a bath tonight, or else we won't let him up onto the heated brick bed to sleep!"

Madam Feng stood nearby, smiling warmly without saying a word. In contrast, Gu Chengyong chuckled and playfully leaned in to kiss Jiaoyan again, sending the little girl into a fit of giggles.

Naturally, there was no moonlight at the end of the lunar month, but the path was so familiar to them that they could have navigated it with their eyes closed without any trouble. After a brief spell of playful laughter and chatter, the family finally returned to the Gu residence.

Ordinarily, the members of the Gu household would have been fast asleep by this hour. Tonight, however, the east room of the main quarters remained brightly lit. Hearing the commotion at the outer gate, Madam Xu emerged from the main house and called out toward the entrance, "Second Brother, Father and Mother want to see you about something."

Gu Chengyong felt a flicker of puzzlement. What was the matter this time? He turned his head and told Madam Feng, "Lead the children back to the room to sleep first. They're all tired and shouldn't stay up late. You've had a tiring day too, so don't wait up for me—just go on to sleep." With that, Gu Chengyong strode off toward the east room of the main quarters.

Upon entering, he found that both the elderly patriarch and matriarch were still awake. The bedding had already been laid out, but neither of the old couple had undressed yet. Fourth Brother Gu Chenxin and Madam Xu were also seated at the edge of the heated brick bed. "Father, did you want something?" Gu Chengyong asked softly.

"Can't I call for you unless there's an emergency? Where is that little girl of yours? Why didn't she come over?" Before the old man could speak, Madam Li chimed in from the side.

Gu Chengyong's heart grew even more suspicious. Madam Li usually had little use for girls, and since his own daughter frequently talked back to her, she was even less favored. What had gotten into her today? Why was she suddenly asking about Jiaoyan? "Jiao'er is still young and exhausted, so her mother carried her back to bed."

"Second Brother, you've raised a fine daughter indeed—she certainly knows how to help others out! But when she has such a clever method, how come she didn't think of helping out her own family?" Madam Li's tone turned somewhat displeased as she spoke coldly.

Gu Chengyong frowned. "Mother, what are you talking about?"

"What else could I be talking about? Your daughter can go help outsiders make spiced melon seeds, so why on earth didn't she think of finding a way for our own family to make some money? In our household this year, Xiuli is getting married, and Fifth Brother is taking a wife—does any of that not cost money? Since there was a rare opportunity to make a profit, why didn't she think of keeping it for her own kin instead of giving away favors for nothing to outsiders?" Madam Li arched an eyebrow, her face etched with a trace of anger.

At that, Gu Chengyong understood. News of Jiaoyan helping the Qi family must have reached the rest of the household, prompting Madam Li to pull this stunt. "Father, Mother, what on earth are you imagining? Our family doesn't even have those melon seeds. Even if Jiao'er wanted to help the family, she couldn't possibly do it. Those seeds belong to the Qi family; Jiao'er merely helped process them. How could we possibly just haul them back to our own house?"

Seeing his chance, Gu Chenxin could no longer hold his tongue. "I say, Second Brother, is your brain stuck or something? The Qi family had all those melons piling up with no way to sell them—they were practically destined to rot in the fields. Since Jiao'er has such a wonderful method, she should have spent a few pennies to buy all those melons back entirely, and then we could have processed them ourselves. Wouldn't that have been wonderful?"

"How could she just go and help outsiders for nothing without letting our own family reap any of the benefits? Second Brother, Jiao'er is foolish, but have you lost your senses too? An acre of land can yield several hundred catties of melon seeds, which could easily sell for around ten taels of silver! Second Brother, we toil away farming grains year in and year out, and if we manage to harvest three or four taels at the end of the season, it's already a mercy from the heavens. Tell me, how could you just push away such a huge sum of money?" Gu Chenxin ranted, his face a mask of bitter regret.

"Besides, even if we hadn't bought all those melons, she should have properly negotiated terms with the Qi family. At the very least, shouldn't they have given us half of the earnings? That's money right there! Ten taels of silver would be enough for our whole family to eat and live comfortably for half a year. Second Brother, who ever thinks money is too much trouble to handle?" Gu Chenxin shook his head back and forth, clicking his tongue to express his deep dismay.

Gu Chengyong frowned deeply and instantly made up his mind to conceal the fact that the Qi family had originally offered to give Jiaoniang half of the proceeds. If the rest of the family found out about that, there was no telling what kind of chaos would ensue. This entire household had become completely blinded by money.

