PFC Chapter 555: Her Life Is Worth Cherishing
Chapter 555: Her Life Is Worth Cherishing
After Lord Yao left, Tong Huaqiong’s eyes searched around for Gu Xiaoxue’s shadow.
"Xiaoxue is in the kitchen," Chen Sufen said to Tong Huaqiong.
Gu Xiaoxue followed Tong Huaqiong home, rolling up her sleeves and working as if nothing had happened.
One could not tell that she almost orchestrated a rural poisoning incident.
Tong Huaqiong walked into the kitchen and saw Gu Xiaoxue sitting on a bench eating, with Tong Pandi sitting beside her.
"Aunt," Tong Pandi said, standing up when she saw Tong Huaqiong come in, knowing that she had something to say to Gu Xiaoxue, "I’ll go check if Hua Er is eating properly."
Tong Huaqiong sat down next to Gu Xiaoxue.
Gu Xiaoxue was shoveling food into her mouth one bite after another.
Her aunt’s family had good food, rich and oily. Chen Sufen and Tong Pandi had given her a lot of meat dishes, and there were even two large chicken legs in her rice bowl.
Such good food would never reach her at home.
Tong Huaqiong watched Gu Xiaoxue eat.
"Aunt, do you think I should marry Liu Qingsong?" Gu Xiaoxue asked.
Tong Huaqiong asked, "Do you like Liu Qingsong?"
Gu Xiaoxue thought for a moment and said, "Liu Qingsong is indeed very kind. He’s good to me, helps me carry water, chops wood for me, gives me rouge, powder, and hairpins. He even almost lost his life for me today. To say I don’t like him would be a lie. I should be grateful to him, and I should have agreed to marry him while Lord Yao was willing to allow it, yet I refused him. Now, the villagers must be scolding me for being ungrateful and not knowing how to appreciate kindness, saying I’ll never meet another man as good as Liu Qingsong."
"But does gratitude mean I have to marry him? If I marry him out of gratitude, wouldn’t that be unfair to him? Refusing him doesn’t mean I don’t like him, it’s exactly because I am grateful and like him that I can’t marry him. With today’s incident, even if Liu Qingsong didn’t drink the poison, his parents would certainly blame me for it, they wouldn’t like me. Even if his parents agree to the marriage because of Magistrate Yao, they wouldn’t treat me well once I marry into the family, and Liu Qingsong would be caught in the middle. I doubt he would always stand by me or treat me well for the rest of his life. If I get wronged, people would just bring up today’s incident, saying Liu Qingsong risked his life for you, so why can’t you endure some grievances? But I don’t want to endure grievances."
"Why should I endure grievances? I’ve already endured enough grievances from my parents and grandparents, I don’t want to endure them after getting married."
Tong Huaqiong looked at Gu Xiaoxue.
This silent girl, who seemed meek and submissive, had such insight.
Tong Huaqiong felt she had never really seen through her.
Ever since she refused Tong Huaqiong and Gu’s second uncle’s help, she harbored the thought of perishing together with Xu Dabao and Gu Ruinian.
She truly was a girl of the Gu family, just like Gu Taohua and Gu Baishuang, with a certain fierceness in her nature.
"Aunt, I don’t want to get married. My mother married my father and didn’t live a good life for many years, constantly at the mercy of my grandmother, hanging all her hopes on my second brother. Now that my second brother is down, she’s about to go insane. My sister-in-law... when my elder brother proposed, the family promised to treat her well, but she didn’t live well either. Her dowry was used to pay off family debts, her parents-in-law were biased, her husband didn’t support her, and when she mentioned splitting the family, my elder brother just turned cold-faced."
Gu Xiaoxue bit her lip, then smiled.
"So what’s the benefit of getting married?"
"Even they aren’t as well off as you, being widowed seems more free."
Tong Huaqiong didn’t interrupt Gu Xiaoxue.
In this era, girls often had no prospects if they didn’t marry — even Gu Taohua wasn’t exempt; it was more about hoping to keep her around a few more years or arranging for a husband to move in. Before that, working to toughen her up, so that even if she never met a good man or ended up in a mess with her husband, she at least had Silver and a shop to fall back on.
