"Fengnian’s wife has her own opinions and is practical. She suggests that Ruinian should look for an accountant in the county and earn money to support his own studies. If the whole family has to support him, she wants to split the family, but Fengnian refuses to do so...so much so that the Clan Leader got involved..."

Just as they were talking about Gu Fengnian’s wife, Mrs. Wei, Mrs. Wei knocked on Tong Huaqiong’s door.

Chen Sufen stopped there.

"Big sister, you’re back."

Mrs. Wei stepped into the door under the moonlight, first congratulating Gu Jingzhe on the engagement, and then she stated the purpose of her visit.

"This is the two taels of silver I borrowed from you last time."

Mrs. Wei returned the two taels of silver to Tong Huaqiong.

Tong Huaqiong accepted it.

Mrs. Wei touched her wrist and sighed, "Fortunately, my dowry had some jewelry, so I pawned the bracelet on my wrist."

Before Tong Huaqiong could respond, Mrs. Wei continued, "I’m not here to complain. Besides returning your silver, I also want Yaojia to enter the private school."

Mrs. Wei’s bracelet was pawned for five taels of silver, she returned two taels to Tong Huaqiong, leaving three taels.

She didn’t want Gu Ruinian to benefit; she acted early to get Yaojia into the private school first.

Tong Huaqiong said, "Yaojia can enter the private school, just pay half the tuition."

One has to admit that Mrs. Wei returning the silver on schedule brought some goodwill to Tong Huaqiong, but this goodwill only allowed Yaojia’s tuition to be halved.

Ultimately, Mrs. Wei is from the old house, and at critical times her interests align with those of the old house.

Mrs. Wei gratefully said, "Thank you, big sister."

After a pause, she continued, "In a moment of impulse, I followed Fengnian to Qinghe Bay, thinking that farming could at least barely make ends meet, and we could plan for more in the future. We didn’t expect that our land was pitifully small, barely enough for food, let alone more. Ruinian doesn’t contribute to production, and after father-in-law’s business failure, he became depressed. Fengnian is incompetent, and the whole family, young and old, doesn’t know how to live. I’m thinking of finding a job in town after a while, but I’m not sure if they hire women."

Mrs. Wei is very clever.

She’s just a bit too hasty.

Everyone in Qinghe Bay knows that Tong Huaqiong’s shop and fields have no shortage of female workers, but Mrs. Wei said this hoping Tong Huaqiong would take the initiative to offer her a job.

Whether it’s Taohua Dessert or the pig farm, she can do it, but she’d prefer to work as a clerk at Taohua Dessert.

She used to greet customers in her own family’s shop and was very familiar with the routine.

The big sister treats Yaojia and her differently than the other people from the old house. The last time she borrowed silver, big sister was very straightforward, which gave her the illusion that Tong Huaqiong was easy to talk to, believing this time asking for a job would be successful.

She was full of confidence when she came.

Tong Huaqiong saw right through Mrs. Wei.

It’s not that Tong Huaqiong doesn’t want to help Mrs. Wei, but she’s afraid that easily giving Mrs. Wei a job might unsettle the old house.

Just two months ago, the people from the old house were trying to seize Tong Huaqiong’s shop.

At that time, Mrs. Wei did not speak a single fair word for her.

Now wanting to come to work at Tong Huaqiong’s home, she doesn’t speak directly, hoping that Tong Huaqiong proposes it. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

This Mrs. Wei has some calculating in her.

Tong Huaqiong is not a fool and certainly not a mix of Holy Mother traits.

Mrs. Wei waited for a long time, but still, Tong Huaqiong didn’t say a word, becoming anxious, she asked, "Big sister, do you think I should look for a job outside?"

Tong Huaqiong looked at Mrs. Wei and said, "It’s good that you have this idea, you’ll find something if you look seriously. I heard some families in town are looking for cooks or maids, some are even looking for wet nurses. Being a maid might suit you better, it’s flexible, and you can return home every day."

This was different from what Mrs. Wei had in mind.

Mrs. Wei forced a smile, bit her teeth, and stated bluntly, "Big sister, does your shop need people, I can do anything."

Tong Huaqiong thought, why didn’t you ask for a job straight from the beginning?

Tong Huaqiong said, "No need."

She didn’t have any flattery talk with Mrs. Wei; it was simply unnecessary.