"Fourth Brother, according to your logic, does that mean our Gu family shouldn't maintain ties with anyone in the village anymore? Does it mean whenever something happens to us, we shouldn't have to ask others for help either? Are you planning to dig a well right next to the kitchen stove and live entirely without ever needing a soul? In this day and age, is making a reliable connection more useful, or is eight or ten taels of silver more useful?" Gu Chengyong glared at Gu Chenxin and demanded in a deep voice.

"The Qi family has always treated our family exceptionally well. When they ran into such a minor difficulty, it was only right for Jiao'er to reach out and lend a hand. If Jiao'er had dared to demand money from them, I would have beaten her myself when she got home. Can we really afford to be so shortsighted in our lives? Would we throw away human decency and warmth just for a tiny bit of silver?"

"The Qi family has already set aside seeds for us. When we plant those melons ourselves next year, won't we be able to make money then? Once we have the seeds, we can slowly develop it ourselves. Never mind ten taels—we can earn ten times ten taels. If everyone acted as shortsighted as you, only caring about what's right in front of your noses, how could anyone ever hope to live a proper life?" Gu Chengyong was truly furious. He genuinely hadn't expected his own flesh and blood to think this way.

Gu Chenxin, however, remained entirely unrepentant. "Second Brother, that's why I say your head doesn't work right. Next year? Who knows what the market will look like next year? What if everyone starts growing these melons next year, and they become worthless? How would you make money then? You'd be lucky not to lose your shirt! Since there's money to be made right now, why not grab it immediately instead of waiting until next year?"

When the Qi family members came to invite Gu Chengyong over earlier that evening, Wenjing had happened to be lying across the courtyard wall separating the east and west yards, hearing every single word of what Qi Jianyuan had said. Upon returning, Wenjing recounted everything he overheard to Gu Chenxin. Stirred by greed, Gu Chenxin hurriedly sought out the elderly patriarch and Madam Li to spill the details. Naturally, Gu Chenxin added plenty of his own dramatic flourishes, claiming that Gu Chengyong had no regard for the Gu family and gave away favors to outsiders for free without consulting his own kin.

Madam Li already harbored a strong prejudice against Jiaoyan, and hearing this only fueled her anger further. That was why she had deliberately waited for Gu Chengyong's return to pick a fight about it. "Second Brother, you handled this matter completely wrong. When the Qi family invited you over tonight, you should have settled the terms clearly with them. Jiaoniang is young and got taken advantage of, but you're her father and you have plenty of sense—how could you not know to demand some silver in return?"

"Our family's purse strings are tight right now. A few extra taels of silver would let everyone breathe a little easier. You might be some wealthy lord who doesn't care about eight or ten taels, but you need to think of the household. If we had just a bit more money, things wouldn't be so difficult for us, would they?" Madam Li expressed intense dissatisfaction with Gu Chengyong's actions. "Since you're back now, you ought to look out for the family. Letting such a wonderful opportunity slip through our fingers like that is such a terrible pity."

Gu Chengyong grew more and more furious with every word. He cast a look at the old patriarch. "Father, is that how you see it too? Does our Gu family really want to live such an isolated, dead-end existence? Putting everything else aside, take Xiuli's wedding for instance—how many families from the village came to offer congratulatory gifts? If the Gu family earns this kind of reputation for our character, when something happens in the future, let's see how many people bother to show up and support us. Don't forget, Fifth Brother is getting married soon too. It's one thing when a daughter marries out and few people attend, but if only a handful of people show up to help when we take in a bride, where do you think the Gu family's face will go? The dignity of the entire Gu family would be dragged through the dirt and disgraced in the middle of the street."

With that, Gu Chengyong stood up abruptly and strode toward the exit. "Father, you'd better give my words some serious thought. If life ever truly reaches that point, it won't matter if you have a mountain of gold—what good would it do? Life is lived among people; money alone is useless if you don't have human support." Having said his piece, Gu Chengyong stepped out of the room.

He left Madam Li, her son, and her daughter-in-law staring at one another in blank dismay, each secretly unconvined. "Old man, look at him! He completely disregards you," Madam Li complained with deep displeasure.

"Enough, shut your trap. This matter shouldn't have been brought up in the first place. Second Brother is right—if we followed your advice, we would end up making enemies of everyone around us," the old man said gruffly before stripping off his clothes, climbing under the covers, and going to sleep.