What angered Village Chief He the most was that after the Mo Family sold themselves into servitude to the Lu Family, they could simply return to the village; as if his earlier pronouncent forbidding their entry was a re joke. He felt like he had been slapped in the face by the Lu Family.
"Mo Family sold themselves to the Lu Family?" Gu Jin’an was a bit surprised, then sneered sarcastically: "This is indeed sothing their family would do. It’s just that they don’t need to sell themselves at all."
"Exactly, I said I would go to the county governnt to annul Mo Family’s household registration, but I haven’t done it yet. If they had any sense, they should take this ti to go to nearby destitute villages and give a little silver to the villagers to allow them to settle in. Once settled, if they work hard, they could have made a living. But they refused, and now the whole family has sold themselves to the Lu Family."
Village Chief He, huffing in anger, walked into Gu Jinli’s courtyard and sat down before speaking: "A family of twelve people, all sold into servitude; this is the first ti I’ve seen an entire family beco servants to their fellow villagers."
"Why did they have to sell themselves to the Lu Family of all people? Do they really think the Lu Family is such a benevolent hoowner? Wait until they don’t even know how they’ve been ruined by the Lu Family."
Mo Chunyue, however, didn’t care and reassured Village Chief He instead: "Village chief, don’t be upset. Their fall to this state is all of their own making."
The Mo Family had enough people. If they had settled down and worked honestly, they would have pulled through long ago. However, Elder Mo was always pining for the good old days at their ancestral ho, thinking he was still one of the wealthy households in the village, not willing to work, always looking to make a fortune through crooked sches.
Village Chief He frowned upon hearing this, and he said to Mo Chunyue: "Don’t go around saying things like that, or others will say you’re heartless."
Although the Mo Family had wronged Mo Chunyue, she was after all the granddaughter of the Mo Family. Now that her entire natal family had sold themselves into servitude, her saying these things would certainly draw criticism.
"Yes, I won’t dare next ti." Mo Chunyue was very pleased with Village Chief He’s verbal reminder, as it showed he had accepted her as a mber of the clan.
Gu Jinli, on the other hand, didn’t care much about the whole Mo Family selling themselves into servitude. She took out the last bowl of hairy tofu and placed it on a stool for Village Chief He and the Third Grandpa to eat.
After trying a piece, Village Chief He exclaid with delight: "This tastes good. Is this another new delicacy you’ve co up with?"
Gu Jinli nodded: "Yes, this is hairy tofu. It can also be made into a kind of preserved tofu, which can be used as a seasoning, or as a side dish with rice, porridge, or pancakes. Preserved tofu has a longer shelf life. Now that the weather is hot and tofu spoils easily, preserved tofu is more durable and great for selling."
Finally, Village Chief He cheered up: "This is good, this is very good. Making sothing that can last is sothing custors will gladly buy."
Third Grandpa, Third Grandma, and Gu Dashan all tried a few pieces of the hairy tofu and found it delicious.
Third Grandpa advised while eating: "The Mo Family has beco the Lu Family’s servants, so our families need to be wary of the Mo Family lest they cause trouble for the workshop."
Gu Jinli said: "Third Grandpa doesn’t have to worry about this. The Lu Family is already greatly weakened, and the Mo Family are rely their servants; they wouldn’t dare to make trouble for our workshop."
But she underestimated the Mo Family’s stupidity. Just the next day, Old Mrs. Mo brought her two daughters-in-law and Mo Qiuyue to the workshop.
With He Sanlai and Old Zhu away seeking refugees from Changping Town at other towns, there was no one to guard the workshop’s gates, and the Mo Family’s mother and daughters-in-law entered the workshop in an imposing manner.
Old Mrs. Mo’s drooping eyelids struggled to lift as she scanned the workshop and declared arrogantly: "Has everyone in Gu’s Workshop died? The clients have arrived, yet nobody is out here to welco them?"
Gu Jinli was in the workshop selecting soybeans for making soy sauce. Hearing Old Mrs. Mo’s words, she turned her head to look at the courtyard. Upon seeing the Mo Family’s mothers and daughters-in-law, her gaze shifted and settled on Mo Qiuyue.
Mo Qiuyue wore a new dress and held a handkerchief in her hand, standing there like a boneless snake, her body leaning to one side.
Gu Jinli narrowed her eyes, thinking Mo Qiuyue was transforming from a wild chicken to a phoenix, wasn’t she?
She dusted off her hands and stepped out of the storeroom, sneering at the Mo mother and daughter-in-law, "Greeting guests? A bunch of servants, who do you think you are to be considered guests?"
Old Mrs. Mo’s face darkened with anger as she retorted, "You little brat, we are guests as soon as we step through your door, and guests should be treated as such."
Mo Dakui’s wife chid in, "Exactly, and we are big custors. Today we want to buy thirty pounds of fried tofu. You better watch your tone, or we might not buy it!"
Gu Jinli laughed, "You not buying? We would gladly not sell to you. Get lost, and if you blabber one more word, I’ll flatten you."
Really, the Mo Family must be sick in the head, thinking they can challenge her just because they butter up the Lu Family? She isn’t even afraid of the Lu Family, much less the Mo Family.
Mo Qinzi and her daughter, Mo Chunyue, and the workers from the workshop all ca out, pointing at the Mo mother and daughter-in-law, "Didn’t you hear our Young Master’s words? Get lost, or we’ll lay hands on you."
Gu’s Workshop had a lot of people, and the Mo mother and daughter-in-law were surrounded by more than twenty people, so they said sowhat fearfully, "We... we ca here to buy things."
He Dazhuang’s wife spat at them, "Buy what? Are you deaf? Our Young Master said we’re not selling! Our workshop sells thousands of pounds of tofu every day. Who cares about your handful of pounds?"
Mo Qiuyue, taking small, graceful steps, walked out and curtsied to the crowd, saying, "Since the business is open, there’s no reason to drive custors away."
She looked up at Gu Jinli, her mouth curling into what she believed to be a fetching smile, "Miss Gu, if you drive us away today, by tomorrow the news of Gu’s Workshop turning away its custors will have spread. You should think thrice before acting."
Gu Jinli smirked, "We haven’t seen each other for just a few days, and an illiterate person like you has started using idioms, is that what the Lu Family taught you? What else did the Lu Family teach you?"
He Dazhuang’s wife was a tough character; she had already noticed sothing off about Mo Qiuyue and pointed at her, clicking her tongue, "What else can the Lu Family teach her? It’s nothing more than serving n. Just look at how she stands, how she holds a handkerchief, clearly not sothing a decent girl would do."
Her words provoked laughter from everyone present.
Old Mrs. Mo’s face turned green as she pointed at He Dazhuang’s wife, "Don’t you spout nonsense here. My Qiuyue is a pure and innocent girl. She is learning these skills to work as a maid in Zou Mansion."
"Do you know what Zou Mansion is? It is the residence of the County Governor. You bunch of dirt-poor country bumpkins, once my Qiuyue goes to the County Governor Mansion and becos a phoenix, you’ll all be jealous."
At this point, Old Mrs. Mo felt proud, thinking their family had no hope left until Shuan Da’s wife suddenly ca seeking them, willing to take in their family and even send Qiuyue to work as a maid in the County Governor Mansion, suggesting that if the chance arose, she could even help Qiuyue to beco a concubine.
As for whose concubine she might beco, they didn’t ask, nor did they care. They just wanted to climb up to the County Governor Mansion.
Now that Old Mrs. Mo felt her family had a bright future, she considered them soaring to the skies, so she ca to Gu’s Workshop with her two daughters-in-law and Mo Qiuyue, strutting proudly.
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