Chapter Seventy-Seven: A Pack of Curs (Part Two)

Old Gu could only sit beside her, gently patting her back and offering empty words of comfort as he watched her weep in utter despair.
“Don’t cry. Things will get better. Da Cai hasn’t stumbled yet, but once he does, our days will improve.”
Yang wiped away her tears with a handkerchief, her eyes red as she looked up at Old Gu, finding his thoughts naïve.
“You’re being far too optimistic. With the way Da Cai is now, addicted to gambling, unless he quits, our lives will never get better.”
At this moment, Yang actually felt a shred of relief that her granddaughter had taken her daughter-in-law and little Shu away. At least, with them gone, there would be fewer people to suffer beatings.
In the small Chu family courtyard, the oil lamp still burned. Gu Xiaoyao was fetching water to bathe, quite satisfied with tonight’s meal.
“Chu Chengjin, do you want to bathe? I can fetch water for you.”
Thinking that he wasn't able to use much strength now, Gu Xiaoyao prepared her own bathwater first, then stepped inside to ask him.
“My dear wife, why don’t you help wipe me down? My injuries still aren’t suited for bathing.”
Seeing her enter, Chu Chengjin tucked the letter he’d just finished into its envelope and sealed it, his tone as cheerful as ever.
He expected Gu Xiaoyao to shyly cover her face and refuse, but instead, she gave a bold reply.
“Sure! I’ve just drawn my bath—why don’t we bathe together?”
Just as Li, having dumped out the footbath, entered the room, she heard her daughter’s words. She was so startled that she stepped on her own foot and nearly fell.

“Xiaoyao…”
Gu Xiaoyao glanced over at her mother’s shocked expression, lowered her head a little, then tilted it and pouted at Chu Chengjin.
The one who’d suggested she wipe him down, Chu Chengjin, coughed awkwardly, then waved his hand weakly.
“My dear, why don’t you go get busy?”
Seeing that he seemed embarrassed, Gu Xiaoyao dropped the idea of bathing together and quickly left the room.
Standing there, Li put down the foot basin in her hands and hurried after her daughter.
“Xiaoyao, I want to ask you something.”
“Is this really how you and your husband get along…?”
She wasn’t even sure how to phrase it—something just felt odd about their relationship.
“Yes, of course, why? Mother, is there something wrong with how we get along?”
Aren’t all newlyweds like this? Besides, Gu Xiaoyao knew Chu Chengjin was deliberately saying such things, just to see if she would get flustered, but she figured he was probably the one feeling shy.
“It’s not really a problem…” Li hesitated, but in the end, she didn’t voice what was on her mind.

Every couple has their own way of living together—one hundred couples, one hundred ways. Though her life with Da Cai was wretched, the way her daughter and son-in-law got along was, in the end, a good thing.
After the family finished washing up, Gu Xiaoyao had just blown out the lamp when she heard the village chief calling out.
“Something’s happened! There’s trouble in the village! If you’re awake, come out!”
Old Chu, the village chief, was running through the village at top speed, shouting at the top of his lungs.
Those who hadn’t gone to sleep yet lit their oil lamps and came out; those without lamps simply lit torches and stuck them along the village roads.
“Chief, what’s going on? It’s the middle of the night—can’t people get some sleep?”
Someone, disgruntled, bellowed back, thinking the chief was making a fuss over nothing.
In this pitch-black place, what trouble could possibly come at night?
“Sleep? Forget it! All the villagers picked to compete against Great Valley Village tomorrow are down with vomiting and diarrhea!”
Old Chu was so anxious his face had turned pale. He’d made a round of the village and found that everyone picked for tomorrow’s contest was suffering from the same sickness.