Patchwork family…

【You have successfully signed in at Meiling Village, Lingchuan County, and received a grand sacrificial gift pack.】

What?

Gu Qingyan nearly fell off the ox cart.

A sacrificial gift pack?

Goodness, it had incense, candles, paper money—everything was there, even paper effigies of boy and girl offerings.

Gu Qingyan was speechless. So the ancestral home drops sacrificial items? The ancestors are offering sacrifices to themselves—how badly do they need incense and offerings?

“Brother Yan, what’s wrong?” Aunt Liu asked nervously.

Gu Qingyan snapped back to reality. Whatever—it wasn’t like he needed that hundred jin (about 50 kg) of grain anyway.

“Nothing. I just think Meiling Village, though remote, has beautiful mountains and clear waters, nice scenery.”

Aunt Liu looked up at the bare mountain peaks. It wasn’t yet spring with flowers blooming, so there really wasn’t much of a view.

She had no mind to enjoy the scenery anyway.

When they reached the village entrance, Aunt Liu felt a bit regretful: “Brother Yan, do you think I shouldn’t have come along?”

If she really was his foster mother, it would be one thing, but she was just his wet nurse. She wasn’t sure if the Gu family would accept her.

The more Aunt Liu thought about it, the more uneasy she felt, and she added, “Actually, I could live alone in town.”

Though she said that, her face was full of worry. She’d be scared living alone in town.

Gu Qingyan quickly said, “You’re my mom. Wherever I go, you go. If they gossip, we’ll leave together. Living in town would be even more convenient.”

Hearing this, Aunt Liu relaxed quite a bit and, in turn, tried to calm him: “Don’t be impulsive. People have their mouths. Let them say whatever they want, as long as you don’t mind me.”

How could Gu Qingyan mind her? If she didn’t stand up for him, Aunt Liu could have stayed in the Li family and enjoyed a good life.

But she’d rather come with him and leave the bustling Qingzhou behind.

---

Gu family old residence.

Since Gu Qingyan left, the two sisters grew more and more uneasy, repeatedly looking out for that thin figure who never appeared.

As night fell and the sun disappeared, Gu Shuyan hung her head, nearly crying: “It’s already dark; he hasn’t come back.”

Gu Wangqing could only comfort her: “He didn’t come back today, but he’ll come tomorrow.”

“Will he really come back?” Gu Shuyan sniffled.

Gu Wangqing didn’t know.

She still held the leftover osmanthus cakes and changed the subject: “Third sister, are you hungry? Have another piece.”

Gu Shuyan refused: “If he comes back and sees the osmanthus cakes gone, he’ll think we’re greedy and won’t want to stay.”

Gu Wangqing was speechless and steamed two candied sweet potatoes.

The sisters got through a meal and dared not close the door, afraid Gu Qingyan might come back at any moment.

They strained to listen all night but heard nothing. The next morning, they woke with dark circles under their eyes, looking wilted like frostbitten eggplants.

Suddenly, there was a sound at the door.

Gu Shuyan ran out like the wind: “You’re back!”

But when she peeked, it was the village chief.

The chief carried a small bag of rice: “Where’s that kid?”

“He went to the county seat,” Gu Shuyan replied, adding, “He said he’ll come back, either yesterday or today.”

The chief frowned, worried the boy might not return. After all, he encountered troubles just after arriving and might have been scared away.

But seeing Gu Shuyan so anxious, he didn’t want to shatter her hope.

“Your family’s probably almost out of food, huh? Take this rice first.”

Gu Shuyan blushed and, with Gu Wangqing following, said quickly, “Uncle, we can’t take this.”

Since their eldest brother left, the sisters had relied on village charity, taking plenty of grain from the uncle’s family, and his wife had scolded them indirectly for it.

Feeling like a burden, they hated taking things easily from relatives.

“The third one’s gone; I’m your uncle. It’s my duty to take care of you,” the chief said.

“Luckily, you kept the house. With a house, it’ll be easier to find a husband. Qingqing, now that you’re the oldest, you have to work hard and support your sister.”

His words implied Gu Qingyan wouldn’t come back. Otherwise, with a male around, the girls wouldn’t need to marry out.

The sisters immediately teared up.

The mood turned heavy.

“Oh, you’re all here.”

Gu Qingyan arrived in his colorful ox cart, casually driving in.

He had a good impression of the village chief: “Uncle, you’re here too. Have you eaten?”

“Yes, yes,” the chief instinctively replied.

Gu Qingyan said, “Come in and eat some more. I have something to ask you.”

Then he began moving things inside. The grain was heavy, making his small frame wobble.

“Let me help,” the chief said quickly.

Though fifty, he was stronger than Gu Qingyan, used to farm work since childhood, carrying a hundred-jin bag of rice without a single gasp.

The Gu sisters stared, hardly believing Gu Qingyan was back—and that he had bought so many supplies.

“Brother, you really came back!” Gu Shuyan jumped up excitedly.

Gu Qingyan smiled: “Of course, I keep my word.”

He turned to move more but had no experience, and his bag-carrying posture was awkward.

“Brother, let us help,” the sisters said together. Then they froze when they saw someone else on the cart.

Gu Qingyan explained, “This is my godmother. You can call her godmother too.”

The sisters exchanged glances, unsure how to respond—how did they suddenly get an extra mom?

