Gu Dexing was truly scared this ti.
He, like Gu Yui, did not respect Gu Jinli, nor did he respect Gu Jin’an, always trying to pick a fight with Gu Jin’an. But this ti, he genuinely realized the gap between his family and Gu Jin’an’s family.
Third Grandpa was right, the workshop prospered because of Gu Jinli, and their family was rely reaping the benefits without effort.
Since they were reaping benefits without effort, they must understand the rules. If they dared to do anything that compromised the workshop and the people involved, then they couldn’t bla Third Grandpa for being ruthless.
Gu Yui curled up on the ground, unable to move from pain, seeing everyone in her family kneeling and begging Third Grandpa, she too feared her family being expelled from the workshop, so she endured the pain, crawled over, and knelt beside Gu Dexing, pleading, "Third Grandpa... I know I was wrong... Please spare this once... Sob sob sob..."
Third Grandpa didn’t look at her, only instructing Gu Jin’an, "Go, call all the adults from several families. Don’t bother calling your parents."
Gu Jin’an was startled but still went out to summon people.
Everyone knew that sothing had happened to Da Fu’s family. Seeing Gu Jin’an calling, they dared not delay and hurriedly followed him to Gu Dafu’s house.
After the people from various families entered, seeing the injured Gu Yui and the kneeling Gu Dafu’s family, everyone was shocked. Elder Qin was the first to ask, "Brother Gu, what happened?"
Third Grandpa told them all about Gu Yui secretly interacting with Zou Yuwan’s maid, accepting things from Zou Yuwan, and the matter of the stock withdrawal.
After hearing this, the faces of the adults from various families turned grim. This Gu Yui was too thoughtless. However, driving Gu Dafu’s family out of the workshop seed too harsh to them.
After all, they had fled famine together and shared life and death experiences...
...
Third Grandpa and Gu Jin’an didn’t return from Gu Dafu’s house until it was completely dark, and then shared the results of the matter with everyone.
After discussions among the people from various families, Gu Dafu’s family was not expelled from the workshop, but they were fined two hundred taels of silver, which would be deducted from the workshop’s dividends.
For the next three months, the money earned from the tofu stall would not be shared with Gu Dafu’s family, to make them endure so hard tis and learn their lesson.
Gu Dafu’s family also wrote a letter of commitnt, promising that if they were found endangering the workshop and others again, they wouldn’t only leave the workshop but would also compensate the workshop for a loss of ten-thousand taels of silver.
As this decision was made after discussions among the adults of various families, these adults also wrote a letter of commitnt, ensuring that if any of the six families did sothing detrintal to the workshop in the future, they would also leave the workshop and compensate the workshop with ten-thousand taels of silver.
Third Grandpa handed over six signed commitnt letters to Gu Jinli, sighing, "Xiao Yu, it’s just that Third Grandpa couldn’t bear it... I can’t stand to see Da Fu’s family lose their livelihood because of Sister i."
Thinking of Village Chief Gu’s death, the hardship of fleeing famine, and the recent good days all families had just started to enjoy, tears welled up in his eyes.
He assured, "Don’t worry, Xiao Yu, Third Grandpa is only soft-hearted this once. If this happens again, even if it costs my life, I will expel those who want to harm the workshop!"
Third Grandma, wiping her tears, said, "Xiao Yu, don’t bla your Third Grandpa... People get softer as they age and always hesitate to take drastic asures the first ti."
From the mont Third Grandpa asked not to call her family to Gu Dafu’s house, Gu Jinli knew that Third Grandpa only intended to teach Gu Dafu’s family a lesson, and wouldn’t really expel them from the workshop.
However, recovering these six commitnt letters was also an achievent.
Previously, it was just a small-ti stall, a small business, and it didn’t matter that the families mingled. Now that they had opened a workshop and the business had grown, so things had to be prepared in advance to prevent any of the families from being bought out and harming the workshop, affecting her interests.
And these six promissory notes, along with the ten thousand taels of silver ntioned, are like a heavy mountain weighing on the families, constantly reminding them to stay vigilant and not be misled by others.
"Third Grandpa, I understand," Gu Jinli took the six promissory notes, looked them over, and put them away.
"Xiao Yu..." Third Grandpa looked at Gu Jinli, realizing that the child had forgiven him for making decisions on his own.
Seeing the tired look on Third Grandpa, Gu Jinli said to Third Grandma, "Third Grandma, it’s getting late, and we still have to go to Daxing Town tomorrow. Let’s hurry up and eat."
"Eh, let’s eat, let’s eat. Old man, step aside, don’t stand in the way, we’re about to start the al."
After the family had eaten, several household mbers ca to her house to tally accounts and divide the money.
Gu Dafu’s family didn’t co. Third Grandpa didn’t allow them, saying that Gu Jinli was probably still angry and that they should apologize after a few days so as not to be an eyesore.
That night’s accounts were calculated by Gu Jin’an.
Because of Gu Yui’s incident, the atmosphere that evening was sowhat gloomy. After dividing the money, each family went ho.
However, because of this incident, the families realized the importance of managing their own mbers well, to prevent anyone from being bribed and jeopardizing the workshop’s business.
This was exactly what Gu Jinli wanted. With so many families, no one knew when soone might exploit a loophole, so vigilance was necessary at all tis.
Now that she had those six promissory notes, she slept very soundly that night.
Gu Yui was in a terrible state; not only was she beaten up all over, but she also wasn’t allowed to eat and had knelt in the main hall all night. She developed a high fever and fainted in the middle of the night, causing a lot of chaos in Gu Dafu’s family; Mrs. Chen’s scolding could even be heard in Gu Jinli’s house.
Regardless of the turmoil in Gu Dafu’s family, Gu Jinli slept soundly. The next day, before dawn had even broken, she got up, started packing, and prepared for her trip to Hu Yun Temple in Daxing Town.
Third Grandma, knowing they were going to seek soone, had prepared quite a bit of stuff early in the morning.
"These are ascetic people; they don’t care for silver, so you should bring more food, which the masters will appreciate," advised Third Grandma, as Gu Dashan loaded three boxes of white tofu, a basket of fried bean dregs cakes, a bag of millet, ten kilograms of white flour, a basket of bok choy, and a basket of sweet potatoes onto the mule cart.
Gu Jinli also loaded a jar of soybean oil she had made onto the mule cart.
The ascetics don’t eat at, and nowadays all cooking oils are animal-based. People in the Daoist Temple eat boiled vegetables, which is quite bland, so providing a jar of soybean oil could let the masters enjoy their als with so oil.
After busying themselves for half an hour, once Gu Dashan and Gu Jin’an had returned from the workshop, they called Gu Daya and Elder Qin, and then set off on the mule cart towards Daxing Town.
Only Daoist nuns reside in Hu Yun Temple and it’s difficult for n to enter. Everyone wasn’t comfortable letting Gu Jinli go into the Daoist Temple alone, so they asked Gu Daya to accompany her.
Elder Qin is skilled in martial arts; having him along would make the journey safer.
The mule cart sped along for more than an hour, finally reaching Daxing Town, and it took another half an hour to arrive at Little Teeth Mountain.
Little Teeth Mountain, while prefixed with ’Little’, is actually a large mountain. Looking up, the tall mountain pierces the clouds, enveloped by white mist and lush ancient trees.
At the foothills is a small village. Gu Jin’an drove the mule cart into the village and asked an old farr, "Excuse , Uncle, is Hu Yun Temple in this direction?"
The old farr was about to go to the fields and replied, "Yes, are you going there to seek the temple master for treatnt?"
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