Looking at these relatives who seemed ready to wail at any moment, Gu Qingyun was left speechless. Better to just eat; the more she comforted them, the more terrified they became.
Her single-minded devotion to food caught the attention of her cousins, who had no appetite whatsoever. Watching her finish bowl after bowl, Zhang Xiaohe was left completely dumbfounded.
“Cousin Qingyun, eating like this, isn't your belly bursting?”
Gu Qingyun paused mid-bite, feeling a little embarrassed.
“Cousin Xiaohe, I suppose I do feel a little full.”
“Don't worry, we have some dried hawthorn at home. I'll simmer a bowl for you in a bit; it'll ease the bloating once you drink it.”
Zhang Xiaohe's words reached Old Lady Zhang at the head table, who burst out laughing.
“Xiaohe, Qingyun eats three large bowls every meal. She's only just started; she's probably barely thirty percent full. She won't be needing that hawthorn water.”
Gu Qingyun shut her eyes. Wonderful. Now her reputation as a glutton had spread all the way to the Zhang family's ancestral home. By tomorrow, every relative far and wide would probably know that the married-off daughter of the Zhang family had a bottomless pit of a granddaughter.
Gu Qingyun's ears flushed crimson, burning with heat.
Beside her, Zhang Xiaohe stared at her intently, then gently pushed her own bowl toward her.
“If you don't mind, you can have my rice too. Don't worry, it's clean; I haven't touched it yet.”
Seeing what Zhang Xiaohe did, the others reflexively looked down at their own bowls. Ah, they had already touched theirs and couldn't give any to Cousin Qingyun.
“Thank you, Cousin Xiaohe.” Gu Qingyun found this meal agonizing to finish. Everyone at their table had only eaten a single bowl, yet Zhang Huai'an, her eldest maternal uncle's son, actually fetched a large bowl and heaped it full of rice for her. With the whole table staring at her as she ate, she felt like a pig being fattened up.
Gu Qingyun had to admit none of them bore any ill will; they only feared she wouldn't have enough to eat after coming all this way. There was no judgment in their eyes about how much she ate, only earnest concern that it wasn't enough.
Through this meal, she felt much more at ease around the Zhang family and finally had the peace of mind to observe the layout of the homestead.
Xigu Village was a fine place nestled against mountains and rivers. Half of the villagers were of the Zhang clan; their ancestors had settled here long ago after fleeing famine. As for why her grandmother had married over three hundred li away in Shiwa Village, she had no idea.
The Zhang family's courtyard faced south, enclosed front and back by wicker fences. A variety of vegetables grew in the back, alongside some chickens, ducks, and two pigs. The front yard was swept clean, featuring a pebble pathway flanked by green onions and garlic. Gu Qingyun estimated the entire homestead covered around a thousand square meters, housing four generations under one roof. In this era, as long as one's parents were alive, families rarely split their households. Dividing the family would invite accusations of being unfilial; unless parents were terribly partial, common folk simply stayed together. Once split, they became separate households, and whenever compulsory labor was called, each household would have to send an able-bodied man—a devastating blow for peasant families.
Like Gu Qingyun's household: they had not split, and because someone in the family served as a Constable, the entire household was exempt from compulsory labor service.
“Eldest Sister, why doesn't your granddaughter have even a shred of feminine softness? Look at how she's dressed—it's downright intimidating, yet you don't say a word to her. With a personality as willful as that, no mother-in-law would ever want such a daughter-in-law. It'll be hard for her to find a husband in the future.”
The speaker was Old Lady Zhang's younger sister. Having married close by, her husband's family had prospered over the years and now lived in town. She had always looked down on Gu Qingyun's grandmother, thinking that marrying a constable made her of low standing.
Old Lady Zhang merely smiled without replying, casually revealing the silver bracelet on her wrist. Caught by her eldest sister-in-law's eye, the older woman let out a gasp of surprise.
“Sister, you're wearing a silver bracelet now! That can't have been cheap. I was just about to say, you're doing quite well for yourself—even the hairpin in your hair is silver-plated. I thought after Gu He...”
Old Lady Liang trailed off, afraid of bringing grief to her sister-in-law.
Old Lady Zhang smiled faintly.
“Sister-in-law, you were going to say that since my third son passed away, you assumed our family would have an even harder time. I can't blame you for thinking that. Back then, even I felt all hope was gone. But perhaps my third son took pity on his old mother and fathered such a fine daughter—see, that's Qingyun.”
“The child did us proud and filled the family's post. Now she's a Constable in the county seat. Do you see that horse out front? That was a reward from the County Magistrate himself! He said my Qingyun is remarkably capable and skilled in martial arts, holding her in high regard.”
Turning to her younger sister beside her, she added, “Little Sister, you claim no mother-in-law would want a daughter-in-law like my Qingyun, but you haven't considered whether those families are even worthy of her!
“Even if they wanted someone like my Qingyun, I'd never bear to part with my granddaughter. She is destined for great things; how could she ever be trapped at home? She is the pillar of our entire family!”
“I never expected Qingyun to be so capable,” Old Lady Zhang's eldest brother murmured, watching the young girl in the courtyard standing straight as a pine, a flicker of admiration in his eyes.
Old Lady Zhang's younger sister glanced at Gu Qingyun's attire and curled her lips. What was so impressive about that? Who knew if any of it was true?
Hmph. Tall and broad-shouldered, looking like a brute. Hmph, my older sister is just comforting herself. When this granddaughter of hers can't get married, she'll be weeping plenty.
Just as she opened her mouth to speak again, Old Lady Zhang's eldest brother cut her off:
“Enough. You two are sisters; there's no need for such talk. It's a blessing when a child in the family achieves something; who knows if you might need help from your own sister one day? We all have one foot in the grave already—don't squabble over petty vanity like children.”
At the thought of Zhang Musheng's family, he lost whatever patience he had to referee his two sisters' disputes. Looking at the large household gathered before him, a heavy gloom weighed on his heart. His family had laid down roots here for generations; even if they wanted to leave, they simply couldn't.
He did not want harm to come to a single one of them. If Zhang Musheng's mother truly intended to drag people down to the grave, he would rather she take an old man like him. After all, he had lived long enough.
To lose anyone from the younger generation was unthinkable to him. How could he stand by and watch the children and grandchildren he had painstakingly raised be ruined? Sigh, she was so timid in life; how did she become so ferocious in death?
Because of this looming dread, the Zhang family had dinner early. The weather was foul, the sun long hidden behind thick clouds. By the end of the Shen hour, having eaten and washed up, the entire family retired directly to their rooms to sleep.
Old Lady Zhang shared a room with her younger sister, while Gu Qingyun was squeezed into a room with the two sisters, Zhang Xiaohe and Zhang Xiaomiao.
The moment they stepped inside, Zhang Xiaohe shut the windows tight, then exerted every ounce of strength she had trying to shove several wooden chests toward the door. Watching this, Gu Qingyun felt a headache coming on.
“Cousin sisters, what are you doing?”
“Cousin Qingyun, come help us block the door! If we barricade it, Aunt Zhang won't be able to get in tonight.”
To the pair's utter shock, Gu Qingyun shoved the chests over to the door with a single hand. Turning around, she dusted off her hands.
“All done. But with the doors and windows completely blocked, how are you going to relieve yourselves tonight?”
The two of them swallowed hard, their voices stammering slightly:
“We won't get up. We can hold it!”
Rate on N.U.
