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

Following the successful auction, Gu Kaiyuan and his team became even busier. In addition to their old acquaintances in Zhang County, Gu Kaiyuan suddenly found himself with many more friends whenever he went out.

Bai Suihe also received many invitations, and every day she took her child and traveled between different residences.

Gu Xingyang had been away for over ten days and was quite tired. Although the ladies and sisters there were very generous and friendly, showing off all sorts of gifts when they saw her, she still had to act cute and charming, which was exhausting.

When Bai Suihe heard her reason for not wanting to go out today, she blinked and asked, "Baby, are you sure you're not going out today?"

Then those gifts will wave goodbye to you.

I don't know who this girl took after, but she's so small, yet she acts like a money-grubber. Whenever someone gives her a gift, she starts acting cute.

Upon receiving it, she immediately screamed in her mind, saying that she had made a fortune again today.

She completely forgot that her elderly mother was also giving gifts to others, sometimes even more, because she was their only precious child.

Gu Xingyang hesitated for a moment, then yawned and said somewhat irresponsibly, "Mom, I don't want to go out today anyway. Why don't you stay home too? Make up an excuse to cancel. It's so boring having to socialize like this every day."

Bai Suihe patted her little bottom lightly, "I thought you liked it, that's why I take you out every day. But since you're not interested, I've turned down some of the posts."

"I'd rather stay home quietly than deal with all this socializing."

"Then Mother won't go out today." Gu Xingyang blinked. "Let's go back to the village."

Going back to the village is great. Going back to the village means you can go into the mountains. Compared to the county town, she prefers those mountains.

“Not today. I’ve already agreed, so I can’t go back on my word.” Bai Suihe patted her head. “Since you don’t want to go out, I’ll have Granny Pang stay home with you.”

Gu Kaiyuan is even busier than her now, leaving early and returning late every day. He doesn't trust anyone else to take care of Bai Suihe except for Granny Pang.

"Then Mother, hurry back. I've had enough sleep, and I'll play with you again."

"You misspoke, it's Mommy playing with you," Bai Suihe corrected with a smile. Since the child wasn't going out, they should go early, otherwise there would be no excuse to be late.

Today, she was invited by a collateral branch of the Empress's family in the capital. Although the Empress was not favored, her family still had some influence. Even though only a collateral branch came, everyone was very respectful.

This family has booked the entire inn; I heard they just bought the courtyard and it's still under renovation.

However, they are really impatient. They started sending out invitations as soon as they arrived, and anyone with a reputation in Zhang County is a potential target for their invitations.

"Madam Qian, Madam Li, Madam Jiang, Madam Gu, this way please." As soon as Bai Suihe and the other ladies appeared at the door, several maids came up and clearly called out each of their names.

Bai Suihe exchanged glances with the other ladies, then smiled and followed behind the maids.

This new Gu family is quite interesting; it seems the lady of the house has done her homework.

Logically speaking, given her status, she shouldn't have gone to such lengths. Although she wasn't prominent in the capital, she was still the Empress's maternal family, a true imperial family. Who in Zhang County would dare to disrespect them?

The entire inn, including the courtyard behind it, had been booked by the Gu family and was filled with their relatives. The matriarch of their household lived in the back courtyard of the inn with her children, which was originally the owner's residence.

As for the innkeeper, he took the money and moved out temporarily. He can only move back once the Gu family has cleared out the house. As for any talk of the Gu family being domineering, that's not true. After all, it was a willing buyer and a willing seller, and the Gu family had spent a lot of money to rent the inn.

The innkeeper might even be secretly pleased, as he's made more than a year's worth of profit in such a short time.

They were led to the backyard. The innkeeper was quite wealthy, and the backyard had two courtyards. Although the courtyard was not large, there was a small back garden, which was used for reception today.

Madam Qian looked around curiously, "I have to say, after all this tidying up, I almost didn't recognize the Liu family's courtyard."

The innkeeper's surname was Liu, and he had some dealings with Madam Qian and her family before.

Bai Suihe: "Is there a big difference?"

Bai Suihe was visiting for the first time, so of course she didn't know.

Although the Gu family was relatively poor in the past, their furnishings and decorations were quite tasteful. In addition, the Bai family was originally a wealthy family, and she had seen all kinds of luxurious furnishings. Although they were somewhat elegant, they were not surprising to her.

“Madam Liu used to be quite frugal. Even the basic furniture was old and she was reluctant to replace it. But everything here has been replaced, even the flower pots over here have all been replaced with new ones…”

Madam Jiang echoed, "Absolutely! You know what, that's exactly how it should be arranged. Madam Liu used to be too frugal. When we visited her home, we were always afraid that if we ate a little too much pastry, she would be in financial trouble."

Madam Li covered her mouth and chuckled, "You've gone too far with those words. Madam Liu would be very upset if she heard this, and she'd be worried that I'd complain about you to your face next time."

"Don't worry, go ahead and tell her. She might even give you a good lecture on the virtues of diligence and thrift..."

Bai Suihe also had some impression of the Madam Liu they mentioned. She had met her at a banquet before. Even when she went out to meet guests, she dressed simply, but she was also a capable person.

“Frugality is a good thing,” Bai Suihe echoed. “Next time we should ask Madam Liu for advice. As the saying goes, little by little, we can accumulate a lot. Maybe we can save up some money.”

The three ladies all stared at Bai Suihe. If they hadn't already entered the backyard, they would have clapped their hands and praised her.

Bai Suihe stared straight ahead and said seriously, "There are quite a lot of people ahead, so be mindful of your behavior."

The group immediately composed themselves, straightened their clothes, and followed obediently behind.

Since they didn't know whether Madam Gu was easy to get along with, they decided it was best not to be the first to stand out on their first meeting.

They arrived at a moderate pace, and the small backyard was already crowded with many people.

Bai Suihe wondered to herself, was it because she hadn't budgeted properly, or because she had a few uninvited guests?

"Are we late?" Mrs. Qian asked in surprise. "That doesn't make sense either; I actually arrived a little early today."

Bai Suihe: "It shouldn't be that bad. When we got off the carriage, there were many more carriages coming from behind. They must have sent out invitations widely."

However, it seems that Madam Gu hasn't planned ahead properly, forgetting that their current residence is not very large. Today's banquet is quite interesting. (End of Chapter)