“Mother, this looks so lovely on you. Our Qingyun truly is filial.”
Her eldest aunt, Lady Zhao, heaped praise upon praise. She did not sour her expression just because Gu Qingyun had spent money on a bracelet. Strictly speaking, all household income belonged to the communal pool, and Gu Qingyun ought to have consulted everyone before buying something like this on her own.
But they were a family, so no one would complain. Besides, it was money she had earned herself as a reward. Even if she had kept it to herself without telling the family, none of them would have had any right to criticize her.
Now that their niece was willing to buy a bracelet for her grandmother, they could only feel glad. It proved she was filial and would never treat them poorly in the future.
Gu Qingyun looked at her two aunts and her birth mother with a beaming smile. She then produced three silver hairpins from inside her robe and slipped them into their hair one by one.
“Mother, Eldest Aunt, Second Aunt, it's hard work managing the household. I bought gifts for you as well.”
“Wow, what pretty hairpins! Mother, Auntie, they look so good on you!” Before Lady Zhao and the others could speak, Gu Qingling and the other younger cousins chimed in, their eyes eagerly fixed on their elders' heads.
Lady Su, Lady Zhao, and Lady Wu gently touched the hairpins in their hair, their eyes a mix of delight and apprehension. Gu Qingyun knew full well what her mother was worried about: she feared spending too much silver would upset their grandmother.
She pulled five taels of silver from her pouch and handed it to Old Lady Zhang.
“Grandmother, here is five taels of silver for you to keep. Aside from the reward from the County Magistrate this time, a prominent family also gave a reward—a full five taels! The County Magistrate gave three taels as well, which is enough to match my entire yearly wage.
“I spent two taels buying things. Look at these clothes I'm wearing—someone gave them to me, too. They were made by a senior maid from a wealthy household. Don't they suit me well?”
Old Lady Zhang cast her an amused glance.
“What, worried I would scold your mother and aunts? Don't worry, your grandmother isn't some vicious mother-in-law. Now more than ever, our family needs to pull together like strands of a single rope. Seeing you buy hairpins for them only makes me happy.”
Gu Qingyun chuckled sheepishly.
“Grandmother, I didn't mean it that way.”
Old Lady Zhang gave a soft snort of laughter.
“If you didn't mean it that way, I'd say you were foolish. Being able to think and act like this shows you've matured.
“With you working out in the yamen, I won't have to worry about you failing to handle relationships with your colleagues. What else did you buy? Take it all out at once.”
Gu Qingyun fell silent with admiration. For her grandmother to manage an entire household and keep three sons and three daughters-in-law in line took a breadth of mind far beyond that of an ordinary old woman. She reached into her robe, pulled out five pairs of silver stud earrings, and handed them to her sisters and cousins one by one. Old Lady Zhang watched, then asked, “Is that all?”
Gu Qingyun quietly produced four hair ribbons and handed them to her elder brothers and cousins. Old Lady Zhang rolled her eyes at the sight.
“You really are loose with your purse strings, spending over two taels without making a peep.”
Gu Qingyun didn't answer, instead quietly taking out the meat, pastries, and fine white flour she had bought from her basket, looking at Old Lady Zhang with a wheedling expression.
Old Lady Zhang glanced around, saw that Gu Qingyu, Gu Yihan, and the others were watching attentively, and spoke: “Look at your sister. The moment she gets a little money in hand, she doesn't know to save it for herself, but spends it all buying gifts for everyone. Every one of you had better remember her kindness.
“Qingyu, your sister must be hungry after coming all this way. Take Qingling and the others to cook dinner. Remember to make the white flour buns and pickled cabbage fish Qingyun loves most. Don't just stand there dazed—hurry and get cooking.”
“Right away.” Gu Qingyu stared blankly at the earrings in her hands, her eyes turning red. She truly had been blind in the past, refusing to listen to her elders all for the sake of that man.
If only she had married a better man, she wouldn't have been forced to return to her maiden home and become a burden. Now, the Gu family's heavy burdens rested entirely upon her youngest sister's shoulders.