Gu Xiaoxue directly didn’t want to marry. Tong Huaqiong internally supported her, but knew it would be a difficult path.
Tong Huaqiong asked, "Do you have any plans next? Your family will probably suggest another match for you."
After the poisoning incident, it was unlikely that the old house and second branch would accommodate Gu Xiaoxue.
After all, she aimed to poison not only Xu Dabao but also Gu Ruinian.
No matter how useless Gu Ruinian was, he was still a son, and the charge of Gu Xiaoxue poisoning her own siblings was indisputable.
Now, it’s likely that even if Mr. Gu and the others wouldn’t punish Gu Xiaoxue, they would marry her off to somewhere far away.
Parental decree and matchmaker’s words didn’t need Gu Xiaoxue’s consent.
Gu Xiaoxue’s face was firm, a resolve like one facing death.
"At worst, die once more," Gu Xiaoxue said.
Tong Huaqiong interrupted her, saying, "You definitely shouldn’t think of self-destruction, manufacturing poisoning and then killing yourself. Xiaoxue, let me tell you, whatever happens, you must never think of self-destruction. Xu Dabao is not worth dying with you, and Gu Ruinian is not worth you perishing with him, neither of them is worth it. Your life, if your family doesn’t cherish it, you must cherish it yourself, even if your family pushes you to the brink where you cannot live or die, you must save yourself thousands and thousands of times."
Gu Xiaoxue looked at Tong Huaqiong.
Saving herself, it was the first time she heard someone tell her such a thing.
Her sympathetic sister-in-law told her to endure, her sympathetic Gu Honglian said it was fate, her pitiful Liu Qingsong told her to just marry him, but only her eldest aunt said she must save herself, telling her this life is very valuable.
Gu Xiaoxue’s eyes reddened.
She didn’t want to die, she wanted to live.
"Aunt, I can farm, weave, embroider, can I work with you?" Gu Xiaoxue asked.
Tong Huaqiong replied, "Of course, I’m opening a weaving workshop, you’re skillful, so in the future just follow me and weave in the workshop."
"Alright."
The previously dim look in Gu Xiaoxue’s eyes began to brighten.
Gu Xiaoxue stayed at Tong Huaqiong’s place for two days.
During this time, no one from the old house showed up.
On the third day, Gu Honglian came to Tong Huaqiong’s house, examining Gu Xiaoxue as if she didn’t recognize this niece of hers.
"Xiaoxue, you really have guts, it’s a pity you didn’t poison Gu Ruinian to death," Gu Honglian said.
Because of her hatred for Gu Ruinian, Gu Honglian supported Gu Xiaoxue in this matter.
After the poisoning incident occurred, the old house didn’t make much commotion.
Maybe Mr. Gu felt guilty towards Gu Xiaoxue.
Anyway, under the interference of Magistrate Yao, the Gu family was forced to cross off the five hundred taels of Silver debt to the Xu family. Plus, Gu Xiaoxue could earn an outside dowry, so the Gu family was on the winning side anyway. Thus, Gu Youtian and Mrs. Jia not only didn’t blame Gu Xiaoxue for embarrassing them publicly but actually felt grateful for Gu Xiaoxue’s actions.
However, what made Mr. Gu and others unhappy was that Gu Xiaoxue had not only attempted to poison Xu Dabao, but she also intended to poison Gu Ruinian, touching Mr. Gu’s sore spot.
Resorting to poisoning siblings, what if next time she had grievances against the family, she could poison others?
Gu Xiaoxue stayed at Tong Huaqiong’s house for two days without returning, which brought Mr. Gu to the point of sending Gu Honglian to call her back home.
"Xiaoxue, my father wants you to go back," Gu Honglian said, finally stating her purpose of visiting her sister-in-law.
Gu Xiaoxue glanced at Tong Huaqiong and said, "Aunt, I’ll go back first."
Grandparents and parents are her inevitable confrontation.
Gu Honglian said, "Sister-in-law, the Clan Leader and the second uncle are both there, father invites you to go as well."
Just as Jingzhe was at home and hadn’t returned to the provincial city, upon hearing that Tong Huaqiong was requested to visit the old house, he stood and offered to accompany her.