Chapter 325: No Way to Cheat Money
"Who is your father?"
Gu Dahan frowned at Xiaolong.
Although he was forced to acknowledge this son, Gu Dahan was still very resistant to Xiaolong calling him dad.
If it weren't for this child, how could Sufen become the laughing stock of the whole village.
The villagers passing by Tong Huaqiong's house heard Xiaolong calling him dad and stopped to eat the watermelon.
Even though most of the villagers in Qinghewan cannot read a single word, it doesn't mean they are stupid.
Some smart people saw that although Xiaolong was wearing cloth clothes, he could not hide his dignified demeanor, and they did not believe that he was Gu Dahan's illegitimate son at all.
But they couldn't tell where this child came from in the Gu family.
It's not that no one suspected that Xiaolong was the remnant that the officers and soldiers were looking for. There was a quick-talking young man who talked about it behind his back, and the village chief Liu Tielian found out and called him over and scolded him.
In addition, an announcement was sent to all villages that the remnants of the rebels in the county had been killed by the officers and soldiers.
From then on, no one dared to doubt Xiaolong's true identity.
"Dahan, now that Xiaolong has returned home, you shouldn't be so harsh with him," said Tong Huaqiong.
Gu Dahan listened and his expression towards Xiaolong softened a little.
It’s not that Gu Dahan doesn’t feel sorry for this orphan child. He just feels that being nice to Xiaolong would be seen by the villagers as being bad to Sufen and Maner, and he doesn’t want his wife and daughter to be criticized in the village.
Xiaolong realized that Gu Dahan's attitude had softened, and he rushed to help Gu Dahan pick the wild sour dates.
Chen Sufen just came out of the house, and Xiaolong handed the dates to her.
Chen Sufen touched Xiaolong's head, picked up a big red date and stuffed it into Xiaolong's mouth first.
This scene caught the eyes of the villagers and caused everyone to sigh.
"Sufen is really patient."
"It was a big fuss. The Gu family is doing so well now. If it were me, I would acknowledge the child like Su Fen did. The child's mother is gone anyway, so I'll just raise the child as my own."
"Su Fen is so generous. Da Han feels even more sorry for her. He will treat her better in the future. Su Fen is not stupid."
The villagers didn't shy away from talking and started discussing right in front of Tong Huaqiong's house.
Gu Dahan rarely showed disdain to the villagers and said, "Aren't you going home to cook?"
The villagers dispersed with laughter.
"Aunt Tong, the clan leader wants you to go home."
The clan leader's grandson Gu Dahu came to the Gu family and saw Tong Huaqiong with a pimple-like face and a smile.
In the past, Gu Dahu relied on being the grandson of the clan leader and never even looked at Tong Huaqiong's family.
But things are different now. Tong Huaqiong is now the richest woman in Qinghe Bay. She owns shops and land. Gu Dahu naturally doesn't dare to underestimate Tong Huaqiong.
Tong Huaqiong didn't ask what the clan leader wanted to see her about. She just washed her hands and went to the clan leader's house.
The Gu family basically lives in the north of the village, except Tong Huaqiong's family, who lives on the former wasteland in the east of the village.
In Tong Huaqiong's memory, Tong Da Jiao had a conflict with the old patriarch of the Gu family, who was also the father of the current patriarch, as soon as she married into the Gu family.
The reason was that the parents-in-law were partial to each other and gave two more acres of land to the brother-in-law.
Moreover, my brother-in-law was doing business outside and was not in the village, so the extra land was allocated to Tong Da Jiao and Old Man Gu to cultivate, and the harvest was given to my brother-in-law's family.
Tong Da Jiao was unhappy, but Old Man Gu didn't say anything, so Tong Da Jiao had a quarrel with her parents-in-law and the quarrel spread to the clan.
The clan leader accepted the holiday gift from his brother-in-law and favored his family.
Tong Da Jiao was so angry that he scolded the clan leader, and they became enemies from then on.
Later, the position of the old patriarch was passed to his son, who is now the new patriarch. The new patriarch and Tong Da Jiao still do not get along.
After Old Man Gu died, Tong Da Jiao's family was excluded from the clan.