If Gu Qingyun knew what she was thinking, she would have told her she was overthinking things. Gu Qingyun couldn't be more satisfied with her current life. Sigh, if only she had been a little older back then, she could have shouldered her father's burden and let him stay home, keeping him from losing his life.
“Qingyun, take these earrings back and return them. I'm a divorced woman who came back to her maiden home. I eat the family's food and live under their roof; it isn't right for me to accept such an expensive gift.” Gu Qingyu held the earrings out to Gu Qingyun.
Gu Qingyun frowned, her tone earnest. “Sister, you are my family, my older sister. Whatever the others have, you have as well. If you refuse to accept it, are you saying you don't consider me family?”
“No, that's not what I mean! I just...” Gu Qingyu's face flushed crimson with anxiety, and her words faltered.
“Qingyu, keep them. This is your sister's goodwill. Besides, didn't you contribute ten taels of silver to the communal pool? How could you be considered a freeloader? As long as our family lives well together, that's all that matters.” Old Lady Zhang patted her hand, reassuring her.
With tears in her smiling eyes, Gu Qingyu put on the earrings.
“Thank you, Qingyun. I'll go cook now.”
“Sister Qingyu, those earrings look wonderful on you,” Gu Qingyun said.
Gu Qingling, having put on her own earrings, swayed over to her and teased, “What about mine? Don't they look good?”
“They look good. All my sisters look beautiful.”
Gu Qingling covered her mouth and giggled, then asked with a smile, “Then why didn't you buy anything for yourself?”
Gu Qingyun pointed to the hair ribbon on her head. “Nice, isn't it? It's even embroidered with gold thread. A noble person gifted this to me. With this, why would I need to buy anything?”
At Gu Qingyun's words, the whole family crowded around. Gu Qingling was shorter than her and couldn't see the top of her head, so she pushed Gu Qingyun down onto a chair and admired the hair ribbon closely. Only when Old Lady Zhang called out to her did she and her sisters finally head to the kitchen.
Once they left, Gu Yifeng and the other young men went out as well. They had to water the fields and couldn't linger around the house forever.
Only Gu Qingyun, Old Lady Zhang, and a few others remained in the room.
“Qingyun, Grandmother knows you are filial and hold your family dear. But right now, the most important thing for us is to save money so we can move to the county seat in the future and find other work. From then on, no one in our family should become a constable anymore. Who knows—after a few generations, our family might even be able to take the imperial civil service exams.”
Having said this, Old Lady Zhang looked at Gu Qingyun. “You must stay safe out there. Our family cannot endure any more turmoil.”
Then she turned her gaze toward her three daughters-in-law. “Qingyun has only been a constable for a little over three months this year, yet she has already brought home fifteen taels. Combined with what we saved previously, the pension silver for Eldest, Second, and Third Son, and our eldest grandson, as well as the ten taels Qingyu contributed, the family has now saved nearly one hundred and fifty taels of silver.” At the mention of this money, tears welled in Old Lady Zhang's eyes.
Gu Qingyun did the math and said, “A typical two-courtyard compound in the county seat usually has about eighteen rooms, which is just enough to house our entire family. A property like that costs roughly one hundred to one hundred and fifty taels. When the time comes, Mother and my aunts can still weave cloth, while Sister Qingyu and the others have good culinary skills and could run a small food business. With me serving as a constable in the county yamen, we won't need to fear ruffians or thugs stirring up trouble. My elder brothers have good martial skills too. They can help out at home and protect against anyone trying to cause trouble.”
Her words brought smiles to everyone's faces. Old Lady Zhang nodded in approval. “If we scrimp and save a bit more, we can move to the county seat next year. From now on, there's real hope for our days ahead. I plan to raise more chicks when spring arrives next year. We have plenty of hands at home to tend to the chicken coop. When the time comes, we can sell the eggs in the county seat for money—that will be yet another source of income.”
Rate on N.U.
