Chapter 98: Retaliation
Gu Xi’s nursemaid’s son looked at the long line of customers still waiting outside for the noodles, and looked back at Yu Yuan who was smiling warmly at him. He hesitated for a moment before flashing a smile and waved his hand at Yu Yuan, “I was just wondering where you two were. I didn’t expect you to have already found seats.” After saying that, he turned back to his mother and said, “Mother, let’s go in and sit down!”
Gu Xi’s nursemaid was a little reluctant.
He added in a low voice, “I still have to return to the store to settle the accounts!”
As soon as she heard that, she immediately walked over towards the table where Yu Yuan and Yu Tang were sitting.
“Thank you so much, little brother!” When she reached the table, she politely added, “I’ll ask my son to invite you both for tea next time.”
Gu Xi’s nursemaid married another servant of the Gu family who received the Gu family’s surname, but as luck would have it, although she had three sons, only Gu San, the third son survived, and when Gu San was two months old, her husband died of a sudden illness. After Gu Xi married into the Li family, Gu San also followed his mother to Lin’an, and helped Gu Xi manage the fields in the countryside and married Gu Xi’s serving maid, and was Gu Xi’s trusted helper.
This was why Yu Tang recognized Gu San.
Now Gu San was still just an adolescent. Although he was not yet as capable as he would be in a few years’ time, he already showed some signs of astuteness and intelligence.
He greeted Yu Yuan and seated his mother across from Yu Tang. He did not sit down but asked Yu Yuan, “Brother Yu, have you ordered your noodles yet?”
Yu Yuan nodded and smiled, “We ordered two bowl of their signature bamboo shoots noodles.”
Gu San nodded and said, “Well then, we’ll follow suit and order two bamboo shoots noodles as well.” After saying that, he scurried off to find the owner and ordered their noodles, urging them to be faster. Clearly he was a very resourceful person.
Indeed worthy of being Gu Xi’s future trusted helper.
Yu Tang watched on and got an idea.
Gu Xi’s nursemaid, that is, Gu San’s mother begun to converse with Yu Yuan. “Which store are you working in? How is it that I have not seen you before? How did you know my Ah San?”
It sounded like an ordinary mother concerned about whom her son was associating with, but her eyes revealed wariness.
Yu Tang lowered her head and sipped her tea.
The Gu Family was a very prominent family in Hangzhou city, and many people desired to build a close relationship with them. Thus, Gu Xi’s nursemaid must have frequently encountered people who wanted to befriend them.
Yu Yuan had no intention of becoming friends with Gu San, so he spoke rather candidly. He replied, “I just met him yesterday. I’m from Lin’an and came here to see a friend. It just so happened that my friend and Brother Gu were close, so we had a meal together. When I saw you guys lining up there, I decided on my own to help you both out.”
These words on the surface seemed to be a classic tactic to befriend Gu San.
The eyes of Gu Xi’s nursing maid became more vigilant, and she asked, “Little brother Yu is from Lin’an City? Why did you come to Hangzhou City? To play or did you have a task to handle? It’s about to be the New Year’s, so why did your family elders allow you to travel?” After saying that, she even glanced at Yu Tang.
Yu Yuan laughed as he replied, “There are only two of us in our family, and all the elders were busy with family affairs, so we as the juniors had nothing to do, so we came to Hangzhou City to look around and see if there is anything to buy.”
Gu Xi’s nursemaid frowned slightly and wanted to say something in response, but Gu San already carried a tray with two large bowls over.
Yu Yuan went up and took the tray.
Gu San said, “These are yours, ours will have to wait for a while, you can eat first, and we’ll eat later.”
Yu Yuan gave one bowl of noodles to Gu Xi’s nursemaid and the other bowl to Yu Tang, saying, “We don’t have any urgent business to handle, so let your elder and my sister eat first. Both of us can wait for a while and chat while we wait.”
Gu San glanced at his mother.
Gu Xi’s nursemaid nodded slightly.
Gu San smiled and sat down. He helped Yu Tang and his mother take a pair of chopsticks, before taking a large gulp of tea and grinning, “That’s not a problem! I didn’t expect to run into Brother Yu here by sheer coincidence. What are you guys doing later? When are you scheduled to return? I’ll buy you a drink sometime.”
