Reborn as a Happy Wife in a Rural Family
Chapter 131: Gu Qingmei’s Visit

Chapter 131: Chapter 131: Gu Qingmei’s Visit

While someone did take care of the yard, she had forbidden them to enter her house. Having been unoccupied for some time, it had accumulated quite a bit of dust.

"I’m not tired."

"Here, give me that. You go rest for a bit." Xiao Yunjing kissed her lips lightly and took the cleaning rag from her hand.

"Okay." Gu Qingli hugged him, allowing him to do the work.

She left the house to stroll around the yard.

The yard had changed significantly. It was no longer desolate as before; there were even some blooming flowers. Roses and chrysanthemums, for example, and indeed all sorts of flowers that bloomed in autumn, could be seen in the yard.

Clearly, the caretaker of this yard had put in a lot of effort.

「In the afternoon」

In the eastern part of Qinghe County Town, Gu Qingli and Xiao Yunjing walked into a manor.

As expected, the manor was filled with medicinal herbs, making the entire garden wonderfully fragrant.

Gu Qingli’s spirits lifted as she looked around. By her estimation, there were about two hundred acres filled with a wide variety of medicinal herbs, which looked like they had all been dug up from the mountains and transplanted here.

This must have been a huge undertaking.

No wonder the tunnel beneath Azure Dragon Mountain, which should have been completed long ago, was delayed for so long. It turned out they had been busy planting these medicinal herbs.

"How is it?" Xiao Yunjing asked softly by her ear.

"It’s wonderful." Gu Qingli smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. She turned her head and gave Xiao Yunjing a peck on his cheek. Xiao Yunjing was so delighted that, at that moment, all he wanted was to continue living just like this with her.

Away from all the troublesome worldly affairs and conflicts. But now is not the time. He didn’t know when they could finally live such a leisurely life.

As Gu Qingli looked at this vast field of medicinal herbs, she knew this was her dream. She had always dreamt of one day owning a mountain covered in medicinal herbs. That way, she would have a large supply to produce Chinese patent medicines and thus be able to save even more people.

Chinese patent medicines have fewer side effects and are hormone-free. Combined with my spiritual spring water, no illness or pain would be a problem.

After visiting this manor, there was another one. This one was even larger, a full five hundred acres.

She was so thrilled that she began to wave her arms and stomp her feet excitedly in the medicinal field. Of course, she didn’t actually know how to dance; otherwise, she might have performed an elegant twirl.

Xiao Yunjing watched her from afar, observing her every expression, every smile. When she smiled, he smiled too; when she was happy, he shared her joy.

"Should we head back?" Xiao Yunjing didn’t have the heart to disturb her, but seeing it was already getting dark, he knew if they didn’t leave soon, the county town gates would be locked, and they would have to return to Qinghe Village.

"Okay." Upon hearing his call, Gu Qingli turned her head. Looking at the sky, she saw it was indeed getting late. She lifted her skirt and ran towards Xiao Yunjing.

"Why are you running so fast?" Xiao Yunjing took a few steps to catch her, then lifted her into a princess carry and headed out of the manor.

Old Man Sun, the caretaker of the manor, saw them out. Bowing respectfully, he said, "Safe travels, Young Master and Madam."

Xiao Yunjing nodded at him, placed Gu Qingli in the carriage, then took the reins, and they rode off swiftly.

When the two of them returned, Wuqing had also come back.

"How are things over there?" Gu Qingli asked Wuqing after dinner.

Wuqing replied, "Miss, there aren’t enough houses there to accommodate everyone. I’ve rented a few farmstead courtyards in the village for them to stay in temporarily. Tomorrow, I’ll have people start building more houses."

"Miss, should the new houses be built as small courtyard compounds or as row houses?"

"Build row houses. It doesn’t matter if the row is a bit long. You stay here and oversee things. I’ll just take the two old women back with me."

"Alright, Miss. Do you have any other instructions?" Wuqing asked.

Gu Qingli shook her head. "Not for now."

"Very well, then this servant will take her leave."

After Wuqing went out, she brought them water. The two of them washed up briefly, closed the door, and entered the Space. Inside the Space, they could do whatever they pleased.

