Chapter 147: Tender Face Loses Her Temper

Gu Chengyong was the type of person who protected his children fiercely. Upon hearing Madam Li's words, his expression changed instantly. "Can you not speak properly? If you are just going to open your mouth to hurl curses, then don't say anything at all. No one is going to listen to your nonsense." He certainly did not spoil Madam Li and could not be bothered to indulge her antics.

Madam Li was so enraged that she nearly flipped backward. "Oh my, there is simply no way to live anymore! People aren't even allowed to speak now. Old man, hurry back quickly; I'm being bullied to death." Madam Li was someone who never addressed matters straightforwardly; as she had always done in the past, she dragged out her words in a prolonged, wailing cry.

Gu Chengyong turned his head to address Feng shi and Jiaoyan. "All of you, go back to the room. During such a busy time, who has the patience to listen to her howl like this? Would it kill you to speak properly? You just have to pull a stunt like this. Let's go, pay her no mind." As he spoke, Gu Chengyong prepared to lead his wife and daughter back home.

Seeing this, Madam Li abruptly stopped her crying and shouting. "Stop right there! We haven't finished talking yet, where do you think you're going?"

"Do you want to talk properly now? If you can speak properly, then speak. If not, I have no mood to listen." Gu Chengyong was not afraid of Madam Li at all. This old woman was the type who wouldn't behave until she got put in her place. Unless people refused to give her a polite face, she could never discuss matters in a proper manner.

Naturally, Madam Li was furious. She pointed casually at Xu shi. "Fourth daughter-in-law, you tell them."

Having been called out, Xu shi stepped closer to Madam Li. "Second Brother, it's not that I want to complain, but this girl of yours is simply too arrogant and disrespectful. She has no regard for our Gu family at all. Earlier, she went to help the Qi family for no good reason. Fine, Second Brother, you said it was out of neighborly sentiment from the same village, so Mother let it slide."

"But this time, that girl helped the old Qi family go against our family. If this isn't biting the hand that feeds us, what is? You belong to the Gu family; instead of siding with your own family, you run off to help outsiders. Can you really blame the old lady for being angry?" Xu shi gazed at Jiaoyan with a trace of undisguised contempt on her face.

Jiaoyan was furious. When on earth had she ever helped the Qi family deal with the Gu family? What kind of absurd nonsense was this? "Fourth Aunt, make yourself clear. When did I ever help the Qi family go against the Gu family? How has the Qi family wronged the Gu family? Aren't things going perfectly well?"

"If you didn't help the Qi family, then whose idea was it to make those five-spice melon seeds? If you didn't help them, why is the Qi family buying up melon seeds in all the nearby villages? If you didn't help them, would the Qi family have the audacity to go against us? Your Fourth Uncle and I had already made arrangements with the villagers to buy their melon seeds right after the festival. But what happened? When we got there, either the Qi family had already bought them all up, or we heard that the Qi family was offering a higher price, so people refused to sell to us! Tell me, could it have ended up like this without your help?"

"You aren't unaware of how difficult things are for our family. Your Fourth Uncle and I had no other intentions; we just wanted to buy some melon seeds so our household could make a little money. And what was the result? We dragged ourselves out there with all that effort, yet we didn't manage to buy a single seed. The old Qi family actually offered them ten copper coins per pound—such an exorbitant price! Isn't this an obvious move to spite us?" The more Xu shi spoke, the angrier she became, her facial expression twisting with resentment.

Hearing this, Jiaoyan finally understood. So the ones planning to rob people by buying melon seeds for a mere three copper coins a pound were none other than her Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt! No wonder—the matter of the Qi family making a fortune with five-spice melon seeds was currently known to only a few close-knit families in the village. How could anyone else have thought of buying up melon seeds? So the truth lay right here: members of the Gu family had deliberately tried to take advantage of others, intending to buy up melon seeds for pennies just to turn a profit.

Jiaoyan shook her head, feeling an indescribable sensation in her heart. "Fourth Aunt, Fourth Uncle and you went to buy melon seeds—did you mention it to me? You went to buy them without telling me a damn thing, and how was I supposed to know? The Qi family came to discuss things with me long ago. Since I had no idea you were planning to do this too, how could I possibly stop the Qi family?" She was furious, so she stopped caring whether her words sounded pleasant or not.

"You didn't tell me anything, and now you run over here to blame and curse me! What do you take me for? Do I owe you something? Come on, let's go out and find people to arbitrate this today. I want to tell everyone in the village whether there's any reason for you to bully people like this!" Jiaoyan was incensed. Her little face was flushed red, her large eyes glared roundly, and she spoke through gritted teeth.

"Only now do I understand why you kept running over to the Qi family these past few days. It turns out you wanted to secretly steal the recipe for the melon seeds so you could make them yourselves at home. You discussed buying melon seeds with Fourth Uncle without telling me because you didn't want me to know at all. You just planned to steal the method and make money on your own. If you had told me and let me help you, wouldn't you have had to be grateful to me?"

