From Hoarding to Time-Travel: My Supplies Saved Him

Chapter 688: Chapter 690: Forgot One Thing

’Gu Yuanfeng must be feeling pretty smug right now,’ Xie Ruyi thought.

’Not only will she have an easier time managing her new son-in-law, but that generous dowry from Mother-in-law has now gone to the Shi family.

’It’s a case of killing two birds with one stone, and she couldn’t care less about the Gu family’s reputation.’

Liu Liu suddenly clapped her hands. "Did we forget something?"

The other sisters-in-law all stared at her. "..."

"We forgot about the He Family," Liu Liu reminded them.

"But we agreed back then that they wouldn’t get involved with the two children," Li Xiaohua said, though she no longer sounded so sure. "They probably won’t interfere, right?"

Liu Liu said, "Are you all dense? Our contributions on top of Mother’s dowry rival what you’d see from a minor landlord marrying off a daughter.

"Wealth can stir anyone’s heart. If it were us back in the old days, even we’d be getting ideas, let alone the He Family."

The more Liu Liu thought about it, the more she felt this could spell trouble. She warned the others, "We should all go back and tell our husbands. They need to be prepared. What if the He Family really does show up?"

Li Xiaohua said, "You have a point. It’s entirely possible. Chun Ya is still young, but there’s no guarantee those people won’t get some ideas about her."

Hong Daya said, "I told you all before not to be so generous.

"You insisted on doing it to uphold Mother’s reputation. And now look, we’ve just invited more trouble."

’She’s just a maternal granddaughter, not even a member of the Gu Family,’ she thought. ’Li Cuicui shouldn’t have made such a big deal out of it. A simple dowry would’ve been enough to send her off, instead of causing all this drama.’

’All that silver would have been better spent on my own precious child. When he becomes successful, he’ll remember the whole family.’

"Fifth Sister-in-law, what kind of talk is that?" Xie Ruyi chided her, pulling rank as the eldest sister-in-law. "The Gu family isn’t what it used to be. Wherever we go now, people have to look up to us.

"Even if Chuncao isn’t a Gu by blood, she still calls us ’Auntie.’ If the gift had been too meager, would you have been able to show your face?

"This isn’t the time for complaining. We need to figure out how to handle the He Family if they really do show up."

Hong Daya scoffed, "How else is there to handle it? Let’s see if they even have the guts to show up.

"In all of Fu County, there’s not a single family that would dare to cause trouble for us."

Liu Liu said, "That may be true, but what if they’re shameless? If they cause a scene, the rumors won’t be pleasant to hear.

"In any case, we women don’t deal with these outside affairs. We should just tell the brothers when we get back. It’s better to be safe than sorry."

Just as they were thinking they had time to prepare and come up with a plan, a villager ran up and told them the He Family had arrived.

The sisters-in-law exchanged glances. They had arrived surprisingly quickly.

Liu Liu glanced back toward Li Cuicui’s house in the distance. "Let’s not tell Mother yet. We’ll go check it out first."

The old lady hadn’t seemed to be in high spirits, and Liu Liu had already been thinking about calling a doctor for her.

Xie Ruyi grabbed the messenger boy. "Don’t go to your Aunt Dashi. We’ll head to the front to see what’s happening. You go to the workshop and get your Brother Yuanjin and the others."

By the time they reached the village entrance, they found that the He Family had already been stopped.

Seeing them arrive, He Tiping, who looked much older now, didn’t raise a fuss as he had in the past. Instead, he wore an obsequious smile. "Aunts of the children," he said, "we’ve just come to see the two girls.

"I heard Chuncao has gotten married, so we came to present a gift."

Xie Ruyi glanced up at the sky and smiled as well. "You’re a bit late. The bride has already departed. If you want to give a gift, why don’t you take it directly to Stone Village?"

’The He Family has learned a thing or two this time,’ she noted, seeing the cloth bundle in his hand. ’I wonder what’s in it.’

"Oh, is that right?" He Tiping said, wringing his hands. "I must have gotten the news too late. What should I do now?"

Xie Ruyi and the others thought to themselves, ’The He Family really has learned a few things. How are we supposed to respond to that?’

"It’s quite simple," Liu Liu said, stepping up beside Xie Ruyi with a smile. "If you’re sincere about giving a gift, Stone Village isn’t far. Just ask for directions and you’ll find it. It’s not too late to head over now. The wedding banquet probably hasn’t even ended yet."

"That wouldn’t be right. After all, the child doesn’t know I’m coming today. It would put her in an awkward position.

"By the way, where’s Er Ni? It’s been a long time since I, her father, have seen her. Why don’t you let her come out for a visit?

"Don’t worry, I’m not trying to take her back with me. I just want to see her."

He really didn’t know the girl’s actual name, so he just used "Er Ni"—"Second Girl"—as everyone else did.

"Er Ni?" Liu Liu said with a smile. "Our sister-in-law took her along. If you want to see her, you’ll really have to go to Stone Village."

He Tiping was speechless for a moment. "...When will she be back?"

Xie Ruyi said, "That’s hard to say. Her own mother wants to keep her by her side and raise her. You’ll have to ask our sister-in-law about that."

He Tiping grew anxious. "Didn’t the old lady say she was going to raise the child? Why did she give her to Yuan Feng?"

Xie Ruyi retorted, "Does a mother need to ask your permission to raise her own child? Your He Family took silver to wash your hands of the children back then. What are you trying to pull now?"

"That’s not what I meant at all," He Tiping said, his face flushing red. "Back then, my mother only took the silver because we had no choice, for the sake of our family’s livelihood.

"They’re my children, after all. How could I truly abandon them?

"Look, here. This is fabric I bought with silver I saved up from my own work. Just a small token to show that I care as their father."

As he spoke, He Tiping placed the bundle on the ground and pulled it open, revealing two lengths of linen cloth.

Liu Liu glanced over. ’In the past, any child would have been grinning from ear to ear to receive fabric like this.’

’But the Gu Family looked down on such material now. Even He Chuncao and her sister, who were only being fostered here, had never worn anything like it.’

"It’s too late for all that now," Xie Ruyi said, her tone softening slightly after a quick glance at the fabric. "If you’re truly sincere, perhaps you can visit them in Stone Village another day."

Li Xiaohua tugged on Xie Ruyi’s sleeve and whispered, "Eldest Sister-in-law, if he really goes, it’ll be trouble for our sister-in-law."

Xie Ruyi replied, "No matter what, they’re his biological daughters. Even if we didn’t tell him to go, he could still find a way to see them if he wanted to.

"Besides, this is all part of Yuan Feng’s past. It can’t be erased, and there’s no use trying to hide it.

"We’ve cleaned up her messes so many times. It’s about time she learned to face them herself."

After hearing what Xie Ruyi said, Li Xiaohua stopped trying to object. She let go of her sleeve and stepped back.

’Eldest Sister-in-law has a point. If their sister-in-law knew how to treat people, they would have been more willing to help block him.’

’But Gu Yuanfeng is just impossible. She runs back to her family home whenever she has a problem, but when things are fine, she can’t even be bothered to acknowledge her own sisters-in-law.’

’They were tired of turning into shrews every day over her petty dramas. This time, she wasn’t going to cater to her anymore.’