"You’re here!" Gu Chengyu heard that it was Gu Chengyi’s voice. That’s right, his elder brother lived in the rear house of the east wing, so he certainly reacted a bit slower to what’s happening outside.
Gu Chengyu heard Gu Chengyi go forward to open the door, and Uncle Gu’s voice ca from the front courtyard.
Gu Chengyu was sure—this ti soone was here to borrow silver.
"Uncle! What brings you here? My dad just went to sleep." Gu Chengyi latched the door behind him, also feeling strange why Uncle Gu would co at this hour.
"Has Changqing already gone to bed?" Uncle Gu stood in the courtyard without entering the main house, knowing that everyone was asleep by now and his sister-in-law was inside, it surely was inconvenient, so he just shouted from the courtyard.
"Hey! Brother! Co in quickly, we’re still awake." Mr. Gu saw that Mrs. Lv had already dressed and tidied her hair again, and seeing everything was in order, he called out to Uncle Gu in the courtyard.
"Well, I’ll co in then!" Uncle Gu knew it was convenient for him to enter now.
Mr. Gu went to the main house door and opened it, while Uncle Gu followed him in.
"Brother!" Mrs. Lv called out, feeling uneasy about Uncle Gu’s visit at this hour.
"Ah! Sister-in-law, still not asleep? Is Xiao Bao already asleep?" Coming late like this, Uncle Gu felt a little embarrassed, and he didn’t think much about what he was saying, just asked a couple of questions casually. Gu Chengyu felt like laughing. If the sister-in-law was asleep, how could the uncle co into the house?
Gu Chengyu was actually already asleep earlier, now of course he couldn’t still be awake.
Mr. Gu seed to sense his brother’s discomfort, so he took over the conversation, saying, "Xiao Bao has gone to sleep, tomorrow they have to get up early to go study; little kids need more sleep, they’ve already slept early!"
"Hey! Good! Changqing! You know about the corvee labor the village chief spoke of today, have you prepared the silver?" Uncle Gu decided to speak directly, feeling rather uncomfortable staying in the house.
"I’ve already prepared it. This ti is very dangerous; can’t let them go again, it might result in casualties," Mr. Gu, hearing Uncle Gu bringing up the topic, already had so sense of the situation.
"Yes! This work on the riverbank always leaves so people dead. This ti Hua didn’t pass the scholar exam, so my family can’t be exempted from taxes, the corvee labor still needs to be done, otherwise silver must be paid." In reality, even if Gu Wanhua passes the county examination, it would still be a few days, and corvee labor is happening these days, it simply can’t be delayed.
Seeing the late hour, Mr. Gu didn’t want to dance around the subject with Uncle Gu, "Brother, is it that silver coin is tight at your place?"
Originally, Uncle Gu was hesitant to ntion it, now seeing Mr. Gu bring it up, he nodded eagerly.
"Yes, if Hua’s silver for the county examination was kept, it would be enough. Now, it’s still short by two taels, could you spare so here? After so days, I’ll have my eldest repay you."
"Brother, what are you talking about? Although there’s not much silver left at ho, two taels can be managed." Mr. Gu, seeing his brother speaking to this extent, knew he had to lend, especially since it’s just borrowing two taels, and his nephew’s monthly salary is quite substantial, it won’t be long before it’s repaid, he wasn’t worried.
"Dear, give two taels of silver to my brother!" Mr. Gu turned, instructing Mrs. Lv to hand over the silver to Uncle Gu.
"No, no need! Tomorrow will do!" Uncle Gu also knew, in rural households valuable items were kept in the cabinet near the kang bed or piano bed, for Changqing to have his wife fetch money while he was seated was inconvenient.
"Brother, better to take it now, tomorrow morning I fear I won’t be ho." Mr. Gu gestured to the still seated Mrs. Lv to quickly get the silver.
Although unhappy, Mrs. Lv knew well of Uncle Gu’s integrity, borrowing silver would an he’d repay soon, so she didn’t say anything. She picked up the keys from her pocket, unlocked two layers, and found the money box. Without opening it completely, she just let a sliver of it show and reached inside to pull out two taels of loose silver, then locked the money box again.
Uncle Gu stayed awkwardly by the side, his gaze not straying there.
"Tomorrow, governnt officers are coming. If you’re not staying ho, where are you intending to go?" Suddenly hearing Mr. Gu ntion heading out early in the morning, Uncle Gu asked curiously.
"Didn’t Xi Zi co ho? She said her in-laws wanted the son-in-law to serve corvee labor, Xi Zi couldn’t gather the silver, so she returned ho. Before you ca, Xi Zi had just gone to sleep in the east wing."
Mr. Gu recalled this trouble vexedly. Sigh! Lost eighteen taels of silver again. During past tis when there was no silver at ho, there weren’t this many expenses. Now, even though silver is earned more, it seems it’s spent more too. These days, the silver spent by the household exceeds what so earn in a lifeti.
"Xi Zi ca back at this ti? Where is the nephew-in-law? Didn’t co with her?" Uncle Gu had foreseen that Gu Xi’s return was likely for borrowing silver.
"Said he was at ho begging his mother, refusing to co over." The son-in-law wasn’t even willing to appear to borrow silver, which made Mr. Gu angry. And in the dark of night, to even let his eldest daughter return to her maternal ho all alone, was that sothing a man should do?
"What was discussed? If borrowing silver, why doesn’t he co himself, and let Xi Zi return alone, what is that supposed to an?" Uncle Gu truly disapproved of the nephew-in-law’s actions.
Then thought of sothing, "So are you lending or not?" Uncle Gu raised his eyes questioning Mr. Gu.
"I fear I have no choice but to lend, not a penny from the in-laws."
"Seems they’re counting on your family having silver! A while ago, it was spread everywhere that your family had silver, would they not know? Otherwise, how could they be so ruthless to their second son?" Uncle Gu was also clever, knowing the Old Wang Family favored the eldest, but couldn’t they just stand by seeing the second son delivered to death?
"So early tomorrow, I’ll go to the Wang Family. I need to ask them if they still care for their son?" Mr. Gu spoke with so anger, surprised to see the honest son-in-law learning to play tricks.
"It’s fine as long as you have an understanding, but you must think it through. Your family ties are many, if they all co to borrow, what then?" Uncle Gu, seeing Mr. Gu not directly agreeing, knew he had plans, and relaxed.
Gu Chengyu, lying in bed hearing the conversation, thought how tomorrow there would likely be even more people borrowing silver. At that point, it might not only be relatives, perhaps even villagers might co. Truly, as the saying goes, "Poor in the bustling city, no one asks; wealthy in the remote mountains, distant relatives co."
Uncle Gu accepted the silver handed over by his younger brother and tucked it into his pocket. "It’s late, you should rest early! I’m heading back too, need to go back and tell your sister-in-law, so she doesn’t worry!" It was getting late, and it wasn’t convenient to stay, plus his wife at ho was waiting for news!
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