Yu Yuan laughed unconcernedly, “My sister and I will be returning tomorrow, and our family’s store will be busy after we return. If you have the chance to go to Lin’an City, why don’t you go to the Yu’s lacquerware store on Changxing Street and look for me, it will be my turn as host and show you around Lin’an.”
Gu San darted a quick glance at his mother and smiled perfunctorily, “Then I must find time to visit Lin’an.”
Yu Tang laughed coldly in her heart.
This mother and son duo, perhaps they assumed that they were taking advantage of them to get close to the Gu family or the Li family!
Yu Tang felt uncomfortable inside and decided to take the first step.
She pulled on Yu Yuan’s sleeve and said in a soft but audible whisper that both the mother and son could hear, “Their surname is Gu, are they related to Hangzhou’s Gu Family?”
For a moment, Yu Yuan didn’t understand what Yu Tang was trying to do and his expression froze up slightly.
Both mother and son exchanged looks, and Gu Xi’s nursemaid stated matter-of-factly, “Lady Yu knows about our Gu family?”
Yu Tang’s expression turned sour as she asked, “Are you really from Hangzhou’s Gu family?”
As she was just a young girl, her eyebrows weren’t fully grown In yet, but she had big round eyes, a beautiful nose, and when she kept her head lowered and didn’t speak, she gave people an impression of serenity and tranquil. However, once she spoke, especially with such a serious expression, she seemed even more dignified and mesmerising.
Gu Xi’s nursing maid was someone who had seen many beautiful women in her lifetime, but was still stunned into momentary silence by her beauty. On the contrary, it was Gu San, who was keeping a watchful eye on the Yu siblings, who responded immediately after seeing no response from his mother, saying “We’re not really part of the Gu family. However, as my father was a former servant of the Gu family and obtained their blessing, my great grandfather was bestowed the surname Gu, and we were fortunate enough to continue serving the Gu family.”
If the Yu siblings came prepared, they would have known who he was, and he didn’t need to say anything more. If they didn’t know, on the basis of their relationship, they only needed to know this much.
No sooner had the words left his mouth when Yutang instantly stood up and turned to Yu Yuan, saying, “Brother, let’s go! I don’t want to sit with people like them.”
The store wasn’t big, so when Yu Tang stood up, everyone noticed, and her words were heard by all – not only the people sitting inside, but even the people waiting in line heard it as well, and they all strained their ears to listen further. The crowds hushed and the only sound heard was of the soup boiling in the pot.
Gu Xi’s nursemaid had never encountered such an embarrassing situation ever since she became Gu Xi’s mother’s respected first serving maid. She stood up and lowered her voice, saying to Yu Tang, “Young lady, regardless of what the issue is, you will only be embarrassing everyone by behaving like this. You’d better sit down and we can talk about it, there’s no problem too big that can’t be solved. If I can’t solve it, just find our Grand Elder Gu. What others can’t solve, he will definitely have ways to solve it.” Her last sentence was a thinly veiled threat.
Yu Tang wasn’t afraid of things escalating. They already came prepared to remove all facades of propriety and politeness.
She sneered as she sat down, saying candidly “You don’t need to use your Gu family’s grand elder to threaten me. I’m ready to take responsibility for my actions. Even if you called your family’s grand elder here, I wouldn’t mince my words either.”
Gu Xi’s nursemaid was furious, anxious and vexed.
Although they were seated, it was obvious to everyone that there was something gossip-worthy playing out between them. The people in the store acted as if they were just eating their noodles but in fact, they were all secretly observing them, eager to hear any gossip that they could share with others.
Gu Xi nursemaid’s voice got lower as she forced out a smile, saying: “Lady Yu, please finish your noodles. After eating, we can find another place to discuss further.”
If this happened inside the Gu Mansion, the noodles would have been tossed aside, and she would have dragged this little girl aside to have a word, and no noodles would be eaten until the situation was made clear.
Gu Xi’s nurse maid forcefully suppressed her anger and Yu Tang didn’t intend to make things easy for her either. She sneered and said mockingly, “You don’t have to show me your displeasure. I’m not a member of the Gu family. Speaking of which, there’s enmity between my family and yours. Your family’s son in law, Li Duan, no, I should say your Gu Family’s Second branch’s Mrs. Li, is really a shameless person and a coward. Look at the things they did. Her future husband-to-be even wore mourning clothes and carried out a mourning ceremony to make amends to the other party. The streets of Lin’an City were packed with people watching the commotion. Don’t act as though you are afraid of us trying to flatter and take advantage of you – you’re being over presumptuous. However, you are indeed right about one thing, there is a solution to everything. If you feel that you have been wronged, you can call your grand elder over and ask him to give an explanation, and see if it is you who is being obnoxious and condescending, or that what we said was unjustified.”
