Chapter 149: A Path to Survival
Shanzimama was speechless with anger. The room was full of men. She was a woman—and a widow, at that. How could it possibly be appropriate for her to go over there?
She looked helplessly at Shanzi. ’This child...’ she thought. ’Ever since his father died, he’s just gotten more and more stubborn.’
In the main hall, the village chief sighed. "Zhang, you’re quite the capable one. You’ve barely arrived in this new place and you’ve already set yourself up with a house and land. We all followed you here. We’re all from the same village, not to mention I’m your sixth cousin-uncle. You’ve got to give us a hand."
Gu Rong chimed in, his eyes pleading, "Second Brother, I’m not capable, and I have no money. I’m counting on you to find a way for me to survive."
Gu Zhang’s head was starting to throb. He sighed. "Third Brother, don’t you know your second brother’s own limits?"
"In all our years together, your sister-in-law and I only managed to scrape together a few acres of land back home. If I were that capable, I’d have struck it rich long ago."
"Little Fei earned this house and land all on her own merit. What do I have to do with any of it?"
The village chief couldn’t hold back. "But Little Fei is your own daughter, and that makes her my grandniece. Can’t she lend us a hand?"
"Once you move out, how can we possibly stay here? Young Master Su only let us live here on your account."
"So, what do you say? Can you talk to Little Fei and ask her to help everyone out?"
The eldest aunt’s husband remained silent. He was thinking the same thing, but he felt it wasn’t right to force someone’s hand on a matter like this.
Boss Zhang started to get anxious. His injury hadn’t healed, so he couldn’t go out to drive his cart. He’d been stewing at home for days, growing more and more frantic. His wife had been out looking for work for three days and had only just found a laundry job today, earning a few dozen copper coins. At this rate, his whole family was going to starve to death.
Everyone else here was related to Gu Zhang in some way—either as a blood brother, a brother-in-law, or an uncle, like the village chief. He was the only one who wasn’t family.
He said hurriedly, "Why don’t we all go and plead with Little Fei? Ask her to show us a way to make a living."
Gu Zhong spoke up as well. "I think that’s a good idea."
Gu Fei was in the very next room.
The door was closed, but it couldn’t block the voices outside, which drifted in intermittently.
Inside the room, Mrs. Chen grew agitated. She lowered her voice and whispered, "These people... Are they all just jealous because we have a house and land now?"
Outside, Gu Zhang was also getting flustered. "But... but... Little Fei is still just a child! She’s only fourteen! How could she possibly have the ability to help so many people?"
"Ping’an City is a big place. Surely everyone can find some kind of work to support their families."
Boss Zhang’s voice was grim. "I’d like to, but I still owe Young Master Su silver. I promised I’d sell the horse and cart to pay him back, but driving is the only skill I have. If I sell the cart, what work can I possibly do?"
Gu Zhong added with a pained expression, "The pay for work in the city is higher than in Lin City, it’s true, but living day-to-day on odd jobs is no long-term solution."
The eldest aunt’s husband couldn’t help but sigh. "My family owes thirty taels of silver, too. Even if I sell one of my mule carts, I won’t be able to gather the full thirty taels."
"I know how to hunt, but there isn’t a single mountain around here. I don’t even know what I could do for work."
Gu Zhang heaved a deep sigh. "Everyone, don’t panic. We’ll figure something out. We’re not going to let a problem like this be the end of us, are we?"
"As for this house, Young Master Su surely won’t say anything about you all staying here for the time being."
The village chief gave a bitter smile. "Zhang, I know I’m putting you and Little Fei in a difficult position. But if you move out, everyone’s going to panic."
"After traveling over a thousand miles on this journey, everyone has come to see you as our backbone. Sigh... forget I said anything. I’m just getting old and muddled. I never should have brought this up."
With that, the village chief hunched his back and slowly walked out.