Li's mother said, "You are still too naive. If he only had one or two children, it would be fine. He could marry a virgin girl, but he has four! Even if he is a worker, how much money would he have left to support four children?"
"How can you just think about money? Those children are still young. If you take good care of them, won't they be able to support you in the future when they become successful?" Li Danyang quickly argued when she heard that her mother's words didn't seem right.
Mother Li looked at her like she was a fool: "How can a child who is not your own be as filial as your own? Not to mention distant ones, just take your uncle's neighbor, Aunt Shi, for example. You know her, right
When she was young, she married a man with children. She raised the children honestly and worked like a slave to build a house for them and get them married. But when Aunt Shi got old and could no longer work, she was driven out of the house and was not even allowed to drink water. In the end, it was her nephew from her natal family who took her back home.
You said that Aunt Shi worked hard all her life, but what did she get? If a child is not born from your own womb, you can't expect anything from him. Even if a child is born from your own womb, it may not be filial.
So, don't be too naive. If given a choice, which girl would be willing to be a stepmother?"
Li Danyang was speechless. She wanted to say that Zhou Weiguo's children were different. They would become successful, famous, wealthy and powerful, and filial to their stepmother. If she could marry him, she wouldn't have to worry about the rest of her life...
But she couldn't say it, and no one would believe it even if she did, after all, nothing had happened yet.
Li Danyang was unwilling, but had no way to convince her family. She was so anxious that blisters appeared on the corners of her mouth. She was also worried about when Gu Shichu would come to her senses and agree to marry Zhou Weiguo, which made her even more anxious.
Since she couldn't start with herself, she had to find a way to start with Zhou Weiguo. Li Danyang immediately decided to take down Zhou Weiguo first. By then, even if her mother was unwilling, she would have no choice.
After working in the fields for a while, Gu Shichu asked for leave. She wanted to repair her dilapidated house and rebuild the wall in the yard. After all, she would grow some vegetables in the yard in the future, which she didn't want outsiders to see.
Gu Shichu dug mud from the mountain behind his house and started making mud bricks.
If the original owner's family wasn't so poor, she actually wanted to ask the villagers for help. However, the villagers knew the original owner's family very well. If she suddenly had money or food to hire someone to repair the house, it would be obvious that there was something fishy. Therefore, Gu Shichu had to do everything by herself.
Fortunately, in the world she had traveled through before, she had done everything, including bricklaying.
While she was stirring the mud, she suddenly saw Ji Mingtao coming back from work. She immediately called out to him in surprise, "Hey! Ji Mingtao, you're back from work!"
Ji Mingtao raised his head and saw Gu Shichu, who was covered in dirt and mixing mud with a shovel, smiling foolishly at him. His eyes darkened and he just nodded slightly at her.
Gu Shichu originally wanted to ask him to come and help, but when he thought about how he had just come back from work and must be very tired, he changed his mind and said, "Then you should go back and have a rest."
Ji Mingtao did not answer, and Gu Shichu did not care about his indifference to him. Because of his status, this man was not welcomed in the village, had a bad relationship with people, and was indifferent to everyone. Gu Shichu could understand him very well. After all, he had experienced so many tragic things, and he was still alive and well. It was good enough that he did not take revenge on the society. Should he be forced to greet everyone with a smile? Even a saint could not do it.
Gu Shichu skillfully pasted a few mud bricks into the brick mold and left them in the sun to dry, then went home with a shovel. She remembered the half chicken left over from her family's dinner last night and thought of sending it to Ji Mingtao to try to build their relationship first.
She washed her hands, found the half chicken, chopped it in half, took the half with the chicken leg and put it on the plate, then walked towards Ji Mingtao's house humming a song.
Ji Mingtao was at home heating up the sweet potato rice he hadn't finished eating in the morning when he heard someone knocking on the courtyard door. A trace of anger appeared on his handsome face, but it quickly dissipated. He regained his composure and strode to open the door.
"You finally opened the door for me. Here, this plate of chicken is for you." Gu Shichu handed the plate to Ji Mingtao.
Ji Mingtao did not take the plate. He asked coldly, "Why did you give me chicken for no reason?"
Gu Shichu blinked and said, "This chicken is too big. I can't finish it by myself. And the weather is hot. If I don't finish it, it will go bad. It's a pity."
Ji Mingtao obviously didn't believe her excuse at all. Although he lived close to the Gu family, they had never had much contact. But now Gu Shichu suddenly gave him meat so enthusiastically. Ji Mingtao understood long ago that there is no free lunch in the world.
So he said impatiently with a frown on his handsome face: "Then give it to someone else." As he said that, he was about to close the gate.
Gu Shichu was not willing to give up like this. Not only did she not retreat, but she stepped in, making it impossible for his courtyard door to be closed. Then she smiled and said, "Okay, actually I have something I want to ask you for help."
"My house and the wall are too broken and need repairing. I am taking time to dry the bricks now. I thought you are strong, can you help me? Of course, I am not asking you to help me for nothing. I can give you food."
Gu Shichu opened his clear eyes and spoke sincerely.
After hearing her reason, Ji Mingtao no longer suspected that she had bad intentions. After all, he had just seen her digging mud in the back mountain.
However, he still did not accept Gu Shichu's chicken and said, "You can ask other people for help. I'm sure there will be many people willing to help you if you have food."
"But I'm not familiar with the others. You're the only one who lives closest to my home, so I wanted to ask you for help." Gu Shichu said quickly. She didn't expect Ji Mingtao to be so difficult to approach.
Ji Mingtao still refused firmly: "I don't want to help you, you can leave now."
Gu Shichu became stubborn. She pushed the man in front of her away, rushed into his kitchen, found a plate, poured the chicken into it, and then said to Ji Mingtao who had chased back, "The chicken is already in your plate. You have to take it back. I won't take it back."
With that, she ran away. Oh, she didn't expect that giving gifts to others would be like forcing them to buy things. It seems that she is not very good at pleasing men.
Gu Shichu was extremely worried. If Ji Mingtao didn't even crave meat anymore, how could she conquer him? Men were really hard to deal with!
Ji Mingtao, who was forced to give her the chicken, was even more confused. He looked at the fat, yellow and tempting chicken on the plate, and a look of doubt and confusion flashed across his clear eyes. But he soon stopped worrying about it. Since it was given to him, he might as well help her repair the house to avoid being accused of taking advantage of her.