Chapter 457 - 458: Unmoved
Chapter 457: Chapter 458: Unmoved
Gu Yuanshui rubbed his aching head. "Eldest Brother, I was just making a comparison. Did you have to take it so literally?"
Gu Yuanjin said, "You’re the most restless one of all us brothers. Stop thinking about stirring up trouble all day. Just stay put and be content. The few of us can work together to expand this tofu shop.
I know you’ve gotten ambitious lately. Are you thinking of following our seventh sister-in-law to Lu City next year?"
Gu Yuanshui’s gaze flickered. "Nothing’s been decided yet. How could I say for sure?
Eldest Brother, it’s getting late. Shouldn’t we be heading back?"
Gu Yuanshui deliberately changed the subject.
How could Gu Yuanjin not see through him? "Let’s head back. With our sister-in-law’s business booming like this, it looks like we’ll have to work overtime to make enough tofu. Otherwise, we won’t be able to keep up with demand."
The brothers called out to the Shopkeeper and headed out, arms draped over one another’s shoulders. They had just stepped out the restaurant’s side door when, to their surprise, they saw a familiar figure standing there.
"Eldest Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother," Gu Yuanlei greeted his elder brothers with a placating smile.
Looking at the gaunt Gu Yuanlei, Gu Yuanjin’s expression was complicated. ’So this is the good life he was chasing.’
"Youngest Brother," Gu Yuanmu still felt a pang of sympathy for him. All the other brothers were doing well for themselves; only he was now living so miserably.
Gu Yuanjin said, "We’re in a hurry to get home. If you have something to say, just say it."
Gu Yuanlei’s face was a mask of misery. "Eldest Brother, I really know I was wrong. I’ve been paying for it all these years. Can’t you please talk to Father and Mother? Ask them to let me come home."
Gu Yuanjin replied, "That was the clan’s decision. Besides, your name has already been struck from the clan registry. Just focus on living your life and stop making trouble."
Gu Yuanlei rushed forward in agitation and grabbed his hand. "Eldest Brother, Brother Qi is the Magistrate now! The clan wouldn’t dare make things difficult for me, if only out of respect for him.
Please, just put in a good word for me. We’re blood brothers, after all."
Gu Yuanshui pried his hand off Gu Yuanjin’s. "Youngest Brother—no, Gu Yuanlei. If we were still those same dirt-poor peasants, I doubt you’d even spare us a glance, would you?
And even though Brother Qi is the Magistrate now, that doesn’t give you the right to use his name like this.
Didn’t you used to say the Lan Family treated you like their own son? You’re letting down all the effort they’ve poured into you.
Out of respect for the fact we were once brothers, here’s a piece of advice: success comes from your own strength. You can’t go through life thinking you can just depend on others."
"What right do you have to say that to me? You’re all the same! You think I don’t know that every last one of you is just clinging to Brother Qi?" Seeing his brothers remain unmoved, anger surged in Gu Yuanlei’s heart once more.
He had pleaded time and again to be allowed back into the clan, but they were completely unmoved.
"Honestly, let’s not pretend otherwise. Deep down, you all think just like I do.
Look at Second Brother—he’s just going back a bit later than you, and what do you do? You shut him out all the same. You’re just afraid that if I come back, there will be one more person to compete with you, right?
As long as you let me come back, I promise you, I won’t fight or compete for anything. I’ll just live a quiet life in our village. Is that still not good enough?"
Gu Yuanshui sneered. "We’re talking about your problems, so stick to them. Why the hell did you have to drag Second Brother into this? Besides, who would believe a word you say? We have no desire to bring a venomous snake into our home."
"Is that something a blood brother should say?" Gu Yuanlei demanded, pointing at Gu Yuanshui. "Have I ever harmed you?"
Gu Yuanshui rolled his eyes. "You should be thankful you never harmed me. Otherwise, do you really think you’d still be standing here in front of me?
For the sake of the dozen-plus years we were brothers, I’ll give you one last piece of advice: stop spending all day coveting things that don’t belong to you. Otherwise, you might end up with nothing at all."
Gu Yuanjin shot Gu Yuanshui a glare. ’This kid has gotten more and more preachy ever since he started spending time with the Old Clan Leader.’
’Does he not see where we are? Is it really necessary to keep confronting him right here on the street?’
Gu Yuanjin said, "Let’s go. If this turns into freezing rain, the road back will be miserable."
With that, he walked straight past Gu Yuanlei, and his brothers followed close behind.
Gu Yuanlei knew he would be returning empty-handed once again. He had lost count of how many times he had made these same pleas.
His eldest brother-in-law had told him that genuine sincerity can move mountains, but he truly couldn’t see even a glimmer of hope.
Even his second brother, who had been reasonably pleasant to him recently, had been turned against him by the others. He hadn’t said a single good word on his behalf today.
Thinking about the cold scorn and ridicule that awaited him from his wife, Gu Yuanlei simply sat down across the street from the restaurant and watched the patrons come and go.
The better things went for the Gu family, the worse he felt. ’We’re all brothers of the Gu family. Why is there such a huge difference between us?’
「As the snow and ice grew thicker, the people of Lu City had all begun to hunker down for the winter.」
Ancient Wen Heng, however, was starting to worry about grain seeds for the coming spring.
No merchant caravans had been willing to travel to Lu City for several months, and the grain seeds in the granaries were all leftover stock.
The common folk had some seeds of their own, but many would have no surplus grain left by the end of winter, which meant there wouldn’t be nearly enough.
Feeling troubled, he grabbed the wine he had brought with him and headed to the military camp.
Zhou Shixiong greeted him. "Well, this is a rare sight. You actually came to visit me on your own initiative."
Ancient Wen Heng replied, "There isn’t much going on at the government office right now, so I thought I’d come find Brother Zhou for a few drinks. You’ll have to provide the side dishes, though."
Zhou Shixiong laughed heartily. "You have good timing. My men were getting bored lately, so they went up the mountain and set a few traps. They managed to catch some wild game. I’ll have them put the meat on to roast right now."
"Then it seems I’m in for a treat today," said Ancient Wen Heng.
Zhou Shixiong ordered his attendant to see to the arrangements before asking curiously, "So, tell me, what really brings you here today?"
Ancient Wen Heng didn’t hide anything and laid out his concerns. "We may be short on people here, but we have vast tracts of land. It’s a waste to let so much of it lie fallow. I was wondering if we could put it to use this spring.
The problem is, I have no idea where to get the grain seeds."
"Brother, I’d stop worrying about that if I were you," Zhou Shixiong said. "Even if you had all the grain seeds in the world, we have so few people here. We wouldn’t be able to tend to the crops. It’d be a complete waste. No point in wasting good seed."
Ancient Wen Heng changed the subject. "Brother Zhou, are your military provisions always allocated by the court?"
"Of course," Zhou Shixiong replied. "But those bastards delay the shipments every time, or they skimp on the goods. By the time the supplies get to us, we’re lucky to receive even half of what was promised."
Ancient Wen Heng mused, "It’s not as if there’s fighting in this area every day. Has Brother Zhou ever thought of having your men do something else in their downtime?"