Aunt Liu was also awkward, unsure what expression to make.

Gu Qingyan smiled: “Let’s move the stuff first. After we’re done, we can talk.”

The cart was packed full, filling the Gu family hall with grain.

The chief immediately recognized it as food. With so much grain, his worries were eased—these sisters wouldn’t starve.

He was both surprised and happy, puzzled about Gu Qingyan’s true intentions.

Gu Qingyan pulled out red dates and placed several handfuls on the table.

“Uncle, rest a moment. Second sister, third sister, is there hot water?”

“Yes, yes,” Gu Wangqing hurried to the kitchen to pour water.

Aunt Liu wasn’t sure whether to sit or stand, but when she saw the kitchen, she busied herself there.

The big and small women caught each other’s eyes, both showing awkward smiles.

“Nephew, don’t rush,” the village chief said.

“Why did you suddenly buy so much grain? I checked earlier—the rice is hulled, so it won’t last long.”

Gu Qingyan didn’t care: “Just this much. We’ll eat it before it spoils.”

The chief was dumbfounded. So much grain, and only four people in the house? They’d be eating white rice every meal.

Gu Qingyan handed him a handful of red dates: “Uncle, try some.”

The old village chief looked at the red dates — those were also a rare treat, only bought in the village during festivals or special occasions.

His hands trembled as he thought to himself, “The Li family is too wealthy. This young master is so extravagant; I have no idea how much money he brought with him. I’m afraid he might burn through it all in one go.”

But since this kid wasn’t raised by the Gu family, the village chief wanted to give him some advice, yet didn’t know how to start.

Feeling conflicted, he popped a red date into his mouth — it was really sweet. He wondered how much it must cost per pound.

The two sisters quickly brought over some plain water — no tea, no brown sugar.

Gu Qingyan called out to them, “Wait a moment. Since Uncle is here, you should all listen together.”

“Uncle, you know my background. Now that the two families are about to be reunited, I definitely want to settle down in Meiling Village. Otherwise, I’ll become undocumented,” Gu Qingyan said.

The old village chief nodded, “That won’t be a problem. I’ll help you take care of the household registration.”

Gu Qingyan continued, “This is my godmother. She came with me, and we’ll live together from now on. Can her household registration also be here?”

“Godmother?” The village chief looked at Liu Mama with confusion.

“This child wasn’t raised by the Li family, right? So where did this godmother suddenly come from?”

Liu Mama got nervous, worried he might not approve.

Gu Qingyan explained, “She took great care of me. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have made it back alive to Lingchuan County. Since I recognize her as my godmother, I have to care for her in her old age and till the end.”

Liu Mama looked touched.

The old village chief was trying to figure out the situation but could only nod after hearing this: “Registering her here is no problem, but she won’t get any share of land.”

Gu Qingyan didn’t mind that, “Just registering is fine. The land isn’t important.”

“Nephew, land is very important,” the old village chief sighed deeply. “Originally, your family had twenty acres of good farmland, but unfortunately, when your parents got sick, they had to sell some to pay for treatment. Later, as times got harder, they sold more and more.”

Thinking of Gu Tongsheng, the village chief’s eyes turned red, “Your father worked hard his whole life, but in the end, he couldn’t leave you anything.”

The more he thought about it, the sadder he became. He had even advised Gu Fengmian before that if the family was short on money, there was no need to keep studying — just find a job.

But Gu Fengmian didn’t listen. They sold all the farmland, and even the ancestral home.

Fortunately, the youngest son wasn’t too unlucky — the biological son came back, seemed to have some money in hand, and was willing to stay in Meiling Village.

When the village chief started crying, the two sisters also shed tears, filling the room with sorrow.

Gu Qingyan couldn’t cry with them — he simply couldn’t.

“Uncle, I don’t know where my parents are buried. I want to go pay my respects.”

Upon hearing this, the village chief cried even harder, “Good, good, you’re a good kid. Although your parents didn’t raise you, they did give birth to you. You should definitely honor them.”

“Come, Uncle will take you there.”

Gu Qingyan stood up, “Uncle, wait a moment, I’ll go get something.”

He turned and took out a big bag from behind the ox cart. Opening it, there was incense, candles, paper money — everything for ancestral offerings, except the paper effigies of boys and girls were too big to take out.

The old village chief was overwhelmed with joy and sadness, shouting loudly, “Tongsheng, your son is so filial — he even bought so much paper money!”

Gu Qingyan was about to suggest tempering it down, but the village chief wiped his tears and pulled him outside.

From afar, the old village chief loudly announced, “Tongsheng’s real son is back. The moment he returned, he said he would come to pay respects, and even bought plenty of incense offerings.”

“This kid is so filial. Look at all this incense — you can tell he’s a good boy.”

“I told him to just buy some yellow paper and cut it himself, but he insisted on buying the real stuff. It must have cost a fortune.”

Gu Qingyan carried the bag of offerings on his back, smiling on the surface but feeling helpless inside — didn’t expect the village chief to be so extravagant.

He had no idea that after what happened to Gu Tongsheng’s family, the village chief was bitter and had nowhere to vent — but now, it was out in the open for everyone to see.

Gu Fengmian was a heartless scoundrel; that was a bad kind of person. The Gu family was supposed to be filial and conscientious.

[Found Gu family ancestral tomb. Spend 1 check-in point?]