Jiaoyan gave a cold, frosty laugh. "Keep dreaming! Even when I taught the Qi family step by step, they still couldn't quite figure it out. Do you really think you can pull it off just by sneaking a few glances? Hmph! It's fortunate you didn't manage to buy any melon seeds; otherwise, heaven knows what kind of disaster you would have stirred up. Do you think a recipe is that easy to figure out? If it were really that simple, wouldn't the folks at the dried-goods shops have figured it out ages ago?"

"Furthermore, you were going to buy people's melon seeds for three copper coins a pound. Were you just picking them up for free? Did you ever stop to think that people toil in the fields all year round, relying entirely on that little bit of produce to feed their families? Look into your own conscience—how could you even say such a thing? Three copper coins—you were practically demanding their lives!" Thinking of this truly infuriated Jiaoyan.

"I'll tell you this straight: I am definitely helping the Qi family. For no other reason than the Qi family's righteousness and integrity, I have to help them. It's true the Qi family wants to make money, but they haven't lost their conscience. At the very least, the price they offer is comparable to the price of grain from previous years, so people won't end up taking a loss." Jiaoyan was furious, and her voice was extremely loud. Though small in stature, she raised her voice and shouted right back at Xu shi. After letting it all out, she felt much more at ease.

"Well said, Jiaoyan! Now that sounds like a child from a farming family." With the Gu family making such a commotion, quite a few onlookers had already gathered outside. Hearing Jiaoyan's words, the crowd nodded in agreement.

"Ain't that the truth? Look at this child, and then look at this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law—what they did wasn't something decent human beings would do. And they call themselves farmers; since when are farmers so utterly unscrupulous?" someone scoffed derisively.

Gu family's grandfather had been out threshing beans. Hearing the row at home, he led some people back. He hadn't expected to see a crowd gathered around his doorway. As he pushed his way through, he happened to hear Jiaoyan's words and the surrounding crowd's murmurs of agreement.

Gu Chengxin and Xu shi had only discussed their plan with Madam Li; they hadn't mentioned it to Grandfather Gu at all. In Madam Li's eyes, there was simply no need to mention it. Once the plan succeeded and the family made money, the old man would only be overjoyed—did that really need discussing? But now, not only had the plan failed, but Jiaoyan had also exposed the whole thing in front of so many people. How could the old man save face now?

"What kind of ruckus is this? All of you, get inside the house! You never have a moment of peace—are you not exhausted enough?" Grandfather Gu asked with an extremely ugly expression, speaking in a loud voice.

Xu shi and Madam Li had been left completely speechless by Jiaoyan's sharp tongue. Scolded by the old man now as well, the two of them opened their mouths, utterly at a loss for what to say. "Old man, weren't we just trying to make some money to supplement the household?" Madam Li muttered in a low voice.

"Get inside! Aren't you embarrassed yet?" The old man's face was flushed red with anger. Ignoring Madam Li and Xu shi, he strode directly toward the house. "Second one, you come too." He still wanted to summon Gu Chengyong.

"No need, Father. This matter has nothing to do with us. Since you didn't bother to consult us in the first place, why look for us now?" Gu Chengyong couldn't be bothered to argue with them about these things. He turned, led his wife and daughter, and walked straight back to the west courtyard.

The onlookers outside dispersed as well. As they walked away, people chattered amongst themselves. "Hey, what kind of melon seeds were they talking about just now? Ten copper coins a pound? And that's just the purchase price—if they sell it finished, how much would it cost? Come on, let's go over to the Qi family and ask!" Those with a curious streak wanted to go pry for information at the Qi family.

"I'd advise you not to bother going. No matter how high the Qi family sells it for, it has nothing to do with you. Didn't you hear what Jiaoyan said just now? It's because of her recipe that they were able to make it and sell it for a good price. Do you have the recipe? Without a recipe, going to ask is pointless." Someone else immediately poured cold water on the idea.

At this, the crowd remembered. Of course—what Jiaoyan said was crystal clear. Without the recipe, everything else was just hot air. Still, they figured they could at least go inquire: if melon seeds at ten copper coins a pound yielded a large harvest per acre, the profit might actually turn out better than growing regular grain.

"Let's go take a look and ask around. If the math works out, we can plant a couple of acres next year too—any bit of income helps," someone suggested, and a good number of people headed off toward the Qi family's direction.

Inside the Gu family's east room, the old man packed a pouch of tobacco and puffed on it in gloomy silence. After taking a few puffs, he finally looked up at his wife and fourth daughter-in-law. "Talk. What is this all about today?"

Xu shi glanced at Madam Li, and Madam Li glanced back at Xu shi. After the two of them exchanged looks for a long moment, Madam Li finally spoke slowly. "Well, didn't the Qi family make some money a few days ago? Then Fourth said he knew people in other villages who grew that kind of melon, and suggested we buy them back, get Jiaoyan to help us make that five-spice flavor, and make a little money for ourselves."

"As a result, when Fourth's wife went over today, people had already sold all their melon seeds to the Qi family. Tell me, wasn't that dead girl the one who caused this mischief? Earlier, she helped the Qi family without even taking their silver, claiming she couldn't watch them take a loss. But what about this time? Wasn't the Qi family obviously doing business? Why is that girl still helping them? Our own family hasn't even managed to make any money yet—how could we let outsiders take it all?" Madam Li was still somewhat unresigned, her tone remaining less than pleasant.