Chapter 574: Such is Fate
Chapter 574 -575: Such is Fate
Gu Kaiyuan sighed. “Forget it, nothing will necessarily happen. I’ll have someone keep an eye on things. That County Magistrate’s family is already ruined. At most, he’s just mixed up with some riffraff; they won’t have the guts to do much.”
They had tampered with things in the middle, transferred the property through so many hands, and specially connected with a few itinerant merchants, making it even harder to trace. Even if Gu Baijiang and the others moved in, it shouldn’t have a major impact. They might even make a profit out of it—that would just depend on their fate.
He had already let Gu Kaiping off once before; this time, he didn’t want to intervene again.
After buying their supplies, they didn’t linger in the county town. They really didn’t want to run into them and get involved in more trouble, so they packed up and hurried back to the small fishing village.
Gu Baijiang was actually a little dissatisfied with the two connected courtyards. They were dilapidated, and the connection point could only fit a small door at most. The adjacent land belonged to other neighbors, so expanding wouldn’t be simple.
“Dad, this is just a broken-down shack. It’s totally unpresentable,” Gu Kaichen complained continuously. But Gu Baijiang didn’t care about his feelings at all, even finding him annoying and telling him to shut up. He didn’t let him speak until the wealthy merchant had left.
“Having a place to stay is already good enough,” Gu Baijiang said. He figured that since they were settling down here, he should ask around to see if any land or farmsteads were for sale. The land prices here were relatively cheap, and he planned to acquire a bit more. That way, the annual income from the farmstead could support the children’s education.
With this in mind, he wasn’t in a hurry to return to Shao County. He went out to buy some simple furniture and settled down here.
Gu Kaichen found excuses to go out several times, but Gu Baijiang saw through them instantly. Annoyed beyond belief, he laid down the law. “You’d better stay right under my nose every single day. If I lose sight of you for even a moment, you’d better watch your damn legs.”
“Dad, is that necessary? I’m not a criminal.” Gu Kaichen was really about to be infuriated to death by this old man. Who, at his age, was still watched every day?
“You know perfectly well why. Our family is already in this state; we can’t afford any more trouble.
“I’m telling you, if you step foot in a casino again, I won’t pay off a single debt you owe. If they want your life, so be it.
“Before that happens, I’ll expel you from the family and sever our father-son ties. Whether you live or die, I definitely won’t care anymore.”
Gu Kaichen instantly chickened out. As he was now, where could he go if he left the Gu family? He would sooner or later starve to death on the streets.
The moment this thought popped up, he instantly became obedient, though he still tried to negotiate. “Dad, I’ve learned my lesson. I definitely won’t be fooled again.
“I just feel that since we’re here, it’s agonizing not to go out and look around. Just look at the state of this house. How about we go for a walk? We might even run into someone trying to sell off a property.”
The house exuded a musty smell, and ants crawled on the doorframes. If it wasn’t properly renovated, living here would feel incredibly unsafe. Moving from a traditional courtyard house in the capital to this dilapidated little yard was a massive drop in living standards.
“Then let’s go out for a walk. I’ll hire someone to fix up the house while we’re at it.” Although Gu Baijiang had suffered hardships as a child, he had lived in luxury for many years. Despite the house being cheap, it was an eyesore no matter where he looked. If it wasn’t repaired properly, it probably wouldn’t survive a storm.
“Yes, yes!” Gu Kaichen felt he finally had a chance to prove his worth. “Don’t worry, Dad. You can leave the house repairs to me. I promise to make it look brand new.”
Having lived for decades, Gu Baijiang had seen all kinds of people, and the ones he was most wary of were gamblers. Although he didn’t know if Gu Kaichen was still addicted, he had to be on guard. The Gu family couldn’t weather any more storms right now. If this kid wanted to take on the job, he probably had ulterior motives.
“Forget about it. We’ll just do some basic repairs and have it cleaned up in two days. You can help by keeping an eye on things and running errands. You don’t need to worry about anything else.”
“Just basic repairs?” Gu Kaichen slapped the tottering door. With a loud BANG, the door immediately met its demise, showering them with dust.
By the time the two of them emerged from the house, they looked utterly bedraggled. Gu Baijiang suppressed his temper. “You broke the door, so you’re responsible for fixing it.”
“Dad, you’re being unreasonable. Did I break this door? You could poke any door here with a finger, and it would end up the same way.
“Besides, I don’t have a single copper coin on me right now. What do you expect me to fix it with?
“Why don’t you give me the silver? I’ll find someone and guarantee to get this house fixed up perfectly.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Gu Baijiang replied flatly. If he handed the silver to him, who knew if it would end up in a casino again?
He had brought this kid along precisely because he was worried his eldest son wouldn’t be able to control him. Now it seemed his decision was incredibly wise.
“Since you know this house is falling apart, what are you still standing here for? Hurry up, let’s go find someone to fix it.”
He couldn’t stand being in this broken-down house for another moment. If he didn’t have to budget carefully, he wouldn’t have been willing to wrong himself like this.
Among commoners, who didn’t know a bit of manual labor? The father and son went out for a stroll and soon found a few strapping men who worked for low wages. Pointing at the house, they began detailing what needed repairs.
After looking it over, it was a disaster. The tiles had to be replaced, the house needed reinforcing, and the doors and windows all had to be changed. It was practically a complete rebuild.
Once he calculated the labor and material costs, Gu Baijiang regretted his purchase. Indeed, cheap goods were never good. By being greedy for a bargain, he ended up spending more.
Gu Kaichen wanted to nag a bit more, but seeing Gu Baijiang’s expression, he quickly shut his mouth. He had said at the time to compare a few more places, but this old man was afraid that if he acted too late, someone else would snatch it up. He hurriedly bought the house after just looking at it.
Look at what a mess this was! He muttered under his breath, “He didn’t even think. Real estate in Lingnan is so in demand right now, how could we possibly find a bargain?
“It turns out this was just trash nobody else wanted, which is why it fell to us.”
For those hindsight remarks, if there hadn’t been a few day laborers watching nearby, Gu Baijiang would have given him a harsh lesson in a father’s profound love.
Calculated like this, they had merely bought a piece of foundation at a high price. Gu Baijiang originally wanted to hold firm and not renovate some parts, but the men he hired were quite capable. They pointed at the earthen walls and explained various hidden dangers.
In a few places, the ground had even been hollowed out.
However, probably to fool an idiot, it had been simply filled back in, which ruined the foundation.
“No way. Are these people sick in the head? They sold the house and still wanted to destroy it like this?” Gu Kaichen walked over and started digging at the ground where they pointed. He had only scraped a few times when he saw a wooden plank underneath. Lifting it gently revealed a massive hole below. “This…”