Her words were so quick, sharp and biting which made Gu Xi’s nursemaid’s face turn as black as the bottom of the pot. However, she was afraid to argue with Yu Tang for fear of ruining the Gu family’s reputation in Hangzhou City.
Yu Yuan got worried about Yu Tang’s impudence, but when he saw that Gu Xi’s nursemaid was holding back her anger, he believed what Yu Tang said before about “Prominent families wanting to preserve their dignity, not daring to take action in front of you, only daring to use underhanded tactics behind people’s backs”. Although he was somewhat relieved but in his heart, he was still troubled.
The Gu family wouldn’t secretly kidnap them, would they?
Later, he would be visiting second supervisor Tong, should they mention about this matter?
Or, should they hire a boat to head back to Lin’an tonight? Anyway, everything they set out to do was already completed, so there wasn’t any point in staying on in Hangzhou City.
Yu Yuan was still lost in his thoughts while Gu San had already returned to his senses, and he lowered his voice with a cold glint in his eyes. “Are you two here to make trouble?”
Yu Tang was not as kind and mild-tempered as she was in her previous life, nor was she prepared to bend over backwards and let others mess around with her. Hearing him say this, she immediately retorted, “Who do you think you are? If I wanted to find trouble, I wouldn’t find you either! I think you have stayed in Hangzhou for a long time and thus became overly complacent, thinking that the world revolves around you, that there is no other family more important than your Gu family. Merely talking to you for a while longer, you think people want to get something from you.” After saying that, she shouted loudly for the restaurant owner and said, “We don’t know these two people, please assign us a new table!”
Gu Xi’s nursemaid was so angry that her face turned blue, and the restaurant owner was caught in a dilemma as he plastered a smile and was stuck on whether or not he should change the seating arrangements.
Chapter 98: Retaliation
Gu Xi’s nursemaid’s son looked at the long line of customers still waiting outside for the noodles, and looked back at Yu Yuan who was smiling warmly at him. He hesitated for a moment before flashing a smile and waved his hand at Yu Yuan, “I was just wondering where you two were. I didn’t expect you to have already found seats.” After saying that, he turned back to his mother and said, “Mother, let’s go in and sit down!”
Gu Xi’s nursemaid was a little reluctant.
He added in a low voice, “I still have to return to the store to settle the accounts!”
As soon as she heard that, she immediately walked over towards the table where Yu Yuan and Yu Tang were sitting.
“Thank you so much, little brother!” When she reached the table, she politely added, “I’ll ask my son to invite you both for tea next time.”
Gu Xi’s nursemaid married another servant of the Gu family who received the Gu family’s surname, but as luck would have it, although she had three sons, only Gu San, the third son survived, and when Gu San was two months old, her husband died of a sudden illness. After Gu Xi married into the Li family, Gu San also followed his mother to Lin’an, and helped Gu Xi manage the fields in the countryside and married Gu Xi’s serving maid, and was Gu Xi’s trusted helper.
This was why Yu Tang recognized Gu San.
Now Gu San was still just an adolescent. Although he was not yet as capable as he would be in a few years’ time, he already showed some signs of astuteness and intelligence.
He greeted Yu Yuan and seated his mother across from Yu Tang. He did not sit down but asked Yu Yuan, “Brother Yu, have you ordered your noodles yet?”
Yu Yuan nodded and smiled, “We ordered two bowl of their signature bamboo shoots noodles.”
Gu San nodded and said, “Well then, we’ll follow suit and order two bamboo shoots noodles as well.” After saying that, he scurried off to find the owner and ordered their noodles, urging them to be faster. Clearly he was a very resourceful person.
Indeed worthy of being Gu Xi’s future trusted helper.
Yu Tang watched on and got an idea.
Gu Xi’s nursemaid, that is, Gu San’s mother begun to converse with Yu Yuan. “Which store are you working in? How is it that I have not seen you before? How did you know my Ah San?”
