Carrying the little lucky star, leading the villain on the road to exile

Chapter 191.022. Preparation
In any case, the Gu family was truly poor, or rather, their money was almost gone.

With the Lunar New Year just around the corner, many things that should be prepared can only be bought haphazardly because of money constraints.

At first, they didn't think much of it; even if things were bad, they were still better off than the original inhabitants of the village. But as the aroma of smoked meat wafted over, they realized that even those original inhabitants who were much worse off than them were smoking cured meat at home.

"The smell of this smoked meat is making me so hungry every day." Gu Kaichen sniffed. "Dad, why don't we go buy some meat and smoke it too?"
It's inconvenient to buy meat here; the weather changes so quickly, it gets cold and hot in a flash, and meat that isn't smoked won't keep.

Thinking of the aroma of cured meat, he unconsciously salivated, swallowed, and continued, "I also inquired before, and after the Little New Year, there will be fewer people on the streets, and people will not come out to set up stalls to sell things. Many will not resume setting up stalls until after the festival. At that time, you can forget about eating meat."

The others also looked at Gu Baijiang expectantly. Since they weren't going back, they still had to take care of their food. They couldn't have delicacies for the New Year, but they still had to have meat.

Gu Baijiang sighed and took out the last bit of silver from his pocket. "This is all I have. Use it sparingly."

"With this little bit of silver, we can't even buy half a pig," Gu Kaichen had been out shopping a lot these past few days, so he knew the prices. "Besides pork, we also need to buy some vegetables and grain..."

Gu Baijiang turned to look at Xu Shuanghong, "Take out whatever silver you have first, and I'll compensate you double later."

Xu Shuanghong said, "What are you saying, sir? I am also a member of the family. Why should I not pay it back?"

As he spoke, he took out two gold leaves. "You all know I don't bring much with me. This is my last bit of wealth. Make do with it for now."

"No? Madam Xu, is that all you have?" As expected, Xu Yulan was the first to jump out.

Gu Baijiang said, "How can your second son's wife be so disrespectful? Remember to address your mother as 'mother'."

“Father, it’s not that we just forgot to change our habits. I believe Mother won’t hold it against us, right?” Xu Yulan gritted her teeth. At her age, she had to remarry and put an ancestor on their heads. But now she had no choice but to rely on others to provide for everyone. She had to swallow her anger.

“Master,” Xu Shuanghong said earnestly, holding Gu Baijiang’s hand, “it’s normal for the children to forget for a while. We need to give them time to adjust.”

I gave you a gift before, and as you can see, my wallet is only so big; everything is here.

These words also reminded Gu Baijiang that he was indeed penniless, but his children and grandchildren still had a family fortune.

“I almost forgot about this,” Gu Baijiang said sternly to everyone. “Now is the most difficult time for our family. No one should hold back. Go back and take out your things. While it’s still early, hurry up and go into the city to buy things.”

No one could find an excuse to refuse, since everyone had been staying at home during this period, and it was unrealistic to suggest using the gold leaves. They could only contribute their belongings.

Seeing so many gold leaves, Gu Baijiang finally breathed a sigh of relief. With this much, they could have a very prosperous New Year.

"Then hurry up and go into town to buy New Year's goods."

As soon as Gu Baijiang finished speaking, Gu Kaichen's eyes darted around, and he continued, "Father, with the New Year approaching, shouldn't the third son give us some filial piety gifts?"

"Don't mention that unfilial son. We've already given him away for adoption." "Even if Father has been adopted away, he still owes you and Mother for raising him. He should repay you. It's only right that he gives you some filial piety."

"Then I'll leave this matter to you," Gu Baijiang thought, feeling resentful at the thought of Gu Kaiyuan living in a big house, enjoying a life of wealth and being waited on hand and foot.

He was just a proud man and didn't want to lose face in front of his clansmen and villagers, but if his two sons were willing to do it for him, what could he say?

Having received confirmation, Gu Kaichen grinned from ear to ear, "I'll go find Lao San right now."

Seeing him running out excitedly, Gu Kaiping said with some disapproval, "Second brother is going to make a fool of himself again. These days when we run into him in the village, Kaiyuan sometimes doesn't even want to say hello."

Gu Antong watched her father trying to sow discord and chimed in, "There's nothing we can do. We're poor relatives now, so Uncle and Aunt don't want to see us."

These words struck a nerve with Gu Baijiang. Back then, his family was poor, but they still wanted to support him through school. His mother disregarded her own reputation and begged people everywhere, which is why he always felt inferior in front of his clansmen and has been afraid to face them all these years.

And the Bai family, they only helped me a few times, but they acted superior to me, and even caused my third son to become estranged from me.

“Yes, we’re poor relatives,” Gu Baijiang finally couldn’t help but say, “We’ll make him unable to reach us in the future.”

The Gu family, along with the Xu mother and daughter, all had their eyes light up, staring intently at Gu Baijiang. But he changed the subject, saying, "It's almost New Year's, so be more diligent and see how other villages are preparing. Don't come to me with everything."

After saying that, he stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked out. This time, no one stopped him.

"What about these fabrics?" Xu Yulan took out the previous fabrics again. "Can we exchange them?"

Liu Yun swept all the gold leaves into her pocket. "Do as you please. I've already bought them all, so I can't buy you any more."

It's true that those who don't manage a household don't know the value of firewood and rice. Everyone needs to eat well and dress well. How long can this little bit of gold leaf last?
“Madam Xu, you can use these fabrics to make your own clothes,” Liu Yun said, not giving Xu Shuanghong any face as Gu Baijiang was not around. “If you don’t like them, you can go into the city to exchange them, as long as you have the money.”

After saying that, Liu Yun felt a little regretful. Xu Shuanghong had already married her father-in-law, so all the money she had should belong to everyone. She would have to ask her husband to investigate how much wealth Xu Shuanghong still had.

Xu Shuanghong didn't mind her attitude; there wasn't a single good person in that family, and they were just being polite to each other.

"No need. The clothes we brought with us are still 90% new. We'll keep these and make new ones after spring."

Everyone will probably return to Beijing in the spring, and they will keep these fabrics as gifts. No one wants to return them to Liu Yun, so they came up with this excuse.

Liu Yun doesn't care how things are used after she gives them out; as long as she appears fair and just, she can't find any reason to criticize her for being unfair in managing the household.

Gu Antong quietly left with her two younger brothers; they needed to go to the other end of the village to take a look…

(End of this chapter)