I was a stepmother in ancient times, and I led my whole family to wealth.

Chapter 130 Gu Yumei's Experience

Especially the ring and little fingers, which were swollen like carrots from the cold, and there were also broken skin on the back of the hand.

When you get back, ask Gu Chenglin to pick some wheat seedlings from the field and boil them in water for her to soak in.

If you had eggplant stems that had been frostbitten, that would be great; boiling and soaking them in water would be very effective.

"You can apply this to your hands, and if you have chilblains on your feet, you can apply it there as well."

Aunt Gu wiped away her tears and gave Dongfang Jin an apologetic look. She shouldn't have cried at her house.

Dongfang Jin returned her a smile.

This indicates that she doesn't care about these things.

Aunt Gu took the small box from her hand and said to Gu Yumei, "This is Chenglin's new daughter-in-law. From now on, you will call her Xiaojin."

Xiao Jin is a good person with no bad intentions, but sometimes she speaks very casually.

She was good to Chenglin and his two sons; look, she bought this house…

Aunt Gu then recounted to her the events that had occurred after Gu Chenglin returned from retirement.

She knew that Gu Yumei's father had always wanted Gu Chenglin to be adopted by his family.

If you say that Granny Gu treated Cheng Lin badly, and someone was going to be adopted, she should let him go. However, Granny Gu was at odds with Yu Mei's father and just wouldn't agree.

Even on his deathbed, he was still thinking about this matter.

Gu Yumei stood up and bowed to Dongfang Jin: "Little...Little Jin, from now on, my son and I will be troubling you."

Dongfang Jin helped her up and saw that she wasn't restrained. Then, noticing the red and swollen chilblains on her hands, he frowned: "Is it that serious? How did it get so frostbitten?"

Jun Wenhui wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye and, before Gu Yumei could speak, said, "She washed other people's clothes all day to earn food for her child."

Xiao Hui said that it was raining and snowing that day, and the wind picked up in the afternoon, so in the end the family only gave them half a cold pancake..."

As she said this, a pang of sadness welled up in her heart again.

Fortunately, when she was homeless, she didn't end up like her. Although the three of them were destitute, the mother and son were skilled at embroidery, and the son could copy books for others and sometimes write letters.

One downside is that the three of them can't rent a place to live; they can only stay in a guesthouse.

However, one cannot stay in too nice a place, lest it attract the attention of those with ulterior motives.

When Gu Yumei was taking a bath, she saw the scars on her body. Gu Yumei didn't hide it from her and said that they were inflicted by her mother-in-law and several sisters-in-law.

After Aunt Gu applied the milky white ointment to Gu Yumei's hands, Dongfang Jin took out a pair of disposable gloves from his spatial storage.

"If you put this on your hand, you won't have to worry about making a mess everywhere."

Yang Zhu looked at the transparent object and its five fingers with curiosity: "Xiao Jin, what is this?"

Dongfang Jin smiled and said, "This was bought by Gu Chenglin from a merchant caravan at the dock. The people in the caravan said it was from overseas."

That's all she can say for now.

She also heard about the existence of overseas regions from Lu Yunqing.

Jun Wenhui wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and smiled, "You don't know, Xiao Jin makes Cheng Lin go to the dock almost every day or two."

"Let him find some strange and unusual things to buy, and you know what? Chenglin really lived up to expectations, always bringing back quite a few oddities."

Dongfang Jin...

Hehe, those were all taken from my space.

But, I can’t say.

Aunt Gu took the colorful box and looked at it. So it was from overseas. No wonder it was so exquisite.

He laughed and said, "Chenglin is different now than before. Look at him now, he's full of life."

Every now and then, he'd crack a joke with Sun Xing and the others; that's all thanks to Xiao Jin.

Looking at Dongfang Jin's smiling face, Gu Yumei thought that Cheng Lin's wife was a good one.

She was much better than that Tian Xiaocao. Thinking of her father's obsession, a wave of sorrow welled up in her heart.

One reason her father always wanted Gu Chenglin to be his son was because she had been abused at Uncle Gu's house.

