novelbest Chapter 540: Cursing a Bloody Path
Chapter 540: Cursing a Bloody Path
Tong Huaqiong finished breakfast, and over here, Nie Xiaofeng had already prepared the carriage.
"Sister-in-law, where are you going?" Gu Honglian asked.
Tong Huaqiong said, "Heading back to Qinghe Bay."
Gu Honglian’s eyes turned and she said, "Sister-in-law, can I take your carriage back?"
Tong Huaqiong refused, "You need to beware of Gu Ruinian and your second sister-in-law scheming behind your back. How can you guard against them if you ride in my carriage?"
Gu Honglian thought about it and agreed, then dashed off to Wu Ji.
Wu Ji.
The Gu Family was packing up.
Wu Ren instructed Tong Zhaodi and Tong Zhijie to watch the Gu Family like hawks as they packed, fearing they might take anything from Wu Ji.
Gu Ruinian’s legs couldn’t move, so Mr. Gu instructed Gu Fengnian to hire a carriage.
Once everything was packed, Gu Fengnian hadn’t returned yet, and Mr. Gu and the others were forced by Tong Zhaodi and Tong Zhijie to take their bedding and luggage outside to wait.
"With so much stuff, how can we carry it all? What harm does it do to wait here in this room?" Mrs. Gu couldn’t help but curse, baffled by why they had run into the Tong Family again.
Tong Zhijie, with arms crossed, said, "I’m about to move into the storeroom to sleep; you need to clear the space for me."
As he spoke, he threw their bedding outside.
Mr. Gu was so angry he wanted to hit someone.
"Ruinian’s legs can’t stand up; could you please let us stay temporarily?" Mrs. Jia softened her attitude, fearing Tong Zhijie might harm Ruinian.
"Alright then, only Ruinian can stay in the storeroom. The rest of you go out and come back to carry him when the carriage arrives," Tong Zhaodi said.
Mr. Gu and the others had no choice but to carry their bedding out the doors of Wu Ji.
Once the Gu Family was gone, Tong Zhaodi waved at Wu Na.
Chasing everyone out except Gu Ruinian was Wu Na’s idea. Tong Zhaodi wanted to marry Wu Musheng, so she flattered Wu Na with all her might. Voiced by Wu Na to chase them out, she and Tong Zhijie came to oust them.
Wu Na slipped into the storeroom, closed the door behind her, and went to Ruinian’s bedside.
"Did you convey the message I asked you to?" Gu Ruinian saw Wu Na and asked the question in his heart.
Wu Na nodded firmly, indicating she had.
Gu Ruinian remained silent; it didn’t matter now as there was no point in dwelling on it.
He didn’t know if Wu Na had relayed it to the wrong person or if Young Master Zheng simply didn’t intend to save him.
"Brother Ruinian, you are not to marry Xu Xinghua, understood?" Wu Na met Gu Ruinian’s eyes with a dark look.
Yesterday, when she came calling Gu Youtian, she overheard Gu Youtian discussing Ruinian marrying Xu Xinghua.
Gu Ruinian sighed, "If Xiao Xue doesn’t want to marry Xu Dabao, and the family can’t come up with the Silver, I really have to marry Xu Xinghua."
Wu Na gritted her teeth and said, "I said you can’t marry Xu Xinghua, so you can’t."
A subtle smile played on Gu Ruinian’s lips.
He pulled out a letter from his chest and handed it to Wu Na, "Regardless of whether you delivered the last letter, I won’t hold it against you. This one, you must deliver, or I truly will have to marry Xu Xinghua."
Wu Na’s face blushed lightly as she took the letter.
...
Tong Huaqiong boarded the carriage with Xu Zaohua and the two hired maids and handmaids.
Lian Hengruo, having learned that Tong Huaqiong was returning to Qinghe Bay, came out from the pearl stall at Jufu Supermarket to see her off.
"It’s not like I’m not coming back," Tong Huaqiong said.
Lian Hengruo said, "When the weather cools down, I’ll visit you at Qinghe Bay."
The carriage hired by Gu Fengnian stopped across from Jufu.
As Tong Huaqiong and Lian Hengruo exchanged pleasantries, she saw Gu Ruinian being helped out of the Wuji Shop by Gu Fengnian.
