Chapter 588: Broken Eggs
Gu Baijiang was panting heavily after chasing him for only a short while. This time, he had no servants following him and no one to help pin his target down. His strength quickly failed him. Pointing angrily at Gu Kaichen, he shouted, “Fine! If you dare to run, don’t blame your father for being ruthless!
“Take your wife and move out of here immediately! I no longer recognize you as my son.”
Xu Yulan, who had been hiding in the backyard, turned pale when she heard this. She rushed out and dropped to her knees before Gu Baijiang. “Father, you can’t kick us out! The three of us will starve to death out there.
“If you must kick someone out, then just kick out Gu Kaichen! You have to think of your grandson. He’s about to take the imperial examinations soon. You can’t ruin his future!”
Gu Baijiang had originally only intended to scare him, but after saying it aloud, he felt it was actually a good idea. If he let Gu Kaichen anger him like this every day, he feared he would never live to see the day the Gu family returned to its former glory.
However, Xu Yulan’s kneeling brought some reason back to him. He could disregard Gu Kaichen, but he had to consider An Wei. Between his two grandsons, Gu Anwei had an even greater talent for studying than Gu Anliang. If he really kicked this branch of the family out, the child would definitely bear a grudge against him. Having already lost one son, he could not afford to lose another promising grandson.
Throwing his cane heavily onto the ground, Gu Baijiang scoffed, “Fine! You two are really something. Are you trying to blackmail me? Since you don’t want to get the hell out, go clear all the land in the backyard! From now on, the family’s vegetables will rely entirely on the two of you to grow.
“If you can’t grow anything, then you can starve! I’ve truly been too kind to you in the past, which is why you dare to clamor in front of me now.”
He knew this was just a test from the second son and his wife. There was no longer any hope with Rong Ruiyuan, and Gu Baijiang had no way to turn the tables now. If he backed down this time, there was no telling who would be calling the shots in the Gu family in the future.
“Father, you can’t do this…”
“If you don’t want to ruin An Wei, you’d better behave! Otherwise, I’ll report you for unfilial conduct. Can you bear the consequences of that?”
Since they wanted to manipulate him, Gu Baijiang didn’t mind manipulating them right back. The couple only had this one precious son, and he didn’t believe for a second that they didn’t desperately long for him to succeed.
Sure enough, the moment these words were spoken, Xu Yulan, who had wanted to argue further, immediately shut her mouth. She grabbed Gu Kaichen and hastily promised, “Father, we will definitely be obedient…”
Although the matter was settled, Gu Baijiang felt no joy whatsoever. In fact, his heart grew even heavier. The hearts of the people in this family were scattered, and he didn’t know how much longer he could suppress them.
He also clearly felt that this series of blows had drained his energy. He didn’t know why, but at this moment, his mind suddenly drifted to Gu Kaiyuan, whom he had kicked out of the house. That boy had always been the most obedient one. He didn’t know why he had suddenly grown such a rebellious streak; otherwise, the family probably wouldn’t have ended up in this wretched state.
Liu Yun had been lying in bed for several days. Seeing that the meals brought to her were becoming increasingly perfunctory, she knew this couldn’t go on. So, she struggled to sit up and began to exercise her duties as the eldest daughter-in-law. Gu Antong was no longer here, but Liu Yun still had to protect this family for her husband and her remaining child…
While the Gu family was in absolute chaos, Gu Kaiyuan cheerfully returned after taking Jianbei out to sea for a few days.
Watching basket after basket of seafood being unloaded from the ship, Bai Suihe was a bit surprised. “Weren’t you just going out for a test run? How did you end up fishing?”
“It was just a convenient side task. Those old helmsmen are truly incredible,” Bai Jianbei hurriedly leaned close to Bai Suihe and showed off. “Suihe, you have no idea. They’re amazing! Just by standing on the deck, they can tell exactly where the schools of fish are.
“Kaiyuan also had great foresight to bring some fishing nets on board. Just a few casts, and we got this massive haul!”
With just this catch alone, the cost of their sea voyage was covered. A few more trips like this, and they would even make back the capital spent on building the ship. Because in this era, a lot of food simply couldn’t be preserved for a long time. When embarking on ocean voyages, this was a crucial factor to consider. Gu Kaiyuan had also hired people to prepare many fishing nets. He hadn’t expected that this early preparation would yield such an unexpected windfall.
Bai Suihe was equally shocked. She knew marine resources were abundant in this era, but she hadn’t expected them to be this plentiful. However, thinking about it made sense. Fishermen only had small boats and could only play around in the shallow coastal waters. Now that this large ship was in the water, it could definitely travel much further out. The resources in the open ocean were simply unimaginable. She began to understand why all those great families tried every possible means to invest in the fishing industry. Aside from satisfying their own appetites, the speed of acquiring such hauls was incredibly fast.
“How far out did you go?” Bai Suihe led the others in making way so the baskets of seafood could be brought ashore.
“We didn’t go that far, though I’d say our greatest harvest this time was discovering a few relatively large islands. However, since we didn’t catch the high tide, we couldn’t dock for the time being.” Gu Kaiyuan decided that upon returning this time, he absolutely had to equip the main ship with a few smaller boats to make future exploration easier.
The group chatted and laughed. Gu Xingyang tried to throw herself into Gu Kaiyuan’s arms several times, but he dodged her every attempt.
“Wait until Father has washed up before giving you a hug. I’ve been marinated in this fishy smell!”
Bai Suihe then noticed that their clothes were coated with a layer of white frost from the dried sea salt. It seemed the fresh water reserves they had brought on board were still insufficient. This was a major challenge. When sailing on the sea, it was very difficult to simply rely on the mercy of the elements. They still needed to find more supply points, making those islands utterly crucial.
Upon returning home, the family enjoyed a harmonious meal together. After dinner, they moved to the study and began various discussions regarding the ship’s upgrades. Having experienced the voyage firsthand this time, Gu Kaiyuan and Bai Jianbei had discovered the most shortcomings. Meanwhile, Bai Suihe offered supplementary suggestions from a modern perspective.
Old Mrs. Bai held Gu Xingyang and quietly watched all of this, her eyes brimming with tenderness. In her lifetime, having so many outstanding children made all the endurance and suffering of her early years completely worth it.
Gu Xingyang leaned against Old Mrs. Bai’s embrace, feeling drowsy. She thought that instead of having such a lively discussion right now, it would be much more practical to just take everyone out for a spin. However, she decided to let them handle all the various improvements so she could just sit back and reap the rewards later.
After another round of improvements, the second voyage was about to begin. This time, Bai Suihe insisted on going out to sea no matter what. The Bai brothers had to leave one person behind to guard the home front. This time, Bai Jiannan absolutely refused to yield his spot, and in the end, he got his way and joined the voyage.
The group stood on the deck, waving goodbye to Bai Jianbei on the shore. Old Mrs. Bai patted his shoulder. “Alright, they’ve gone far now. Let’s head back.”
“Mother, I want to stay here from now on,” Bai Jianbei said, supporting Old Mrs. Bai. “I’ve already found the new direction for my life.”
“Then you must think this through clearly. This path is not an easy one to walk.
“The winds and waves at sea are immense, and danger lurks at every turn. With the wealth the Bai family divided for you, plus what I have set aside for you, you could easily spend your entire life in safe, peaceful prosperity.”
“I’ve thought it through very clearly. I’m still young, and I want to venture out and carve a life that truly belongs to me…”