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

Fearing a misunderstanding, Gu Kaishan quickly explained, "We didn't mean anything by it. We just wanted to ask if we needed manpower to clear land on the mountain for planting fruit trees. All of us brothers are strong enough. Don't worry, we won't slack off, and we'll work even harder than them."

They've suffered a lot these days. Although they cleared the land in the village early, they won't be able to harvest anything for several months.

They have no income other than going into the mountains to pick wild vegetables.

They went to the county town to inquire about jobs, but there were many more people asking for jobs than hiring, so these outsiders had absolutely no chance.

Money is needed everywhere at home, and they can earn a living by going out to work, but even with this small requirement, they can't meet it.

Gu Kaiyuan was indeed hiring on the mountain, but because of his previous relationship with his clansmen, the person in charge excluded the entire Gu family, preferring to hire people from other villages rather than call them.

They all knew that the root of the problem lay with Gu Kaiyuan. Their elders had gone too far and offended him badly. If it were them, they would probably have made enemies and never spoken to each other again. They had really gone to great lengths to come here.

But there's no way around it; they also have families to support, and they can't possibly eat wild vegetables with their families every day.

They can endure it, but how can the elderly and children endure it?

Gu Kaiyuan didn't actually ask Zhuang Datou and the others to turn away the Gu clan members, but this was also a way for them to vent their anger. Gu Kaiyuan felt that he had been too good to them in the past, making them take it for granted.

Although it was Gu Kaishan and his brother who came to them privately this time, others must have known about it as well.

"Why is it so difficult? Didn't you arrange for someone to go to the capital with Gu Kaichen? I bet you'll have news soon, right? It might not be long before you can go to the capital and live a good life, and you might not even care about my paltry sums."

"I'm not that optimistic," Gu Kaishan said with a wry smile. His grandfather was no longer the clan leader, and the new clan leader and Gu Kaichen had made a big fuss about going to the capital without Uncle Baijiang's consent. It was probably not going to be easy for them to get what they wanted.

Even if Gu Baijiang really arranged a place, it probably wouldn't be any better than Tamura.

It must be said that although Gu Kaishan was uneducated and lacked worldly experience, he still had some understanding of human nature.

Gu Kaiyuan said, "I'll ask Zhuang Datou later if he needs any manpower, and ask him to consider you guys too. But I don't care about personal relationships. Just do what you're supposed to do, and you won't be shortchanged in terms of compensation."

“That’s only right,” the Gu brothers all smiled. As long as they could make money, they were not afraid of any hardship or fatigue. They dared not ask for any special treatment, nor did they have the right to do so.

Gu Kaiyuan had nothing to say to them. Since the problem was solved, he simply turned and left.

The Gu brothers, who remained where they were, were filled with gratitude. "Don't be lazy when it comes to doing things. We only owe others a debt, and now we've shamelessly come to ask for your help. If we mess things up again, there won't be a next time."

"Understood, eldest brother," the other brothers said in unison.

"But the rest of the clan..."

Gu Kaishan looked at Gu Kaiwen who was speaking, "They don't care about this now. They've already packed their bags and are ready to leave at any time. If it weren't for Grandfather coming to persuade them, they wouldn't even be willing to plant this season's crops."

To place all your hopes on a person with no integrity, hoping they won't regret it later.

The other brothers then stopped talking and ran home quickly, wanting to finish all the farm work in the short time they had.

Bai Suihe listened to Gu Kaiyuan explain the purpose of those people's visit and was speechless. "They still think you're too easy to talk to."

"Forget it, they don't mean me any harm. They even helped me a bit in my previous life, so this is just to repay that favor," Gu Kaiyuan explained. "Besides, it doesn't matter who you ask for a favor, they can't cause any trouble anyway."

Bai Suihe: "I really don't know what they're thinking. Aren't they afraid that your father will drag them down again?"

“Impossible,” Gu Kaiyuan said, stroking his chin. “He’s already disfigured and has no way to return to the court. In two years, who will even remember who he is?”
As for my older brother, it's not that I look down on him, but with his brain, anyone with a modicum of sense wouldn't bring someone who's more trouble than he's worth into their team.

Bai Suihe said, "Don't say that. He did get into university through the imperial examinations, so he shouldn't be that stupid."

Bai Suihe thought to herself, some people are just naive but actually cunning. She was afraid that Gu Kaiping was such a person. Although she hadn't had much contact with him, she had always been on guard.

“You think too highly of him,” Gu Kaiyuan said sarcastically. “His examination results that year were somewhat questionable.”

Bai Suihe's eyes widened. "How dare your father?"

I don’t know if they had that kind of guts, but Gu Kaiping passed the imperial examination in that year, and several prominent families in the capital also had people who passed the exam that year.

I'm not spreading rumors, but those people don't have a very good reputation at the academy.

Bai Suihe: "They're blatantly cheating. Aren't they afraid...?"

"Sometimes, even the emperor has to turn a blind eye in the court, otherwise how can the court be kept in balance? Gu Kaiping was just lucky, and he happened to be there at the right time, which allowed him to pick up a big loophole."

Otherwise, why hasn't he made any progress after so many years in the Hanlin Academy?
Everyone knows the truth; allowing him to coast along there is already an act of mercy from His Majesty.

These people were good at keeping it a secret; ordinary people had no idea at all, otherwise these officials would have already started a riot.

Unexpectedly, there are underhanded dealings everywhere, and this is even tacitly approved by those in power. Bai Suihe shook her head. In her previous life, she was a corporate slave. In this life, her status is not high. It's already good enough if she is not used as a stepping stone.

If Gu Baijiang hadn't been disfigured, Gu Kaiyuan would definitely have paid more attention, and might even have run far away beforehand. Family members know their own affairs, which is why he hasn't been paying much attention to news from the capital these days.

I was chatting with my father-in-law these past few days, and we mentioned Gu Baijiang. He had visited several times in order to go to the capital, but the gatekeeper had always turned him away.

They probably don't know what they're saying behind his back, that the Bai family is snobbish and looks down on people. If the Bai family already has the intention to leave, why would they care about his little things?

Although the Bai family is far from the capital this time, they will inevitably be remembered. However, the father-in-law is cunning and spread some rumors before leaving, claiming that several business deals have failed and the assets have shrunk significantly, leaving them no choice but to stay away.

It's true that those few business deals resulted in losses, but he exaggerated them to an extreme degree. Even if these people investigated, they would find that it was true.

This clever escape also allowed the Bai family to completely distance themselves from the schemes of those powerful figures. After all, the Bai family wasn't the only wealthy merchant family in the capital. Even if the Bai family was gone, there were still the Li and Huang families... (End of Chapter)