Chapter 150: Unfilial, So Be It
Gu Zhang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but lowered his head dejectedly.
Eldest Uncle-in-law then left.
The rest of the group departed sullenly.
Gu Zhang sat in the main hall, staring into space.
’It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help them. His own brother, his own brother-in-law—how could he not want to help? But what could he do? He truly couldn’t help!’
Gu Fei remained silent in her room.
’Her thoughts mirrored her father’s. If she could help, she would have.’
’It wasn’t just her eldest uncle-in-law and aunt; her younger uncle and aunt had been quite good to her as well.’
’But her abilities were limited. She had to rack her brain just to come up with the idea of growing chili peppers.’
Just then, Mrs. Chen opened the door and spoke to the still-dazed Gu Zhang, "Husband, are we moving or not?"
Gu Zhang sighed and waved his hand. "Let’s move."
Everyone in the Gu Family immediately sprang into action. Da Lang, Er Lang, and Sanlang went in and out, carrying things.
Gu Zhang glanced at his mother’s door and hesitated.
’What should he do about his mother?’
’He was genuinely tired of his mother stirring up trouble, especially how she loved to criticize Little Fei. If he brought her along, she might be happy, but the rest of the household would likely be in chaos.’
’But if he really left his mother behind, she would be eating coarse grains with his older brother every day while he and his family ate white flour. That seemed too cruel.’
Gu Zhang hesitated at the door for a long while before finally gritting his teeth and walking in.
His mother sat on the edge of the bed, her expression sullen as she listened to the commotion outside.
Gu Zhang suddenly walked in, a wide, forced smile on his face. "Mother, I’m moving now. When I have a moment, I’ll bring you over to see the new place. If we have any good food, I’ll have Da Lang send some over. Please, take good care of yourself."
His mother stared at him blankly as tears slowly welled up in her eyes. "I know. You’ve grown tired of me. Ever since Little Fei returned, your whole family can’t stand the sight of me."
"I know you all still blame me for selling her all those years ago."
"But if I hadn’t sold her, would she be where she is today? If I were truly that black-hearted, I would have sold her to a brothel!"
"No matter how capable she is, wasn’t it all learned at the Marquis Mansion?"
The smile Gu Zhang had forced onto his face vanished. He said coolly, "Mother, must you keep saying things like that?"
"Whatever skills Little Fei has, they have nothing to do with the Marquis Mansion."
"We have a young lady from the Marquis Mansion right here, don’t we? What can she do? What does she know? Can she even compare to a single one of Little Fei’s toes?"
In Gu Zhang’s heart, no one in the entire world could measure up to his daughter.
"Forget it. I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I’ll be honest: I don’t want you to move in with us."
"It’s not that I can’t afford to support you, or that I’m unwilling to. But if you move in, you’ll be arguing and making a fuss all day, and the family will never have any peace."
His mother was furious. She pointed a trembling finger at Gu Zhang. "You... you... How can you say something so unfilial? This is a classic case of ’once you have a wife, you forget your mother’!"
Gu Zhang shook his head. "I’m only telling you this because I hope you’ll stop making scenes in the future, so our family can live together in harmony."
"If you insist on putting it that way, then I’ll be unfilial. You can curse me all you like, but I have a whole family to think about. I can’t abandon them all just for the sake of my mother."
Gu Zhang knelt and kowtowed. "Mother, please take care of yourself. We won’t be far. I’ll come visit when I have time."
Having said his piece, Gu Zhang got up from the floor, turned, and walked out.
His mother pointed a trembling hand toward the doorway, but it was empty. He was already gone.
Suddenly, his mother felt that the room was both empty and cold.