Mrs. Lv suddenly leaned back against the pillow behind her, her gaze towards Mr. Gu filled with coldness.
Back then, she was resentful. She had clearly sched for that shopkeeper; becoming the shopkeeper’s wife was her best option at the ti. But everything was disrupted when Gu Changqing, a widower with three children, barged into her life.
Mrs. Lv closed her eyes. She used to be resentful, unwilling. But as ti went on, she gradually got used to it, used to Gu Changqing, used to the austere days.
Xiao Bao worked so hard just to earn her a title of honor; how could she not be pleased? Even if he still needed to posthumously honor the first wife, that was Xiao Bao’s token of affection for her.
Mr. Gu suddenly didn’t know what to say. He was naturally aware of the temperant of the second son. The eldest was honest; as long as they lived with him, they wouldn’t go hungry as long as he had a bite to eat.
The third son and his family were also dutiful. Every year, the money and things they sent were not few. They never asked the children’s mother for a single coin, always offering it first before politely declining.
Of course, apart from the third son’s wife who liked to take advantage occasionally, the fourth son’s wife’s nature was much better.
As for the second son, if the family were as poor as before, there’s a real chance he would have starved to death.
"I want to live with Xiao Bao in the future." This was the first ti Mrs. Lv discussed future plans with Mr. Gu. Before, she always thought of herself as young and intended to go to Xiao Bao when she got older to enjoy her later years.
But seeing the white hair at Mr. Gu’s temples made her feel a bit sad. She was nine years younger than him, and he was no longer young. Although he seed quite healthy now, who knows how many more years he could live.
In recent years, Xiao Bao must have established a firm foothold in the Capital, so she and Mr. Gu going there would not be concerning.
The years of brief reunions and long separations had led to an overflow of yearning for her son. She was old, and she just wished for Xiao Bao to marry and give her a chubby grandson, spending her days doting on him as she wished.
Mr. Gu was sowhat surprised; he thought Mrs. Lv wanted to stay in Shangling Village with him. But unexpectedly, she wanted to move to the Capital with Xiao Bao.
"What about the third son and his family? If we move to the Capital, what will happen to the house and fields here?"
Mr. Gu was deeply attached to his roots and didn’t want to leave Shangling Village, where he had lived for decades. Going to the Capital would an unfamiliar surroundings, with no neighbors to visit, let alone fields to tend to daily.
"We’ll discuss it later!" Mrs. Lv didn’t want to talk much about it at the mont since convincing Mr. Gu wasn’t sothing that could happen overnight.
She already had a plan. Anyway, both the third and fourth sons were running shops in the town. As long as they had the skills, they wouldn’t starve even if they moved to the Capital; they could just continue opening shops there.
Moreover, their youngest daughter was also in the Capital, and she hadn’t seen her for over three years and missed her dearly.
As long as the whole family moved to the Capital, there wouldn’t be any fear of family separation. As for the kids left in the front, she couldn’t and didn’t want to manage them.
The eldest was honest; if he wanted to go, he could. If not, he could take care of the fields left at ho.
Gu Chengyu took his luggage and rode a carriage to the courtyard in the Prefecture. As soon as he arrived at the gate, he saw the servants from the house waiting at the entrance.
There weren’t many servants left in the Prefecture, only around a dozen or so. They were left to look after the courtyard. If the house lacked activity, it would inevitably deteriorate.
The flowers, grass, and trees in the courtyard needed soone to tend to them. Although he wouldn’t live there often, having this house would be convenient for when he returned occasionally.
Like today, with so many people and so much luggage, staying at an inn would have been troubleso. They’d have to watch over the luggage to guard against theft.
The second aunt, Mrs. Liu, quietly surveyed the large courtyard in front of her. She hadn’t expected the third son’s family to have truly co into wealth; otherwise, how could they afford to live in such a large house?
She had heard the old man say that there was also a big house in the Capital! If only she knew the Gu Family in Jingyuan Prefecture had thrived, they would have returned long ago instead of toughing it out in Yingnan Mansion.
Thinking of this, Mrs. Liu rembered her second son living the hard life in Yingnan Mansion. It seed she needed to find ti to talk to the old man, perhaps it was ti for her second son to return ho. Life here was definitely better than in Yingnan Mansion.
If they could move to the Capital, life would be even better. Recently, the old man had ntioned that their stay at the inn was covered by the third son’s child, along with Qianqian’s dical expenses.
Thinking of Qianqian, Mrs. Liu couldn’t help but sigh. Her little granddaughter Qianqian had been weak, and after moving to the Capital, she fell seriously ill. Even now, she hadn’t fully recovered and was staying in the Capital with the eldest grandson.
Although she worried about her two grandchildren, the old man insisted on returning ho. He even ntioned they wouldn’t be staying in Jingyuan Prefecture for long before heading back to the Capital.
Mrs. Liu felt a multitude of emotions; she hadn’t seen her sisters-in-law for many years. Now that the Gu Family was doing well, while her own situation was so bleak, she would surely be overshadowed upon returning to Shangling Village.
Gu Chengyu was oblivious to Mrs. Liu’s thoughts. After days of rocking back and forth on the boat, he was indeed a bit exhausted.
However, taking advantage of his ti in the Prefecture, he needed to inspect the restaurant and shop to avoid having to return after heading back to Shangling Village.
Gu Chengyu was too impatient to even humor Gu Changbai and left him in an empty courtyard. He instructed Ming Mo and the others to watch over him while they prepared dinner, planning to leave it at that since they would head back the next day.
After bathing, Gu Chengyu headed towards the restaurant, naturally with Zhu Pang following behind.
"Jinyu! You’ve opened a Juxiang Building here in Jingyuan Prefecture too? We must try it and see if it’s just like the one in the Capital."
Zhu Pang was filled with curiosity and anticipation about everything in the Prefecture. Gu Chengyu was a bit puzzled, weren’t the streets all the sa? What could be so different?
Besides, the streets in the Capital were even more bustling than here, with even more street vendors.
Ignoring Zhu Pang’s enthusiasm, Gu Chengyu and his entourage soon arrived outside the restaurant.
It was al ti, and the restaurant was bustling with chatter, looking in from the outside, it seed to be fully occupied.
Gu Chengyu led Zhu Pang without hesitation, and the two entered through the main entrance of the restaurant. The restaurant manager here in Jingyuan Prefecture was a servant Gu Chengyu had bought, nad Xing Yang.
"Manager Xing!" Gu Chengyu noticed Manager Xing bent over busy with accounts, so he gently called out, giving a light tap on the desk.
Gu Chengyu glanced at the account book and frowned. Whether it was the restaurant, the cake shop, or the costics store, he always ensured there was a manager and two accountants to prevent fake accounts and embezzlent.
Yet, this ti at the restaurant, he found the accountants absent, and it was Manager Xing himself handling the bookkeeping, which was unusual.
Because he had repeatedly instructed that the manager should not handle account books.
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