Secondly, Gu Chenglin has always been grateful since childhood. Even at a young age, he showed that if you were kind to him, he would be ten times kinder to you.

Her father said that with a brother like that, she and her sister would not suffer any grievances in their husbands' families in the future.

She remembered her second sister asking her father if Gu Chenglin, who was so dull, could really protect them.

Her father said that Gu Chenglin acted that way because of filial piety; he was burdened by that concept of filial piety...

If we're talking about what Granny Gu is doing now, then back then...

And so, Dongfang Jin and Gu Yumei watched the three of them make cotton-padded clothes while chatting about everyday things.

Gu Yumei stood to the side, constantly complaining that too much cotton had been added.

Finally, Dongfang Jin said: "How can we work if we don't wear warm clothes? If we get sick from the cold, we'll have to spend money on medicine. With the money for medicine, we can buy a new cotton-padded coat at the clothing store."

Seeing this, Gu Yumei knew that this was for their own good, so she stopped stopping them. However, looking at the fine cotton, she realized that this was the first time she had ever worn such clothes.

Even when she got married, she didn't have this fine cotton-padded jacket made.

While expressing her gratitude to Dongfang Jin, she then recounted her experiences in her husband's family.

Since they had chosen to live together from now on, she didn't hide anything, including what happened in Shenjia Village after her husband's death.

Upon hearing this, Dongfang Jin couldn't help but sigh, realizing the hardships women faced in ancient times: obeying their fathers at home and their husbands after marriage.

They strictly adhered to the rule that a woman should not marry twice.

After her husband's accident, his family treated the three of them fairly well at first, not quite the same as when her husband was alive, but not too badly either.

The reason was that Gu Yumei's mother-in-law's brother had a son who wasn't very bright and was already thirty years old but still hadn't found a wife.

So, one time when this aunt came to visit, she saw Gu Yumei and wanted to match her up with her son.

At first, Gu Yumei's mother-in-law disagreed, fearing that the villagers would gossip.

Unfortunately, this aunt's offer was quite generous: a three-year-old ox, the kind that comes with an oxcart.

In addition, two mu of paddy fields near Honghe Village were given to the Shen family.

When Gu Yumei's mother-in-law heard this, she began to waver, but her father-in-law from the Shen family initially disagreed.

Because the Shen family has a second son who is born with a disability and has not yet started a family, this father-in-law had another idea.

Gu Yumei was their daughter-in-law, and she had given birth to two grandsons for the Shen family. She was kind, capable, and also the daughter of an old friend.

He didn't want to send his daughter-in-law to his father-in-law's house, as that would be bad for his two grandsons.

And so, his father-in-law confronted Gu Yumei...

Gu Yumei's husband is the fifth son in his family. If it were to be arranged for her sister-in-law to marry her brother-in-law, she would still be a member of the Shen family, and her children would still belong to the Shen family.

Fertilizer does not flow into outsiders' fields.

However, Shen's eldest aunt, who had initially offered generous terms, eventually added another ten taels of silver as a betrothal gift.

Now, the father-in-law of the Shen family couldn't refuse. After discussion, the Shen family decided to adopt Shen Qijun and Shen Qihui to their second uncle.

Let Gu Yumei marry into her maternal uncle's family.

Anyway, Gu Yumei's family has no one left, and those uncles and elders won't care about her affairs.

Once you enter the Shen family's gate, you're a member of the Shen family.

When Gu Yumei found out about this, she absolutely refused to agree and threatened to kill herself.

Finally, her eldest son, Shen Qijun, sought the help of the Shen family patriarch to uphold justice. The Shen family members then recounted the whole story to the patriarch.

The clan chief also thought this was a good thing, since they hadn't left their home and their village was right next to Honghe Village, so they could see their two sons anytime.

And so, the clan chief became the persuader.

Both routes are good...

They persuaded Gu Yumei to agree, saying they were all relatives...

When Gu Yumei saw that the clan chief also said so, it meant that she absolutely refused to marry into her maternal uncle's family.