Stay Home Daddy: I Was Reborn After My Daughter Passed Away
Chapter 206: Two hundred and seven, that’s something more expensive than gold! _1

Chapter 206: Two hundred and seven, that’s something more expensive than gold! _1

Over there, Aunt Zhang and Shen Cuilan had already made it to the ridge of the farmland.

Spring had just begun, and the weather was nice. Despite the mere fifteen-minute walk, both of them were drenched in sweat.

At that moment, Chief Ma was sitting under a tree, chatting with a few people.

Seeing Aunt Zhang arrive, he greeted her with a beaming smile.

"Eh? Auntie, your family hasn’t farmed for many years now, so what brings you here today?"

Aunt Zhang was an elder in the village; half of the people there were her juniors who all had to call her ’Auntie.’

When she heard Chief Ma addressing her, she wiped her sweat and her expression darkened.

"If I didn’t come, Chenzi would be drowned by other people’s salivas!"

Pian Ran was like her own daughter, and Gu Chen was good to her too, always bringing her food, and now they were almost like family.

Being someone who always spoke her mind, she just couldn’t pretend she hadn’t heard the bad things people were saying about Gu Chen.

Seeing Aunt Zhang’s momentum and that she seemed ready to defend Gu Chen, Chief Ma gave a sheepish smile.

"Auntie, I know you two are neighbors and close, but being close is one thing. I’m just stating the facts with everyone. You can’t be too biased towards Gu Chen."

"Yeah, that matsutake or whatever it is, we’ve never heard about it before. How could it be anything good?"

"Exactly, Auntie Zhang, if I may say, you’d better not interfere. Some things are beyond your control, this is Gu Chen’s retribution!"

Those who hadn’t rented out their land were getting more and more worked up, each adding their two cents to the conversation.

It seemed, the worse Gu Chen’s situation was, the more it validated their decision not to rent their land to him.

Not just Aunt Zhang, even Shen Cuilan couldn’t stand listening any longer.

She gave those people a contemptuous look. "Enough already. You have no evidence, you just heard a rumor and started guessing. We’re all from the same village, is it fun to speak ill of one another like this?"

Upon hearing this, Chief Ma laughed.

"Look, it’s not just me saying it. Everyone’s saying it. When one person is slandering, that’s nonsense. But with so many of us, could we all be wrong?"

Aunt Zhang really couldn’t listen any longer and took a few steps forward.

Pointing at Chief Ma with her finger, she said, "What do you all know? Matsutake, what’s that? It’s a precious food ingredient, something that can cure diseases. It’s expensive, and even if it’s not good, it won’t poison people! Instead of saying all this nonsense, you’d be better off working in your fields!"

"What? Did I hear that right, a precious food ingredient?" Sun Yang, who was with Chief Ma, was taken aback.

Originally, everyone thought it was some sort of medicinal herb, something harmful.

They hadn’t expected it to be a food ingredient, let alone a precious one.

Wow, what a huge contrast.

"So what exactly is it? Auntie, do you know?" Chief Ma couldn’t help but become curious. Everyone had talked for so long, yet really no one knew what it was.

"I already told you, it’s a precious food ingredient, something more expensive than gold. It’s a good thing, not something harmful. To talk nonsense without knowing anything, how conscienceless of you!"

Aunt Zhang looked at Chief Ma, her voice rising with her anger.

"Did you hear that? It’s a precious food ingredient. I’ve been saying Chenzi couldn’t do such things." Shen Cuilan chimed in from the side.

Everyone was then stunned.

Someone in the crowd muttered.

"I always said, the land Chenzi leased cost quite a sum. No wonder he made so much money. It seems he’s dealing in a big business!"

"Yeah, who among you has seen a food ingredient more expensive than gold? I’m so curious."

"Oh no, what have I done? I just ran into Chenzi on the road and said a couple of things I shouldn’t have. I wonder if Chenzi took it to heart?"

The person who had run into Gu Chen on the road was now working in the fields.

As they listened to what everyone was saying, they started to feel guilty.

After all, if Gu Chen really hadn’t done anything wrong and they had said such things about him, he would surely hold a grudge!

