Chapter 424: Idle Conversation

Fearing a misunderstanding, Gu Kaishan hastily explained, "We don’t mean anything else. We just wanted to ask about clearing the wasteland on the mountain to plant fruit trees. If you need a hand, my brothers and I all have the strength for it. Rest assured, we won’t slack off, and we’ll work harder than anyone else."

They had suffered enough these past few days. Although they had cleared the village fields early on, it would be months before they saw any harvest. Currently, apart from foraging for wild vegetables in the mountains, they had absolutely no source of income. They had gone to the county town to ask for work, but the number of job seekers was exponentially higher than the available positions. As outsiders, they didn’t stand a chance. Every aspect of their household required silver. If they went out to work, they could at least earn their keep, but even this meager goal was out of reach.

Gu Kaiyuan was indeed hiring for his mountain project, but because of his past strained relationship with the clan members, the manager had completely excluded the Gu Family. The manager would rather hire people from other villages than call upon them.

They all knew the root of the problem lay with Gu Kaiyuan. The elders of the family had gone too far and deeply offended him. If they were in his shoes, they probably would have formed a bitter grudge and cut off all contact. Coming here today was truly a brazen move on their part. Yet, they had no choice. They had their own small families to feed; they couldn’t possibly make their wives and children chew on wild vegetables every day. The adults could endure it, but how could the elderly and the young?

Gu Kaiyuan hadn’t actually told Zhuang Datou to shut the Gu Family out. However, this unintentional outcome served as a venting of his own frustrations. He felt he had been too kind to them in the past, leading them to take his generosity for granted. Although Gu Kaishan and his brothers had come privately to plead their case this time, the others were undoubtedly aware of it.

"How could things be this difficult?" Gu Kaiyuan asked. "Didn’t you arrange for people to follow Gu Kaichen to the Capital City? I imagine there will be news soon. Perhaps it won’t be long before you can all move to the Capital City for a better life. You might not even care for the meager wages I offer."

"I’m not that optimistic," Gu Kaishan said with a bitter smile. "Grandfather is no longer the Clan Leader. The new Clan Leader and Gu Kaichen made a huge spectacle of heading to the Capital City this time, and they did so without Uncle Bai Jiang’s consent. I’m afraid things won’t go as smoothly as they hope. Even if Gu Baijiang actually arranges a place for them, I doubt it’ll be any better than Tian Village."

It had to be said that although Gu Kaishan was uneducated and lacked broad experience, he still possessed a certain understanding of human nature.

"I’ll ask Zhuang Datou about it later," Gu Kaiyuan said. "If he needs more hands, I’ll have him consider you. However, I won’t play favorites here. Everyone must do the work assigned to them, but I won’t shortchange you on your compensation."

"That’s only fair," Gu Kaishan and his brothers replied, beaming. As long as they could earn money, they didn’t care how hard or exhausting the work was. They didn’t dare expect any special treatment, nor did they feel entitled to it.

Having resolved the matter, Gu Kaiyuan, with nothing left to say to them, simply turned and walked away.

Left standing there, gratitude was written all over the brothers’ faces.

"Don’t slack off when it’s time to work," Gu Kaishan warned. "We are only indebted to others. We’ve brazenly come to ask for a favor today, and if we mess this up, there won’t be a next time."

"We know, Kaishan," the other brothers said in unison.

"But the rest of the clan..."

Gu Kaishan looked at Gu Kaiwen, who had spoken. "They don’t care for this little amount right now. They’ve already packed their bags and are ready to leave at any moment. If Grandfather hadn’t gone door-to-door to persuade them, they wouldn’t have even bothered planting this season’s crops. Pinning all their hopes on an untrustworthy person... Let’s just hope they won’t regret it when the time comes."

The other brothers said no more. They hurried back home, needing to make use of this brief window to finish their farming chores.

Later that day.

Bai Suihe looked speechless upon hearing Gu Kaiyuan recount the men’s intentions. "They still think you’re too much of a pushover."

"Forget it. They don’t harbor any ill will toward me, and they helped me a bit in my previous life. I’ll consider this returning the favor," Gu Kaiyuan explained. "Besides, I need to hire people anyway, and they can’t cause any major trouble."

"I really don’t know what they’re thinking," Bai Suihe said. "Aren’t they afraid your father will drag them down again?"

"Probably not," Gu Kaiyuan said, stroking his chin. "He’s disfigured now and has absolutely no way to return to the imperial court. In another couple of years, who will even remember who he is?

"As for Kaiping, it’s not that I look down on him, but with his intellect, anyone with a clear head wouldn’t pull someone so inept and blunder-prone into their ranks."

"Don’t say that," Bai Suihe replied. "He passed the imperial exams, after all. He shouldn’t be that stupid."

Bai Suihe wondered if he was merely playing the fool to hide a cunning nature. She feared Gu Kaiping was exactly that kind of person. Although they hadn’t interacted much, she had always kept her guard up against him.

"Then you think too highly of him," Gu Kaiyuan said with a mocking laugh. "His year’s imperial exams were quite watered down."

Bai Suihe’s eyes widened. "Your father had that much nerve?"

Gu Kaiyuan said, "I don’t know if he had that much nerve, but the year Gu Kaiping passed the exam and became a presented scholar, several major families in the Capital City also had people pass.

"I’m not spreading rumors here, but those individuals didn’t exactly have stellar reputations at the academy."

"That’s blatant cheating," Bai Suihe said. "Aren’t they afraid of..."

"Sometimes in the imperial court, even the Emperor has to turn a blind eye. Otherwise, how could he maintain the balance of power?" Gu Kaiyuan said. "Gu Kaiping just got lucky. He happened to be at the right place at the right time and capitalized on a massive loophole.

"Otherwise, why hasn’t he made any progress after being in the Hanlin Academy for so many years?

"Everyone knows exactly what’s going on. Allowing him to idle his days away there is already a profound act of grace from His Majesty.

"It’s just that these people cover it up well, and commoners have absolutely no clue. Otherwise, the scholars would have started a riot a long time ago."

It was unexpected to find backroom deals everywhere, and implicitly approved by those in power no less. Bai Suihe shook her head. She had been a corporate wage slave in her previous life, and in this life, her status was quite low. It was a blessing just to not be used as someone’s stepping stone.

If Gu Baijiang hadn’t been disfigured, Gu Kaiyuan would certainly have paid closer attention to him, perhaps even fleeing far away ahead of time. Knowing the inner workings of his own family, he hadn’t been paying much mind to the news from the Capital City lately.

While Gu Kaiyuan was chatting with his father-in-law these past few days, Gu Baijiang was brought up. For the sake of heading to the Capital City, Gu Baijiang had shown up at the Bai Family’s door several times, but the gatekeeper had blocked him out every time. In private, he was likely grumbling about how the Bai Family looked down their noses at people. But since the Bai Family already intended to leave, they couldn’t care less about his complaints.

Although the Bai Family distancing themselves from the Capital City this time would inevitably draw some unwanted attention, his father-in-law was a cunning man. Before leaving, he had spread rumors about taking losses on several business deals, claiming their assets had drastically shrunk and forced them to relocate. The losses on those business deals were real, but he had infinitely exaggerated them. Even if people looked into it, the core facts would hold up to scrutiny.

This tactic of shedding the cicada’s golden shell allowed the Bai Family to completely escape the machinations of the powerful elite. After all, the Bai Family wasn’t the only wealthy merchant family in the entire Capital City. If the Bai Family disappeared, there was still the Li Family, the Huang Family...

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