Chapter 56 – Ashamed to the Core

Of course, the moments when people have the strongest impression of someone or something are often when they’ve just lost it—or just gained it.

After getting used to Yan Fengru’s excellent cooking, Gu Dapeng had come to take it for granted. Now, all of a sudden, his home was missing her and the two children. It was only then that Gu Dapeng realized how much of a blessing it was to eat a meal carefully prepared by his wife.

While the honest man was still in a daze, the two kids had already polished off all the food. Yan Fengru’s cooking was superb—young Gu Qingbai was already used to it. As for Gu Yuzhu, Yan Fengru was like a brand new, loving mother to her, and with such amazing cooking skills, she was practically a treasure of a mother. Gu Yuzhu nearly wanted to lick the plates clean.

Of course, for a young girl, licking plates would be a bit too disgraceful.

So Gu Yuzhu could only think about it with regret, then glanced at Gu Dapeng, who was staring longingly at the food. That feeling of satisfaction inside her grew even stronger. And she deliberately feigned a naïve, sweet expression as she said, “Daddy, the meat that Mama made is really delicious! It’s so fragrant and tender! Zhu Zhu wants another bowl of rice!”

Yan Fengru was usually quite sharp, but at the moment, she didn’t realize her precious daughter was playing tricks. She just assumed the child was being greedy, so she smiled and said, “Zhu Zhu has already eaten a lot. You can’t eat anymore, or your tummy will feel uncomfortable.”

Gulp! Gu Dapeng swallowed hard again, and all three—mother and children—turned to look at him.

The honest man’s face flushed red. He could no longer stay any longer. “Why don’t I… Feng’er, I’ll head back first.”

Yan Fengru glanced at him, fully aware that the man’s days lately had probably been difficult. It wasn’t that Gu Qingshan was heartless or unfilial—he cared about appearances and likely wouldn’t truly mistreat his father. Li-shi wasn’t a wicked woman either. But people inevitably compare.

Now that Gu Dapeng was coming over to work on their side, yet still going back home to eat, and since he did a lot of manual labor during the day, his appetite was naturally larger. She didn’t believe those people over there had no opinions about it. Even if Gu Qingshan and his wife were fine with it, there was still the tactless Gu Caihe!

Still, Yan Fengru thought, as long as they didn’t bring the trouble to her door, she’d pretend not to notice. After all, it wasn’t her who had caused the children to become distant from her in the first place—it was the people from the Jiang family. Word had it that the Jiang family had also fallen out with Gu Qingshan now. She didn’t know the details, but it was likely due to conflicts over interests.

Yan Fengru couldn’t be bothered to get involved.

“How about you eat something here before leaving? Otherwise, people might say I’m treating you harshly.”

Gu Dapeng lowered his head, feeling deeply ashamed. In truth, when their daughter stirred up all that trouble before, he had harbored some resentment toward Yan Fengru. Subconsciously, that resentment lingered, even though he would finish his work and quietly leave, too embarrassed to stay for a meal. Yet, he still felt guilty toward the other side.

Now that Yan Fengru had offered to let him stay for dinner, Gu Dapeng felt even more ashamed. If only they hadn’t separated households… If they hadn’t, Qingbai wouldn’t need to be building a house so soon…

Thinking over everything, he didn’t even know who to blame anymore.

But he instinctively said, “No, no need, I’ll… I’ll just head back and eat something simple…”

Meeting Yan Fengru’s eyes, he suddenly couldn’t say anything more.

“I… I…”

After being married for so many years, how could they not understand each other? Yan Fengru bypassed Gu Dapeng directly, picked up the children’s trays, and said, “Come with me. Have a little something with the others, then go back.”

“Alright,” Gu Dapeng replied. His voice sounded like a sigh, tinged with guilt.

Gu Yuzhu’s eyes sparkled—not bad, Mama!

She wasn’t really a little girl, after all, so she could read the emotions in her father’s constantly shifting expression. She knew that in this “battle of the heart,” her mother Yan Fengru had, without a doubt, claimed victory.

Gu Dapeng’s arrival didn’t cause much of a stir—only he felt awkward. After all, everyone here helping out were relatives from his wife’s side. Thinking of this made Gu Dapeng feel completely ashamed.

Brother Bai (Qingbai) was a male of the Gu family, and he was now building a house, yet not a single member of the Gu family came to help? How did that make the family look? If Bai ever succeeded in the imperial exams in the future, would the Gu family have the shamelessness to come leech off his success? That would be disgraceful!

Gu Dapeng decided he would go back tomorrow and find a few uncles and cousins from his side to come help.

He and Yan Fengru had only separated households—they hadn’t divorced. Even if they had divorced, in this society, even if a boy was raised by his mother, he still belonged to the father’s family, because he carried the father’s “roots.”

Unlike Gu Dapeng, who kept his head down, eating in silence and not daring to speak, the brothers of the Yan family and their helpers were chatting happily. Mostly, it was because Yan Fengru cooked well and served hearty dishes, so everyone had plenty of energy. They all felt that just being treated to such a good meal made it worthwhile.

Where there are men, there’s always alcohol. They drank the good wine the Yan brothers had brought from town. The dining table was lively and full of laughter—only Gu Dapeng remained out of place, and his feelings were hard to describe. So after eating until he was about seventy or eighty percent full, he quickly made his exit.

The Yan brothers had mixed feelings about this brother-in-law. In the past, they had hoped he would treat their sister well and were always polite when they met. But now that things had essentially fallen apart, just seeing each other without fighting was already considered a win. Still, the Yan brothers weren’t hot-headed brutes—while Gu Dapeng was present, they all drank in silence, creating a heavy atmosphere. Only after he left did their faces finally ease into smiles.

“Brothers, come on, drink up! Drink as much as you want—there’s more where that came from. Tonight, let’s drink to our hearts’ content and get a good night’s rest. Tomorrow morning, let’s get up early and build our nephew a beautiful house!”

Everyone was naturally eager to give face. The Ying brothers were the first to respond. The youngest of them, Ying Liu, was particularly observant and couldn’t help but ask, “Who was that just now? Looked like a total stick-in-the-mud.”

The Ying family was only distantly related to the Gu family, and they seldom came down the mountain. This was only their third visit to the Yan household—the first time was for Yan Xinghe’s marriage to Ying-shi, the second time was when their first child was born, and now was the third.

Yan Xinghe clearly expected his youngest brother-in-law to ask, as if he’d prepared an answer long ago. He casually replied, “Oh, him? That’s my eldest sister’s husband. Best not to talk about him. He and my sister have split households and live separately now—we don’t really stay in touch.”

Yan Xingjia scowled, and Yan Xingye also frowned. When the others saw the expressions of the Yan brothers, they instantly understood the situation.

Why would a good woman like their eldest sister separate households with her husband? From what they’d heard these past few days, the Gu family’s situation was a mess. Yan Dajie (Big Sister Yan) had sacrificed herself for the sake of her younger siblings, only to end up marrying someone who looked like such a useless coward?

Tch! Thinking of how straightforward and capable Yan Dajie was, the Ying brothers felt it was a real shame. But after all, they were outsiders. It wasn’t their place to meddle in their sister’s marital affairs.