Gu Ruinian looked up and saw Lian Hengruo speaking with Tong Huaqiong.
Seeing Lian Hengruo with her hair elegantly styled and wearing a dress embroidered with gold and silver threads, Gu Ruinian’s eyes were filled with redness.
It was this malicious girl who, along with Tong Dajiao, set him up successfully and ruined him.
Tong Huaqiong shot a contemptuous smile at Gu Ruinian; this man from the later ages wasn’t skilled, bringing disgrace to their era.
Gu Ruinian didn’t dare to meet Tong Huaqiong’s gaze, lowering his head as he was helped into the carriage by Gu Fengnian.
Tong Huaqiong then bid farewell to Lian Hengruo and climbed into her carriage, pulling the curtain shut.
The two carriages set off one after another toward Qinghe Bay.
Mr. Gu initially didn’t want the carriage to "accompany" Tong Huaqiong’s, but the road was only so wide, and their hired carriage was fast. The coachman was even irritable at the idea of slowing down, anxious to get to his next job.
Nie Xiaofeng followed closely beside the carriage hired by the Gu family’s old residence.
Upon reaching Qinghe Bay, a group of people quickly gathered around.
"Dashi’s mother is back?"
"Your supermarket in town is doing great; I want to visit it every day. I heard the village head say the county supermarket is even better than ours. Someday, we should go see it in the county."
"My goodness, Dajiao, your family has even started buying people to serve you."
The villagers warmly greeted Tong Huaqiong; several villagers’ sons worked as clerks at Jufu, and they wanted to hear about their children’s situations.
Tong Huaqiong pulled open the carriage curtain and warmly chatted with everyone, pulling out malt sugar sold in her shop to distribute among the people.
Mr. Gu, sitting in the carriage and listening to the enthusiasm outside, felt rather uncomfortable.
"Why did the carriage stop?" Mrs. Gu asked.
"We’ve arrived; you should get off," the coachman said.
"We’re not home yet; we just reached the village entrance," Mrs. Gu replied.
"To drop you at home costs extra," the coachman said.
Mr. Gu and others had no choice but to get off the carriage.
The villagers, seeing two carriages, initially thought they were both Tong Huaqiong’s, but when they saw people getting off and took a closer look, they realized it was people from the Gu family’s old house and the second house.
Instantly, the air filled with gossip.
Everyone wasn’t interested in the others; they were interested in Gu Ruinian.
After all, he was the male protagonist of the scandal, always the center of focus in any era.
Gu Ruinian gritted his teeth, helped by Gu Fengnian, as he walked out of the carriage.
"Oh my, isn’t this Ruinian?" an aunt from the crowd called out knowingly, asking, "What happened to Ruinian’s legs?"
Gu Ruinian’s face stayed wooden as if he didn’t hear her.
"Really, just one trip to the city and now he doesn’t recognize village folks, and won’t even say a word. You Youtian, have you struck it rich?" This aunt wasn’t fond of Gu Ruinian’s high and mighty demeanor.
You act all high and mighty, yet your son climbs onto Xu Zaohua’s bed.
Mrs. Jia gritted her silver teeth so tightly they almost shattered, forcing herself to change the subject, "Where have we gotten rich?"
The villagers scrutinized Gu Youtian’s family.
Two months ago when they left Qinghe Bay, Mrs. Jia held her head high, meaning to say they wouldn’t come back anymore.
Yet how long had they left before they returned.
It was obvious they came back in disgrace.
Gu Ruinian and Xu Zaohua’s scandalous affair had spiced up Qinghe Bay’s mundane life for days, and everyone chatted about it whenever they met.
Now they truly wanted to hear Gu Ruinian’s account as the one involved.
"Ruinian, how could you be so foolish, I heard about you and Zaohua..." a granny cautiously began.
Before she could finish, Mrs. Gu broke out in a torrent of curses, "A bunch of idlers with nothing better to do, obsessed with gossiping about such matters. What do you want to ask? Are you asking if my grandson cheated? Let me tell you, he did! So what? What, do you want to have an affair too?"
Mrs. Gu, determined to defend her grandson, unleashed a barrage of words, forcing a path through.
The crowd dispersed amid Mrs. Gu’s cursing.