It sounded like an ordinary mother concerned about whom her son was associating with, but her eyes revealed wariness.
Yu Tang lowered her head and sipped her tea.
The Gu Family was a very prominent family in Hangzhou city, and many people desired to build a close relationship with them. Thus, Gu Xi’s nursemaid must have frequently encountered people who wanted to befriend them.
Yu Yuan had no intention of becoming friends with Gu San, so he spoke rather candidly. He replied, “I just met him yesterday. I’m from Lin’an and came here to see a friend. It just so happened that my friend and Brother Gu were close, so we had a meal together. When I saw you guys lining up there, I decided on my own to help you both out.”
These words on the surface seemed to be a classic tactic to befriend Gu San.
The eyes of Gu Xi’s nursing maid became more vigilant, and she asked, “Little brother Yu is from Lin’an City? Why did you come to Hangzhou City? To play or did you have a task to handle? It’s about to be the New Year’s, so why did your family elders allow you to travel?” After saying that, she even glanced at Yu Tang.
Yu Yuan laughed as he replied, “There are only two of us in our family, and all the elders were busy with family affairs, so we as the juniors had nothing to do, so we came to Hangzhou City to look around and see if there is anything to buy.”
Gu Xi’s nursemaid frowned slightly and wanted to say something in response, but Gu San already carried a tray with two large bowls over.
Yu Yuan went up and took the tray.
Gu San said, “These are yours, ours will have to wait for a while, you can eat first, and we’ll eat later.”
Yu Yuan gave one bowl of noodles to Gu Xi’s nursemaid and the other bowl to Yu Tang, saying, “We don’t have any urgent business to handle, so let your elder and my sister eat first. Both of us can wait for a while and chat while we wait.”
Gu San glanced at his mother.
Gu Xi’s nursemaid nodded slightly.
Gu San smiled and sat down. He helped Yu Tang and his mother take a pair of chopsticks, before taking a large gulp of tea and grinning, “That’s not a problem! I didn’t expect to run into Brother Yu here by sheer coincidence. What are you guys doing later? When are you scheduled to return? I’ll buy you a drink sometime.”
Yu Yuan laughed unconcernedly, “My sister and I will be returning tomorrow, and our family’s store will be busy after we return. If you have the chance to go to Lin’an City, why don’t you go to the Yu’s lacquerware store on Changxing Street and look for me, it will be my turn as host and show you around Lin’an.”
Gu San darted a quick glance at his mother and smiled perfunctorily, “Then I must find time to visit Lin’an.”
Yu Tang laughed coldly in her heart.
This mother and son duo, perhaps they assumed that they were taking advantage of them to get close to the Gu family or the Li family!
Yu Tang felt uncomfortable inside and decided to take the first step.
She pulled on Yu Yuan’s sleeve and said in a soft but audible whisper that both the mother and son could hear, “Their surname is Gu, are they related to Hangzhou’s Gu Family?”
For a moment, Yu Yuan didn’t understand what Yu Tang was trying to do and his expression froze up slightly.
Both mother and son exchanged looks, and Gu Xi’s nursemaid stated matter-of-factly, “Lady Yu knows about our Gu family?”
Yu Tang’s expression turned sour as she asked, “Are you really from Hangzhou’s Gu family?”
As she was just a young girl, her eyebrows weren’t fully grown In yet, but she had big round eyes, a beautiful nose, and when she kept her head lowered and didn’t speak, she gave people an impression of serenity and tranquil. However, once she spoke, especially with such a serious expression, she seemed even more dignified and mesmerising.
Gu Xi’s nursing maid was someone who had seen many beautiful women in her lifetime, but was still stunned into momentary silence by her beauty. On the contrary, it was Gu San, who was keeping a watchful eye on the Yu siblings, who responded immediately after seeing no response from his mother, saying “We’re not really part of the Gu family. However, as my father was a former servant of the Gu family and obtained their blessing, my great grandfather was bestowed the surname Gu, and we were fortunate enough to continue serving the Gu family.”
If the Yu siblings came prepared, they would have known who he was, and he didn’t need to say anything more. If they didn’t know, on the basis of their relationship, they only needed to know this much.
No sooner had the words left his mouth when Yutang instantly stood up and turned to Yu Yuan, saying, “Brother, let’s go! I don’t want to sit with people like them.”
