“I didn’t see you protecting mei mei back when she was about to starve to deaf. Nor did you protect her when she was being bossed around to cook, do laundry, feed the pigs, chop firewood, go into the fields at a young age. How about the time when she was tricked into town to be sold to the woman human trafficker? So now that she can make money and you see what you can gain from her, you want her back? And said you’d protect her? You are only looking at her as a money-making tool, just like Meizi’s dad in Qianwa Village!!”
Meizi from Qianwa Village was a girl who was very skillful in embroidery. The handkerchiefs that she made could sell for 10 wens more than others. And a pair of pillows that she made could be sold for up to a tael of silver. Her dad, for the sake of squeezing all he could out of her, force her to keep working day and night and never looked for a marriage for her until she was 20 year old.
Meizi was shortly after 30 when her vision started to go bad for over exhaustion and could no longer work on embroidery. Her dad didn’t want to keep a useless trash at home so he sold her to a very ill-tempered widower. She was beaten and deprived of food regularly. It had only been a year before she was completely out of shape.
“Even tigers don’t eat their own young! I can’t believe there are fathers like you in this world!” bawled Gu Ming.
“Nonsense! What kind of son talked about their fathers that way? How dare you unfamilial little brat counting your dad’s mishaps like that? Fellow uncles, kids like him should be sentenced to kneeling in the temple in front of his ancestors and ask for forgiveness!” Gu Qiao’s face turned red and white as he listened to his son’s accusation. Not being able to come up with anything to rebut his words, he resorted to throwing out his elderly status and forcing the name of “unfamilial” onto Gu Ming.
Gu Xiao snickered and rolled his tiger-like eyes. Authoritatively, he said, “Gu Qiao! Gu Ming is my grandson now; what right do you have to make that decision for me? On top of that, had he said anything that was untrue? The one who should be kneeling in front of the ancestors should be you, you ungrateful, unappreciative little thing!!”
The old patriarch looked at Gu Qiao with disappointment and said, “Gu Qiao, your behaviors over these years have been very questionable. Okay, this issue is closed. Gu Ming and Gu Ye have already been adopted by Old Fifth and have nothing more to do with you. If they were so poor they couldn’t afford to eat, they wouldn’t go ask for anything from you; and if they are so rich they don’t know what to do with their month, that has nothing to do with you as well. If you let your wife to continue to cause trouble… then the Gu’s clan will have no choice but to banish your family. The Gu’s clan would not tolerate anyone ungrateful and have corrupted virtues!!
In this world, the clan was very important. Someone banished from their clan would be like a homeless dog. They would be rootless like a floating leave. Gu Qiao didn’t think this incident would blow up like this. He shut up immediately and dared not speak another word.
“But…” Mrs. Gu, feeling unreconciled, grumbled, “We can’t just raise the kids for free for someone else all these years. Fifth Uncle, you should at least compensative us a little.”
Gu Ming walked in front of his sister and said to her, “Mei Mei, let me borrow your five taels of silver.” Gu Ye didn’t even say a word before she put her money into her brother’s hand.
“You sold mei mei for two taels of silver back in town,” said Gu Ming as he walked in front of his own father. Looking at him with disappointment and determination, he said slowly, “This is five taels of silver. You can consider both me and mei mei were sold. From this point forward, you… are just Seventh Uncle, a distant relative to us. We have nothing more to do with each other from this point forward.”