"Eldest, I’ve heard you’re arranging marriages for Da Ya and Da Lang? Be careful not to trust other’s flattery too easily; it’s better to find soone well-matched and reliable. You need to watch this closely!"
Mrs. Lv recalled what Aunt Tao said, and thus gave a word of advice. She was quite tolerant of the eldest, as he had a good heart and was honest, showing respect to her as his mother. This was just a casual ntion.
"I do want soone to arrange the marriage, so I’m planning to hire a matchmaker. Previously, Aunt Tao visited our house; I think she’s quite good. It might be better to let her talk to Da Lang and Da Ya about it." Gu Chengli initially took a liking to a family from Xiasang Village. He heard the daughter from that family was quite capable and was about to have a look. Unexpectedly, Da Lang returned a couple of days ago, firmly refusing, so he had to cancel the eting.
He knew that the girl was a bit sturdy, but that was a good thing. She could work well!
However, it’s unclear who was so inconsiderate as to leak this matter.
"So, be careful! You can’t always trust a matchmaker’s words completely." Mr. Gu believed that all matchmakers were smooth talkers who liked to boast.
"Changqing! Is Xiao Bao around?" Uncle Gu’s anxious voice echoed in the courtyard.
Gu Chengyu quickly responded as he ca out of the house. It must be to discuss the matter of renovating the ancestral hall.
Uncle Gu entered the main room, without speaking, walked quickly to the teapot, poured a cup of tea, and drank it in one gulp. It was evident that he was very thirsty.
"I’ve discussed it with everyone; they’re all willing to contribute financially to the ancestral hall renovation, although not much, within their ans. I’ve also talked about building a morial arch and plaques, which we plan to do together." As the clan leader, Uncle Gu naturally hoped for the prosperity of the Gu Family. With a scholar erging from the clan, their prestige in the surrounding villages was extraordinary.
"I think the ancestral hall is better to be rebuilt completely, as it’s not far from collapsing. It’s all stone-built, but the morial arch still requires a specialized craftsman, so maybe we could ask Sun Craftsman. We don’t understand these matters! If the funds aren’t sufficient, contact Ming Mo; he will report back to . I’ve instructed soone to keep an eye on clan fields; there should be news in a few days. Uncle, you need to consider who will cultivate these clan fields and how; there needs to be a plan."
Gu Chengyu wasn’t about to constantly deal with these botherso things since he was soon heading to the Prefecture School. He needed to study carefully and add more calligraphy styles to his practice, having only practiced regular script and official script so far, which was too few.
Moreover, he aid to learn the four arts of the scholar. When entering the Prefecture School, his calligraphy would be his strongest skill. Whenever he had ti, he would copy paintings; he had yet to explore music and chess.
"Alright! What do you, a youngster, know about these? I’ll look for Sun Craftsman tomorrow. Even if he doesn’t know how to build an arch, he might know soone who does. But how big do we want the ancestral hall to be?"
Uncle Gu wasn’t quite sure, and the fund raised was embarrassingly low, only fifty-three taels, not nearly enough. But he had visited every household, each contributing three or four taels, and he himself pitched in more to make it fifty-three taels. Raising this amount wasn’t easy.
Building a smaller ancestral hall would certainly be enough, as the morial arch only needed stone, although engraving was a hassle. Clan mbers would provide the labor, but it still seed insufficient.
"Originally, it was one room. To save future renovations, we might as well build three rooms; the stones from the demolished house could be used to construct a courtyard wall outside." Gu Chengyu estimated that 150 taels would be more than enough, as there was no need to furnish the interior.
"Building three rooms requires quite a bit of money!" Uncle Gu thought it was better to clarify things to avoid bla later for spending so much silver.
"Just do it!" Three rooms weren’t small, and over 100 taels weren’t much.
Gu Chengyu returned to his room, leaving Mr. Gu and Uncle Gu to further discuss. Suddenly, he thought about informing Manager Liu from the Huichun Hall in the county about not attending the county school anymore and sending a letter of invitation as well.
"Ming Mo! Tomorrow, go to Manager Liu in the county with an invitation, inviting him to the banquet." Gu Chengyu instructed Ming Mo while seated at the table as he began writing a letter. The county was not close to the village, so he had to write a letter to inform him about his decision not to attend the county school.
"Alright!" The family only had one cart, so either he or Ming Yan would need to drive it out.
Gu Chengyu suddenly realized this problem and thought the family needed to buy another cart. While he was away, the ox cart was shared among several households, making it inconvenient for Mr. Gu and others to use it.
"Withdraw so silver from the account to buy another cart; one is not enough!" Gu Chengyu would leave several hundred taels with Ming Mo for daily expenses.
"Also, check if Steward Yu has purchased the land and shop yet, and have him get back to as soon as possible." Gu Chengyu thought the residence in the prefecture was also urgent, and he decided to send a ssage by carrier pigeon for faster communication.
The ancestral hall renovation and the construction of the morial arch were in full swing, and the day had reached the seventeenth. Tomorrow was the day of the banquet. The family invited so won to handle the chicken, duck, and fish for tomorrow. If they weren’t processed today, there would be no ti tomorrow.
The land assessnt yesterday went very well, and Gu Chenglian and that girl would get engaged in the next few days, making it a double celebration for the Gu Family. The girl seed shy, with a round face that appeared quite fortunate, according to his mother’s description. Gu Chengyu observed that she did not seem overly anxious and appeared easy to get along with.
In any case, the Gu Family had already divided, and after Fourth Brother’s marriage, they wouldn’t live together. So, if the new wife was agreeable, they would interact more; if not, they would do so less.
"Changqing’s family, your eldest sister-in-law is here!" The won in the courtyard heard the sound of hooves from outside and looked towards the gate. They discovered that it was Gu Xiu from the Gu family getting out of the cart, followed by a large group of people, all packed in an open ox cart.
Mrs. Lv was arranging gifts in the house. These days, there were gifts from nearby gentry and landlords, and she had to record them diligently. So needed to be reciprocated imdiately if they didn’t want to maintain relations. Those they wished to maintain relations with would be recorded for future exchanges.
"Mother, they say Eldest Sister-in-law is here outside!" Gu Wan set down the pen, as she was in the middle of recording.
"Why did she arrive a day early? Let’s quickly pack everything away. We’ve almost gotten everything recorded; let’s not let your eldest sister-in-law see, or her eyes would stick to the valuable stuff!"
Mrs. Lv’s first reaction upon hearing her sister-in-law was coming was not to go greet her but to hide the valuables.
By the ti Mrs. Lv and the others had tidied up, Gu Xiu had already entered the courtyard, carrying two bundles, with a whole family following. Mrs. Lv’s face imdiately turned sour; there was no way so many people could fit in the house!
Gu Chengyu ca out of the room, and upon seeing this, he couldn’t help but grimace slightly. Was the whole family coming to rely on them? Gu Xiu had two sons and a daughter. The two sons had two young children each, and the daughter was holding one in her arms. So there were nearly as many people as his family!
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