Chapter 531 - 532: Different
Chapter 531: Chapter 532: Different
Listening to Lin Wei and Mrs. Li’s recount at home, Bai Suihe asked curiously, "Where did Huang Pingguo go with his luggage?"
"There are simple sheds built on the mountain," one of them replied. "Sometimes when it gets hot at noon, everyone rests there. He has temporarily moved up to the mountain to live."
Bai Suihe thought he was rather clever. The nearby mountains were frequently cleared, and with so many people working there every day, even wild beasts wouldn’t dare approach.
"Just hiding away like this..." Bai Suihe looked at Zhuang Datou, who was standing to the side. "Do you think he can solve the problem this way?"
"It will probably take some time," Zhuang Datou replied. "Once the Huang family can no longer survive on their own, they will compromise."
Since he had already made his decision, he needed to make his stance clear in front of Mr. and Mrs. Gu. He didn’t want the home he had finally built to just fall apart.
He had actually wanted to persuade Huang Pingguo, but the guy was stubborn; he just grabbed his things and left without looking back.
Bai Suihe sneered. "Later, go tell him how you plan to handle your situation, and see what choice he makes."
She firmly believed this was merely Huang Pingguo’s stalling tactic. He was probably waiting to see who would cave first. If Chunxiang took even a single step back now, she would suffer endless hardships in the future.
In truth, she despised incompetent men even more. Fleeing at the first sign of trouble and relying on time and procrastination to solve problems was incredibly irresponsible.
How could someone who previously seemed quite decent turn out like this?
This just went to show human nature—until the very end, no one could jump to conclusions.
Bai Suihe looked at Zhuang Datou again. "Are you absolutely certain you can handle your family affairs?
"Will your family really be willing to move out?"
Zhuang Datou smiled bitterly. "I have already made it clear to them. If they aren’t willing, I’m afraid I’ll have to beg you and Mr. Gu to grant my request."
Bai Suihe raised an eyebrow at him. "Tell me what you have in mind."
Sure enough, it was exactly as she had guessed. Zhuang Datou spoke up, "Mrs. Gu, if they refuse to leave, I am willing to leave this house to them to repay them for raising me.
"If possible, I only ask that you find a more remote place for my wife and me, just enough to earn a bite to eat. Even if it means signing a new servitude contract, I am willing."
Zhuang Datou was showing his resolve to Bai Suihe. He knew this was likely the best solution.
It hadn’t been easy to get their life here in order, and he was reluctant to give it up.
But he was even more unwilling to let this entanglement drag on. With such a large extended family all looking to him, he was ultimately just an ordinary man. He couldn’t afford to support so many people, nor did he have the capability to help his family to that extent.
Since that was the case, it would be better to separate and stay far away. Family bonds couldn’t be forced, and it was time for him to let go.
"Things haven’t reached that point just yet," Bai Suihe said, not wanting to agree immediately. Who knew if Zhuang Datou would change his mind? He might even end up holding a grudge against them.
"First, try to discuss this properly with your family. After all, you are a family.
"However, don’t let them think they can bully Dongmei and the others just because they have no one to rely on here. They have served me well and are like sisters to me. I only want them to live peaceful lives."
Zhuang Datou smiled bitterly. Mrs. Gu had truly given him a difficult problem.
If he didn’t completely separate from his family and they continued living together, even if he tried his best to protect her in the future, Dongmei would still face difficulties and suffer grievances.
With so many people and elders in the family, anyone could point fingers at their private life. If he were in Dongmei’s shoes, he probably would have snapped much sooner.
"I’ll try my best to see if I can reach an agreement with them," Zhuang Datou said, sounding a bit unconfident. He had a pretty good idea of what his own family was really like.
"Go back and handle it well. And while you’re at it, ask Huang Pingguo what his decision is. I hope to hear the results within the next two days." Bai Suihe didn’t have the patience to let them stall for time.
After Zhuang Datou left, Gu Kaiyuan finally came in from the backyard, carrying Gu Xingyang in his arms.
Gu Xingyang was too fussy and loved to interrupt, so Gu Kaiyuan had no choice but to carry her out for a walk in the backyard.
He wondered how such a tiny child could have so much curiosity—she really wanted to meddle in everything.
"Mother, have those two families of bad guys been kicked out yet?"
Bai Suihe took her and held her in her arms. "You can’t say that. What do you mean by ’bad guys’? They are just ordinary folks with their own selfish motives."
"Mother, you’re not becoming a bleeding heart, are you?"
Bai Suihe lightly patted her bottom and corrected her. "Stop reading all that useless stuff in the future. What do you mean by ’bleeding heart’?"
"But you’re speaking up for those bad guys," Gu Xingyang said, refusing to concede.
"Mother isn’t speaking up for them. When it comes down to it, poverty is the root of all this trouble."
"Being poor doesn’t matter, they just have to rely on their own hard work," Gu Xingyang said, blinking her little eyes. "Before Zhuang Datou and the others came back, weren’t these two families living just fine?
"Now they just want to take advantage. As soon as they saw how well off they were, they wanted to swoop in like cuckoos taking over a nest..."
"This isn’t the modern world we came from, where you can feed yourself just by being hardworking.
"I asked around earlier. The places where Zhuang Datou’s and the others’ families live are quite remote—you could even say they are deep in the mountain ravines.
"But even so, the taxes they have to pay every year and the corvée labor they are forced to do are quite heavy. Throughout the year, they still have to constantly forage for wild vegetables to supplement their meals; otherwise, they would go hungry."
Having reviewed so many account books these past few days, Bai Suihe had realized that the crop yields here were extremely low. Furthermore, with so many taxes to pay each year, ordinary commoners truly had to pay their taxes with the grain meant for their own survival.
Sometimes, if there was a natural disaster or a war, the imperial court would even increase taxes. All of this was forced onto the heads of ordinary folks, essentially robbing them of their fundamental means of survival.
She could understand their desire to grasp onto this lifesaver, and she could understand their wish to escape that impoverished life. But they couldn’t just persecute innocent women for their own selfish interests.
"But no matter what, they shouldn’t covet things that don’t belong to them," Gu Xingyang said, still indignant. Her small hands involuntarily covered her bottom—she definitely didn’t want to get spanked again...
Bai Suihe saw right through Gu Xingyang’s little thoughts, but she had no real intention of hitting her again. Instead, she patiently reasoned with her.
"Living in this world, problems can’t just be solved by hitting each other.
"We could certainly have someone beat them up to vent our anger, but what happens after that?
"Dongmei and Chunxiang are pregnant. I assume they don’t want a divorce either."
"If they aren’t going to get a divorce after all this, are they saving those men for the holidays?"
"Don’t forget where we are right now.
"This is not the modern world. Unless it’s an absolute last resort, who would willingly take that path?
"Moreover, if Dongmei and the others get divorced, they will have to face everyone’s gossip and bear their judgmental stares. Not to mention the children in their wombs, who would be implicated from the moment they are born..."