The store wasn’t big, so when Yu Tang stood up, everyone noticed, and her words were heard by all – not only the people sitting inside, but even the people waiting in line heard it as well, and they all strained their ears to listen further. The crowds hushed and the only sound heard was of the soup boiling in the pot.
Gu Xi’s nursemaid had never encountered such an embarrassing situation ever since she became Gu Xi’s mother’s respected first serving maid. She stood up and lowered her voice, saying to Yu Tang, “Young lady, regardless of what the issue is, you will only be embarrassing everyone by behaving like this. You’d better sit down and we can talk about it, there’s no problem too big that can’t be solved. If I can’t solve it, just find our Grand Elder Gu. What others can’t solve, he will definitely have ways to solve it.” Her last sentence was a thinly veiled threat.
Yu Tang wasn’t afraid of things escalating. They already came prepared to remove all facades of propriety and politeness.
She sneered as she sat down, saying candidly “You don’t need to use your Gu family’s grand elder to threaten me. I’m ready to take responsibility for my actions. Even if you called your family’s grand elder here, I wouldn’t mince my words either.”
Gu Xi’s nursemaid was furious, anxious and vexed.
Although they were seated, it was obvious to everyone that there was something gossip-worthy playing out between them. The people in the store acted as if they were just eating their noodles but in fact, they were all secretly observing them, eager to hear any gossip that they could share with others.
Gu Xi nursemaid’s voice got lower as she forced out a smile, saying: “Lady Yu, please finish your noodles. After eating, we can find another place to discuss further.”
If this happened inside the Gu Mansion, the noodles would have been tossed aside, and she would have dragged this little girl aside to have a word, and no noodles would be eaten until the situation was made clear.
Gu Xi’s nurse maid forcefully suppressed her anger and Yu Tang didn’t intend to make things easy for her either. She sneered and said mockingly, “You don’t have to show me your displeasure. I’m not a member of the Gu family. Speaking of which, there’s enmity between my family and yours. Your family’s son in law, Li Duan, no, I should say your Gu Family’s Second branch’s Mrs. Li, is really a shameless person and a coward. Look at the things they did. Her future husband-to-be even wore mourning clothes and carried out a mourning ceremony to make amends to the other party. The streets of Lin’an City were packed with people watching the commotion. Don’t act as though you are afraid of us trying to flatter and take advantage of you – you’re being over presumptuous. However, you are indeed right about one thing, there is a solution to everything. If you feel that you have been wronged, you can call your grand elder over and ask him to give an explanation, and see if it is you who is being obnoxious and condescending, or that what we said was unjustified.”
Her words were so quick, sharp and biting which made Gu Xi’s nursemaid’s face turn as black as the bottom of the pot. However, she was afraid to argue with Yu Tang for fear of ruining the Gu family’s reputation in Hangzhou City.
Yu Yuan got worried about Yu Tang’s impudence, but when he saw that Gu Xi’s nursemaid was holding back her anger, he believed what Yu Tang said before about “Prominent families wanting to preserve their dignity, not daring to take action in front of you, only daring to use underhanded tactics behind people’s backs”. Although he was somewhat relieved but in his heart, he was still troubled.
The Gu family wouldn’t secretly kidnap them, would they?
Later, he would be visiting second supervisor Tong, should they mention about this matter?
Or, should they hire a boat to head back to Lin’an tonight? Anyway, everything they set out to do was already completed, so there wasn’t any point in staying on in Hangzhou City.
Yu Yuan was still lost in his thoughts while Gu San had already returned to his senses, and he lowered his voice with a cold glint in his eyes. “Are you two here to make trouble?”
Yu Tang was not as kind and mild-tempered as she was in her previous life, nor was she prepared to bend over backwards and let others mess around with her. Hearing him say this, she immediately retorted, “Who do you think you are? If I wanted to find trouble, I wouldn’t find you either! I think you have stayed in Hangzhou for a long time and thus became overly complacent, thinking that the world revolves around you, that there is no other family more important than your Gu family. Merely talking to you for a while longer, you think people want to get something from you.” After saying that, she shouted loudly for the restaurant owner and said, “We don’t know these two people, please assign us a new table!”
Gu Xi’s nursemaid was so angry that her face turned blue, and the restaurant owner was caught in a dilemma as he plastered a smile and was stuck on whether or not he should change the seating arrangements.
