From Hoarding to Time-Travel: My Supplies Saved Him

Chapter 346: Chapter 347: Help Us

Seeing the conversation circling back, Li Cuicui took Li Chuncao and Li Chunya by the hand and turned to leave. But just then, Wang Caiyue ran in front of her and dropped to her knees.

"Mother, if you won’t think about us, at least think about Le Huan and Le Xi! This could be the very thing that secures their future."

Seeing her two grandsons trotting over, Li Cuicui had to admit, for a moment, her heart softened.

But then she thought of the harmony the families now enjoyed. Li Cuicui lowered her gaze, and when she looked at Wang Caiyue again, her expression was clear and resolute.

"Mother, stop making a scene. Father is looking for you," Gu Lehuan and Gu Lexi said, trying to pull her up from either side.

"Let go! You two little brats, I’m doing all this for you! How is this making a scene?"

"Your father is useless! He’s been back for so long and hasn’t dared to say a single word. He’s just going to stand by and watch his brothers bully our family to death."

Li Cuicui’s face fell. "If you think my second son is so useless, the Gu family has no place for you. But you will not humiliate them like this."

Wang Caiyue finally remembered the old matriarch was still there. "Mother, I was just so angry just now. I’m not usually like this. Mother, please, just help us!"

"I’ll have their father and the boys be extra filial to you in the future."

Li Cuicui turned to her grandsons. "Do you two also think this old woman should help you, or else you’ll be unfilial to me later? Is that it?"

Gu Lehuan cried out in his heart. ’Grandmother, my mother is talking nonsense. Of course we’ll be filial to you.’

"Mother, you can’t accuse me unfairly! I didn’t say they’d be unfilial, just that they’d be *doubly* filial." Wang Caiyue didn’t dare shoulder such a charge; if she did, they wouldn’t be able to stay in Gaoling Village anymore.

"Instead of begging for the impossible, your family should be thinking about your own future," Li Cuicui said. She took the two girls’ hands and walked straight past them. Some tables and chairs had been delivered to the ancestral hall today, and she needed to go check on them.

"Pah." Once they were a good distance away, Wang Caiyue dropped the act and stood up. "What a senile old fool. Raising two girls who are nothing but a financial drain, and they’re not even Gu family blood. The older she gets, the more muddled her brain becomes."

"Mother?" Gu Lexi tugged on her hand. It was not right to say such things.

"I know, I know," Wang Caiyue said, waving his hand away. "You two are just like your father, anyway. In that case, we might as well all just wait to starve to death."

"Mother, we won’t let you starve," Gu Lehuan said, his face somber. "Father wants you to come home. Eldest Uncle found a small estate for us and wants you to come take a look."

"Him, be that kind?" Wang Caiyue scoffed. She had apparently forgotten that the only reason her family could even afford an estate was thanks to the support of his brothers.

"I hope he doesn’t try to push some worthless property onto us. We don’t have a massive fortune to waste like they do." The thought of spending such a large sum of Silver Coins was enough. Without any prompting, Wang Caiyue took off running for home.

"Brother, why has Mother become so unreasonable?" Gu Lexi didn’t get it. Their lives were better now than he had ever dared to imagine. What was there to be so dissatisfied about?

Gu Lehuan was silent. ’She must feel resentful,’ he thought. ’Just a few years ago, the other branches of the family were all worse off than us. Now, the tables have completely turned.’

When Li Cuicui arrived at the ancestral hall, she found many of the village elders were already there.

Gu Sanbu was energetically directing everyone on where to place the incense tables, his voice booming. His face wasn’t as stern as usual; in fact, he wore a constant smile.

"Straighten it a bit! Your side is crooked," Gu Sanbu said, meticulously inspecting every corner. He wouldn’t tolerate the slightest misalignment.

When Mrs. Gu He saw Li Cuicui arrive with her two granddaughters, she put down her rag and walked over. "How come you’re here by yourself today?"

Usually, Li Cuicui was accompanied by her daughters-in-law or serving women. It was rare for her to be out with only the two children.

"I told them not to bother," Li Cuicui said. "We’re in the village all day, surrounded by our own family. What could possibly happen?"

"Just a couple of years ago, we were all working the fields together. Since when did everyone get so delicate?"

"Third Uncle seems to be in better and better spirits. Why is he here so early today?"

"Isn’t that the truth? He was already here waiting when we arrived."

"I wonder when the ones who went back to move the graves will return. Everything is ready on our end." Mrs. Gu He looked at the impressive new ancestral hall and couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.

"Who would have thought our Gu family could now hold our heads so high? It’s all thanks to you, my dear sister, for raising such fine sons."

Li Cuicui had heard such praise many times recently. Though she was secretly pleased, her expression remained placid. "It’s because our family is united. Every household works hard, and we’re all of one mind. That’s the only way we can have the good life we enjoy today."

"Spoken like the matriarch of an official family," Dai Ling chimed in with a smile. "Good day to you, Madam!"

"Enough with the ’Madam’ this and ’Madam’ that," Li Cuicui said. "Here in the village, just call me ’sister’ like you always have. It’s easier on the ears."

"Have you had any word from Gu Yi and the others? We don’t know what date they’ve chosen, and we need to get ready over here."

Li Cuicui asked because Gu Shulin had sent his eldest son along on the trip this time. He was the only literate person in the group, so all correspondence passed through his hands.

"I’m worried sick, too," Dai Ling said. Even though she knew an escort agency was protecting them the whole way, the journey was long, and communication was slow. "They sent one letter from a post station early on, but we haven’t heard a single word since."

"It’s just too far," Li Cuicui said, looking toward her old home with a faint sadness in her eyes. "I expect that once they bring the ancestral tablets back, it will be very difficult for us to ever return to Kao Mountain Village."

She had fled to this place with the Gu family, and she had no idea what had become of her own family back home.

"Sigh... you’re not wrong." Dai Ling also thought of her own family, wondering if she would ever have the chance to see them again in this life.

...

***

Jin Qianqian hadn’t expected Xiao Shi Yu to actually block her path on a public street. ’Like sisters, indeed,’ she thought. ’Both so crude and direct in their methods.’

"Mrs. Gu, please step this way. I have an important matter to discuss with you," Xiao Shi Yu said, looking at a nearby teahouse and gesturing toward it.

"I see I’m getting another lesson in the Xiao Family’s etiquette," Jin Qianqian said coolly. "I don’t recall us having the kind of relationship that warrants a private discussion."

Hearing Jin Qianqian refer to herself as ’I’ with such formality, Xiao Shi Yu secretly gritted her teeth, but a smile blossomed on her face. "Everything before was just a misunderstanding. I came here today specifically to apologize to you, Madam."

Jin Qianqian looked down at her from the carriage. "I have received your ’sincere’ apology. But since we are not acquainted, there is no need to force an association."