Mrs. Wei was stunned and quickly asked anxiously, "What about the pig farm?"

Tong Huaqiong replied straightforwardly, "Also not needed."

Mrs. Wei then understood that it wasn’t that there was no need for people at Tong Huaqiong’s place, but there was no need for people from the old house.

Leaving Tong Huaqiong’s courtyard, Mrs. Wei felt a little dazed.

The big sister rejected her quite directly.

However, she held no grudge; it was her who tried to outwit in front of Tong Huaqiong, so being rejected was normal.

Like Tong Huaqiong’s view of Mrs. Wei, she is pragmatic.

This time Tong Huaqiong rejected her, but it doesn’t mean she will be rejected next time.

Since she wants to follow the big house and benefit, she has to show her sincerity.

Returning home, Mrs. Wei expressed to Gu Fengnian that she wanted to separate from the family.

This topic had been brought up by Mrs. Wei numerous times, but each time Gu Fengnian rejected it.

As the eldest son of the second house, if the family splits, what would outsiders think of him? If branded as unfilial, how can he continue in Qinghe Bay?

He never considered splitting the family.

Mrs. Wei said angrily, "What do outsiders think? Why do you care about outsiders’ thoughts when they’re not giving you silver to spend? Look at the big sister, don’t outsiders say she’s unfilial too, did that stop her from making money? Did it stop her from being titled by the emperor as a township lord? If we don’t split, we’re all just making bridal clothes for Ruinian."

Gu Fengnian was most afraid when Mrs. Wei brought up Gu Ruinian.

Even though Gu Fengnian was dissatisfied with Gu Ruinian failing the scholar exam this time, he still believed that the two brothers were deeply affectionate and inseparable, and as the elder brother, he must tolerate his younger brother.

Now that his son also needs to study, he doesn’t want to hear Mrs. Wei speak ill of Gu Ruinian anymore.

"Stop saying this, I will not split the family. Also, Ruinian is my own brother, he always respects you, so as a sister-in-law don’t always try to sow discord between us brothers."

With that, Gu Fengnian went to Mr. Gu’s room.

Mrs. Wei was so suffocated her chest hurt.

She was wholeheartedly thinking of her little family, yet in her man’s heart, she turned out to be someone who tries to sow discord between him and his brother.

Mrs. Wei was extremely disappointed with Gu Fengnian.

During dinner, Mrs. Wei announced a shocking piece of news at the table.

Her son, Gu Yaojia, was about to enter the private school.

"You’re so selfish, with the family’s situation, how can you afford another person’s education? Where did the silver come from?" Mrs. Jia asked discontentedly.

Mrs. Wei smiled slightly; she had already told the family that her Yaojia was going to study, but they didn’t take it seriously and thought she was joking.

"No need to worry about the silver; I pawned my bracelet," said Mrs. Wei.

Mrs. Jia and Gu’s old lady were very unhappy; such a big matter should have been discussed with the family first.

Shouldn’t the pawned silver go towards Gu Ruinian first?

Gu old lady said, "Yaojia is still small, it would take many years to finish his studies, unlike Ruinian who is already a child student."

Mrs. Wei said, "Some people study their whole lives and are still child students, so our family shouldn’t place all hopes on one person."

Gu Ruinian’s hand holding the chopsticks trembled; his sister-in-law was cursing him.

This woman is too selfish and short-sighted.

Gu Ruinian endured and endured, and couldn’t help but say, "Sister-in-law, there’s no need to speak like this, just watch my exam results next year."

Mrs. Wei said, "You said the same last year."

Gu Ruinian was left speechless.

He wished his brother would divorce this woman.

In these times, studying requires tuition, pens, ink, and paper, which is a considerable expense for a farming family. Yaojia studying means that the resources fully supporting him have to be split in half for Yaojia.

He was naturally annoyed.

Mr. Gu saw the tense atmosphere at the dinner table, swept his stern gaze around, and said, "Since we want Yaojia to study, let him study. We will continue to provide for Ruinian’s studies as we usually do."

Mrs. Wei wondered where the silver would come from.

Mr. Gu sighed, took out a tael of silver, and handed it to Gu Ruinian, saying, "Here, take this silver to buy books."

Gu Ruinian accepted it.

He didn’t even ask Mr. Gu where this silver came from.

This silver was naturally borrowed from Gu Dashi by Mr. Gu.