"Li’er, we’ll head back tomorrow morning. The people selected from Tiger Head Mountain should be arriving soon, and I need to go back and see to them."

"Alright."

With Wuqing here, I’m not really needed anyway, so we can go back together. Only when he’s around do I feel safe. I originally planned to go to Qiyang County, but if Xiao Yunjing wants to go back, then we’ll go back.

「The next day」

After giving Wuqing their instructions, the two of them took the two old women, Mrs. Li and Mrs. Zhang, back to Qinghe Village.

The carriage had just reached the yard when they heard a commotion inside.

As soon as the carriage stopped, the two old women alighted first, followed by Gu Qingli.

"Sister Erni, please save me!" Just as she stepped down from the carriage, a figure rushed over and knelt with a THUD in front of her.

The two old women immediately stepped in front of Gu Qingli, afraid that the disheveled woman, who looked like a madwoman, would harm their Madam.

Seeing the two old women shielding Li’er, Xiao Yunjing quickly went to tie up the horse.

"Gu Qingmei?" Gu Qingli cast an appreciative glance at the two old women, then looked at the person kneeling on the ground. She was rather surprised to see it was Gu Qingmei, who looked utterly wretched, more like a ghost than a human.

"Sister Erni, I beg you, please save my husband!" Gu Qingmei raised her head, her face smeared with tears and snot. It was a disgusting sight.

Gu Qingli frowned.

"If you don’t want to get involved, then don’t," Xiao Yunjing said gently after tying up the horse. He walked over and took her hand.

Ms. Jiang, Ms. Yang, Ms. Wang, and a few other women from the village also came over, looking at Gu Qingmei on the ground with complicated expressions. They then turned to Gu Qingli; now that the decision-maker had returned, they were waiting to see how she would respond.

"That’s right, Xiaoli, don’t get involved. They have capable parents; why would they need you?" said Ms. Niu, Chen Erlang’s neighbor.

"No, Sister Erni! My father-in-law and mother-in-law don’t care about us anymore. Sister, I truly had nowhere else to turn, so I came to beg you." Gu Qingmei shook her head repeatedly, crying as she spoke, her eyes filled with pleading and, above all, despair.

Gu Qingli turned to look at Xiao Yunjing, who nodded at her. "Li’er, you can do whatever you think is best."

Do as I please? But I don’t want to do anything at all. I try to steer clear of anything related to the old Gu Family or Chen Erlang’s family. But can I really stand by and do nothing while someone might die? I’m so conflicted.

In the end, she still asked, "Tell me what happened. If I can help, I will. If I can’t, then there’s nothing I can do."

"Really?" Gu Qingmei, who had been staring at her, asked, her eyes lighting up as she wiped away a tear.

"Yes. Go ahead and tell me what happened."

Everyone looked at Gu Qingli, somewhat incredulous that she had actually spoken up. After all, everyone was clear about the grudges and feuds among their three families. They felt that even if Gu Qingmei needed help, she shouldn’t have sought it from Gu Qingli.

Gu Qingmei finally managed to say with difficulty, "I... I just wanted to borrow ten taels of silver from you, Sister Erni, to pay for my husband’s medical treatment. After he failed the imperial examination, he fell ill and hasn’t recovered since. My father-in-law and mother-in-law are extremely disappointed in him and said they would no longer support his studies. After that, they separated our household from the main family, and they didn’t give us much when they did. My husband is sick and we have no money for treatment, and I don’t know how to earn any. I went back to my own parents to borrow money, but they drove me out."

"I had no other choice but to come and beg you. SOB SOB SOB... Sister Erni, I beg you! In the future, I’ll work like an ox or a horse to repay you."

As she spoke, she began to kowtow repeatedly, her head hitting the ground with THUD THUD sounds.

"Help her up," Gu Qingli said to the two old women, touching her forehead.

Has Gu Qingmei really fallen this low?

The two old women nodded. Each taking one of Gu Qingmei’s arms, they helped her up and led her towards the main hall.

Gu Qingmei was already frail, and this whole ordeal had weakened her considerably; she looked as if she might faint at any moment.