NOVEL WEB 30: A Preventive Measure
After being excited for half the night, the three members of the Gu household woke up late the next day.
Since the family had no land to farm, Gu Mengyao didn’t need to go hunting in the mountains due to her injury, and with eight-year-old Gu Qingheng and the frail Gu Yu, it wouldn’t matter even if all three of them slept until evening.
However, there were many things to do today, so they couldn’t actually sleep until evening.
“Mengyao, I’ll go to the village head later to buy land. You and Qingheng wait at home… Also, there’s something I didn’t mention yesterday because it was too late, let me tell you now.”
While eating their already-late breakfast, Gu Yu explained his later arrangements at the table. Then, thinking about the people from the old Yang household as he was about to go to the village, Gu Yu realized he had forgotten to tell Gu Mengyao to be cautious of them.
It wasn’t that Gu Yu was overthinking, but based on the old Yang household’s previous behavior of expecting him to bring them meat, one couldn’t be too careful.
The current Gu Yu was no longer that foolishly filial pitiful boy. If he weren’t worried about being called unfilial, he would have given those people from the old Yang family a good beating.
Filial piety was extremely important in ancient times. Even if there was private discord, one had to maintain the appearance of a caring father and filial son.
If someone truly didn’t follow filial piety and did things like beating their father to death or angering their mother to death, they could expect to be summoned by the government office!
Knowing this, Gu Yu restrained his temperament and didn’t go make a scene.
Fortunately, since his transmigration, the people from the old Yang household hadn’t appeared, so he didn’t have to be too angry.
But now that they had silver from selling the wild boar, those people would surely appear soon.
“You know that I used to send meat to the old Yang household, getting entangled with them. Now that our family is building a house, they’ll probably come looking for trouble. I hope you won’t lower your heads to the people from the old Yang family because of me. Act as you normally would, don’t feel that you’re in the wrong.”
“But after all, they’re your relatives, Ah Yu. We can’t…”
“Don’t talk about what we can or can’t do. I’m now surnamed Gu, not Yang. My household registration has been transferred to the Gu family name, so there’s no need to be polite to them.”
“Brother-in-law, you’re really cool now!”
“Of course! Otherwise, how could I be your brother-in-law?”
During the conversation, Gu Qingheng directly complimented Gu Yu, making Gu Yu feel pleased and thinking that this young brother-in-law looked more and more agreeable.
As for Gu Mengyao on the side, her face showed hesitation, with an expression of “Gu Yu’s relatives are my relatives,” making Gu Yu conflicted as well.
Although according to Gu Mengyao’s thinking, it was actually quite good, as knowing how to respect elders could indirectly prove Gu Mengyao’s kind nature.
But even respect had to be directed at the right people.
Just seeing that meat was constantly sent to the old Yang household while Gu Yu’s predecessor didn’t get a bite made Gu Yu feel those relatives were extremely disgusting.
So now he had to make things clear with Gu Mengyao.
“Mengyao, perhaps you think those people are my relatives, so we can’t be too calculating with them, but! You should know that now I live with you all, and I don’t want to have any entanglements with them.”
“I know, but I don’t want to hear villagers speaking ill of you.”
“It’s fine! Let them say what they want, I won’t lose a piece of flesh… My father was the third son in the Yang family, but he was mistreated in that house, not to mention me, always being bullied by those people. Otherwise, how could my father bear to have me, his only son, marry into another family!”
“But your father finally…”
“That was because he felt guilty toward his parents. I initially thought the same way, so I sent meat to the old Yang household, wanting them to forgive my father… But after a long time, I found that even stones were warmer than them—their hearts simply couldn’t be warmed.”
Although Gu Yu was a fake who had transmigrated halfway, he had heard plenty of village gossip yesterday.
Regarding the old Yang family’s affairs, even Gu Yu himself, after hearing about them, felt that his predecessor was both pitiful and hateful.
Being bullied terribly, yet still wanting to be filial to those people… If Gu Yu hadn’t transmigrated, his predecessor might have dragged the Gu siblings down with him for the sake of his filial piety.
So Gu Yu didn’t feel embarrassed now. The person who should feel that way was already dead, and now that he had taken over, he had no such concerns.