"I really want to see what this food item more expensive than gold looks like!"

As soon as these words were out, everyone began to echo the sentiment.

"Me too! I’ve lived for so many years, and it’s the first time I’ve heard of it!"

"Let’s go, let’s all go to Chenzi’s house to have a look and educate ourselves. We can apologize to Chenzi while we’re at it."

That’s how it was in the village; everyone knew each other, and it was normal to gossip. No matter whose family it was, no one could escape a grilling, just for the sake of their own amusement.

Anyway, if you were wrong, you just admitted it generously, shared a laugh when you met, and then acted as if nothing had happened.

Several people who were curious about matsutake mushrooms said they wanted to take a look at the ingredients at Gu Chen’s house that were more expensive than gold.

In truth, they just wanted to apologize to Gu Chen and have a few words with him, since the Gu Chen of today really wasn’t the same as the Gu Chen of the past.

No one wanted to make an enemy of Gu Chen.

With that said, several people immediately put down what they were doing and walked towards Gu Chen’s house.

...

Meanwhile, Gu Chen was already nearing his house’s doorstep with Wu Shuhui.

The journey for Wu Shuhui was nothing short of agonizing.

What should have been just minutes felt like an entire century.

She was desperate to see her daughter; in all those years, each midnight dream was torture.

The feeling was genuinely one of excitement mixed with fear.

Every nerve was tense, with Uncle Guang closely following the two.

To tell the truth, he was also extremely nervous.

The young lady had grown up before his eyes; to say he didn’t miss her would be a lie.

Upon reaching the doorstep, Gu Chen pushed the door open.

To ensure they had a clear view of Ji Pianran, Gu Chen deliberately left the door ajar instead of shutting it completely.

At this moment, Tiantian was already awake.

Initially, Ji Pianran was worried that Shen Cuilan would wake Tiantian, so she hurriedly brought the child inside, but unexpectedly, Aunt Zhang started chatting with Shen Cuilan outside soon after.

Their conversation not only woke the child but also tightened Ji Pianran’s heart.

Gu Chen’s matsutake mushrooms could not possibly be fake, much less cause harm when consumed!

She knew this better than anyone else.

Because she too had eaten the matsutake. These days, she hadn’t been skimping on matsutake porridge.

If it were poisonous, she would have been the first to fall ill.

But she was perfectly fine, without a single issue.

Tiantian was awakened by the loud conversation of the two and immediately burst into loud cries.

Crying and fussing, he demanded to see his father.

Ji Pianran had intended to go and look for Gu Chen, but the child was causing such a racket that he insisted on seeing his father this very moment without even putting on a jacket.

She was truly out of options; how could they leave without a jacket?

She had planned to take Tiantian to Gu Chen when he was a bit more settled.

Unexpectedly, in just a short while, Gu Chen had already returned.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, the little one’s eyes instantly lit up, and he quickly climbed down from Ji Pianran’s bed and ran barefoot towards the outside, excitedly shouting.

"Daddy! It’s Daddy!"

Wuu wuu, she missed her daddy so much!

Seeing the little one without shoes, Ji Pianran quickly picked up the small cloth shoes from the floor and followed him out in a few strides.

Ji Pianran, her hair tied back in a ponytail, had sparkling apricot eyes and wore a slightly worn beige sweater, a pair of simple jeans, and plain cloth shoes on her feet.

"Shoes, you haven’t put on your shoes!"

The child really was too attached to Gu Chen now, to the point where she herself was struggling to manage her.

Worried that Tiantian might step on something sharp, her lovely distant-mountain brows furrowed, her face showing all her concern for her child.

The little one’s eyes were red-rimmed and pitiful as she threw herself toward Gu Chen.

Seeing this, he quickly crouched down and extended his arms to lift her up.

Pretending to be stern, "Without shoes, there are bugs on the ground!"

"Daddy, hold me!" The little one cried, really missing her father too much.

Ji Pianran walked towards Gu Chen, handing over the warm shoes and then looked at him with eyes full of heartache.

"I just heard Aunt Zhang and others talking outside the door, saying there’s something wrong with your matsutake mushrooms, and people have come over for this, is it true?"