Chapter 13: Drawing a Knife
Gu Yundong followed the direction indicated and saw several familiar faces.
After reflecting for a moment, she was able to recall the identities of these individuals from her memory—they were members of the Gu family.
Old man Gu had four sons and two daughters. Among them, her father Gu Dajiang and Gu Dagu were children of the first wife, while her second, third, and fourth uncles, as well as Gu Xiaogu, were born to the Zhao family.
Aunt Gu was married in the neighboring village. Before fleeing the famine, Gu Dajiang had implored them to leave together. However, Aunt Gu couldn’t bear to leave her married eldest daughter and planned to stay with her and her son-in-law.
Gu Xiaogu was married to someone in town, where her husband’s family was well-off, owning a small shop to sustain themselves and possessing a donkey cart. Under such circ*mstances, she was understandably less inclined to join her parents who could only travel on foot.
What if her donkey cart was needed along the way? Or if there was no food to eat? She would then stand to lose a great deal.
The eighteen-year-old Uncle Gu was still unmarried. His birth had been difficult due to his size and Zhao’s age, and having two older brothers, he wasn’t favored by Zhao.
Conversely, it was her father Gu and Aunt Gu who had taken care of him as he grew up, making Uncle Gu’s relationship with them quite strong.
After the disappearance of Gu’s father during their escape, Uncle Gu took on the responsibility of looking after the family, which earned him even more of Zhao’s disdain.
To prevent him from disrupting their plans, the Zhao family deliberately distanced themselves from Fourth Uncle Gu, seizing the opportunity to cast them out.
Thus, at the scene, there were only the families of the second and third uncles, and it was unclear what the return of Fourth Uncle Gu would bring.
But Gu Yundong had other concerns; she needed to look after Yang’s family and her younger siblings, leaving her with little time to dwell on these family complications.
She hadn’t expected to run into Gu Xiaogu at the city gates, but not the rest of the Gu family.
Gu Qiuyue—Gu Xiaogu’s daughter—must have sensed Gu Yundong’s intense gaze because she turned her head and saw them. With one glance, she frowned.
Then, she rolled her eyes, scanning past them. Perhaps because she didn’t see Old Man Gu and the others, she quickly turned away, acting as if she didn’t recognize them.
Gu Yundong gave a disdainful snort—she wasn’t interested in acknowledging her either.
All she could think about was how to enter the city.
However, though she wished for a peaceful encounter, Gu Qiuyue had other ideas.
A child soon approached, stood in front of them, and said loftily, “My mother says you should leave, stop making a scene here. With the way you look, there’s no way you’ll be let into the city.”
This little girl was Gu Qiuyue’s seven-year-old daughter, who carried a sense of superiority from living in town and always looked down on Gu Yundong’s family.
After giving them a haughty look, she turned to Gu Yundong, “But if you beg me, I might consider taking just you in. You’ll have to act as my maid, though—fetching my tea, tending to my needs, and in return, I could give you half a steamed bun every day.”
These latter demands were clearly her own addition; she had long coveted having her own maid. They had come across people selling their children on the road, and were told that a bowl of water was enough for their service—no matter what was asked of them.
Her parents, however, deemed it imprudent to make such a purchase during travel, as they would also be responsible for the servant’s food and drink along the way. They preferred to buy a servant upon reaching the city.
And wasn’t the city their current destination? Besides, here was a potential servant standing right in front of her.
Gu Yundong observed the girl’s smug expression and quietly drew the knife hidden in her sleeve…
✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧ 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓈 ✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧
