Chapter 361: The Sun Rose from the West

Gu Fei herself wasn’t a fan of having all her relatives living close by. When there are too many people, conflicts can easily arise. However, Gu Zhang and Mrs. Chen had grown up accustomed to this kind of clan-based living. People from future generations could never comprehend the meaning and importance of clan to the people of this era.

’In any case, I don’t spend much time at home,’ Gu Fei thought. She nodded. "Either way is fine. You can decide, Dad."

Gu Zhang took a sip of wine. "I don’t have time to manage these things right now. We have to notify the village about building the houses, and I’m busy preparing to go to sea. I plan on having Sixth Uncle handle this."

"As for the construction itself, we’ll leave that to Yougen."

Gu Fei interjected, "Dad, if we’re really going to build them, we should hire someone to draw up blueprints first. Let me take a look at them when they’re done. If we’re going to build, we should build them well."

Gu Zhang nodded. "Alright, I’ll tell Yougen."

Just then, Mrs. Chen muttered from the side, "Your eldest sister’s family and your younger brother’s family can both afford the silver to build houses... it’s just your eldest brother’s family—"

Gu Zhang waved his hand. "You don’t need to worry about that. We talked about this the other day. Eldest Brother said he’ll build a few thatched huts to live in for now. If he doesn’t have enough silver for the huts, he’ll borrow some from Eldest Sister."

Gu Fei raised an eyebrow. "Eldest Uncle isn’t borrowing silver from us?"

It was as if the sun had risen in the west.

Gu Zhang was also amused. "Eldest Brother is probably worried we’d think he wouldn’t pay it back. He must have taken the matter of borrowing grain on the road during the famine last year to heart."

"Oh well, let him be."

Mrs. Chen pursed her lips as she listened. ’That makes me sound rather petty,’ she thought.

These days, she didn’t actually care about several taels of silver. It was just that Ms. Qian’s ways were so off-putting, and she refused to let Ms. Qian take advantage of them.

Gu Zhang continued, "Eldest Brother isn’t driving the cart anymore. He sold the mule cart, paid back Young Master Su, and is now selling barbecue in the city himself. Taotao and her husband borrowed one tael of silver from your grandmother and are also selling barbecue in the city."

"I hear their businesses are both doing pretty well. Eldest Brother said he earned two taels of silver on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival."

"Now that each family has its own barbecue stall, at least they won’t have to worry about putting food on the table."

Gu Fei nodded. "That’s good."

After the family finished their meal, Gu Fei got ready to head back to the city.

Mrs. Chen was reluctant to see her go. "Why don’t you stay for the day? It’s your birthday; you ought to rest for a day."

So Gu Fei stayed, discussing things with her mother in her room. "I’ll take care of Lan Zhi’s dowry. You don’t have to worry about it, Mom."

"What about the furniture? Do you think we should buy new pieces, Mom?"

Mrs. Chen said quickly, "Buy new ones? What for? The side room already has a bed, a table, and chairs. We wouldn’t even have a place to put new furniture!"

Gu Fei knew her mother was reluctant to spend the money, so she nodded. "Alright, we won’t buy new furniture. We’ll just buy bedding and luggage, clothes for all four seasons, gold and silver jewelry, and a bathtub, washbasin, and chamber pot."

Mrs. Chen was startled. "Nonsense! Why buy clothes for all four seasons? Just a few outfits she can wear now will be fine. And we don’t need to buy gold and silver jewelry; I’ve already prepared some."

Gu Fei smiled. "Mom, what you’ve prepared is from your heart. Lan Zhi will be my second sister-in-law soon, part of the family. When I add a little more for her, it’s not like an outsider is benefiting. It’s all staying within the family."

"I plan to prepare a dowry for her worth one hundred taels of silver. It’s not really that much. By the way, what about her wedding dress?"

Mrs. Chen shook her head. "She’s been busy making clothes for you lately. How would she have time to embroider her wedding dress?"

"Besides, it’s too late now anyway. I think we’ll just have to buy a ready-made one."

Gu Fei nodded. "Alright then. The bride’s family is supposed to provide the wedding dress. I’ll take care of that for her. Tell her tomorrow not to buy one herself, in case we end up with two."

The mother and daughter chatted on and on about household trifles. That evening, Gu Fei had dinner and went to bed early.