Chapter 51

The voice was Gu Qingye's.

Gu Xixi had been in a good mood from digging up treasure, but the wailing shattered it instantly.

Zhang Shen lifted her head, displeased, and said, "Yesterday you didn't care about life or death; today you come to our doorstep kowtowing—who are you putting on a show for?"

She brushed the dust from her hands and started to rise, saying, "I'll go let her leave, to wail at her own family's gate!"

Gu Xixi stopped Zhang Shen, saying, "Aunt, I'm fine for now; you go about your business."

"She came here probably at Uncle Qian's behest; going out to listen won't hurt."

When Gu Xixi opened the door, Gu Qingye was kneeling right in the middle outside.

The beauty's forehead was smudged with dust, her eyes red and brimming with tears, even the strands at her temples slightly disheveled.

She looked even more pitiable than usual.

While Gu Qingye was wailing her apology, villagers had already gathered upon hearing the sound.

Seeing this, Gu Xixi simply flung the gate wide open, so inside and out were fully visible.

"You have something to say—go ahead."

Gu Qingye sobbed, "Older sister told me to go down the mountain to find Aunt Zhang; I meant to first bring the picked fruit home, but when I got home—when I got home—"

She glanced at Gu Xixi and the people around, her voice weak and strained as she said, "After I got home, my older brother wouldn't let me go out."

Gu Qingye crawled a few steps, seized Gu Xixi's sleeve, and said, "Sister Xixi, I really didn't mean to!"

"My brother has barred all the doors at home; if I insist on going out, he'll beat me to death!"

Gu Xixi pulled her sleeve back, looking down at Gu Qingye from above.

"If you're truly in a bind and have no choice, why, when Aunt Zhang saw you, did you not tell the truth?"

Gu Qingye wept, "I can swear that everything I told Aunt Zhang was taught to me beforehand by my brother."

"My brother was glaring at me outside then; I really had no way."

"Sister Xixi, I'm just a girl; how could I dare not obey my brother's words..."

After Gu Qingye finished speaking, she threw herself to the ground and wept uncontrollably, appearing to shift from perpetrator to another victim.

Some of the onlookers were moved, sighing, "Gu Tiezhu really isn't anything good!"

"It's obvious—daughters must marry eventually; Gu Lao San and his wife surely favor their son."

"Ah, I used to think she wasn't bad, but now her family pushes her out to take the blame—how pitiful."

Gu Xixi gazed at Gu Qingye, feeling no inner disturbance.

She smiled, bent down, reached out and pulled Gu Qingye up, saying, "Good little sister, rise."

As their bodies drew near, Gu Xixi whispered in Gu Qingye's ear, her voice faint as wind.

"Is it truly unavoidable, or are you taking advantage to go with the flow?"

Gu Qingye startled.

Gu Xixi had already released her, not saying whether she forgave, only smiling, "I know everything you said."

"You'd better head back soon, and don't trouble everyone standing here."

Having said that, Gu Xixi nodded with a smile to the crowd, then went into the courtyard and shut the gate.

Zhang Shen had long been listening and was nearly bursting with anger: "This little brat, so young, really knows how to cause trouble!"

"She cries and kowtows, and others may believe it, but I don't believe a word of it!"

Gu Xixi chuckled and said, "Let's not even discuss whether Gu Tiezhu could really beat his own sole sister to death."

"Just say last night, if she truly meant to save me, even if she dared not speak the truth, she had plenty of chances to warn you a bit."

"With so many loopholes, it's merely fooling those who have nothing to do with the matter."

Zhang Shen nodded repeatedly, then worried, "Then you mean Old Qian might not have been deceived too, right?"

"No." Gu Xixi said firmly, "Uncle Qian has a scale in his heart."

"He'll give me a satisfactory explanation for this."

Gu Qingye stood dazed outside for a while, unable to grasp Gu Xixi's exact meaning, so she could only return home.

At Gu Lao San's house, Gu Tiezhu had already awakened.

He merely stared vacantly upward, motionless.

Liu Shi wept, "Otherwise, we should still call a doctor for Tiezhu."

Gu Lao San muttered a rebuke, "Where would we find a doctor? Going out is embarrassing enough!"

Gu Qingye took a deep breath at the doorway, then dared to carefully lift the curtain and enter.

"Father, Mother, I'm back."

Gu Tiezhu heard the voice and suddenly sprang up, "It's all your fault—what you said to Aunt Zhang was never taught by me!"

"Now everyone knows I forced you, and I'm the villain!"

Liu Shi, fearing her son might aggravate his leg if he grew agitated, held him and also wailed at Gu Qingye:

"You still know to come back!"

"How could you say those things to the village chief, pushing all the blame onto your brother?"

Gu Qingye's formerly timid expression suddenly vanished.

"Mother, it's my brother who wants your life, not me."

"Who made him so stupid? He's done all these bad things front and back, never succeeded once, yet the whole family has to wipe his rear!"

"This time the village chief knows everything, that's why he came to our house—what else can I do?"

Liu Shi, Gu Tiezhu, and Gu Lao San all stared wide-eyed in shock, looking at Gu Qingye as if they didn't recognize her.

Gu Qingye then said, "My brother's reputation is utterly ruined; you two indulge him, and you're no better."

"Only me! Now in others' eyes I am the family's sole good person!"

She looked at Gu Lao San and Liu Shi in turn, "Mom and Dad aren't just trying to get me to marry a good family later so they can extort some betrothal gifts, are they?"

"This matter can only be owned by my older brother alone; otherwise I'd lose my reputation—how could I marry?"

It turned out that this morning, Lao Qian, wielding the Village Chief's authority, personally came to Gu Lao San's house.

With all evidence in place, Lao Qian, in just a few words, uncovered the instigator behind Gu Qingye.

He demanded that Gu Lao San bring Gu Tiezhu, immediately go to Gu Xixi's door to apologize, and also publicly admit the facts before the other villagers.

Gu Tiezhu immediately flew into a rage, wildly shouting that he'd rather die than go; in the end he actually spat up a mouthful of blood and fainted.

Liu Shi clutched her son and wailed, cursing Gu Xixi.

Gu Lao San, while feeling sorry for his son, kept his head down, pretending to be deaf and dumb, resolved not to step forward and lose face.

At this moment, Gu Qingye stepped forward voluntarily, offering to apologize in place of Gu Tiezhu.

She said she would take responsibility for her own mistakes.

She also said that this younger sister of hers should atone for her brother and ease her parents' worries.

Seeing this, Lao Qian also fulfilled Gu Qingye's filial piety.

However, after that day, Lao Qian did not let Gu Lao San's family off just because Gu Qingye had apologized.

The next morning the village issued an oral notice: Gu Lao San's family may not participate in village affairs for three years, and during that period any village profit‑sharing activities have nothing to do with them.

This was to warn the villagers not to follow suit, to preserve the simple, friendly customs of Huachi Du Cun.

Besides the overt punishment, Gu Lao San's family also faced intangible consequences.

Liu Shi had earlier planned to find a wife for her son, for which she had not hesitated to treat matchmakers to drinks and meat.

Now Gu Tiezhu has a lame leg, and all sorts of past misdeeds have piled up.

The several matchmakers who used to associate with Liu Shi were successively scared off, leaving none.

After Gu Tiezhu found out, he shouted at home that he would never let Gu Xixi off.