If the clan had not been so indulgent, Tong Da Jiao would not have been bullied so badly by Mrs. Yan and the Xu family.
The situation did not improve after Tong Huaqiong came here. Since she opened the shop, the clan leader wanted to resolve the rift with her, but Tong Huaqiong had no time to pay attention to him.
This was not the first time that the clan leader had invited Tong Huaqiong to his home. He had asked someone to invite her to the clan to discuss matters several times, but Tong Huaqiong refused every time.
This time she simply made it clear to the clan leader in person that she didn't owe the clan anything, and that in the future the clan shouldn't involve her in any problems, and that she shouldn't even think about paying money for the clan.
"Dashu Niang, you are here. Sit down, sit down." The clan leader saw that Tong Huaqiong was a little too enthusiastic.
Tong Huaqiong sat down without hesitation, and Gu Dahu's mother also made a cup of tea for Tong Huaqiong.
"What do you want to see me about, Patriarch?" Tong Huaqiong asked directly.
The clan leader smiled and said, "Da Han's child is back. Since you have acknowledged him, our clan has no objections. I came to you to discuss choosing a good day to open the ancestral hall for the child to pass away."
Tong Huaqiong thought, forget it, asking him to cross the Ming Road was fake, and asking Tong Huaqiong to repair the ancestral hall was real.
Gu Jingzhe mentioned that since Taohua Dessert opened, the clan leader once stopped Gu Jingzhe on the road and said in a roundabout way that he hoped that he would persuade Tong Huaqiong to pay for the renovation of the Gu family ancestral hall in his capacity as a scholar. The reason given was that the ancestral hall would be beneficial to Gu Jingzhe's career.
There is no way to cheat Tong Huaqiong of her money. What does the Gu Family Ancestral Hall have to do with her?
Not to mention the Gu family ancestral hall, she wouldn't even want to spend money to repair old man Gu's grave if it weren't for the appearance of a few bad bamboos.
Tong Huaqiong refused without even thinking: "What's the point of talking about a clear path or an unclear path? Who can say he is not a child of my Gu family?"
The clan leader thought that Widow Tong was really hard to fool.
It seems that it is impossible to get Tong Dajiao to pay money in the name of letting Xiaolong return to his roots.
However, this ancestral hall does not need to be repaired, and Tong Da Jiao can take care of the clan children's education. The focus is on one's own descendants.
The clan leader smiled and said, "Even though that's what we said, it's still better to open the ancestral hall to recognize our ancestors. This matter can be put aside until Xiaolong is older. It won't be too late to go to Minglu. Dashu Niang, there is one more thing I want to discuss with you. I heard that you want to open a private school in the village, which is a good thing. Our clan has Jingzhe now. The county magistrate came to the village and praised Jingzhe for his knowledge. He will definitely become an official in the future. As the saying goes, fathers and sons fight in battles, and brothers fight tigers together. It's not enough for our clan to have one Jingzhe. One person can't support the family alone, and officials can't be at peace. Our clan needs more scholars to form a group. I heard that you want to pay for a private school in the village. I invited you here to discuss with you how to let all the children in our clan go to school. In the future, if one or two Jingzhe come out, they will have a helper. As the clan leader, I can't help but consider Jingzhe."
The patriarch's words were sound and impeccable.
Tong Huaqiong thought with disdain, the clan leader was now lecturing on such a principle, but when Tong Da Jiao tightened her belt to support Gu Jingzhe's studies, the clan leader pretended not to see it and never said anything.
Now they want her to pay the tuition for the children in the clan. Did she get the money from the wind?
After he finished speaking, he waited for Tong Huaqiong to respond and said that she would be in charge of the children's education in the clan.
The clan leader was certain that Tong Huaqiong would agree.
After all, as the daughter-in-law of the Gu family, she would definitely be buried in the Gu family's ancestral tomb with old man Gu after her death.
Now Old Man Gu has been buried with his original wife. Although Gu Dahan and Gu Baishuang did not tell him the conditions that forced Tong Dajiao to agree, the clan leader was sure that this was a thorn in Tong Dajiao's heart. From now on, without him as the clan leader to make the decisions, she could only be a concubine and accompany Old Man Gu and his original wife.
Can Tong Da Jiao be willing to accept this?