Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Persuasion and Use

“This is my business. It has nothing to do with you, and I don’t owe you an explanation.”

After brushing his teeth, Chen Jianghe turned and went back to his room.

Hearing this, all the energy seemed to drain out of Jiang Xue. She had spent the past two years in the countryside with her heart set on Chen Jianghe, turning down several men who had shown interest in her.

Gu Qinghuan had also been worn down and left. Jiang Xue had always thought that, sooner or later, Chen Jianghe would be hers. But now, out of nowhere, someone else had appeared—someone she never expected—and snatched away what she thought was already in her pocket. One could imagine how she felt.

Just a few days ago, she’d been mocking Xu Meiling, saying a toad wanted to eat swan meat. Now, thinking back, she realized how ridiculous she’d been.

She had invested so much in the beginning that she simply couldn’t accept this outcome. Deep down, she began to truly hate Xu Meiling and Chen Jianghe.

Today was the Mid-Autumn Festival—a day of joy for some, and sorrow for others.

Last night, Xu Huaizhi and his wife had argued their case with his parents, but in the end, they still didn’t get the result Lin Xiaomeng had hoped for. Liu Guifang would rather die than agree to split the family, which was pretty much what the couple had expected.

Still, they managed to secure some benefits.

Starting this month, Xu Huaizhi would only hand over half his salary to the family, keeping the other half for his own household.

Before, his entire salary had to be given to his mother for safekeeping, and they had to ask Liu Guifang for money whenever they needed it.

This was at least a huge step forward. Lin Xiaomeng decided to take things one step at a time—after all, sooner or later, she was determined to split off from the family.

After what happened yesterday, and with Xu Meiling’s marriage, Xu Huaizhi also supported Lin Xiaomeng’s decision to split the family. He didn’t want his parents to mess up their child’s upbringing.

Although he could be a bit selfish at times, overall he was a decent and upright person, thanks to his late grandfather, who had raised him for a few years as a child and laid a good foundation for him.

Otherwise, who knows what kind of person he would have become under Xu Mingshan and Liu Guifang’s upbringing? Just look at Xu Huaiyu and Xu Meiling.

This time, the couple were united.

With Liu Guifang losing half her control over the family finances, and her once easily manipulated daughter-in-law now growing a backbone, she was not happy at all and found Lin Xiaomeng increasingly unpleasant to look at.

Early in the morning, she started making a fuss, lying on the kang and bossing everyone around—one moment telling someone to fetch water for washing up, the next complaining the water was too hot, then too cold, then the rice porridge was too hard. In short, she was being a total drama queen.

Lin Xiaomeng was so angry she was grinding her teeth.

Xu Mingshan, on the other hand, was humming a tune, in a great mood. His daughter’s marriage was settled, and to such a promising young man—he was delighted.

Xu Huaizhi took the opportunity to say, “Dad, today’s the Mid-Autumn Festival. How about I go bring Huai’an and his family over for a reunion dinner?”

He had already heard the whole story from others yesterday. Honestly, it wasn’t all Huai’an’s fault. If he’d been treated that way, he’d probably hold a grudge too. And their mother had even gone to their house to take things.

“What do you want to bring him here for? That jinx! Yesterday he beat me up like this and didn’t give me a single cent!” Liu Guifang shouted from the kang.

Xu Huaizhi frowned in disapproval. “Mom, how can a family hold grudges overnight? Besides, weren’t you the one who drove him mad in the first place? He’s sick, and he’s your own son. Why bother arguing with him?

And besides, you’ve kept all his money for years. When you split the family, you didn’t give him a penny, just left him in the old house. Where was he supposed to get money to pay for your treatment? I bet his wife is still supporting the family now.

Second Brother used to be the most filial, but this time you really broke his heart. Since his accident, you two really haven’t done right by him.”

Xu Huaizhi was speaking fairly. Lin Xiaomeng tugged at his sleeve.

Who asked you to play the good guy? Yesterday he even beat up your son.

Liu Guifang refused to listen, her dislike for Xu Huaian so intense that Lin Xiaomeng even started to wonder if Xu Huaian was really her biological son.

How could this old woman dote on the eldest and youngest, but not care for the one in the middle?

Xu Mingshan puffed on his dry tobacco, looking thoughtful. He’d been angry yesterday and said things in the heat of the moment.

If the second son really stayed crazy, he wouldn’t bother with him anymore and would just let him fend for himself.

But now that the second son was back to normal, he couldn’t let him slip out of his control. What if he became useful in the future?

If nothing else, just think about all the connections he’d built up in the army over the years. If they ever needed help, that could be a big advantage for the family.

With Meiling’s wedding coming up, there’d be a lot of things they’d need help with.

Second Brother used to be a great hunter. At fifteen or sixteen, he was already brave enough to go up the mountain and hunt wild boar. When the time came, he could secretly bring back some game for the wedding banquet, saving them from having to buy meat.

After all, they’d raised him—they couldn’t let that go to waste.

His wife was short-sighted, but he had to look at the bigger picture.

So he said, “Alright, go ahead. Bring him over for lunch, and we’ll also discuss your sister’s wedding arrangements and settle the details.”

Xu Huaizhi happily agreed.

—

Meanwhile, last night, after Gu Qinghuan brought the kids home, she made a point to praise Dabao by name.

Children fear authority, not virtue.

A person not only needs to learn not to bully others, but also needs to have the presence to avoid being bullied.

Dabao did very well in this regard, and the whole family applauded him.

Dabao blushed shyly.

That night, after Zhong Zijun fell asleep, Gu Qinghuan slipped into her space. She’d been busy these past couple of days, with people always around, so it hadn’t been convenient to enter her space.

The money from the last batch of Moutai liquor had already arrived, along with a flood of messages and comments—even more than last time. Most people were just there for the excitement, and the majority were urging her to restock as soon as possible.

Looking through the comments, she found not a single negative review—every single one was positive.

Some people even commented, wondering if all these good reviews were fake, because how could there not be a single bad one?

Gu Qinghuan didn’t even need to defend herself—plenty of people were already speaking up for her in the comments.

After reading for a while, Gu Qinghuan started preparing to restock.

The wild goods she’d brought in earlier had been growing in her space for a few days, nourished by the spiritual spring water, and were now ready to be put up for sale.

She had a mountain-like pile of wild hazel mushrooms. She planned to keep half to dry for winter, and to give away as gifts—they were easy to store and mail. The other half would go up for sale.

There were also hazelnuts, which were great. With a single thought, she harvested them all, and another pile appeared on the ground.

She decided to keep a third of the hazelnuts, which should be enough for the winter, and put the rest up for sale.

Then there was the patch of Korean pine. Pine nuts were a real delicacy, and in later years could sell for dozens or even hundreds of yuan per jin.

She’d harvested over a thousand jin of pine nuts from that patch—far more than her family could eat. She planned to keep three hundred jin and sell the rest.

Why keep so many? Well, she figured that during the winter, cracking pine nuts at home would be a tasty treat and a great way to pass the time. Plus, they made excellent gifts.

She could send some to her uncle and aunt in the far northwest, her younger brother in Beijing, and her cousin as well.

She also needed to prepare some for the cowshed. With all that in mind, three hundred jin seemed about right."